It's never too soon to make another Western. At least that's what Emmy Award-winning actor Tom Selleck believes.

After hitting a home run with the cable TV production of MONTE WALSH, Selleck is now busy filming a new contemporary western.

As fate would have it, this opportunity for Selleck arose shortly after NBC execs had bowed to the pressures of the ratings success that many reality shows have been enjoying, and thus came to the conclusion that perhaps it was too chancy to pickup many more new sit-coms for the coming seasoneven if it's a Tom Selleck sit-com, as was the case. So quicker than you can say "Touch 'Em all McCall," Selleck's proposed television series (of the same name) met the same fate as several other new NBC sit-com pilots and was unceremoniously dumped from the lineup.

Not missing a beat, Selleck decided to saddle up and ride instead, this time assuming the role of a gruff, divorced rancher in a CBS made-for-television movie which will air later this season.

Having already achieved the status of America's Favorite Cowboy in film, Selleck now takes center stage in what is described as "a rough and grudging love story" about a troubled Idaho teen (Maggie Grace) who, for the first time in ten years, returns to her father's ranch to spend the summer with him.

The project, tentatively titled TWELVE MILE ROAD, had been in development and sitting on the shelf for the last decade as a Fox feature. But because of Selleck's involvment, David Madden (newly appointed executive vice president of Fox TV Pictures) decided the project would be perfect for the small screen. Madden and Selleck last worked together on Three Men and a Baby.

The script is based on the 1993 best-selling novel "Mystery Ride" by Robert Boswell, and is written and directed by Richard Friedenberg.

This character-driven project sounds like it's in capable and caring hands; Friendberg had previously penned the screenplay to the highly acclaimed feature film A RIVER RUNS THROUGH IT, which was adapted from Norman MacLean's autobiographical novella.

( Related Article: April 2003 )