Donnie Wahlberg is working on not one but two more police dramas for CBS.
The Blue Bloods star has set up pilots for the two new projects for CBS Studios.
He will executive produce both shows, which are written by The Last Ship co-creator Steven Kane and NCIS writer Chad Gomez Creasey.
The first project, Samaritan, is a cyberpunk drama about a veteran cop working with a hustler, using an app to predict crimes before they happen.
The second show, Harbor Blue, focuses on the NYPD Harbor Unit handling crimes across the waterfront.
Both shows are still in the developmental stages as CBS prepares for the traditional pilot season and thus, no casts have been announced.
However, it offers a chance for Wahlberg to break away from merely playing Danny Reagan to become a producer of some other hit TV shows as well.
Donnie Wahlberg ventures into producing
Donnie Wahlberg has had a very unique career, starting with the 1980s boy band New Kids on the Block.
He followed in the footsteps of his brother Mark as an actor with various TV series before landing the role of Danny Reagan on Blue Bloods in 2010.
Wahlberg has remained busy with both Blue Bloods and a recent NKOTB reunion tour. He’s now working on producing some shows through CBS Studios.
Both projects have a unique story for police dramas in New York that could appeal to the network.
What are Donnie Wahlberg’s new shows about?
According to Deadline, the two shows take very different directions to a police procedural.
Samaritan starts on the premise that “after discovering a ‘glitch’ in an app that notifies her of crimes and emergencies before they happen, a young hustler teams with a grizzled detective to prevent the tragedies from ever occurring.”
The plotline is reminiscent of the acclaimed CBS drama Person of Interest and uses a cyberpunk theme for the police storylines.
Wahlberg, Kane, and Creasey will executive produce with Lillah McCarthy and Rain Productions’ Jonathan Baruch and Rob Wolken.
Harbor Blue is written and executive produced by Creasey. In it, ”a team of adrenaline junkies form the NYPD Harbor Unit, tasked with securing and policing the 576 miles of treacherous waterfront surrounding all five boroughs, delivering justice to criminals on and off the water.”
Creasey, Wahlberg, McCarthy, and Rain’s Baruch will executive produce.
Both shows are still in the planning stages, with no castings announced. There is also no guarantee either will be picked up for a full series with a busy pilot season expected.
However, the chances of Wahlberg having more than one police drama on CBS in 2023 is interesting and give Blue Bloods fans another reason to check out a different police show.
Blue Bloods Season 13 airs Fridays at 10/9c on CBS.
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Sounds like a good deal & I hope that the CBS network makes it happen.