Back From the Island

Perhaps lightning will strike twice for Tom Selleck and CBS.

After all, Selleck starred in one of the network’s most successful series of the ‘80s, the lighthearted detective series “Magnum, P.I.” Selleck won an Emmy and a Golden Globe as the charming Honolulu-based shamus Thomas Sullivan Magnum.

And now the actor is back on series TV in the well-publicized comedy “The Closer,” which premieres Monday at 9 p.m on CBS.

For his return, Selleck has traded his colorful Hawaiian shirts and shorts for Armani suits, black turtlenecks and wire-rim glasses to play the egotistical but charming Denver advertising executive Jack McLaren.

Selleck, 53, who recently received good reviews for his performance as a gay journalist in the film “In & Out,” was lured back to television after his successful guest-star stint two years ago as Courteney Cox’s boyfriend on “Friends.”

During breaks in rehearsal at a Warner Bros. sound stage, Selleck chatted in his dressing room about “The Closer” and why he wants to take risks.

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Question: Do you have the same feelings of anticipation with “The Closer” as you did 18 years ago with “Magnum, P.I.”?

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Answer: It was a very fascinating time and in some ways I am going through it again. “Magnum” was low expectations. When we had shot four or five episodes of “Magnum” and we hadn’t gone on the air yet, as a person it was natural to think, “My life is going to change,” especially at that point in my life. Now, in a different kind of way, I know things--one way or another, just by the nature of publicity and promos--are going to heat up. I am not sure I like the idea of being in that box again. I kind of like being a bit more low-keyed.

Q: Unlike “Magnum,” though, this series is your baby.

A: I have been in on the ground floor of this as a producer. Now that the show is up and we are about to air, my hat is primarily the actor’s. But for the past four or five months, I have been working very hard with my partners John J. Strauss and Ed Decter in the producing end. We have had to fight for things. The network usually has good ideas, but I’m not so sure they have the best solutions.

Q: There’s been so much publicity surrounding your return to television. First, it was reported you were to do a series with Barry Kemp [the creator of “Coach”]. And then you were scheduled to be on last fall, but your start date was delayed because the show wasn’t ready. Why has it taken so long to get “The Closer” on the air?

A: It was a deal for the fall, but there were a lot of announcements that actually bothered me a little bit--because I was the guy who could say yes or no and approve a script, and I never approved any. I was talking to a lot of very talented people who don’t have to audition for anybody, and every time there was a premature announcement or something leaked out, I thought it may appear, which concerned me, that I was blowing off some really talented people. That wasn’t the case. I had some really good discussions over a long period of time with some talented people and what usually happened is that we couldn’t get on the same page. . . . Since the day John and Ed pitched the idea for “The Closer,” I have been on board and that has taken six months [to mount it]. That’s normal to get a show like this going.

Q: So what intrigued you about playing Jack McLaren?

A: What they really nailed in their first draft was a character I’d want to play, which is a real flawed individual, a character whose motto is “Never let the client see you’re human.”

He’s known in the business as a shark, and a shark must keep moving or he can’t breathe. Yet the audience has to know that underneath he is a pretty decent guy. As I have come to play him, what I realize is that I’m not playing a guy who is reprehensible. I am playing a guy who it didn’t serve in business to let anybody think any differently when they thought he was ruthless. The shark reputation served him well. One of the running jokes is that this guy is not in touch with his emotions at all and his daughter has to help him through it. The way I describe him now, he is at a point in his life when all of his decency is just bubbling up.

Playing this guy has brought back a lot of memories of “Magnum.” I had no power or influence in the business and yet I turned down the pilot of “Magnum” because the guy was more James Bondian, a real womanizer. I said, “I can’t play a guy like that.” At the time I was betting everything. They said, “Who the hell do you think you are?” I said, “Nobody, but I think I know what I should do at this point in my life.” Those memories reassured me that I was right then and I should trust my instincts [with Jack]. The safe way to go--if I had research quoted to me, which I refuse to listen to--would be for me to play just the best, nicest father in the world.

Q: Will the newly single McLaren be dating?

A: I think the show will always have a strong romantic comedy element, but at the beginning the most important thing is to get to know this universe [of the ad agency]. Plus, my character is not ready to date. I don’t think he can close a deal on getting a date. I know he can’t close the deal on going home with somebody. That’s going to be interesting--this big, brazen guy doesn’t really want to date. It makes for a complex character.

Q: How did your guest stint as Richard on “Friends” happen?

A: They called my agent and he said, “Do you want to meet with them?” He wasn’t sure it would be a good thing. I wasn’t sure it was the right career thing to do. I loved their idea and I loved the idea of working with Courteney because I had done a screen test with her. I knew I could work with her. Most of the professional advice I got was, “Don’t do it, they’ll say you’re crawling back to TV or you’re testing the waters.” None of which was the case.

To be honest, it just kind of scared me because I hadn’t done a sitcom since the ‘70s, when I had done “Taxi.” Actors should take risks and do things and I have been trying very hard to do that in the last five or six years. I have a variety of things I can do and be accepted in.

The next thing I know, CBS literally makes me an offer I can’t refuse, which is tied to a picture deal here at Warners. So I can work on this show for six months a year, be home and see my family and go off and do a movie once a year. It’s kind of a no-brainer.

Q: When you talk about taking risks, is that why you did in “In & Out”?

A: It was another risk that a lot of people told me not to do. When [director] Frank Oz asked me to do this, this ensemble was already cast, except for Bob Newhart. I had been looking for all of these years to do this kind of an ensemble comedy. I just kind of thought I had to do this.

* “The Closer” premieres Monday at 9 p.m on CBS (Channel 2).