Why is 'Blue Bloods' Allowed to Exist?
I watched the season premiere of the CBS police drama Blue Bloods recently, and it reminded me that I sometimes wonder if anyone in entertainment media is aware that this show even exists. If they knew what was going on on this show, they might second guess their decision to air it. This is justified for two reasons:
1. It portrays a strong family. Family ties are shown in a positive light, and the Reagan family of New York cops isn't shown as being dysfunctional, or at least not yet. Tom Selleck and Len Cariou also portray strong and upstanding father figures, as opposed to the absence or incompetence of fathers so common in modern entertainment media. I can also appreciate the series's inclusion of the family dinner scenes in basically every episode.
2. Positive, or at least non-negative, portrayals of the Catholic Church. Blue Bloods is a show that not only pays attention to the family's religious background, it shows Catholic clergy as being something other than corrupt, moralistic, hypocritical pedophiles. I particularly appreciated an episode last season in which Frank, Selleck's character, actively pushes back against allegations that a popular parish priest has abused children, allegations that the viewer is led to believe are false.
Blue Bloods, it should be noted, could only be classified as "family friendly" in comparison to almost everything else on TV. It deals with some very adult themes and covers scenarios not appropriate for family viewing, although to its credit, the show never manages to reach CSI levels of creepiness. I'm not ready to declare it The Most Conservative Show on Television, but its view of family and society is at least somewhat refreshing.
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Re: Why is 'Blue Bloods' Allowed to Exist?
Honestly I have no interest in watching the show (I don't watch TV) but from reading your description, I think I have the answer.
Saying it is the "Most Conservative Show on Television" is like saying something is the fastest turtle in a race, or the best communicator in a Republican debate.
I haven't seen it so maybe I'm wrong- maybe it's like Fox News, something that makes itself an exception from its peers-a phenom, I guess you could say.
I believe Jack Dunphy, the guest contributor who is an LAPD officer, wrote that "cops are conservatives." Maybe the characters in the show are conservatives. That would be cool.
I guess a good control group to compare a show to would be something in the past, because right now it's just such a sea of statists.
Sep '11
Re: Why is 'Blue Bloods' Allowed to Exist?
Tom Selleck is pretty conservative, as I understand it. My husband had the privilege of being his tour guide when he came to visit the US Naval Academy many years ago, and said he's a down-to-earth guy with conservative instincts. Regarding the show, as Jack Dunphy notes, most cops are conservative, and as has been noted on Ricochet, life is conservative. If you portray either honestly, you'll get a conservative show.
I was pretty surprised with some comments about the new "mayor" in the most recent episode. He is African American and a former "community activist." Selleck's character made some not positive comments about the "community activist" part and also managed to get a dig in at the former "nanny" mayor.
Edited on September 30, 2011 at 7:09pmRe: Why is 'Blue Bloods' Allowed to Exist?
I also thought that was interesting. It reminded me of the episode from Fox's abortive attempt at a Chicago cop drama in which a Bill Ayers stand-in character gets arrested for his part for some Weather Underground-ish bombings in the 70s.