The Reagan family's Sunday dinner is the centerpiece scene of virtually every episode of the CBS drama "Blue Bloods." Are the actors really eating the food? Or are they just picking at it?

The answer is yes and yes.


"All the actors eat to varying degrees," said Jim Lillis, the show's property master. "Some are good at faking it. They are very good at making it look like they're really enjoying a hearty dinner."

Among his jobs is setting the Reagans' table.

The great pretenders in the cast are the actors who butter their bread but never taste it or cut up their meat and move it around the plate but never take a bite. Bridget Moynahan (Erin Reagan-Boyle) admits to mashing her food without ever tasting it.

Others sip water in lieu of eating.

It will again be Sunday dinner at the Reagans at 10 p.m. Friday when "Blue Bloods" returns for a sixth season. In that episode, the New York City police department, led by Commissioner Frank Reagan (Tom Selleck), goes on high alert after a terrorist attack in the Middle East.

In a phone interview, Lillis provided fodder for 15 things you likely never knew about "Blue Bloods" and the Reagans' dinner:

1. The script says it's the dinner hour. In fact, the dinner scene is shot in the morning, starting around 9 a.m. "It's usually first up on the shooting schedule," Lillis said.

2. "Blue Bloods" is filmed in New York City on locations in Brooklyn, Queens and the East Village, to name a few. On TV, we see the Reagans gather to eat in the home that Selleck's character shares with his father, Henry Reagan (Len Cariou), the retired commissioner. The dinner takes place on a set at the Broadway Stages, located in the Greenpoint neighborhood of Brooklyn.

3. Filming those dinners involves considerable logistics. Long before the nine actors sit down at their plates of catered food to discuss cases, solve problems and absorb the wisdom of elders, the set is fussed over by the property master and his staff, the cinematographer, set decorators Janet Shaw and Kathleen Dolan and the folks from the lighting and sound departments. The food generally arrives around 7 a.m.

4. The actors have no part in choosing the menu. That's a collaboration between Lillis, the writers and the owners of the restaurant that caters the dinners, John and Treva Chadwell of The BeeHive Oven in Brooklyn.

5. While cast members are not consulted about what food will be served, Lillis is aware of the likes and dislikes of the actors. "Tom's a steak and potatoes kind of guy," he said.

6. Preparing the dinner is a challenge for the caterer. Sami Gayle (Nicky Reagan-Boyle), who fretted about food getting trapped in her braces when she wore them early on in the series, tells interviewers that she doesn't eat red meat. Donnie Wahlberg (Danny Reagan) eats the vegetables and then complains that they give him gas. Will Estes (Jamie Reagan) avoids turkey because he believes the tryptophan in it slows him down "so you can't act worth beans."

7. Selleck, in a recent magazine interview with People, said of filming the dining scene, "It's miserable. You have to eat the same foods over and over again to get all the shots." He later confessed to the readers of Emmy magazine, "I always have my spit bucket ready."

The spit bucket is available to all in the cast but rarely used, Lillis said.


8. Youngsters Tony Terraciano (Jack Reagan), 14, and Andrew Terraciano (Sean Regan), 12, exhibit healthy appetites when the cameras are rolling. Lillis: "The kids eat a lot. Really a lot."

9. Since the Reagans are an Irish-American family, the menus often reflect that heritage.

"It's usually a pot roast, maybe meat loaf, roast chicken with some version of potatoes. Green vegetables. Always dinner rolls. That basically is my mother's menu, the one I grew up with because I'm also Irish-Catholic."

10. That's not wine in those glasses. It's grape juice.

11. Salmon was on the menu for an episode of a few years ago. Since then, fish hasn't been served. "We avoid it," Lillis said. That's because the shoot may take hours. Fish is fragile.

12. The Irish-American Reagans sometimes go Italian. "Lasagna, spaghetti and meatballs," Lillis said.

13. Caterer John Chadwell remembers an episode when the script called for meatballs on the dinner table. "We made enough meatballs for the nine actors to each do 20 takes," he said. That came to about 480 meatballs.

14. While the actors are free to make believe they are eating the pork chops, prime rib, duck, stew or whatever, there is a rule they are obliged to follow: No delivering their dialogue with a mouth full.

15. The Chadwells of The BeeHive Oven prepare the food in their restaurant at 182 South Second St. in Brooklyn and bring it in heated, insulated pans and trays to the Broadway Stages. "Very hot," John Chadwell says of temperatures inside the tray carriers. His restaurant is 15 minutes away from where filming takes place.

"It's a really unique challenge," he said of preparing meals that must be served hot and camera-ready at all times. "It's also fun to do."

Expect the Reagans to sit down to a dinner of pork chops, mashed potatoes, string beans and a tossed green salad during Friday's season premiere.

Larry Bonko, lbonko@cox.net