Why It’s Worth a Watch Wednesday – Reagan Family Ties

The new television season has arrived!  Many of our favorite programs are returning, so Amber West and I decided to share a few more Why It’s Worth a Watch Wednesday reviews to check out two of CBS’s hit series – The Mentalist and Blue Bloods. 

First up – Blue Bloods

 

The Reagan family loves each other and New York City.  Each member of the Reagan family serves, or has served, their city in one way or another. 

Frank Reagan (Tom Selleck, also known as the man with the best looking mustache in the industry, Magnum, and Jesse Stone), is the current NYC Police Commissioner.  Frank is the patriarch of the Reagan family, even though his father Henry lives with him under the same roof. 

Frank served in the marines and is a Vietnam veteran.  He is widowed and also suffered the untimely loss of his son, Joseph Reagan, who died while on the job, also serving New York City (later revealed to be at the hands of The Blue Templar, a group of rogue cops). 

The job of Police Commissioner in New York City is grueling enough, but throw in the added pressure of a mayor seeking re-election (played by Bruce Altman) who is constantly riding the commissioner’s case, and one can see why Frank needs a drink at the end of every day. 

Danny Reagan (Donnie Wahlberg) is one of the top detectives on the NYPD squad.  Danny gets the job done, even if he doesn’t follow the letter of the law to a “T”.  Like his father, he is a former marine and Iraq war veteran.   While Tom Selleck receives top billing, and rightfully so, Donnie Wahlberg is the star of the series. 

When one initially hears the name Donnie Wahlberg, they recall his role in the ‘90s boy band, New Kids on the Block.  However, Donnie has had many fantastic performances in both television and motion pictures proving himself as an actor, including HBO’s Band of Brothers, NBC’s Boomtown, and Hollywood blockbusters such as Ransom, The Sixth Sense, and the Saw franchise (movies 2, 3, and 4). 

Jamie Reagan (Will Estes, American Dreams) is the newest of the Reagan family to join the force, currently working the streets as a rookie cop.  Jamie attended Harvard Law planning to follow in his big sister’s footsteps, however he changed his mind after graduation to join the NYPD like his brothers, father, and grandfather before him. 

Because he was new to the force, the FBI approached Jamie to provide information as it pertained to The Blue Templar.  Through his investigations, Jamie learned that his brother Joe was helping the FBI uncover information about these dirty cops as well, and that these rogue officers were responsible for his brother’s death.

Erin Reagan-Broyle (Bridget Moynahan from Sex and the City and Coyote Ugly), the only daughter of Frank and his late wife, is an up-and-coming Assistant District Attorney.  Divorced and raising a teenage daughter (Sami Gayle), Erin tends to be the voice of reason that helps hold her family together, besides her father that is. 

Erin tries to keep Danny in line so that her convictions of his arrests will stick; but, despite his love for his sister, no one can make Danny follow the book.  In addition to balancing her family and her career, Erin must also decide if it’s appropriate to date her boss, a man gunning for the mayoral race and who will undoubtedly remove her father as Police Commissioner.       

Henry Reagan (Tony Award winning actor, Len Cariou), or Grandpa, is the retired NYC Police Commissioner.  Henry lives with his son Frank, or Francis as he calls him, and provides support to his son and the entire family.

Blue Bloods also has a stellar supporting cast: Jennifer Esposito (Samantha Who?, Spin City) plays Jackie Curatola, Danny’s partner; Amy Carlson (Another World, Third Watch) plays Linda Reagan, Danny’s wife and mother to their two sons; Nicholas Turturro (NYPD Blue, Third Watch) plays Sgt. Anthony Renzulli, Jamie’s partner; and Emmy Award winning and Tony Award nominated actor, Bobby Cannavale (Will & Grace, Third Watch) plays Erin’s boss and District Attorney, Charles Rossellini.  

Okay, so there is a ton of programming on television today, so what’s special about Blue Bloods? Every episode features at least one family gathering around the dinner table at Frank’s house, an aspect of television today that is often times overlooked. 

The Reagan family represents America’s finest fighting crime every Friday night in New York City, but the relationship shared among the characters is the real hero.   Because of this, I award Blue Bloods the GTV rating – this gourmet television program has everything we want, and more.  Fitting, considering Frank meets someone for lowball whiskey cocktails and fine steak dinners in restaurants with linen table clothes in most of the episodes. 

What do you think? Have you watched Blue Bloods?  Who’s your favorite Reagan? Are you like me and would watch Tom Selleck in just about anything? What do you think of Donnie Wahlberg – he has come a long way from singing and dancing with the New Kids, hasn’t he?  I’d love to hear from you!

Now click over to Amber’s blog and check out her review of The Mentalist….is Simon Baker’s character, Patrick Jane, not just the tiniest bit fabulous?  

CBS is so hot, that Amber and I can’t quite leave.  Come back next week when we continue to review a few more of our favorite programs on the hit channel –The Good Wife and Criminal Minds.

Remember to stop by the #watchwed hashtag in Twitter to discuss any of today’s reviews, or to mention any television programs that you’d like to see on Why It’s Worth a Watch Wednesday in the future.  We’re currently working on our September schedule and would love to chat with you!

A Recap of The WatchWed Review System:

GTV (Gourmet TV): Everything we want and more
MacTV (MacNCheese TV): Guilty pleasure. Not perfect, but is satisfies
JFTV (Junk food TV): It’s not great for us, but we’ll go back for seconds
SSTV (Still Simmering TV): It has potential, but the jury is still out
NIV (Nyquil Induced Viewing): Perfect for that late night television sleep timer
LOTV (Liver&Onions TV): Do we really have to explain? Blech

Friday FabOoolousness – Robert B. Parker’s Jesse Stone

Remember the television series, Spenser: for Hire, starring Robert Urich as the crime fighting private detective who loved to cook alongside Julia Child? And his best friend, Hawk, played by Avery Brooks?  I can still hear Hawk’s voice as he called out Spenser’s name in his extra Hawk-like syllables, “Spen-saaaar.”  The hit show was adapted from the bestselling novels written by Robert B. Parker, and the novel and TV show’s success in the 1980s paved the way for four Spenser made-for-television movies in the 1990s.

In 1997, Robert B. Parker published the first in yet another series of nine bestselling novels featuring a new protagonist: Jesse Stone.

Night Passage (1997)

Trouble in paradise (1998)

Death in Paradise (2001)

Stone Cold (2003)

Sea Change (2006)

High Profile (2007)

Stranger in Paradise (2008)

Night and Day (2009)

Split Image (2010, published posthumously)

Before his death in January 2010, Parker saw television success again with his second adaptation: a made-for-television movie series, with none other than the great Tom Selleck portraying Jesse Stone.

Jesse leads a troubled life: he’s a former baseball star who quit playing due to an injury; his marriage to a movie-star, Jenn Stone, failed; he’s a disgraced former homicide detective fired from the force because of his drinking problem; and, now he’s the Police Chief in the small town of Paradise near Boston, despite having interviewed for the position while drunk.

The small town of Paradise grows on Jesse, and he works diligently to solidify his small police force (Deputy Suitcase: nicknamed after Jesse’s favorite baseball player “Suitcase” Simpson, and Molly: loyal policewoman, mother, and wife), and eliminates the big-city crime that has forced its way into the otherwise quiet community.  He not only battles the bad guys, but he constantly teeters back and forth with his own personal demons: his ex-wife, alcoholism and depression.

Tom Selleck was first introduced as Jesse Stone by CBS in 2005.  CBS started the TV movies with Stone Cold, the fourth book in Parker’s series, and then back-tracked with a prequel the very next year:

Stone Cold (2005)

Jesse Stone: Night Passage (2006)

 Jesse Stone: Death in Paradise (2006)

Jesse Stone: Sea Change (2007)

Similar to most adaptations, the television movies differ slightly from the novels.  For example, in the books, Parker writes Jesse’s character in his mid 30s, but Tom plays Jesse as bit older on TV.  Also, in the televised Night Passage, Jesse is not drunk in his Paradise Police Chief interview, he’s only miserably hung-over from drinking the night before.  Another difference on CBS’s adaptation of Stone Cold, Jesse finds the murder victim’s dog at the scene of the crime.  Jesse adopts the dog, and the dog and Jesse share a close relationship throughout the rest of the movies.  In the novels, Jesse never has a dog.  Minor details though, right?

 

The remaining Jesse Stone television specials were not adapted from Parker’s novels, but writers Tom Selleck and Michael Brandman remain true to Parker’s Paradise and his flawed main character.

Jesse Stone: Thin Ice (2009)

Jesse Stone: No Remorse (2010)

The television movies are packed with familiar faces.  Selleck and Brandman introduced a new member of Jesse’s team in Thin Ice: the fabOoolous Kathy Bates as Rose.  Other recognizable actors frequent the movies in cameo roles such as Stephen McHattie as Captain Healy, William DeVane as Dr. Dix, Saul Rubinek as Hasty Hathaway, and William Sadler as mob-boss, Gino Fish.

 

Robert B. Parker was quoted saying, “Tom nails the character.”  Selleck is Stone; Selleck delivers Jesse’s dry, matter-of-fact one-liners perfectly, and always portrays the best television detective (who will ever forget Selleck as Thomas Magnum in Magnum P.I.), and police officer (he does it again as Francis Regan in Blue Bloods).  Tom Selleck gets better with age, doesn’t he?

This Sunday, May 22^nd, Tom Selleck returns to CBS in Jesse Stone: Innocents Lost.  Check it out!

What are some of your favorite novels that have been adapted to television or the big screen? Did the adaptation stay true to the book, or did they stray?  Will Tom Selleck always be Thomas Magnum, or are you warming up to him as Jesse Stone?  Which actor and/or actress do you imagine as a character in the novels that you read – and why?  I’d love to hear from you!