The cast of 'Blue Blood' (L-R) Will Estes, Len Cairou, Tom Selleck, Bridget Moynahan and Donnie Wahlberg

MANILA, Philippines - The show debuted in the U.S. as the highest rated Friday night premiere in six years and has been praised for its “compelling characters, brilliant writing and engaging plot lines.” But “Blue Bloods” has a pop culture fact going for it: it’s the TV comeback of Tom Selleck, known to many as Thomas Magnum of the classic series “Magnum P.I.”

But while the buzz around the show has centered on the man with the iconic and (as described even in Wikipedia as) glorious mustache, what really brings this up to plate for a possibility of a clean home run is that it’s a show with a lot of heart, and it is not afraid to go deep into inevitable personal and professional clashes of its main characters of a multi-generational family of New York City cops.

The show’s producers have also lucked out with their ensemble cast: Selleck as New York police commissioner Frank Reagan; Donnie Wahlberg (“Band of Brothers”) as the Iraqi war vet and now detective eldest son; Broadway luminary Len Cairou (“The West Wing”) as the retired ex-commissioner Reagan patriarch; Bridget Moynahan (“Coyote Ugly”) as the only girl in the family who also happens to be a New York Assistant District Attorney; and Will Estes (“American Dreams”) as the youngest Reagan, fresh out of Harvard Law and the family's “golden boy.”

Estes, through a phone call from across the world, shares with Bulletin Entertainment what it has been like for him to be a part of the show and working with his co-stars. “I did know ‘Magnum P.I.,’ I enjoyed Tom Selleck and the red Ferrari,” he begins. “So working with him now, it’s really a great experience. He’s very professional… he’s very studied, he knows his character very well. I think the rest of us have come to learn a lot from him.”

Playing the Harvard Law graduate who succumbs to what seems to be his family’s calling—that of being law enforcers—Estes describes his character, Jamie as “a very smart guy but has the wisdom to follow his heart and convictions.”

In the pilot episode, which is set to premiere on AXN, Southeast Asia’s No. 1 international channel, Jamie had a quiet, controlled air about him that hints at something deeper brewing underneath. “I never set out to play him quietly,” Estes notes. “I think he came from a family of very strong personalities and, I think, as the youngest there, you either become very quiet or very loud (laughs). I don’t think Jaime can outshout anyone in his family, so he became someone who thought before he spoke, someone who thinks before he leaps…”

But while the actor notes that the characteristic is something that’s “come out naturally” and is “built into the character, in the writing,” he also may have given hints on how Jamie might develop as the series progresses. “So far it works. We’ll see how quiet he’ll stay,” he says with slight humor, “but right now that’s his personality.”

With the show’s very promising opening in the U.S., and what its makers hope would be repeated in Asia, expectations are inevitably high. More so, there is pressure for the writers as well as the actors in keeping the series in top form. For now, however, being in a hit show is “fantastic,” Estes says. “As an actor on a show, you’re always trying to achieve the same thing. You’re trying to tell the story as best you know how, through the character… That’s really the job, as I see it, of an actor. So when you hear the numbers are good, or they call it a hit show, it doesn’t really change anything that we’re trying to do.”

But the good reviews, which they naturally hope would translate to a good solid following is always a plus “because ultimately, all our work, it’s for an audience. If people like it then that feels really good. We’re all excited to be here… and I hope I get to do it for a long time.”

Following a long tradition of cop shows and current police procedural dramas—some of which are even set in New York—Estes hopes “Blue Bloods” would make that mark. As a rookie cop in the show, Estes also works with Nicholas Turturro—who plays his field training officer. Turturro, for cop show fans, is also known for his role as Sargeant James Martinez in “NYPD Blue” from 1993-2000. We could almost imagine Turutto giving Estes some pointers on how it is to play a cop. “Nic and I get along great; we’re having a lot of fun,” Estes shares. “We’ve developed a friendship outside of the show and I think it carries over to the things that we get to do onscreen.”

The show does fit into that niche, and Estes says, “I think it will serve as, sort of, a cornerstone. And I hope it will be a great cop show that’s on TV for a long time.”

He also points out, “I think it’s different in that it’s not purely a procedural. I think it’s a show that incorporates the excitement and the pace and the plot of a hard-driving procedural but at its heart and center is a character-driven drama. I think that the best episodes of popular procedurals are the ones where you find out about the main characters and about what affects the characters that you know and care about every week.”

Meet the Reagan family in “Blue Bloods,” which premieres with a double episode on Tuesday, Feb. 22 at 9 p.m. first and exclusively on AXN.  Succeeding episodes will air Tuesdays at 10 p.m.