Donnie Wahlberg, who played Danny Reagan on Blue Bloods for 14 seasons, has named the show's pilot episode as his personal favorite. He praised its enduring quality and the experience of working with the cast. The episode set key elements for the long-running CBS procedural.
Donnie Wahlberg starred as Danny Reagan in nearly 300 episodes of CBS' Blue Bloods across its 14-season run. In an interview on the Boston Blue YouTube channel, he selected the pilot as his top episode, noting its lasting appeal during reruns. 'I see it every now and again on re-runs, and it still holds up after all of these years, you know, getting to work with Tom [Selleck] and Bridget [Moynahan] and the cast, and it was an amazing experience,' Wahlberg said. He added, 'I just don't know if we'll ever be able to top it. I know we've come close because we've done some amazing episodes, but that one is an unexpected treat.' The pilot introduced the characters, universe, and Reagan family dinner scenes that became series hallmarks. Wahlberg also recalled in a Variety interview how the show nearly didn't air. It was the last pilot greenlit by CBS that year; he was informed on a Friday before the upfronts that it wouldn't proceed, but received a call by Sunday while on a New Kids on the Block cruise with 3,000 fans, directing him to New York for the upfronts. Blue Bloods proved a consistent hit for CBS. Wahlberg now reprises Danny Reagan in Boston Blue, a spin-off honoring the original's legacy.
