Donnie Wahlberg recently revealed the real secrets behind the Blue Bloods cast’s marathon Sunday dinner shoots scenes that often stretched to eight hours. “Everybody’s eating on Blue Bloods,” Wahlberg said. “Everyone had a trick. Bridget would just push her potatoes around with her fork. And everyone knows Tom would butter his roll for six hours.”
Though the iconic weekly dinners became a beloved tradition, Tom Selleck admitted years earlier that filming them wasn’t nearly as cozy as they looked. “Filming an eating scene is miserable,” he told PEOPLE in 2013. “You have to eat the same foods over and over again. We’ll probably spend eight hours shooting this scene.”
Now, with the launch of the new spinoff Boston Blue, those family-style moments live on this time with the Silvers family. Sonequa Martin-Green, who plays Lena Silvers, says the series honors the Reagan legacy while carving out its own identity. “They couldn’t be more different, but they’re also so similar… It’s crime, it’s doing the right thing, it’s sacrifice.”
The Boston Blue cast is already discovering the challenges of endless food takes. Martin 
Green confessed she once overdid it on brisket, and Marcus Scribner had his own overeating mishap. “We all take turns being like, ‘Okay, I had too much,’” she joked.
Even with the behind-the-scenes struggles, fans continue to cherish these scenes for the warmth, humor, and authenticity they bring to the franchise.
Catch new episodes of Boston Blue Fridays on CBS.