Update on NKOTB's new album and 2013 tour

The Boston Globe posted an article with some exciting news about NKOTB's new album and 2013 tour!

The highlights are:
Tour announcement: January 22
First single release: By end of the month
New album release: March

The article also mentions "Boston's Finest" and says there are still plans to make reality show about Wahlburgers, and they will probably tape a pilot for that in January. Here is the full article:

Donnie Wahlberg on Friday was talking up “Boston’s Finest,” the reality TV show he’s producing for TNT about the Boston Police Department. Chatting with members of the Television Critics Association in Pasadena, Wahlberg said he knows something about cops, having played one or two over the course of his acting career. “I’ve worked with cops for the last 15 years,” said Wahlberg, who currently plays a New York detective on the CBS series “Blue Bloods. “When I was on ‘Boomtown’ I worked with LA cops. On ‘Blue Bloods,’ I work with the New York cops. I know a lot about what their lives are like.” He said the eight-episode series, which premieres Feb. 27, will pay homage to the sort of people he grew up with in Dorchester, “quality human beings who do heroic things in a very dangerous environment.” The show, on which Wahlberg’s brother Bob serves as co-producer, follows members of the BPD’s gang unit, fugitive task force, and SWAT team, as well as patrol officers. It’s one of several projects Wahlberg is working on. Chatting with the Globe after Friday’s panel, he said he and brothers Mark and Paul are producing a reality show about Wahlburgers, the family’s restaurant in Hingham. “We’re probably going to shoot a pilot in January.” And then there’s the New Kids on the Block, Wahlberg’s not-so-new boy band with Joey McIntyre, Danny Wood, and Jordan and Jonathan Knight. NKOTB will release their latest single by the end of the month — from a new CD that’s likely to drop in March — and a tour will be announced Jan. 22. Asked about a local date, Wahlberg said, “We’re going to try to play in and around Boston more than once.”

Donnie Wahlberg at Turner Broadcasting's 2013 TCA Winter Tour

Donnie attended a press conference to talk about "Boston's Finest" at Turner Broadcasting's 2013 TCA (Television Critics Association) Winter Tour at Langham Hotel Pasadena, California today. Here are some links to some photos and articles.

Here is a promotional video about the show:

Donnie Wahlberg talks about "Boston's Finest"

Donnie talks about the new tv show, "Boston's Finest" in an article from Zap 2 It:

It seems there are a few places that reality television cameras shouldn't be -- but given today's audience, and our voyeuristic hunger for access, it's no surprise that those places are few and far between. Donnie Wahlberg's new TNT reality series "Boston's Finest" allows viewers unprecedented access into the personal and professional lives of real police officers in Boston.

At the Television Critics Association Press Tour on Friday, Wahlberg told reporters that the show hits particularly close to home for him -- literally, some of the cops that the show follows live on his older brother's street. Wahlberg had a few reservations about bringing a reality TV show to Boston, because he didn't want it to seem like he wanted to make the city look bad. He joked that reality producers are swarming his hometown. "'We want a bunch of drunk ladies like 'Jersey Shore' but they all say clam chowda!'" he jokes. "I'm from Boston. I can't do a show that exploits Boston."

Don't expect a show like "Cops," which sensationalizes people in their lowest moments. "I would not be allowed back in the city if I simply tried to make a Boston version of 'Cops,'" he says, noting that while he respects that series, this is a different kind of show. "'Cops' is a long-running, successful show, but I can't make 'Cops' in the city that I live in."

"Boston's Finest" examines the lives of beat officers, detectives, SWAT, fugitive and special task forces, and the highly decorated Gang Unit in the Boston Police Department.

Unlike "Cops," "Boston's Finest" will also follow the officers -- who live in the same neighborhoods that they serve and protect -- home. We'll meet their families and loved ones. Wahlberg describes the officers as "quality human beings who do heroic things in a very heroic environment."

"They grew up in neighborhoods where they could easily be a bad guy or a good guy," he adds. He chose to produce this show -- his first as producer -- in the interest of highlighting good people who made the right choices.

Wahlberg's brother, Mark Wahlberg, is a prolific producer, but he was aware that he had to be a bit more discerning. "Mark has a little more latitude as a producer than I do. I have to be a little more careful with the stuff I do," he says. "The story that I want to tell is about the people that I know."

The series will be paired with scripted drama "Southland," and is set to premiere Wednesday, Feb. 27, at 9 p.m. EST.