"I'm busy with Blue Bloods": Tom Selleck has refused another series for the Reagan clan

In 2018, Tom Selleck gave his opinion on the remake of “Magnum” and his very clear answer on a potential appearance. (Re)discover his words.

In 2018, as the Magnum remake debuted on CBS, of course, all eyes were on Tom Selleck: What did he think of the reboot? Could he have starred in it? As a reminder, the original cop series, which starred him, ran on CBS from 1980 to 1988 and earned him an Emmy for best actor.

In this new version, which ended earlier this year after 5 seasons, Peter Lenkov (who already starred in the remakes Hawaii Five-0 and MacGyver) hired Jay Hernandez (The Expanse, Suicide Squad) to play Thomas Magnum, who, like his predecessor, was a former Navy Seal who became a private detective in Hawaii.

During this time, Tom Selleckhe was busy with his role as New York Police Commissioner Frank Reagan in Blue Bloods, another long-running series that will end this year – much to the dismay of the actors who rallied to save it.

The stars of the series do not agree, but Blue Bloods will end in 2024: why the network will not change its mind?

Interviewed by TV Guide Magazine and TV Insider in 2018, Tom Selleck had revealed the reasons why he had said “no” to playing in this new version. The actor said that he had been asked to come to CBS headquarters on the West Coast for a meeting with Lenkov and David Stapf, the president of CBS TV Studios.

“CBS is kind of my local network.”, he explained.I did The Young and the Restless and (most of) the Jesse Stone movies as well as Magnum and Blue Bloods with them.” The channel's representatives then told him that if he “had a problem” with the remake, their relationship was important enough that they didn't do it.Peter was very enthusiastic about the project; he grew up with Magnum and it was his dream”, added the actor.

Stapf suggested he talk to Les Moonves, CEO and chairman of the board of CBS Corporation. According to Selleck, Moonves explained that since Universal owned the series, they could “do whatever they wanted with it. Les (Moonves) said, 'We'd like to control the show, we think we can do a better job.'”

Tom Selleck continued: “I went home and thought about it for about a day. At the end of it, I thought, 'We couldn't have a tighter noose around our show. We wrapped our last episode when the show was number one in all of television. We're at the Smithsonian for recognizing Vietnam veterans in a positive light, the first show to really do that. And that led to countless other opportunities. I just felt like success is so hard to come by in this business, why would I want to encourage someone to fail. I just stepped back and said, 'I'm not going to get in your way.'”

But he also decided that he would not be part of the series in any way.They asked me and I said, 'Absolutely not. I'm busy with Blue Bloods.' But more than that“, he concedes, “It's never going to be what I wanted it to be in my fantasy world. I told them I wouldn't do a cameo to let the audience know I approve. I'm sure they'd like that, but I have an obligation to my version. And Peter is going to do his own interpretation of what a Magnum should be in similar circumstances.”

Not the first “no”

This was not the first time that Tom Selleck turned down an offer for the iconic role. In the early 90s, he worked with a big fan and best-selling author, Tom Clancy, on a film Magnum. “Tom and I worked on a story – a good story for a movie. The character wasn't finished: where we left him, he was back in the Navy. I thought it was time because I had success with feature films. Three men and a baby had been the number one film in the world.”

However, Universal Studios head Sidney Sheinberg had other ideas, Selleck explains: “I wasn't interested; they didn't see the big picture enough and they really messed it up.”

Over the years, Tom Selleck revealed that he had heard rumors about other movies and series ideas. While he didn't speak badly about them, he “was not particularly pleased“, he admitted. But this 2018 proposal, it, “seemed good because it would probably happen sooner or later. Why choose to be offended? This is Peter's dream, let him try. He is a nice man.”

Maybe now that Blue Bloods is cancelled, Tom Selleck could return in a new project: his Magnum dream he mentioned? We too can always dream.

Magnum (2018) can be found on TV on 13ème Rue or on VOD.

As for Blue Bloods, its last eight episodes will air this fall, every Friday in the United States. In France, you can find the series on Paramount+.