Boston Blue Filming Dates Revealed, Boston's Barely Getting Screentime

CBS has finally revealed filming dates for Boston Blue — the spinoff of long-running police procedural Blue Bloods — and it's bad news for anyone hoping to spot Donnie Wahlberg on the Common. The show will shoot from July 10, 2025, to March 16, 2026... but almost entirely in Toronto. Boston itself is expected to feature in some fleeting establishing shots, just enough to fake the skyline.

So much for Boston pride.

What is Boston Blue Anyway?

If you've somehow missed the hype, Boston Blue picks up with NYPD Officer Danny Reagan (Donnie Wahlberg) moving to Boston to join the Boston Police Department. He teams up with Detective Lena Peters (played by Sonequa Martin-Green), the eldest daughter of a prominent Boston law enforcement family.

The family ties don't stop there:

• Reverend Peters (Ernie Hudson): Family patriarch and pastor of a historic Boston Baptist church
• Mae Silver: Boston's District Attorney and daughter of Reverend Peters
• Ashley Silver: Superintendent of Boston PD
• Isaac Silver: Rookie cop, the youngest of the clan

If that sounds like a Boston-flavored Blue Bloods, you're not wrong. The setup screams family drama, civic duty, and probably more Sunday dinners than arrests.

Why Toronto and Not Boston?

The simple answer: money.

Toronto offers significant tax breaks and has a deep bench of production crews. Massachusetts does have tax incentives for filming, but nothing close to what Canada throws at studios.

Boston, for all its charm, just doesn't have the same TV infrastructure as New York or even Chicago. You want a period drama set in cobblestone streets? Maybe. But a weekly procedural? That's a logistical headache.

As one Redditor put it:

"Boston does not have a huge TV film infrastructure the way New York does to enable location filming week to week."

Plus, Toronto has a history of pretending to be other cities. Suits? Filmed in Toronto, but set in NYC. Supergirl? Same story.

Donnie Wahlberg, Boston native that he is, seems aware of the optics. He told a Boston radio station:

"You have to remember your roots from Boston 'cause no one in Boston will ever let you forget. I'm a proud Bostonian... and I will love filming there."

But "filming there" might just mean a long weekend of B-roll.

Behind the Camera

Boston Blue comes stacked with industry heavyweights:

• Donnie Wahlberg isn't just starring — he's executive producing.
• Jerry Bruckheimer is on board, so expect the glossy production style you'd expect from the guy behind CSI and Pirates of the Caribbean.
• Brandon Sonnier and Brandon Margolis, who've written for The Blacklist, are producing as well.

All this... to shoot Boston Blue in Toronto.

Why Fans Are Pissed (and Rightfully So)

Blue Bloods worked because it lived and breathed New York City. Every gritty corner of the Bronx, every neighborhood diner — it felt real because it was real.

Now imagine trying to pass off clean, orderly Toronto streets as Boston's labyrinth of colonial roads. That's not going to fool anyone who's ever tried to park in the North End.

Some fans already wrote it off as "Toronto Blue." A few hope the show tanks just for the audacity of it. One local even said:

"I saw two fake Boston police cars on a flatbed in Toronto. Couldn't believe it."

Still, there's precedent. The original Blue Bloods was nearly filmed in Toronto until Tom Selleck pushed for authenticity and got it moved to New York. But no Tom Selleck this time, and CBS seems content to cut costs.

To be fair, Boston has hosted some great on-location productions — The Departed, The Town, Good Will Hunting — but those are films, not TV series that need to shoot for months on end. Even The Walking Dead: Dead City recently shot in Boston, proving it's not impossible. But TV budgets get tighter, and Canada is a cheaper date.

So When Does It Air?

• Premiere Date: October 17, 2025
• TV Rating: TV-14

If you're watching, don't expect to see much of the actual Boston beyond the title card. But hey, at least you'll have Donnie Wahlberg back on Friday nights — even if he's pretending he's in Boston while sipping Tim Hortons off-camera.

Boston Blue might have the name, but Toronto's got the screen time.