Tom Selleck once underlined the key difference between Jesse Stone and Blue Bloods' Frank Reagan, and where the line is for both characters. Prior to jumping on Blue Bloods, Selleck was busy playing the title role in the Jesse Stone TV movie series. Despite being played by Selleck, Stone and Frank Reagan are total opposites in many ways. Reagan is a religious family man who always upholds the law, whereas Stone is a nihilistic, alcoholic loner who essentially needs his job to function.

Jesse Stone's creator laid out two rules to Selleck for the character: one is that he's forever hung up on his ex-wife, and the second is that he will always have a drinking problem. In short, Jesse is a darker character than Frank, who has a loving family to back him up. Of course, they are similar in certain areas, including ensuring the guilty pay for their...