Tom Selleck on Friends:
Edited by Mary Bruno.
Well, add another name to that ever-growing list of celebrities who'll be dropping by Friends in the coming weeks. NBC's half-hour hit has already signed Julia Roberts, Jean-Claude Van Damme, Chris Isaak, and Brooke Shields for February sweeps. Now, NBC confirms that Hawaiian-shirted icon Tom Selleck is set for a three-episode stint beginning February 8. It's been awhile since Tom's been on the tube--not that there hasn't been interest. Selleck has had a near-constant stream of network offers since Magnum P.I. went off the air in 1988, but he passed on every one of them until those beautiful twentysomethings from Friends--"one of his favorite shows," according to a Selleck spokesperson--came a-calling. And who wouldn't take a role like this? Selleck plays an ophthalmologist, an old family friend of sibs Monica and Ross (Courteney Cox and David Schwimmer), who resurfaces after going through a divorce. He finds that Monica--whom he hasn't seen since she was just a wee lass--has blossomed into quite a young lady. We don't really know how to break it to all you Monica fans out there, but, well, Tom ends up winning her over, which is why his character gets to hang around for three weeks. But cheer up everybody: last we heard, Rachel was still available.
Scott Roesch.