Tom Selleck was originally cast to play the iconic, whip-cracking archaeologist Indiana Jones in Raiders of the Lost Ark, but CBS refused to release him from his contract for the detective show Magnum P.I.

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Tom Selleck was originally cast to play the iconic, whip-cracking archaeologist Indiana Jones in Raiders of the Lost Ark, but CBS refused to release him from his contract for the detective show Magnum P.I. Steven Spielberg and George Lucas were forced to settle for their backup choice, Harrison Ford, who had just finished shooting some obscure space movie called The Empire Strikes Back. By a cruel twist of Hollywood fate, a writers' strike delayed the production of Selleck's television show anyway, meaning he could have easily shot the globetrotting adventure film without any scheduling conflicts. Missing out on one of the greatest cinematic roles in human history simply because a television network wanted to hoard a man's mustache is a level of petty corporate evil that demands respect