Blue Bloods is Dragnet for the new century. Dragnet was created as a move by the LAPD to shore up its image in the wake of a lot of corruption scandals. It certainly did its job showing that organization through the eyes of tough and honest Jack Webb and partners Ben Alexander and Harry Morgan.
The NYPD in 2010 until now is seen through the eyes of the Reagan Family, a tough Irish American family where you go into law enforcement as a tradition. The current commissioner is Tom Selleck and the retired one is his father Len Cariou. Selleck has two sons, veteran detective Donnie Wahlberg and newly minted Academy graduate Will Estes. His daughter Bridget Moynahan is an Assistant District Attorney and there's a late son killed on the job. Wahlberg is married to Amy Carlson and they have two sons and Moynahan is divorced raising a daughter.
The characters are united by blood, but their opinions sure differ. There is the obligatory scene by now of the family dinner where issues raised during a given episode are given a thorough hearing. We also see the human side of the Reagans. The scene is very much like those patrol car scenes in Dragnet with Jack Webb and his partners who show their human face in some of the innocuous chit chat. The Reagan dinner talk is more substantial, but serves the same purpose.
Blue Bloods is how the NYPD sees itself and it's the image they want to convey to the public. And it's a very good police drama.
