Blue Bloods season 7, episode 17 preview: Questioning CBS’ promo strategy

Blue Bloods season 7, episode 17 is going to be coming onto CBS Friday night, and we’ve got the first look at it below … however you want to define such a thing.

Here is the thing about the “Shadow of a Doubt” promo: It may be one of the worst promos that we’ve seen this season, and not because of anything the show’s done. It’s more because CBS has a default move sometimes when it comes to their previews: Make them as generic as possible. They don’t offer up anything when it comes to real insight, and you’re left leaving everyone wondering precisely what the point even was of airing something.

This new promo below could’ve easily been used for the first season of the show — Blue Bloods is about the Reagan family working together to solve problems in New York City. It’s that simple. We get it. We also get it that they are heroes. Why not actually tell us something about why this upcoming episode is great? We’re in season seven at this point. When you think about it, there aren’t exactly that many first-time viewers out there who are going to be like “oh, I think I’m going to watch this show because of this crazy and interesting promo.”

Maybe some people out there think that we’re going a little crazy over a subject that really is rather banal when you stop and think about it for a minute. Yet, the thing here is that promos define your show. They get people excited, and they are a bite-sized morsel of what to expect that many viewers miss out on. In giving a lifeless promo, you create the impression that your show doesn’t have anything exciting to say. We know that is not the case here.

Let’s go ahead and give you the synopsis for this episode now, just in case you have not seen it already:

“Jamie and Eddie suspect foul play when they respond to a distress call from a woman having an allergic reaction to her lifesaving medication, and learn that her husband is an EMT assigned to take her call, but didn’t respond. Also, Erin learns that a man she convicted years earlier might be innocent of the crime, and Frank handles a PR crisis in his department when an expose on Garrett Moore is published.”

What do you want to see on this upcoming Blue Bloods episode? Share in the comments below.

(Photo: CBS.)