Tom Selleck has finally chosen his first scripted television role since saying goodbye to Frank Reagan, and it sends him in a very different direction from Blue Bloods.
The 81-year-old actor will guest-star in an upcoming untitled Apple TV comedy led by Elizabeth Banks. The casting, reported August 24, marks Selleck’s return to scripted television more than a year and a half after the CBS police drama aired its series finale in December 2024.
The new job also reunites Selleck with Ted Danson, his costar in 1987’s Three Men and a Baby and its 1990 sequel, Three Men and a Little Lady. Danson is a series regular in the Apple comedy, playing the father of Banks’ character.
Selleck’s return comes only weeks after he again expressed frustration over Blue Bloods ending despite the cast’s willingness to continue. His next role, however, is neither another police drama nor a confirmed appearance in spinoff Boston Blue, but a guest part in a half-hour comedy whose character details remain secret.
Selleck’s New Character Is Still Under Wraps
The official Apple TV announcement describes Banks’ Heidi as a newly divorced mother trying to create a lively second act for herself and her children. Her plans become more complicated when she finds herself coordinating her father’s dating life inside his retirement community and forms an unlikely alliance with the perpetually single son of his girlfriend.
Danson plays Heidi’s father. Rob Delaney, Katey Sagal, Jared Goldstein and Spencer Moss are also series regulars, while Hamish Linklater, Michelle Buteau and Simu Liu have recurring roles.
Liz Heldens and Matt Ward created the series and will serve as showrunners and executive producers. Banks is also an executive producer through Brownstone Productions alongside Max Handelman and Krissy Wall, while Jonathan Krisel is directing the pilot and executive producing.
20th Television is producing the comedy for Apple TV. Production is scheduled to begin in Los Angeles in 2026, but Apple has not announced an official title or premiere date.
The Role Reunites Selleck With Ted Danson
Selleck and Danson’s casting creates a separate nostalgia hook nearly four decades after they first shared the screen. In Three Men and a Baby, Selleck played architect Peter Mitchell and Danson played actor Jack Holden, with Steve Guttenberg completing the central trio as cartoonist Michael Kellam.
The three bachelors unexpectedly found themselves caring for a baby in the Leonard Nimoy-directed comedy. The movie became the highest-grossing domestic release of 1987 and was successful enough to bring the trio back for Three Men and a Little Lady three years later.
Selleck and Danson have remained friendly long after those films. On May 19, Danson joined Selleck at the Granada Theatre in Santa Barbara for a live conversation about Selleck’s memoir, You Never Know.
Selleck Was Still ‘Frustrated’ About the End of ‘Blue Bloods’
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The Apple casting follows Selleck’s recent admission that the ending of Blue Bloods remains difficult for him. During a July episode of Danson’s Where Everybody Knows Your Name podcast, Selleck revealed that the cast had already accepted substantial salary reductions in an effort to help keep the long-running series alive. “We’d already taken a 25 percent cut in salary,” he said. “We’d already done all sorts of things to keep the show going.”
Selleck said that when the cast filmed its final Reagan family dinner, “everybody wanted to come back.” He described Blue Bloods as a “labor of love” and called the circumstances surrounding its cancellation “very frustrating.”
The series ran for 14 seasons and 293 episodes from 2010 through December 13, 2024, with Selleck playing NYPD Commissioner Frank Reagan throughout its entire run. Selleck also pointed to the show’s continued audience strength and questioned why a series with a loyal viewership needed to end while its principal cast remained willing to continue.
A Frank Reagan Return on ‘Boston Blue’ Is Still Unconfirmed
Donnie Wahlberg reprised his role as Danny Reagan in CBS’ Boston Blue, which moved the detective from New York to Boston and introduced a new law-enforcement family around him. Several performers from Blue Bloods have already crossed over, but Selleck has not appeared as Frank.
Selleck has previously made clear that he does not view a return as automatic simply because the franchise continues. “I don’t know if I would do Boston Blue, that’s another show,” he said in a 2025 interview. He added that although he feels some responsibility for protecting Blue Bloods‘ legacy, “I don’t think it’s my lot in life to keep playing Frank Reagan.”
Selleck had never suggested that ending Blue Bloods meant he wanted to retire from acting. He has previously expressed interest in making another installment about Jesse Stone, the troubled small-town police chief he played across nine television movies between 2005 and 2015. He has also said he would be interested in a Western and publicly entertained the possibility of working with Taylor Sheridan.