Getty/Heavy Lori Loughlin
Lori Loughlin is returning to TV for her two biggest roles since the college admissions scandal. She’s reprising an older role from a popular TV series, and she’s taking on a lead role for a new TV show launching on Prime Video in January.
Lori Loughlin Is Reviving Her 2016 Role on ‘Blue Bloods’
Loughlin is appearing in season 14 episode 14 of “Blue Bloods,” Newsday reported. The episode, called “New York Minute,” marks the return of her character Grace Edwards. Grace was last seen in the season 7 premiere, where she begged Police Commissioner Frank Reagan (played by Tom Selleck) to convince her son not to join the police force, after her NYPD officer husband was killed in the line of duty.
Loughlin’s role in the 2016 episode of “Blue Bloods” happened before the college admissions scandal. She just filmed her season 14 scenes in April and May in Brooklyn, Newsday shared. Her episode airs on Friday, November 8.
This is the final season of “Blue Bloods.” Loughlin told Newsday that the mood on set was grateful and warm.
“They were feeling very nostalgic and grateful for the time they’ve had together,” Loughlin said. “A lot of affection and warmth, because everyone was trying to just embrace the final moments. … I think at that point there was a little bit of hope that maybe CBS would reverse the decision.”
She shared that after filming wrapped, she stayed a few extra days to spend time with her mother. Billy Joel was playing at the Garden while she was filming, she told Newsday, so she got tickets for herself, her brother, and his wife.
Loughlin Is Starring in a New Series Airing on Prime Video
Loughlin is also going to play a lead role in “On Call,” a new police drama by Dick Wolf launching on Prime Video, TV Line reported. The series drops all eight half-hour episodes on January 9, 2025.
The new series’ synopsis reads: “an adrenalized and visceral police drama that follows a rookie and veteran officer duo as they go on patrol in Long Beach, Calif. Incorporating a mixture of bodycam, dash-camera, and cellphone footage to create a cinema verité effect, the innovative series explores the morality of protecting and serving a community.”
The series stars Loughlin as Lieutenant Bishop, Eriq La Salle as Sergeant Lasman, Rich Ting as Sergeant Koyama, Troian Bellisario as veteran officer Traci Harmon, and Brandon Larracuente as ambitious rookie Alex Diaz, TV Line shared.
Loughlin Reprised Her Role as Abigail for ‘When Hope Calls’
The “Blue Bloods” role isn’t the first time that Loughlin has reprised an old role since the college admissions scandal. In 2021, she starred as Abigail on the “When Hope Calls” Christmas special that aired on Great American Family. “When Hope Calls” is a spinoff of “When Calls the Heart.”
After news about the Loughlin scandal broke, Hallmark put “When Calls the Heart” season 6 on hiatus while they figured what to do after dropping Loughlin from the network. Loughlin was filming for Hallmark when she surrendered to the FBI and was arraigned in federal court, Deadline reported.
Fox News noted that creative editing was being used to remove her from the rest of season 6. The changes not only caused a late return for “When Calls the Heart” season 6, but also delayed the “Good Witch” premiere that season.
Hallmark has not announced any plans or interest in bringing Loughlin back.
Stephanie Dube Dwilson is a sports and entertainment contributor for Heavy covering Texas Longhorns football and Hallmark. She covered the presidential election results live in 2016 & 2020 for Heavy. She's an attorney with a master's in science and technology journalism, and runs a website on UFO news and FOIA reports called The Verified Report. More about Stephanie Dube Dwilson