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“Who the hell do you think you are?” Tom Selleck risked everything to save Magnum P.I. from disaster

Tom Selleck's persistence helped make Mangum P.I. what we know today. However, the actor risked a lot by opposing the network.

Edyta Jastrzebska

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“Who the hell do you think you are?” Tom Selleck risked everything to save Magnum P.I. from disaster, image source: Magnum P.I., Donald P. Bellisario and Glen A. Larson, CBS, 1980.
“Who the hell do you think you are?” Tom Selleck risked everything to save Magnum P.I. from disaster Source: Magnum P.I., Donald P. Bellisario and Glen A. Larson, CBS, 1980.

Mangum P.I. is an important production for Tom Selleck, for which he not only sacrificed the role of Indiana Jones, but also risked his entire career. He did so because he believed in the potential of the TV series and the character he was to play, which was not realized by the first script that came into his hands.

The script for Magnum P.I. pilot was “horrible.” The actor felt that something more could have been done with Thomas Magnum, who lacked any depth in this version, he was too perfect like Bond. The actor knew that this was a simple way to kill an interesting project, so he had to be clear – changes were needed.

During an interview with Esquire, Selleck told how he received great advice from Jim Garner. When Selleck mentioned to him that a poor script had come into his hands, he heard, “You don’t have any power, but if they want you for this part, you will never have more power than you do at this moment.”

That’s what I did. I took a stand and said, “No.” The studio said, “Who the hell do you think you are? You’ve never even been on the air.” But they got a new writer, and he wrote a great pilot. If it didn’t work, I don’t think I ever would have worked again. The studio would have seen to that.

Fortunately, everything went Selleck's way. He managed to put his best foot forward and, as he confessed, “The network loved Don Bellisario's pilot for Magnum.” However, they had one more fight ahead of them – the network wanted references to Vietnam to be dropped from the character's story. Bellisario and Selleck objected, which was appreciated, as Selleck found out years later when he was thanked for the fact that Magnum P.I. was “the first show that recognized Vietnam veterans in a positive light.”

Making Magnum P.I. we know today was no easy task, but thanks to Selleck's tenacity, he was able to bring this version of history to life.

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Edyta Jastrzebska

Author: Edyta Jastrzebska

A graduate of journalism and social communication as well as cultural studies. She started at Gamepressure.com as one of the newspeople in the films department. Currently she oversees the Gamepressure movie&TV newsroom. She excels in the field of film and television, both in reality-based and fantasy themes. Keeps up with industry trends, but in her free time she prefers to watch less known titles. Has a complicated relationship with popular ones, which is why she only gets convinced about many of them when the hype around them subsides. Loves to spend her evenings not only watching movies, series, reading books and playing video games, but also playing text RPGs, which she has been into for several years.