Tom Selleck Gave $1,000 Bonuses to ‘Magnum P.I.’ Crew After Studio Denied Them

In his new memoir You Never Know, Tom Selleck reveals a generous gesture he made to the crew of Magnum P.I. after the studio refused to award bonuses during the show’s final season.

Selleck recounts that, as the show’s budget continued to shrink each year, he proposed a plan: if the crew could deliver their most significant budget savings yet within an eight-day schedule, he would ensure they received a bonus. The studio agreed to the schedule but refused to discuss crew bonuses, citing concerns about setting a dangerous precedent, which frustrated Selleck.

Unable to secure a bonus for the crew, Selleck leveraged his position as the show’s star to negotiate a substantial bonus for himself. He then decided to use his bonus to reward the crew. He instructed studio executives to distribute $1,000 checks to every regular member of the Magnum team in both Hawaii and L.A., making it clear that this gesture was funded from his own bonus, not the studio’s budget.

The studio complied to keep Selleck satisfied, and when the checks were distributed, Selleck received a photo of the L.A. crew with beaming smiles and a caption that read, “Thanks, Tom. What a ‘grand’ gesture.” This heartwarming response pleased Selleck.

Additionally, Selleck reveals a clever trick he played on the media. To boost ratings for the two-episode finale, “Resolutions,” he crafted a fake scene where Magnum is killed off and sent it to a tabloid with a note accusing him of being an “asshole” and revealing Magnum’s death. The tabloid, eager for sensational content, published the story without verification, which fueled public interest in the finale.

Selleck admits the tabloid’s blunder worked in their favor: “The tabloid knew it was too good a story to pass up and didn’t bother to check its authenticity. Their publication of the story sparked tremendous curiosity about our show, and for that, I owe them my qualified thanks.”