Why America Loves Blue Bloods

Sunday dinner with the Reagan family is about to get more heated than usual. No, Blue Bloods viewers shouldn’t expect swearing or punching, but the CBS drama’s sixth-season finale features a volatile case involving police brutality against minorities that tests the familial civility during the weekly meal at the stately Brooklyn home of NYPD Commissioner Frank Reagan (Tom Selleck). Those family dinners, a hallmark of each episode, are a big reason for Blue Bloods’ ongoing popularity: In its sixth season, the show has won every Friday-night ratings race it’s been in, averaging 10.5 million viewers who watch live. “Legal and police cases drive the episodes,” says executive producer Kevin Wade, “but we’re careful to choose stories where there’s a built-in dilemma for our characters, and they consult one another as to whether justice is in fact black or white.”

Also in this issue:

• Finale Preview: Scoop on fan favorite shows like Grey’s Anatomy, Arrow, Empire, Scandal, Castle, Chicago Fire and more.

• The Good Wife: Julianna Margulies says goodbye to her Emmy-winning role

• Grace and Frankie: TV veterans Martin Sheen and Sam Waterston talk about their ageless comedic turns on the Netflix comedy

• Will These Shows Be Saved?: A look at the network series that have yet to be renewed. Is time running out?

• Plus: Houdini & Doyle, The Last Man on Earth, The Girlfriend Experience and more.

Game of Thrones Season 6: Sex, Secrets, Revenge and the Bloodiest Battles Yet

Welcome back to Westeros. Game of Thrones returns Sunday, April 24 with it’s most ambitious season yet. “The scale is a lot grander than anything we’ve done,” says executive producer Dan Weiss (at more than $10 million, the per-episode budget was reportedly the highest ever). “There are all kinds of violent struggles. Everybody is struggling with everybody else.” And this time, fans of George R.R. Martin’s bestselling novels don’t have a road map to the plot of the HBO series, which has now gone beyond the books. But the producers have been preparing for this challenge. “It wasn’t like, ‘We’re past the books now. What the hell do we do?’” executive producer David Benioff says. “We’ve been talking about where we’re heading for a long time. Specifics have to be fleshed out, but we know where the series ends. We know the landmarks.” We hit the set for all the scoop on what’s next for the Lannisters, Daenerys Targaryen and the surviving Starks.

Also in this issue:

• The Catch: Mireille Enos and Peter Krause dish on their red-hot roles in Shonda Rhimes’ sexy new thriller.

• Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt: Break out the—ahem—pinot noir! Ellie Kemper’s preternaturally optimistic doomsday-cult survivor is back for Season 2 of the Netflix comedy.

• The Big Bang Theory: The gang of geniuses continue to grow up, but how will a baby affect TV’s No. 1 sitcom?

• Anna Chlumsky: The Veep scene stealer talks about her unlikely return to TV and her breakout role on HBO’s political satire.

• 12 Monkeys: Syfy’s twisty time-traveling saga returns with the clock ticking down to a catastrophic global plague.

• Scorpion: The CBS drama wraps up the season with a nuclear meltdown, a crazed kidnapper… and a possible proposal.

• Daytime Emmys Preview: This year’s ceremony won’t be televised, but there’s still plenty to cheer for.

• Plus: Dancing With the Stars’ Nyle DiMarco and Peta Murgatroyd, Inside Amy Schumer, Criminal Minds: Beyond Borders, Banshee, Turn: Washington Spies, Limitless, Penny Dreadful and more.

Inside the Steamy Second Season of Starz’s Outlander

When Outlander returns on Saturday, April 9 fans will find themselves a long way from 18th century Scotland, the setting for (most of) Season 1. “It’s a completely different show in look and feel,” executive producer Ronald D. Moore says of the sophomore season. “We’re in Paris, with gilded candelabras, tapestries, the French aristocracy, the court of Louis the XV in Versailles. And there are lots of dark forces [at work].” Starz’s romantic time-traveling drama will still feature its trademark action, romance and intrigue, but the show’s swoon-worthy lead characters, Claire Randall (Caitriona Balfe) and Jamie Fraser (Sam Heughan) will face new challenges both political and personal. “The plotting [to provoke historical change] doesn’t bring out the best sides of Claire and Jamie,” Balfe says. “They are playing duplicitous roles, befriending people and using that information. Their honeymoon is over.”

Also in this issue:

• TV’s Hottest Couples: Claire and Jamie aren’t the only dynamic duos steaming up TV. From The Walking Dead’s #Richonne to Arrow’s #Olicity, there’s plenty to keep our pulses racing.

• Garry Shandling: Senior critic Matt Roush pays tribute to the groundbreaking comedian.

• American Idol: As the iconic reality competition gets ready to sing its final note, we look back on 15 seasons of a TV phenomenon.

• Confirmation: Kerry Washington—who knows a thing or two about scandal—stars as Anita Hill in HBO’s dramatization of the 1991 Senate battle over Supreme Court nominee Clarence Thomas.

• Madam Secretary: Erich Bergen and Patina Miller take us on a behind-the-scenes tour of their CBS Beltway drama.

• The Real Housewives of Dallas: Meet the larger-than-life cast of Bravo’s newest edition to the reality franchise.

• Plus: Fear the Walking Dead, Little Big Shots, Marvel’s Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D., House of Lies, General Hospital’s Jane Elliot and more.

Hugh Laurie Returns: The House Star is Back on TV in a Big Way

Four years after House delivered its final diagnosis, Hugh Laurie is back on TV—in a big way. His new AMC series, The Night Manager, premieres April 19, plus he returns to HBO’s Veep later this spring, and he’ll also headline the upcoming Hulu series Chance. Laurie admits that the grueling House schedule and his commitment to perfection didn’t bring out the best in him. “I used to think that if a thing isn’t painful, then you’re not doing it right,” he says. “That is such a pain in the ass for everybody else. I’m sure I was an absolutely horrible person to work with. Grumpy. Obsessive. Mildly paranoid.” But he felt compelled by the challenge of The Night Manager, a miniseries adaptation of John le Carré’s novel, playing Richard Roper, a morally bankrupt arms dealer opposite Thor star Tom Hiddleston. “Villainy is a well-trodden path,” Laurie says. “So what would the ‘worst man’ look like? How would you represent that? I thought it was an interesting challenge.”g

Also in this issue:

• Spring Preview: A look at some of the best new shows coming, including ABC’s latest TGIT drama The Catch; Aaron Paul’s Hulu thriller The Path; the Netflix comedy The Ranch, which reunited That ’70s Show alums Ashton Kutcher and Danny Masterson; and more.

• The Walking Dead: What to expect as Season 6 comes to a close.

• Plus: Dancing With the Stars, Quantico’s Marcia Cross, the Supergirl/The Flash crossover event; Empire’s return and more.