Tom Selleck and Donnie Wahlberg on Keeping 'Blue Bloods' Fresh in Season 13 (Exclusive)

The stars of the hit CBS drama welcomed ET exclusively on its New York set.

Blue Bloods stars Tom Selleck and Donnie Wahlberg are celebrating 13 seasons of the long-running procedural, and only ET's Rachel Smith was with them exclusively on the Brooklyn, New York set as they reflected on an impressive run thus far.

"We did eight [seasons] on Magnum [P.I.] and I thought I’d never get that lucky again and now we’ve done 13 and going strong," Selleck told ET, acknowledging that achieving success like this and maintaining it isn't easy to predict. 

"It’s hard to say you’re gonna go 13 seasons and we're approaching 300 episodes, but I’ve always thought the show had enormous potential because there’s police work but it was a character-driven show," he shared. "And I think my experience on Magnum was the same thing -- being character-driven, the story could keep evolving and change when people get older, and all those things add to your ability to tell stories. We're not out of ideas yet."

That's welcomed news for Blue Bloods fans who have been with the Reagan family since the series premiered in 2010. 

Wahlberg was equally taken aback at the fact that the show has lasted this long -- and continues to go strong.

"It takes a lot of luck to get to this point," he said. "For anyone who’s trying to have a career in acting or show business, you need luck. You need an audience that cares about your show or whatever it is you're doing and you need a great team. There’s so many elements that go into it but when we started I would say I thought it would be around for a little while, I couldn’t imagine 13 years. But I definitely thought five, maybe six or seven. But it’s like a train now. It just won't stop rolling."

"It's a miracle, it's amazing and we're blessed and grateful," Wahlberg added.

Wahlberg also took the opportunity to get it out into the universe that he'd like his real-life wife, Masked Singer judge Jenny McCarthy, to join the show and play his character's love interest. "She has a job though on another hit show, so I don't think that's going to work out," he quipped.

Selleck revealed that when it comes time to call out the cast member who dominates the blooper reel, it's 100 percent Wahlberg. "Oh, that's Donnie," he immediately replied. "He's kind of the king of them."

Added Wahlberg: "I gotta be in the top two! It's pretty equal but I think I do try to have fun."

Selleck and Wahlberg also had other poignant anniversaries to celebrate -- for Selleck, it was his 35-year wedding anniversary in August with his wife Jillie Mack, and for Wahlberg, it'll be 35 years next year since the release of New Kids on the Block's two No. 1 songs, "I'll Be Loving You (Forever)" and "Hanging Tough."

"Who's counting?" Selleck sweetly responded. "We're having a great ol' time."

As for Wahlberg, he admitted it's still hard to imagine having two songs reach the pinnacle of the charts. "I'm still amazed every time we do anything and fans still show up," he reflected. 

Blue Bloods airs Fridays at 8 p.m. ET/PT on CBS.

RELATED CONTENT:

Latest News