Tom Selleck eyes CBS pilot

11:39 PM PDT 10/13/2010 by Nellie Andreeva, AP

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Actor circling deal to play lead in drama

After lengthy negotiations, Tom Selleck is nearing a deal to play the lead in CBS' untitled Burgess/Green drama pilot.

The project (formerly "Reagan's Law") is a multigenerational drama revolving around a family of New York cops.

Selleck will play Michael, the handsome, confident and highly commended chief of police for the NYPD who lives in Brooklyn with his father, Patrick (Len Cariou), the ex-chief who struggles to find a balance between the political demands of the mayor's office and doing right by his fellow cops.

Michael's son Brian (Donnie Wahlberg) is also a detective.

For "Magnum P.I." star Selleck, who has remained a fixture on CBS in the past five years as the star of the "Jesse Stone"

original movie franchise, this would mark the first regular series role since he took over as the lead on NBC's "Las Vegas" on the show's final season.