Blue Bloods Spinoff Boston Blue Almost Put Danny Somewhere Else

Star of Boston Blue, Donnie Wahlberg, recently explained how there was more than one Blue Bloods spinoff idea. While the creators ultimately decided on Boston, the show could have been set somewhere entirely different.

Boston Blue is a police drama that follows a former NYPD officer, Danny Reagan (Wahlberg), and his new partner Lena Silver (Sonequa Martin-Green), after he joins the Boston Police Department. The show also stars Ernie Hudson (Reverend Edwin Peters), Maggie Lawson (Sarah Silver), Gloria Reuben (Mae Silver), Marcus Scribner (Jonah Silver), and Mika Amonsen (Sean Reagan).

In an interview with CinemaBlend, Wahlberg revealed that the series’ protagonist almost moved down to Texas instead of staying in the Northeast. The actor explained that the point of the relocation was to take the character and put him outside of his “comfort zone.” And, while Texas would have been a fun idea, Boston was where he believed Reagan should be.

Maybe Danny goes to Texas, and he’s a fish out of water, or maybe he goes to LA or Vegas and works in a casino. Just somewhere different, where he’s not that, you know, [he] doesn’t know every nook and cranny of the place he is, and he has to get on a horse or do things that are out of his comfort zone. And nothing is more out of his comfort zone than being in Boston. I can tell you that. Not me, Danny.

His statement also sheds light on how different Boston Blue could have been. If the spinoff moved his character to Texas instead, the series might be more similar to Taylor Sheridan’s hit TV show Tulsa King.

In Tulsa King, Sylvester Stallone’s Dwight Manfredi is a New Yorker who is forced to rebuild his life in Oklahoma. Danny would’ve had to adapt far more in the South because of the major cultural differences between the two regions. While Boston is a different city, it is still relatively similar to New York, making the transition feel more natural and less shocking.

Wahlberg said that Boston Blue showrunners, Brandon Margolis and Brandon Sonnier, were throwing the idea around with Jerry Bruckheimer. According to the actor, they spoke about bringing a Blue Bloods character to Boston and creating a new team. And, as a result, Danny was on his way to Massachusetts.

There was an idea, and we were sort of developing the idea. But at the same time, I think Jerry Bruckheimer and the Brandons were developing an idea of another law enforcement family, you know, a different show. [It] could have been to partner with Blue Bloods. It could have been whatever. And I think there was a character who was moving to Boston. That’s how we met the family. And I think they’re like, “Hey, instead of moving him to Texas, why don’t we talk about him joining this thing and moving to Boston?

Wahlberg admitted that, at first, he was a little reluctant about starring in a spinoff after Blue Bloods got canceled. He also didn’t realize how quickly the new series would release because he didn’t see the original show’s cancellation coming and was a little blindsided by it.

So anyway, you know, when it actually was ending, I kind of didn’t believe it, right? And so suddenly it was like, “Well, do I really want to do a spin-off?” I didn’t know, you know. And this idea was just really good, and the script was really good. And I looked at it, and I saw the possibilities of weaving Blue Bloods’ world into it, and I saw a chance to play Danny in a different way, even different than I thought about in the sort of Texas spin-off idea.

Boston Blue premieres on October 17, 2025, at 10:00 PM ET and 7:00 PM PT on CBS.