Aired: 2010- (CBS)
DAD #1: Frank Reagan (Tom Selleck) / Unknown
DAD’S JOB: Current NYC Chief of Police
KIDS: Danny (Donnie Wahlberg), Erin (Bridget Moynahan), Jamie (Will Estes)
WHERE’S MOM #1?: Unknown
DAD #2: Henry Reagan (Len Cariou) / Unknown
DAD #2’S JOB: Former NYC Chief of Police
KIDS: Frank (Tom Selleck)
WHERE’S MOM #2?: Unknown
STAND-IN “MOM”: Erin (Bridget Moynahan), Only Daughter
Bring every New York City cop cliché you can think of to the next writers’ meeting for this show – it’s breaking no ground, and you can probably write the first four weeks of shows in your head.
Frank Reagan is the Chief of Police, and he’s from a cop family, and so of course his sons are NYC cops too. And his put-upon but tough-as-nails daughter Erin (Erin – really? Is her middle name B’gorrah?) is an Assistant District Attorney. It’s not enough that Frank is the Chief of Police – – his own dad, Henry, is the former Chief of Police. And of course there’s going to be a lot of charges of corruption from Henry’s days as Chief, and of course Erin is going to have to be part of the investigation.
Every year, CBS builds a showboat series, loads it up with the biggest cast names it can find, and launches it into the abyss of low ratings. This series managed to beat the odds, making it all the way into the 2020s.