Barney: Tom Selleck, Donnie Wahlberg shine in 'Blue Bloods'

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By Chuck Barney
Contra Costa Times

How do you explain this? In a television season woefully scarce of quality fare, one of the better new shows can be found Friday nights -- typically a TV junkyard.

I'm talking about "Blue Bloods," a CBS crime series that started off on the right foot by astutely casting Tom Selleck as New York City Police Commissioner Frank Reagan. In this role, Selleck is much more rigid than the loose and laid-back Thomas Magnum guy we met back in the day. But he's still very likable and handsome. Also, he's still able to rock the mustache in a way that makes it seem cool.

Of course, crime dramas are nothing new for CBS, which I've long maintained should stand for Corpses, Body bags and Stiffs. But "Blue Bloods" brings something different to the party: It's a cop show that yearns to be a family drama ... or maybe vice-versa.

Selleck's Reagan, a widower, heads up not only the police department, but a boisterous brood that features three generations of cops. His old-school dad (Len Cariou) wore a badge and now his eldest son, Danny (Donnie Wahlberg), does too.

Just recently, another son, Jamie (Will Estes) left Harvard Law School to also join the force. Callow Jamie, once considered the family's golden boy, seems somewhat out of place in this world, sort of in the way a young Michael Corleone did in his.

The best thing about "Blue Bloods," besides Selleck, is Wahlberg, who shifts between being empathetic and temperamental without

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any crunching of gears. He's a hard-nosed homicide detective who doesn't mind bending the rules, which often puts him at odds with his sister Erin (Bridget Moynahan), an assistant D.A. with a liberal bent.

When they're not out fighting crime, the Reagans spend their time around the table for Sunday dinners, where the wine flows, along with the venom. All the philosophical differences and generation gaps among them provide plenty of fuel for spirited debates about on-the-job ethics.

With a few exceptions, the cases on "Blue Bloods" don't carry much of a wow factor, and the show lacks the kind of grittiness that might make it more powerful.

Even so, the solid acting performances and the family dynamics contained in "Blue Bloods" make for an absorbing hour of television. Keep this up and Selleck and company just might get to flee Friday nights for more appealing terrain.