Blue Bloods: How the Reagan family dinners became a beloved tradition (and also took the longest to film)

CBS’ police procedural Blue Bloods became a staple series for the network for nearly 14 years. It redefined the genre, earning a place among classic shows like Law & Order and NCIS. Starring Tom Selleck and Donnie Wahlberg in the lead roles, the procedural follows the lives of the Reagan family in New York, who have a history of working in law enforcement.

Blue Bloods concluded with Season 14 in December 2024 but still remains a go-to show for many people, mainly because of the family values portrayed in the show, which eventually became the show's USP.

Almost all the episodes of the procedural follow a Sunday family dinner, where all the members of the Reagan family eat together and share life advice and important updates of the week.

This small sequence became a fan-favorite as it boiled down the procedural drama to one important thing: Family comes first, more so when you are in a dangerous profession.

More on this in our story.

Blue Bloods: Exploring how the Reagan family dinners changed the tone of the police procedural

While most viewers tune into police procedurals for their daily dose of action and intense sequences, Blue Bloods changed that. Family was at the centre of this police procedural as much as the profession of the Reagan family, which was evidenced by the weekly family dinners.

In an age of changing family dynamics, the Reagan family stayed true to their roots, getting together for a family dinner once a week and saying grace before every meal. The Reagan family embraced their American, Irish Catholic values with pride, which resonated with the fans.

This small but meaningful detail became a beloved tradition and helped in making the show what it is today.

In addition, it also gave space and screen time for other members of the Reagan family to shine. While we saw the majority of the family in action on their jobs, the Blue Bloods family dinners gave a space to all the other members of the family, especially Danny’s late wife, Linda, to give her two cents and shine in the show.

No matter how rough the day, every member of the Reagan family made time for the Sunday dinners and the show somehow reiterated family values through this key sequence. Talking to Emmy magazine, Wahlberg discussed the importance of the Reagan family dinners in Blue Bloods:

“The Reagans are fortunate to be together on Sundays and to be safe, to have made it through another week of a very dangerous job, and the cast is reminded of how fortunate we are as actors. It’s an incredible blessing to have that dinner scene as a check-in every week, much like the Reagans do, fictionally.”

In addition to familiarity, fans enjoyed this wholesome family time, which also sets the police procedural apart from most of its contemporaries.

The Blue Bloods cast discussed the challenges of filming the dinner sequences

While the Reagan family dinner sequences might look the easiest scenes to film, they were actually the hardest. These candid conversations between the family members at dinner time also took the longest to film, as they mostly include all the cast members.

While the cast enjoyed getting together on the dinner table and filming for this iconic scene, Selleck once discussed the challenges of filming this Blue Bloods sequence with Express, UK:

“We do real dinners for about eight hours, food gets a little cold. In film work, you repeat what you do as the camera moves around, so whatever you choose to eat at the beginning, you’re just going to have to re-eat it and re-eat it and re-eat it.’’

If you are interested in knowing what the Blue Bloods cast actually had on the menu, prop master Jim Lilis told Country Living that the food was inspired by his mother’s menu and included everything from pot roast, roast chicken, meat loaf to green vegetables and some form of potatoes.

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Also Read: Blue Bloods spin-off Boston Blue has added this ER star to its ensemble

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