Wagner Mulls TV Return

Former Hart to Hart star Robert Wagner says he's pondering a return to series TV some day, possibly in a remake of the late '60's action drama It Takes a Thief.

"I'd like very much doing another series," the veteran actor tells the TV Guide Channel. "I like working in television very much because it's an ensemble cast, usually, and that's very nice."

The actor's plenty busy with movie roles these days (Austin Powers: The Spy Who Shagged Me, Wild Things) but he says he'd return to the small screen in a heartbeat in order to take part in a Thief revival. Wagner, who played suave cat burglar Alexander Mundy in the original series, says this time he'd like to come back in the patriarchal role originally played by late co-star Fred Astaire.

Ironically, Wagner says he didn't want to star in Thief when it was first offered to him back in 1968. At the time, the former child star was reluctant to give up his career in movies for TV. But then-Universal honcho Lew Wasserman talked him into doing the series, which quickly became a hit.

To this day, Wagner has vivid memories of that fateful meeting in Wasserman's office: "There was nothing on top of his desk; it was all just flat. He reached down, opened up the drawer, and he pulled out TV Guide. He said 'I want you on the cover of this magazine. This is gonna be the biggest thing in your career.' He said, 'Please just listen to me, okay?' And thank God I listened to him, because he was right."