Did the Magnum P.I. Reboot Ever Think About Casting Tom Selleck as Robin Masters? Here’s the Scoop…

Magnum, P.I., which featured a comma in its title and ran for eight seasons on CBS (from December 1980 to May 1988), starred Tom Selleck as the titular Navy SEAL turned private investigator who lived in the guest house on — and served as a security consultant for — Robin’s Nest, a Hawaiian Estate owned by famous author Robin Masters.

The Magnum P.I. (sans comma) reboot that ran for four seasons on CBS (beginning in September 2018) and moved to NBC for a fifth and ultimately final season, starred Jay Hernandez as the titular Navy SEAL turned private investigator who lived in the guest house on — and served as a security consultant for — Robin’s Nest, a Hawaiian Estate owned by famous author Robin Masters.

On the original Magnum, Robin Masters was never seen, though he was heard on rare occasion — voiced by famed filmmaker Orson Welles, no less.

On the reboot, Robin Masters similarly was never seen nor his voice heard. But now that the CBS-turned-NBC island drama haas concluded its run, TVLine asked showrunner Eric Guggenheim if he ever thought about putting a face to the novelist who wrote fictional accounts of Magnum’s military exploits.

Specifically, we asked if the idea was ever floated to have the original Thomas Magnum, Tom Selleck (who of course has headlined Blue Bloods for 13-plus years), make a cameo as his successor’s landlord-of-sorts.

“We joked about that very early on in the first season,” Guggenheim shared with TVLine, “but we never thought getting him was a real possibility. Was fun to dream about, though.”

Though Selleck never guested on the new Magnum, the reboot did have his blessing from Day 1, as was shared during the cast and executive producers’ July 2018 visit to TVLine’s San Diego Comic-Con video suite, where they talked up Season 1.

Asked if Selleck had reached out to his successor, maybe sent flowers, Jay Hernandez quipped (as seen in the video below), “He sent me his mustache, in a glass case.”

EP Peter Lenkov then noted, “We’ve been in touch with [Selleck] and he’s actually been really supportive. I know in the past they’ve tried to do versions of [Magnum], and getting his blessing was very important — and we got that, so we’re very lucky.”

Would you have enjoyed seeing Selleck cameo as Robin Masters in a proper Magnum P.I. series finale?