'Blue Bloods' star Tom Selleck worries he'll lose 63-acre ranch if show ends

Like other cast members of CBS’ “Blue Bloods,” star Tom Selleck wants the police-family drama to continue past this scheduled 14th and final season, which airs its second half this fall.

But in an interview that aired Sunday, the 79-year-old Emmy Award winner cited a poignant and surprising reason he wishes the show to go on.

"Hopefully I’ll keep working enough to hold onto the place,” he said on “CBS Sunday Morning,” referring to his sprawling ranch in California’s Ventura County, north of Los Angeles, where he lives with his wife of 36 years, former actor Jillie Mack.

When interviewer Tracy Smith expressed incredulity given Selleck’s 55-year-career of hit TV series, theatrical films and a TV-movie franchise he produces as well as stars in, Selleck insisted, “It’s always an issue. If I stop working? Yeah. Am I set for life? Yeah, but maybe not on a 63-acre ranch.”

He added, “As an actor, you never lose — I don’t lose, anyway — that sense that every time I finish a job it’s my last job. … I love it and I’d like to keep doing it.”

CBS announced in March 2023 that “Blue Bloods” had been renewed for a 14th season — with what trade reports said could be up to 25% salary cuts by the cast and producers in order to keep hundreds of crew members employed. Despite these pay concessions, CBS said in November that this season would be the show’s last.

In a news conference last week about CBS' fall schedule, entertainment president Amy Reisenbach reiterated that “Blue Bloods” would end in December. “We really want to thank the cast and crew, everyone involved in the show,” Reisenbach told reporters. “We absolutely will miss the family dinners."

Selleck, who plays second-generation NYPD Commissioner Frank Reagan, the patriarch of a family of cops and an assistant district attorney, addressed whether this is so or if there may be hope for a reprieve.

“I will continue to think that CBS will come to their senses," Selleck said, “We’re the third-highest scripted show in all of broadcast. We’re winning the night.” According to the ratings firm Nielsen, “Blue Bloods” as of April 2024 is the seventh highest-rated scripted show this season, and the 12th highest-rated program overall, including sports, specials and evening news. It is the highest-rated Friday prime-time show.

“All the cast wants to come back,” continued the star, whose memoir, “You Never Know,” came out Tuesday. “And I can tell you this: We aren't sliding off down a cliff — we’re doing good shows and still holding our place. So I don’t know — you tell me.”

Last month Gregory Jbara, who plays NYPD Deputy Commissioner of Public Information Garrett Moore in the series, told Newsday he believed this season may not be the last.

“Technically, the first 10 [current] episodes are going to wrap up season 14,” said the Tony Award winner, 62. “Then the final eight episodes that we've yet to shoot are going to start season 15,” he stated. “And we're hoping CBS will see the numbers and sense that we can do another eight or 10 and flesh out season 15 for them. So we are not yet mourning the loss of the show. The end is not yet a fait accompli!”