Donnie Wahlberg Thought ‘Blue Bloods’ Would Only Last 7 Years: He ‘Couldn’t Have Predicted’ Success

Looking back at the success of Blue Bloods made Donnie Wahlberg rather emotional, as the actor admitted that he never predicted the show would be such a hit. During the special Blue Bloods: Celebrating a Family Legacy episode, the New Kids on the Block Member opened up about his journey on the police procedural drama and working with the incredible cast for 14 seasons.

The hour-long episode aired on November 29 on CBS, giving fans of the series a look at behind-the-scenes clips and exclusive interviews with the cast ahead of the show’s series finale. Blue Bloods was described as “a success story no one saw coming” by host Nischelle Turner.

“I used to walk around and say oh seven years easy. Seven years,” Donnie, 55, said of what he initially thought would happen to Blue Bloods. “And we doubled it so I couldn’t have predicted that. I believe in the show. I’m not sure I would have done it otherwise. And I also believed in the cast that we had the right group and the right show and the right timing.”

Cast member Bridget Moynahan also revealed that she never thought the show, which follows three generations of cops, would ever last this long.

“I don’t think anybody really had that idea that it was going to be the hit that it was and still is,” Bridget, 53, explained.

But the cast members all agreed they were pleased with how things panned out for 14 seasons. “We owned Friday night,” Len Cariou said, referring to the show’s Friday, 10 p.m. time slot on CBS.

“Blue Bloods did own the night on Friday night historically for its entire run, which is a major accomplishment,” Greg Jbara said.

Network veteran Tom Selleck referred to the Friday, 10 p.m. time slot as a “death spot.” But was pleasantly surprised that fans still flocked to the show. He said it was a “big surprise” that Blue Bloods dominated Friday nights for 14 years.

Additionally in the episode, the cast discussed some of their celebrity fans, including Bill Clinton, Henry Winkler and Ron Howard.

“We had something different and something special,” Donnie reflected. “A lot of TV over the last two decades has moved away from a family like the Reagans. And suddenly here was this show coming that in some ways seemed like it was past its time, but in reality it was the perfect time. It was right on time. People missed that type of show as an option on the menu.”

After 14 seasons on CBS, the cast will say goodbye to their characters in the series finale episode on December 13. The final episode, titled “End of Tour,” is sure to bring fans to tears with an emotional funeral scene.

“It’s all hands on deck for the Reagan family, as they race to stop deadly mayhem in the city when the gangs of New York unite together to demand amnesty for the release of their imprisoned members and those awaiting trial, in the historic series finale episode of Blue Bloods,” the official episode synopsis released by CBS says.