“Tom Selleck’s Blue Bloods Role is Fantastic, but One Jesse Stone Promise Remains Unfulfilled”
Although I love Blue Bloods, I’m saddened that one promise regarding Tom Selleck’s Jesse Stone series hasn’t been fulfilled. For the past fourteen years, Selleck has captivated audiences in one of my favorite dramas. Blue Bloods, a popular police procedural, stands out by focusing on a family of cops rather than just weekly cases. Despite its high ratings, CBS has decided to cancel the series, leaving only a few episodes before it concludes permanently.
One potential silver lining to the end of Blue Bloods is that Selleck may finally return to the Jesse Stone movies. He has played the role of a small-town sheriff grappling with alcohol abuse in nine films. While these movies have also been well-received, the last installment aired in 2015, shortly after Blue Bloods premiered. With Blue Bloods concluding after 14 seasons, now seems like the perfect time for Selleck to revisit his other iconic character after a long hiatus.
Selleck has been clear that he didn’t want Blue Bloods to interfere with his work on the Jesse Stone franchise. Before Blue Bloods premiered in 2014, he expressed concerns about balancing both projects, stating he was hesitant to commit to the new series for that reason. Although he discussed making a tenth Jesse Stone film afterward, it never came to fruition, which is disappointing. The Jesse Stone series showcased Selleck’s versatility as an actor, contrasting sharply with his role as Frank Reagan, a respected police commissioner with a supportive family in a bustling city. In contrast, Jesse is a solitary figure who has struggled with his reputation due to alcoholism.
Ironically, the Jesse Stone movies faced their own challenges. The first eight films aired on CBS, but after the eighth, Benefit of the Doubt, the network opted not to continue the series, citing a lack of appeal to younger audiences. Selleck subsequently sold the script for Lost in Paradise to Hallmark, which aired it on October 18, 2015—exactly nine years before the last eight episodes of Blue Bloods began.
Since Lost in Paradise, nearly a decade has passed without a new film. After its release, Selleck expressed interest in making another, but nothing materialized. Instead, he devoted his time to Blue Bloods, while Jesse Stone fell by the wayside. This is particularly disappointing because Lost in Paradise didn’t feel like a fitting conclusion to the series. Selleck’s desire to create a tenth film indicates that the 2015 installment wasn’t meant to be the last.
Selleck not only stars in the Jesse Stone films but also co-writes the scripts. While the film’s ending suggested potential character growth—Jesse helping another alcoholic find sobriety—his final scene with his new dog, Steve, gazing at the ocean hinted at more to come rather than a definitive ending. It would be a shame if Jesse never embarked on another adventure, especially since Selleck had been working on a script for a tenth film that has yet to materialize.
