Tom Selleck's New Careers After Blue Bloods Are Cancelled

How it all started . . .

One day, a few weeks ago, I was sitting at my dining room table enjoying a box of Kentucky Fried Chicken, a cup of fresh Community coffee, and suddenly Tom Selleck, superstar actor popped into my mind. I didn't think that much of it at the time. And continued to eat my Kentucky Fried Chicken like any normal man would do. Then, as I took out a chicken leg, he was there again. Tom Selleck. Smiling the devilish smile and not saying a word. One time, coincidence. Two times, I didn't know. Now I was getting more annoyed than concerned. I do not like to be interrupted as I eat my Kentucky Fried Chicken.

I finished my meal. Cleared the table and headed for my trusty old couch in my living room for my daily nap. Ahhh, I felt good. Ready to sleep an hour or two in peaceful bliss. No, not today. Fate didn't have me napping like a baby today. I tossed to the right. There he was. Tom Selleck. I tossed to the left. Tom Selleck. I got up, very cranky, from not getting my nap, and went outside. There he was. Tom Selleck. Standing in the bushes near my front yard. Boy, did he look foolish crept down behind those bushes. He looked like a "peeping tom." No pun, intended.

Now I appreciate Tom Selleck, the illustrious star of televison and films as much as any man, but I would like the respect of being called when Selleck of any famous man or woman is going to pay me a visit. That is just plain good manners, if you ask me. Even Tom Selleck should know better than to scare a man of my age, 57. I do not have the cat-like reflexes as I did when I was 20. And that, my friends, is hard to deal with.

Let's talk briefly about Tom Selleck's career . . .

Currently, Tom Selleck is the star of CBS' Friday night hit, Blue Bloods. Selleck plays Frank Reagan, police commissioner of New York City. His two sons, Donnie Wahlberg plays Danny, Will Estes, plays Jamie, his daugher, Bridget Moynahan, plays Erin Reagan-Boyle, the assistant district attorney while Lou Cariou, plays Frank's dad, Henry. Blue Bloods is a fine mixture of drama, action, and suspense--all well-meshed to make a great show about how the modern-day policeman (or woman) deals with life on a daily basis.

Selleck, I suppose, is best-known for his televison signature role as Thomas Magnum, or Magnum, P.I., also on CBS. Selleck played a single man, with Naval experience who wanted to be a private detective in Hawaii. Magnum stays at the estate of famous 'writer' Robin Masters and the estate is managed by veteran actor, John Hillerman, who plays Higgins who always gives Magnum a hard time about his lifestyle of keeping late hours, partying with beautiful girls and boozing with his buddies, Roger E. Mosley, who played T.C., his Vietnam buddy who now owns a helicopter-for-rent for tourists and Orville Wright, or Rick, played by another Vietnam buddy, Larry Minetti. With Magnum whizzing around the island territories in Robin Master's red Ferrari, and dealing with beautiful girl clients each week, throw in the schemes (to help Magum) by T.C. and Rick, you have yourself a dynamite show. And CBS knew full-well what having a huge show like Magnum, P.I. meant. Money. And lots of it.

But one sad day, Magnum, P.I. was cancelled . . .

and one sad day, when the ratings begin to slump, so will Blue Bloods be put on the chopping block. This is sad, but a fact of the television industry. It doesn't take a Harvard graduate to figure out the equation of viewer-supported hit show equals big advertising revenues. But when the viewer-support (drops) on the hit show, so do the big advertising revenues, and with "fixes" to the ailing show like plot and character changes, characters being 'killed off' the show to boost ratings, then the inevitable happens. Cancellation. Nothing personal. Just television business. And I hate to be the one to bring bad news, but one day in the future, Blue Bloods will be history. Sorry, folks. But you know as well as I do if you are a fan of television, that this fact of cancelling a show is the 'nature of the beast.' Hey, I shed tears when Barney Miller, (ABC), was cancelled. And I also felt depressed when M*A*S*H left the air, but wasn't cancelled. Actors burn out. Screenwriters get burned out. Change is always just one script away.

But what will Tom Selleck do when his Blue Blood days are over . . .?

I'm so glad I asked that question, for I have several answers for our friend, Tom Selleck, who even looks good hunkered down behind bushes. Told you he was that versatile. Tom is lucky, more like blessed, to have someone like me who has thought ahead into his future to secure a good job for him as his days of fame are slowly fading into entertainment history.

Alex O'Loughlin

the 'darling and workhorse of CBS,' could star in the New Magnum, P.I. set in the same picturesque Hawaiian islands and have Tom Selleck co-star as his long-long brother, Tommy, who was a prisoner-of-war who the Navy Seals rescued and now lives with O'Loughlin, the new, more-modern, stylish, smooth-talking, New Magnum, P.I. For some reason, the plot has it that each week, O'Loughlin faces a task that he isn't experienced to tackle, so Selleck/Tommy comes up with this brainstorm from somewhere out of the blue and the New Magnum, O'Loughlin, is the hero again while Tommy/Selleck remains in the shadows.

Batman

do not tell me that Tom Selleck couldn't be Batman. I will not buy that. Everyone else on the block has played the caped crusader--Val Kilmer, George Klooney, Michael Keaton, so why not Selleck? All that is required is an upgraded Batmobile, Robin, Alfred and plot, and you have yourself a mega-billion-dollar movie. Does this make sense? It makes good 'cents' to me. Selleck has the body. The looks. The suave manners. Smooth talk. Witty remarks. So why doesn't Hollywood have Selleck star as Batman? I need to get on that right away.

Body Builder

would be an ideal job for Tom Selleck after Blue Bloods is nothing more than a clipping in someone'scrapbook. Selleck is still in good shape. Good shape enough to be in body building competition. And talk about sponsors! Companies like Hawaiian Tropic, V-8, Johnson's baby oil, to name a few, would be clamouring to be Selleck's sponsors. I can guarantee you this: every body building event Selleck entered would be an instant sell-out with tickets mostly bought by ladies, both single, married, and those not wanting to stay married.

Used Car Salesman

this is a gimme. No description required. Selleck could show up on the used car lot where he works, dressed in everyday clothes, and sell the entire lot of cars before noon. Then he could go home, nap, count his money and go back the next day and do it all over again. Selleck's patented, copyrighted sales pitch: "Buy this car," is all he would ever say. The customer, a lady, would have pen-in-hand ready to sign the papers. Selleck's fame would work for him for years.

Game Show Host

what game show's ratings wouldn't go through the roof with Tom Selleck as host? There is not a game show that Selleck couldn't host and with little or no rehearsing. Just Tom being Tom would be more than sufficient to have a game show like, "Bowling For Puppies," number one in America overnight. Now, on this show, Selleck would be expected to dress the part--tuxedo, black patent leather shoes, bow tie, ruffled shirt, the works. And that cute Selleck smile and eyebrows going up and down, the audience would eat it up. Hey, talk about a great mix. Family Feud that once had Richard Dawson the kissing-host, would be the ideal show for Tom Selleck. When he walked to ask the families their questions, all the females would pass out. What a "ratings monster."

Lifeguard

on any beach. Tom Selleck is a natural for being a lifeguard. Hey, a remake of Bay Watch is just what the doctor ordered. He can do his lifeguard work in his off-time. But what David Hasselhoff lacked in being a star, Tom Selleck could just show up in swimming trunks and the show would be headed for number one immediately. Oh, the co-stars, the girls, Selleck would be in charge of who is a Bay Watch Babe an who is not. What a drudgery.

Lion Tamer

can you just see Tom Selleck in his jungle wardrobe with whip and chair going head-to-head, even wrestling two male lions in a cage in the Barnum-Bailey Circus? This would be a block buster of a job for Selleck. He wouldn't have to get rough with the lions either. Just one angry look from his eyes and the lions would turn into kittens. Of course, Selleck would have a pretty girl assistant. I would say, Lindsey Lohan, to aid her rehabbing from drugs.

Cowboy Crooner

and I am serious. I think I have heard Tom Selleck sing before. Somewhere on some sitcom, I am not sure, but as talented as Tom Selleck is, singing lessons would be a formality. Tom would star in a weekly-series called, "Western Lawmen," and Selleck, who could "act' like he is strumming his guitar, could sing to the girl of his heart each week. Yes, Selleck, with ten-gallon hat, bandanna, and guitar over his shoulder, would win the heart of all the girls on his new western show. It worked for Roy Rogers. Why not Tom Selleck?

Scarecrow

this one I threw in to give Tom Selleck a place for some "me time." What better way to relax from the rigours of show business, even in his latter years, than being a scarecrow guarding some farmer's pumpkin patch. Selleck could sleep, relax, and not even move all day long, but if one day, a lady customer who wants to buy her little "Tommy" a pumpkin for his birthday, happens to see that the great-looking scarecrow is Tom Selleck, the show is over. Soon, the pumpkin patch will be overrun with attention-starved women wanting to pose with Selleck the scarecrow.

Danny Zuko, Leader of The T-Birds in Grease

is just what Tom Selleck's agent ordered. Tom has 'that' masculine appeal that cannot be dampered with a black wig and a little make-up. No sir. He is Danny Zuko, in the remake of Grease, now called New Grease, with co-star, Taylor Swift, as Sandy, who is playing Olivia Newton John's old role. This is a workable movie. Selleck and his T-Birds, Ethan Hawke, Denzel Washington, Rob Morrow, and John Goodman as "Tiny," this movie would rake in money by the wheelbarrow full.

The Duke, John Wayne

This folks, I am serious about. Tom Selleck starring as John Wayne in the autobiographical accounts of The Duke in his rise to stardom and ultimately, the "king of Hollywood." Tom Selleck, to me, could pull this role off with little work. Selleck has starred in some western shows before, Quigley Down Under, and The Shadow Riders, so this role of The Duke shouldn't be that hard. I would be the first to buy a ticket if some sensible-thinking producers in Hollywood would just set this up. I am completely-serious. Tom Selleck could easily win an Oscar for his portrayal of The Duke. Are you with me?

Now. I feel much better at knowing that after Blue Bloods is over, Tom Selleck, I call him Tom, will have several jobs to choose from to bolster his career and keep his fame alive.

Now that Tom Selleck's career is safe, who's next?

My office is open.