Lei-Away Plan

By Stacy Jenel Smith \f

Dec. 31, 1989 12 AM PT

Tom Selleck expects to return to Hawaii in February--at least temporarily--as exec producer of a two-hour NBC movie with the tentative title, “Heat.” Co-exec producer and writer Chris Abbott describes the unofficial pilot as “a suspense thriller with a heavy dose of romance” that will feature an as-yet-uncast ensemble cast.

Selleck “won’t be acting, but he’ll be actively involved,” she added. “He’s a very hands-on kind of producer.”

Abbott and “Heat” co-exec producer Charles Floyd Johnson worked with actor-producer Selleck on “Magnum, P.I.” as well as the current Burt Reynolds ABC Saturday Mystery series, “B.L. Stryker.”

Selleck has been in in Australia starring in his longtime pet film project, “Quigley Down Under.”

Abbott expects casting and pre-production on “Heat” to go into full swing shortly.