Tom Selleck recounts CBS preventing the 'Raiders of the Lost Ark' role

The catch here is that Selleck never actually turned down the role. The mustache himself set the record straight on Letterman, laying the blame at the feet of CBS:

“They held the offer out about a month. And the more they held out the offer and talked to the network, the more the network said, ‘no…’

So I go to Hawaii to start Magnum, the actors go on strike, and I had given my deposit to a landlady and I couldn’t afford a security deposit. So I start working as a handy man, in Hawaii, with no job. And guess who comes to Hawaii to finish their movie? Raiders of the Lost Ark. So I could’ve done them both.”