In 293 episodes, Blue Bloods has never missed a family dinner.
Sometimes the iconic dinner scene is in a hotel, hospital, or diner, but there’s definitely a scene where the Reagans come together, put all their problems aside, and spend time together as a family.
These Blue Bloods dinners are as important to the actors and writers as they are to the audience, and they are a true labor of love considering how much work went into them.
The iconic Blue Bloods family dinner is the intentional centerpiece of the series
The family dinner scene is more associated with Blue Bloods than any other aspect of the police/family drama, and that’s intentional.
From the beginning, late producer Leonard Goldberg wanted the dinner to be central because he wanted the show to be about a police family, not just a police procedural.
Tom Selleck subscribed to this sentiment so much that when the show drifted away from the domestic scenes in its first few episodes, he was adamant about what needed to happen if he was to continue the project.
So it makes sense that the first scene the cast filmed was the first appearance of the Reagan family dinner. Surprisingly, the actors were not familiar with each other at the time; with the exception of Bridget Moyna and Donnie Wahlberg, they were all new acquaintances.
The fact that they were able to make the Regans look like a real family early on speaks not only to the talent of the cast, but also to their commitment to making family front and center in the new series.
The first dinner took several hours to film, and the producers weren’t even sure what the final structure of the show would be, but everyone jumped on it and the results were brilliant.
The Blue Bloods family dinner was the longest scene to film
While it’s hard to tell from the finished product, the iconic dinner scene was a huge undertaking.
The CBS special Blue Bloods: Celebrating Family Legacy goes behind the scenes at the dinner table. I know these scenes are long because I’ve read about them elsewhere, but a few other facts about them show what a labor of love they were.
The scenes took at least three hours to shoot, and the Regans had to eat the same food on their plates in the same way throughout multiple takes.
There was a joke among the crew that Donnie Wahlberg was the only one who ate all the food in every scene.
When Danny said he couldn’t wait to eat the pork chops in Blue Bloods Season 14 Episode 17, it seemed like that wasn’t too far off from the real-life Wahlberg, judging by the anecdotes about Wahlberg and food!
I was so impressed with the effort everyone put into making Blue Bloods Family Dinner come alive.
The actors sat on soft cushions to ensure they were high enough to accommodate the camera and comfortable after long periods of sitting.
A chef worked behind the scenes to make sure the food was edible (for those who chose to eat during multiple takes), and everyone would stay for hours, completing the scene over and over so that there was enough Different shots can be edited into a beautiful, fun and loving Reagan family dinner.
The actors had to find creative ways to make it look like they were eating, and behind the scenes, the prop people had to refill every plate between shots and place the food in the exact same spot so that when they were editing multiple When you take a shot, it won’t look weird.
Talk about dedication!
These scenes are truly a labor of love considering how much effort went into them.
It’s no surprise that they’re usually the first thing people discuss when they’re asked why they like blue bloods. The love of the family shines through and it’s hard to believe they put so much effort into getting it to air.
Blue Bloods family dinner scene allows cast to bond
In some ways, the family dinner scene isn’t about acting at all, at least not in Blue Bloods Season 14.
The cast gets to know each other at these dinners, especially once Addie (Vanessa Ray) becomes part of the family. According to multiple interviews, Ray Wahlberg and Donnie Wahlberg were constantly joking and making other people laugh during the dinner scene.
It’s an amazing testament to how life imitates art. The more time the fictional Reagans spend together off-screen, the more time they spend together in these Blue Bloods family dinner scenes, and the more time they get to spend together in these Blue Bloods family dinner scenes, it starts to feel like a real family when you consider they were filming the first This becomes doubly so when everyone is a stranger.
Everyone on set embraced the family values that are at the heart of the show, and that’s reflected both on and off screen, below as Tom Selleck and Donnie Wahlberg join TODAY’s Talk You can see this in more detail.
Even though the Blue Bloods family dinner scene required a lot of effort, Tom Selleck mentioned in the special that there was never a bad scene.
We’ve written a lot about the cancellation of “Blue Bloods,” but nothing hit home more than seeing the stars cry, knowing they would never be a part of a Reagan family dinner again.
When Selleck and Wahlberg appeared on CBS’s The Talk today, they discussed filming the final dinner scene and what 14 years of friendship and on-set camaraderie meant to them.
Selleck felt that the Last Supper scene, whether it was the last scene shot or not, was the last scene for them. “You know, we try to stay professional and focus on the scene and ignore the fact that we’re all going to be emotional,” he said of filming the scene.
“When they said they were going to cut the last shot of the last dinner scene, there was silence… We all knew that as soon as anyone spoke, we were going to lose it.”
Tonight, we’ll be in the same boat. Grab those tissues; we need them.
Over to you, blue blood fanatics.
Do you enjoy blue blood family dinners? Do you know how much effort they put in?
Hit the comments with your thoughts.
The “Blue Bloods” series finale will air on December 13, 2024 on CBS at 10/9c and on December 14 on Paramount+.
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