Posted in: CBS, TV, TV | Tagged: blue bloods, boston blue

Boston Blue "Woke"? Blue Bloods Showrunner Pushes Back on Complaint

Blue Bloods showrunner Kevin Wade responds to Bill O’Reilly calling CBS's Donnie Wahlberg & Sonequa Martin-Green-starring Boston Blue "woke."

Some folks, like talking head Bill O'Reilly, really go out of their way to give you the distinct impression that they're not comfortable having too many people on their television screens who aren't white. That brings us to the topic of CBS and Showrunners Brandon Sonnier and Brandon Margolis' Donnie Wahlberg and Sonequa Martin-Green-starring Boston Blue. The Blue Bloods spinoff sees Wahlberg reprising his role as Det. Danny Reagan, moving to a new locale for some change – meaning a new partner (Martin-Green) and a new ensemble cast that (spoiler) isn't entirely white. Well, it seems that's been too much for O'Reilly to take, accusing the show of being (wait for it) "woke" during a recent one-on-one with Blue Bloods showrunner Kevin Wade.

"'Boston Blue' is woke. I mean, they got every ethnicity in the world coming in there. I don't know who's who; I can't keep track of where these people are from and what they're doing. Whereas 'Blue Bloods' was Irish Catholic traditional down the line," O'Reilly ranted, raging at a hit CBS series this time (instead of clouds or kids being on his front lawn). "So, do you think that the suits in Hollywood said, 'Enough of this traditional stuff. It might be working, but we can make a woke version of this and make just as much money?'"

After praising the series and the "terrific job" that Wahlberg's done making the move over to the spinoff, Wade added, "I'm going to be on the side of my colleagues here and go, anytime something is providing jobs for actors and the huge amount of people that are employed as crew, I'm happy for them, and I root for it." In terms of the original series, Wade admitted that Blue Bloods "was peerceived as a maybe a right-leaning show," adding that a number of folks in law enforcement in general tend to lean to the right. Because of that, the showrunner explained why it was important for the show to make the case for all sides of the issues they were tackling.

"If we had a little secret sauce, it was that when we built a soapbox for one side, we tried to make sure to build a soapbox of equal dimensions for the other side of an issue," Wade explained. "We had to take on a lot of issues, and we chose to take on a lot of issues during the run of the show. I think that if there was a reason for its success … it was that people didn't feel preached to. They didn't feel like we were telling them what to think, or how to think, or what side was the right side."

Previously, Sonnier and Margolis shared early insights on a number of issues that will be in play once Season 2 premieres. From Brian's (Ryan Broussard) shocking car not-an-accident before the credits rolled and the importance of Mae's (Gloria Reuben) re-election campaign, to what the future holds for Danny (Wahlberg) and Baez (Marisa Ramirez) moving forward, here's what the showrunners had to share – including how the series will kick off with a "small time jump."

Will "Blue Bloods" Season 2 Pick Up Immediately From the Season 1 Finale? Sonnier shared, "There will be a small time jump so that we can get beyond the recovery that Lena has to go through in order to get her and Danny back out on the streets together. But we will pick up that story, and we will fill in the blanks on what happened that night, and the case that we pick up and pushes us forward into Season 2 is who was driving that grey truck, what was that about, and where are they now? And so if not for just that small time jump, everything else will be pointed toward let's get to the bottom of what exactly happened at the end of Season 1."

Mae's Re-Election Will Be a "Big Story" for Her: "The reelection will be a big story for Mae. We love introducing Thad, played by Ward [Horton], as a foil to her at the end of this season. And what's going to be really interesting is seeing the pressure he puts on her when he starts playing politics and getting down in the mud and forcing Mae to respond while at the same time sticking to her priority of getting justice for the people of Boston," Margolis shared.

Baez & Her Family Will Be Joining Danny in Boston – Eventually: "We follow the thread that Danny starts at the end of the season by saying they've taken it too slow for too long and then inviting her to move in. So yes, she will come to Boston, but we do have to work through the realities of, she has a whole life in New York that she needs to unwind from. She has a mom who's in a professional care facility. She has a daughter. And so all of those things need to be dealt with and figured out and sorted before she can fully commit to living in Boston with Danny," Sonnier noted.

CBS's Boston Blue stars Donnie Wahlberg as he reprises his role as NYPD detective Danny Reagan in a universe expansion of the long-running top drama Blue Bloods. In this new series, Reagan takes a position with the Boston Police Department and is paired with detective Lena Silver (Sonequa Martin-Green), the eldest daughter of a prominent law enforcement family. The Silver family is comprised of Boston district attorney Mae Silver (Gloria Reuben), Boston PD detective Lena Silver, police superintendent Sarah Silver (Maggie Lawson), rookie cop Jonah Silver (Marcus Scribner), and renowned Baptist pastor Reverend Edwin Peters (Ernie Hudson). As Reagan settles into his new city, he also hopes to reconnect with his younger son, Sean (Mika Amonsen), who is beginning his own career in Boston.

Produced by CBS Studios and Jerry Bruckheimer Television, CBS's Boston Blue is executive-produced by Brandon Sonnier, Brandon Margolis, Jerry Bruckheimer, KristieAnne Reed, and Donnie Wahlberg.

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