Blue Bloods' Use Of 'Forthwith' Is Definitely Not A Running Joke

During an interview with TV Line's Matt Webb Mitovich, as shared by Express, "Blue Bloods" showrunner Kevin Wade denied the existence of a long-running wordplay gag. While he loved the idea that fans thought there was a joke hidden in plain sight (plain hearing? No, that sounds weird), he assured Mitovich that any perceived over-usage of "forthwith" stemmed from actual police lingo.

"We used to use [forthwith] a lot in the early, early seasons because it's an incredibly arcane NYPD thing that's actually still used," admitted Wade. "We were always like, 'Nooo, some guy on the street with a cup of coffee and a donut is saying, 'Yeah, do that forthwith?' ... We use it occasionally, but this reader is perhaps thinking we use it more than we do." Wade went on to say that he's found himself actively cutting the word more often because of the fan response but that there are times when the term serves too vital of a narrative function to excise. 

In the end, this is a case of art imitating life until life told art to get more creative. Which begs the question, then, how long before the actual NYPD changes the term to avoid the same sort of comic backlash?