Line of Fire: NBC's answer to Blue Bloods draws 8.6 million

Screen Rant says NBC's Line of Fire is off to a strong start, and not just because it borrows the family-in-law-enforcement idea from Blue Bloods. The show follows the Hollingsworths, who are spread across the FBI, U.S. Marshals, Secret Service and the Department of Justice. Their jobs keep overlapping, so an investigation can become a family argument before anyone leaves the office.

Blue Bloods ran 14 seasons on CBS before ending in 2024. CBS tried to extend the franchise with Boston Blue, starring Donnie Wahlberg as Danny Reagan in his new Boston posting. But Screen Rant argues that show mostly stays in the original's shadow. Line of Fire, by contrast, widens the map from the start.

Screen Rant points to the second episode, 'A Bigger Picture,' as an early example. Jane's work with the U.S. Marshals puts her directly against Clare's FBI case in the same investigation. That kind of conflict was the engine of Blue Bloods, where family members often landed on opposite sides of a case.

The bigger difference is structure. Line of Fire gives the Hollingsworths a season-long conspiracy that puts the family in danger, on top of the weekly cases. The family is also less tidy than the Reagans. Mike and Jane are estranged, and loyalty to family has to compete with loyalty to each agency.

Screen Rant reports the premiere drew 8.6 million viewers once encores and other platforms were counted, a 48% improvement in NBC's Monday 10 p.m. slot compared with last fall. For a new broadcast drama, that is a promising opening.

New episodes run Mondays at 10 p.m. EDT on NBC.

• Blue Bloods
• Boston Blue
• Donnie Wahlberg
• Line of Fire
• NBC
• ratings