No one’s been stumping for “Blue Bloods” to continue harder than Donnie Wahlberg — and with CBS’ recent announcement that it’s planning to franchise out the family-centered procedural, it looks like he’ll be getting his wish. But the question remains: will it involve Wahlberg somehow? The actor was pretty cagey when a fan asked him if this is really the end of the road for Danny Reagan and his clan.

Captured during a Q&A session held for VIPs during the latest New Kids on the Block tour (via Instagram), Wahlberg seemed pretty optimistic about more to come beyond the end of the likely December conclusion of “Blue Bloods.” “Well, we filmed the apparent last season of ‘Blue Bloods,’ and it’ll air starting in October. Maybe there’ll be something else after that. I don’t know anything officially yet, but there’s things in the works. So maybe something awesome will happen.”

It sounds as if there have been talks with Wahlberg to ensure he stays a part of the show’s universe when it spins off in the distant future, but, obviously, nothing has been confirmed at this stage in the game. If the new project does end up centering around his character, though, that will be an intriguing development. There were, after all, rumblings about discussions being extended between CBS and Wahlberg regarding a Danny-related spin-off.

Apparently, there were some discussions between CBS and Donnie Wahlberg’s people about developing a Danny Reagan spin-off, but negotiations broke down and the series never made it into the conceptualization stage. While the comments he made during the NKOTB concert are promising, only time will tell if the situation has changed.

Either way, like the long-aborning “Fire Country” spin-off series, “Sheriff Country,” CBS is taking its time with any potential “Blue Bloods” follow-up shows. “We don’t have anything that’s going to be in development soon, but it’s a brand, a title and a show that is beloved,” CBS Studios president David Stapf told Deadline about the prospect of the series continuing. “We’ve got to get it right, so we’re taking our time and trying to figure it out, ‘OK, what is the next iteration of Blue Bloods?’ We have a whole season to go where we intend to celebrate it all season long… so there’s still time for us to figure that out.”

CBS Entertainment president Amy Reisenbach previously demurred on the topic of the network adding more seasons of the New York-based procedural to its schedule. “We love this cast, we love their passion for the show. All shows have to come to an end. It’s important to us to refresh the schedule. We are going to end the show come December.” Yet the network seems willing to add to the drama’s universe, in spite of this edict. The bottom line is: one should never count the Reagans out, even when they’re down.