Customer Reviews

The Fugitive: Season One, Vol. 1

5 star:		(113)
4 star:		(17)
3 star:		(5)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(4)

 

 

I'll never understand why every terrible movie and television show that was ever made was released on DVD ages ago and perhaps the finest television series of the 60's - or perhaps of any decade - is only now being released.

I just don't get it, but better late than never.

I am so pleased that this series is finally being released. I was a young boy in the 60's and I recall getting hooked on this show early in the 1st season. Great story lines - great performances (both by David Janssen, Barry Morse and the guest stars) - excellent writing and wonderful suspense / drama at times.

I can't think of a single negative about this show. The first season was filmed entirely in black and white and this only contributed to the sometimes "dark" and serious tone to the series. The narration at the beginning and end of the series by William Conrad was a pleasure to listen to. And David J. was the perfect actor to play the part. He could be both strong and vulnerable at the same time and his character - Dr. Richard Kimble - was so honorable and admirable it was no wonder that so many people helped him to elude capture for so many years.

You look at the sorry state of television today - where networks continue to churn out the most stupid reality shows possible- and you wonder when it began to unravel. In fact, it's only getting worse. Is it any wonder that so many people are buying DVDs of classic tv shows and watching them over "America's Next Top Model" or whatever.

I'm getting ahead of myself here, but I sincerely hope the powers-that-be follow up season 1 with the release of season 2 and subsequent seasons as quickly as possible. I want to have the entire collection of this great show in my library as quickly as possible - before the idiots who make the decisions decide that maybe it would make more sense to issue some brainless tv show - instead of this classic..!

But for now - thanks for finally getting your act together - whatever caused you to get a grip on reality and decide to release it, I just hope you can stay lucid and smart enough for alittle while longer to release the other seasons.

I got my set a day early and wanted to let you guys know this DVD collection has amazing picture and sound. Transfers from the original camera negative and magnetic tracks and you can tell. No special features. Decent packaging with synopses inside the liner.

Box says some music has been changed and some episodes may be edited. I have only watched a couple and have found no changes thus far. It may be that CBS/Paramount simply puts this disclaimer on all their packaging, or it may have simply been on the template used for GOMER PYLE season two and someone forgot to change it.

In any event, this is a great series and we can only hope the next volume hits stores around Christmas.

By the way, it's a myth that you pay more for split season sets. You actually pay a couple of dollars less for a combined complete season than you would if you boiught the whole thing at once.

UPDATE - I have watched the set and found no scenes missing or music changed (that I remember). In fact, a few bits of scenes that did not air on the syndicated versions were restored for this release. I am 99.9% certain everything is here. If not for the disclaimer, I'd be 100%.

Even stock music is included unchanged, as well as local jukebox music.

The only problem...not enough episodes on the set.

At long last, the groundbreaking television series, "The Fugitive" comes to DVD. This show, which lasted from 1963-1967, was suspenseful, moving, engaging, and original. This was the first successful television show that took the dramatic formula of putting the hero with new characters and in new situations every week to another level. In previous shows such as Cheyenne, Maverick, and many others, the hero was a wanderer going from town to town to earn a living. In this show, the hero had no choice. He had to run to stay out of jail.

Charged with murdering his wife, a crime he did not commit, Dr. Richard Kimble, played by David Janssen, escapes from the law when the train taking him to his execution wrecks. Tracked doggedly by police inspector Gerard, Kimble wanders across the country running from the law while trying to track down the one-armed man he saw leaving his house the night his wife was murdered. As he wanders the country, he helps many people with their problems, all the while trying to find the one armed man and trying to avoid Gerard.

This classic show had all the goods - great acting by Janssen, Morse, and the many guest stars, fantastic narration by William Conrad, clever, well-written scripts, and taut direction. This show had it all, and made Dr. Richard Kimble one of the most famous and sympathetic characters television history. We can be glad that it has finally made it to DVD.

What is it that makes a television show a particularly great one, or that makes it highly memorable, or that makes it eminently rewatchable time after time?

Is it the actors? The characters and the interaction between them? The surroundings? The writing? The direction? The photography? The atmosphere? The music? Or the believability of the stories being told on the screen?

The answer, of course, is "All of the above". And when a TV series comes along that earns very high marks in every single one of the above-mentioned categories, as I believe "The Fugitive" (the original 1960s version) easily accomplishes, then I think it's safe to say that such a television program is deserving of an ample amount of attention (and praise).

And it's for those reasons I am proud to call Quinn Martin's "The Fugitive" one of my favorite TV series of all-time....and certainly my very favorite drama series ever shown on television.

For four seasons, David Janssen starred as Richard Kimble, a soft-spoken doctor who was falsely convicted for the murder of his wife.* Dr. Kimble was kept running for 120 TV episodes from 1963 to 1967.

The first 15 of those shows are presented in this nicely-done, 4-Disc DVD boxed set from Paramount Home Entertainment.

* = For those people who are totally unfamiliar with this TV series, the above declaration of Kimble's innocence is not a "spoiler" of any kind. And that's because the viewing audience is told, point-blank, within the first few seconds of the opening credits of the very first episode that Dr. Richard Kimble is "innocent" of the murder charge for which he was convicted.

"The Fugitive" made its debut at 10:00 PM (east-coast time) on Tuesday, September 17, 1963, when ABC-TV aired the pilot episode, "Fear In A Desert City".

The final show of the series ("The Judgment"), which was first broadcast in the United States in August 1967, is one of the highest-rated television programs ever. At the time of its initial airing, in fact, "The Judgment Part 2" surpassed all records and became the single most-watched program ever aired in the USA. It was eclipsed 13 years later by an episode of "Dallas" (and then by the final episode of "M*A*S*H" in 1983).

In addition to its always well-written scripts, much of the enjoyment of "The Fugitive" (for me) lies in its instantly-recognizable music, composed by Pete Rugolo. The main title theme plus the wide variety of mood-enhancing musical cues and "bridges" used in each episode evoke singular thoughts and memories of this 1960s TV series. It's impossible to imagine any other music being used for this show. It's utterly perfect for this program.

Not all of the music we hear in "The Fugitive" was written by Rugolo, however. Some of the background musical arrangements for parts of the episodes were taken from Hollywood's vast library of "stock" music. But this music blends in nicely with Rugolo's classic compositions. Some of the "Fugitive" music can also be found in other popular TV shows of that era, like "The Twilight Zone" and "The Outer Limits".

"The Fugitive" also benefited greatly from a very talented cast....beginning, of course, with David Janssen as the title character. Sadly, Janssen (born David Harold Meyer) died way too soon, passing away of a heart attack in February 1980. He hadn't even turned 50. David was nominated for an Emmy Award three times during his 4-year stint as the perpetually running physician on "The Fugitive".

Janssen's performance as Richard Kimble, right from the get-go in "Fear In A Desert City", somehow already seemed refined and tuned to just the right pitch. It's really quite remarkable that Janssen was able to accomplish such a "veteran" feel to his character after just a single episode.

The series, in my opinion, also possessed just the right "feel" to it starting with the very first show. Many TV series fail to reach full stride or their full potential in their rookie season. I'd say that "The Fugitive", thanks to a great cast and the top-notch writing and directing, was a series that didn't suffer from this common problem.

Dr. Kimble's chief nemesis throughout the four-year run of the series was Indiana Police Lieutenant Philip Gerard, played to absolute perfection by London-born actor Barry Morse.

Morse's portrayal of Gerard counters Janssen's Kimble to a tee. Invariably, the very best "Fugitive" episodes were the ones in which Gerard was on screen, physically pursuing his elusive prey.

Morse/Gerard is relentless in his pursuit of the prisoner who slipped through his grasp when fate intervened. But, then too, Gerard isn't overly ruthless or blood-thirsty. He still maintains some level of compassion and kindness, even though his #1 priority in every episode in which he appears is to do his duty as "an instrument of the law" and re-capture Dr. Kimble.

The character of Philip Gerard actually appeared in less than 40 of the 120 episodes during the series (not counting the opening credits, where he is always shown). It truly seemed, though, as if Morse had actually appeared in many additional episodes. Gerard's "presence" is felt in nearly every show. But in most of them he's not physically shown on camera.

Other semi-regular "Fugitive" cast members include Bill Raisch (as the "one-armed man", Fred Johnson), Jacqueline Scott (who portrays Richard Kimble's sister, Donna), and Paul Birch (as Captain Carpenter).

Raisch, by the way, really did have an arm missing. He lost part of his right arm during World War 2, after being badly burned while fighting a fire.

Also worthy of an endorsement is William Conrad, who is never seen on the screen, but who has a strong presence in every episode as the very capable narrator.

Conrad's booming voice is heard at the start of each show throughout the series (except one, "The Girl From Little Egypt"), as he smoothly ushers the audience into Richard Kimble's world.

We also hear Conrad again at the end of every episode, at the conclusion of the epilog scene, when he often reminds us of Dr. Kimble's ongoing predicament -- "This is the way it is with him....because Richard Kimble is....a fugitive."

In addition to its stellar main cast and narrator, "The Fugitive" offered up plenty of opportunities to feature a large selection of Hollywood talent in supporting roles. Many top-name actors appeared in the series.

In the first season alone (covering 30 total episodes), the roster of guest stars included: Robert Duvall, Leslie Nielsen, Jack Klugman, Carroll O'Connor, Jack Weston, Bruce Dern, Joanna Moore, Beverly Garland, Telly Savalas, Vera Miles, Tim O'Connor, Jerry Paris, George Voskovec, Eileen Heckart, Frank Sutton, Warren Oates, Brenda Vaccaro, Gilbert Roland, Pat Crowley, Ruta Lee, James Best, John Fiedler, Susan Oliver, Brian Keith, Claude Akins, and Lee Grant.

Some of my all-time favorite "Fuge" episodes are located within the very first season of the series, including a few of the 15 shows we find in this DVD set -- such as: "Fear In A Desert City", "The Girl From Little Egypt", "Nightmare At Northoak", and the two-parter "Never Wave Goodbye".

Actually, in my opinion, "Volume 2" of the first season of "The Fugitive" (which is bound to follow this first volume in relatively short order; knock wood) will contain even a better batch of overall episodes than Volume 1.

When the second half of Season 1 emerges on DVD, some of the top-flight Fugitive offerings that we'll be in store for include: "Search In A Windy City", "Somebody To Remember", "The End Game", "Rat In A Corner", and the fabulous two-part episode "Angels Travel On Lonely Roads" (with Eileen Heckart giving a superb performance as Kimble's travelling companion).

The DVD video quality for these fifteen "Volume 1" programs is stunning....glorious....fabulous....picture-perfect (take your pick from any of these descriptive terms, because I think they all apply).

I was immediately struck by the image clarity right from the very first moments of "Fear In A Desert City" on Disc 1 (as Richard Kimble's bus pulls into the Tucson terminal).

Each of these episodes has been "transferred from the original negative with restored audio" (per a notation on the back of the DVD box). And you can hardly ask for more than that.

The superb black-and-white photography that helps propel each of these episodes looks incredibly clean and crisp and almost blemish-free on these DVDs. A little bit of grain and/or a few dirt specks pop up here and there....but the overall grade for the "PQ" on this DVD set can't be anything less than an "A", in my opinion.

The deep blacks that make up the many night shots and shadowy scenes contained within many of these episodes are simply beautiful, even when viewed on a large-screen TV.

The mono audio sounds quite good too, with Pete Rugolo's incomparable music coming through in fine style here.

The DVD packaging claims that some music "has been changed" for this Paramount DVD release, and that "some episodes may be edited from their original network versions".

I, however, haven't been able to detect any major changes or edits of any kind. Perhaps there are a few and I haven't noticed them; I'm not sure. But the average episode running time on these four discs is more than 51 minutes per show....so if anything has been cut out, it sure can't amount to very much.

About the only "change" that I can see pertains to the opening credits for the first episode ("Fear In A Desert City"). That show's opening on the DVD could possibly be a slightly different version of the title sequence from what originally aired on TV in 1963.

And there's also a different piece of music utilized during the "Desert City" opening when compared with a VHS tape I have for that episode, which could conceivably account for each of the package disclaimers for this DVD release (the parts about both "music" and "edits").

Note: When originally aired, the first season of the series did not include any "previews" at the start of each episode. Those "coming up next" type of preview scenes weren't included until Season #2.

===================

DVD STATS:

Video: Original TV ratio of 1.33:1 (Full Frame). All episodes are in crisp, exquisite-looking black-and-white.

Audio: Dolby Digital 2.0 Mono (English only).

Subtitles: None. But English "Closed Captioning" is available for all fifteen shows. Just remember to switch off "Progressive Scanning" on your DVD player. If you don't turn that off, the captions will never appear on screen. At least it's that way with all Panasonic DVD players that I've owned. It's possible that other players vary regarding this strange "captioning" anomaly.

Chapter Stops?: Yes. There are 7 chapters per episode, with each break coming at appropriate locations throughout each program -- at the end of each "Act", as well as a break just after the opening credits and right after the "Epilog" scene. Perfectly done.

Menus: Non-animated. No music. There are no Sub-Menus at all. Each disc has a simple but efficient Main Menu which provides access to that disc's three or four episodes (plus a "Play All" option).

Discs: Single-sided, Dual-layered.

Bonus Material: None (except for a few "Previews" advertising some other DVDs, viewable on Disc 1 only).

Paper Enclosures: None.

DVD Packaging: A standard style plastic "Keepcase" has been used for this 4-Disc set, which nicely holds the four discs in a compact manner via an extra "page" that has been inserted inside the case which holds Discs 2 and 3. The case is clear, with episode information visible on the inner panels of the case (when Discs 1 and 4 are removed, that is).

I kind of like this packaging style. This is the first multi-disc DVD set I've bought which uses this type of case, and it's a real space-saver, to be sure.

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THE EPISODES:

Here's a look at the 15 programs that fill up these four "Season 1/Volume 1" discs. I've also listed the aliases that Richard Kimble used for each episode; plus I've added the original TV air dates and a few selected comments of my own for some of the shows.....

1. "Fear In A Desert City" (First Aired: September 17, 1963) .... Alias: "James Lincoln". .... "The Fugitive" burst onto American television screens with a great amount of style right off the bat, via this spectacular debut/pilot episode.

The brilliant series-opening program gives us our first look at David Janssen's perfectly-controlled portrayal of the falsely-accused doctor from Indiana who was sentenced to death after being convicted of murdering his wife, Helen. A train wreck freed Dr. Kimble on his way to the "death house". Thus, Kimble's four-year TV flight from the law begins with this first exciting episode.

From this very first show, we (the audience) can feel the tension that surrounds Richard Kimble. It's also quite easy for the viewing audience, right from this initial episode, to feel a great deal of empathy (and sympathy) for Dr. Kimble and his plight, by way of the fabulous writing that exists within this script (and virtually all those that followed it).

The first "Fuge" has Kimble tending bar at the "Branding Iron Saloon" in Tucson, Arizona, where he soon becomes embroiled in the lives of the saloon's lovely piano player (played by Vera Miles) and her abusive and hot-headed husband (Brian Keith).

Miles and Keith are both excellent in their "Desert City" roles -- particularly Keith, who is savagely brutal and menacing here, to the point of being downright scary. Keith plays "Ed Welles", who teems with a raging fury that practically burns through the TV screen. It's a fabulous performance.

"Fear In A Desert City", which was directed by Walter Grauman and written by Stanford Whitmore, also co-stars Barney Phillips, Dabbs Greer, and Harry Townes.

Just days prior to filming the pilot episode, David Janssen said this to director Walter Grauman:

"Wally, you're really going to have to help me. I've been used to doing 'Richard Diamond'; all this shallow [expletive deleted]. There's a lot of character here with Richard Kimble. I don't know whether I can act it."

Well....the rest is Fugitive History. I'd say David's worries were unfounded. He did, indeed, "act it"....and did it very well too.

Another interesting piece of trivia concerning the pilot show -- David Janssen suffered three broken ribs during the fight scene with Brian Keith in Act IV of the first episode. It was the first of many physical injuries that David sustained during the making of the 120 episodes of this TV series.

2. "The Witch" (September 24, 1963) .... Alias: "Jim Fowler".

3. "The Other Side Of The Mountain" (October 1, 1963) .... No alias used.

4. "Never Wave Goodbye; Part 1" (October 8, 1963) .... Alias: "Jeff Cooper". .... The series would occasionally incorporate a "Two-Parter", with this being the first such example.

The ingenuity and shrewdness of both Kimble and Lt. Gerard are fully evident in this top-notch 2-part program, with Kimble (naturally) slipping through Gerard's fingers yet again (via a rather clever scheme of faking his own death).

5. "Never Wave Goodbye; Part 2" (October 15, 1963) .... Alias: "Jeff Cooper".

6. "Decision In The Ring" (October 22, 1963) .... Alias: "Ray Miller".

7. "Smoke Screen" (October 29, 1963) .... Alias: "Joseph Walker".

8. "See Hollywood And Die" (November 5, 1963) .... Alias: "Al Fleming". .... It's yet another strong acting turn for Mr. Janssen, as he spends the bulk of this episode pretending to be a real bad guy in the company of two kidnappers who abduct guest star Brenda Vaccaro. It's actually kind of a "double" performance we find here, with Janssen portraying Richard Kimble, and Kimble playing a part of his own.

9. "Ticket To Alaska" (November 12, 1963) .... Alias: "Larry Talman".

10. "Fatso" (November 19, 1963) .... Alias: "Bill Carter".

11. "Nightmare At Northoak" (November 26, 1963) .... Alias: "George Porter". .... Regarded by many as one of the top shows of the whole series, "Northoak" (which aired just one day after assassinated President John F. Kennedy was laid to rest) combines several different plot-developing elements that helped make this TV series such a great one for four consecutive seasons, e.g.:

The never-ending chase of Dr. Kimble by Lt. Gerard (and this time the detective actually catches up with the good doctor, only to lose him in the end); plus: Kimble's own heroism (he rescues several children from a burning school bus here); plus: Kimble's habit of continually--and inadvertently--running into law-enforcement officials during his travels (in "Northoak", he's nursed back to health by the local sheriff and his wife after being injured while saving the children on the bus).

"Northoak" is, indeed, a dandy episode, and a big reason for that (IMO) is because we get to watch Kimble and Gerard interact with each another during a terrific jail-cell scene, during which we get to see David Janssen really sink his teeth into his role of Dr. Richard Kimble (i.e., an embittered, tired, and completely-innocent fugitive from justice).

During that extraordinary jail scene, Kimble's anger and frustration come pouring out, as he confronts Gerard with one of the best lines from the series: "Your nightmare is when I'm dead, you'll find him."

"Act IV" of "Northoak" is worth replaying....again and again.

12. "Glass Tightrope" (December 3, 1963) .... Aliases: "Harry Carson" and "George Paxton".

13. "Terror At High Point" (December 17, 1963) .... Alias: "Paul Beaumont".

14. "The Girl From Little Egypt" (December 24, 1963) .... Aliases: "George Browning" and "George Norton". .... This episode, for the first time in the series, lays out the backstory of Richard Kimble's plight. And getting to see a pre-fugitive "salt-and-pepper"-haired Dr. Kimble during a few scenes in "Little Egypt" is a rare treat indeed.

15. "Home Is The Hunted" (January 7, 1964) .... No alias used. .... This fifteen-show collection concludes with this dandy installment, which has Dr. Kimble travelling back home to Stafford, Indiana, for the first time in the series to touch base again with his father (played by Robert Keith), his sister Donna (Jacqueline Scott), and younger brother Ray (Andrew Prine).

Prine, IMO, is particularly impressive in his role as Ray Kimble, who has some doubts about his brother's innocence (until Act IV of this episode, that is).

"Home Is The Hunted" also includes Lt. Gerard bearing down on Kimble once again. (It's just a good thing that Gerard didn't catch a glimpse of that bottle of hair dye at the Kimble family home.)

Billy Mumy and Clint Howard (Ron's brother) also appear in this 15th show of the series, as Donna's two young sons.

===================

FURTHER FUGE FUN:

If you'd like to see what my ultimate "Fugitive Fantasy DVD" would look like, you can check out my review on THIS AMAZON WEBPAGE.

That page links to one of the several "Fugitive" VHS videotapes that have been released over the years. And that particular tape features two of the very finest Fuge installments, "Nemesis" and "World's End", both from Season #2 of the series.

If that "Dream DVD" of mine ever gets produced, it will be ample proof that miracles truly ARE possible. ~grin~

===================

A FINAL WORD OR TWO:

David Janssen's portrayal of Dr. Richard Kimble ("an innocent victim of blind justice") is low-key and subtle and understated. Richard Kimble, though, through Janssen's patented "twitch" or a faint smile or just a silent look, can move a viewer emotionally. At least I think he can....and he does (often) throughout the four-year lifespan of one of the best television programs to ever appear in American living rooms -- "The Fugitive".

This 4-Disc DVD collection is the first of what will hopefully be eight such DVD sets of "The Fugitive" to be released by Paramount. Each of the four seasons of this series positively deserves the right to be digitally preserved for eternity onto the Digital Disc format. It's just too good a series to not be treated with such respect. And that includes even the final year of the series, which was the only season filmed in color.

That fourth season does contain a few lesser-quality episodes, IMO, but there are still many first-rate gems and pulse-pounding "Gerard Chasing Kimble" entries to be found among the thirty shows of Season 4, too.

But to begin your wonderful and wandering journey into the sometimes-frantic and always-interesting life of "The Fugitive", you'll want to pick up this DVD set with the first 15 episodes from Season 1.

If there was ever a "must have" TV-on-DVD set to own and collect, this would certainly rank as one such set, in my Fuge-favoring opinion. And I'd be willing to bet the one-armed man's remaining limb that almost everyone else who buys this DVD collection will agree with that "collectible" assessment as well. ;)

David Von Pein
August 2007

Yes, after checking month after month for the availability of THE FUGITIVE, it will finally be here this summer. For those of us who grew up in the 50s and 60s, I think that this is the most anticipated TV series from that day, and one that many of us have waited for a long time on DVD. One of the great classics of TV drama of all time.

Could anyone else have played Richard Kimble with such perfection? I enjoyed David Janssen very much in "Richard Diamond, P.I.," "O'Hara, U.S. Treasury," and, especially in "Harry O," but this is the role he was born for. I would have purchased this one-half season set (my only complaint; why not the complete first season?) for the pilot episode alone -- "Fear in a Desert City." What an outstanding introduction to a series! The stunning Vera Miles is terrific as the abused wife of the brooding Brian Keith. Remaining episodes in the first set feature several first-rate actors, including, R.G. Armstrong, Leslie Nielsen, Ed Nelson, Geraldine Brooks, James Best, Beverly Garland, Crahan Denton, James Dunn, Robert Duvall, Ed Binns, Susan Oliver, Bruce Dern, Frank Sutton, Brenda Vaccaro, Buck Taylor, and Jack Klugman. Let's hope that CBS/Paramount releases the remaining season one episodes in time for Christmas.

This show is such an icon that it's unnecessary to discuss what the show's about. All I can say is "wow"! Not having seen the show for decades, viewng this beautiful DVD release reminds me again why this show captured millions of fans and was among the earliest & truly "must-see" TV shows. The suspenseful stories & taut direction........combined with memorable acting by one of the great TV heroes of all time, David Janssen as the Fugitive.........make one nostalgic for the era of truly riveting TV. There seemed to be a real concern to put out a complex, adult story with great screenwriting that is sadly lacking in the cynical world of TV today. By comparison, most TV shows today seem put together in a slap-dash fashion with juvenile stories or, with reality shows, no story at all. How jaded we have become. I wish we could have another golden age of TV which The Fugitive represents so well. At least we have glimpses of its glorious past with this well done DVD of the show. I can't wait for the rest of the seasons to be released!

Definitely one of the best television series of all time. The picture quality of this collection is superb, much better than how it appeared when A&E showed it some years back. The black and white picture here is solid and clear, not grainy and aged like it appeared on the reruns. Sure, there are a couple of specks here and there -- as well as a line running down the screen in the first episode - but it probably looks as good, if not better, than when it aired for the first time back in the 1960s.

Hopefully CBS/Paramount puts subsequent DVD volumes on the fast track and doesn't have consumers having to wait six months to a year for the next set. I guess it's hard to criticize them for splitting the seasons up in volumes. It's all about maximizing profit in this greedy world, and when you own the rights to one of the best television series of all time, you break it out in as many small sections as you can while inflating the price.

Who knows, maybe they'll release the final season in four volumes?

"THE FUGITIVE" premiered in 1963 and was canceled in 1967. The series had a total of four seasons and 120 episodes. David Janssen was Dr. Richard Kimble.
One night at his home, Kimble and his wife had an argument. He ran out of the house to drive around and cool off, but when he returned, he almost ran over a one-armed man not far from his house. He parked the car, and went inside. He found his living room a mess, and his murdered wife's body on the floor. Richard almost instantly suspects the suspicious one-armed man. However, as it always is with these type of tragedies, the doctor has nothing at all to prove his alibi. None of his neighbors heard Kimble leave or return. The local police investigate, but no evidence is found to support Kimble's story. A search is conducted for a one-armed man. Many are found, but none of them are the right one. So he is tried and wrongly convicted for the murder of his wife. But Kimble does not hold anything against any of them. As the narrator William Conrad said at the beginning of each episode, " Laws are made by men and carried out by men. And men are imperfect." On the way to state prison, the train derails, and Kimble escapes. He is almost immediately pursued by the determined detective, Lt. Philip Gerard.
Gerard holds nothing personal towards Kimble. The law found him guilty, and he enforces the law. It is asked of Gerard many times throughout the series if he believes Kimble to be guilty. The lieutenant never gives a direct answer, so the audience assumes that he is only doing it because it is his job. For the show's entire run on the ABC Network, Kimble would endlessly travel across country, town after town, job after job, and alias after alias. It seemed like it would never end for this hunted man. As Kimble is being hunted, he is also hunting. He is searching for the one-armed man that murdered his wife. An interesting thing about this show was its amazing dedication to the average citizen, and how they live. Kimble would often have to give up a chance to get away in order to save the life of an innocent bystander. Often, when Richard would escape, he would not be escaping from Gerard. He would be running from the locals of a certain town that say he raped a woman, or caused a fight. Richard would be forced to use fake names and identities so he could get a job. He was always hoping to settle down somewhere, and be able to stop running. But Gerard would never give up. Finally, in the series finale, "The Judgment", it all comes full circle. I will not give away any specific details, but I will say that the last episode was one of the best episodes of the show, and it was also the highest rated episode in the history of television until the episode called "Who Shot J.R.?" of the popular soap opera "DALLAS". "The Fugitive" was one of the best shows of its kind, and it still is. Below is a list of episodes contained in this 4-disc set.

--- Ratings based on my opinion of episode; 4 **** Rating System ---


1. FEAR IN A DESERT CITY (Series Pilot) ****

2. THE WITCH ***

3. THE OTHER SIDE OF THE MOUNTAIN ***1/2

4. NEVER WAVE GOODBYE (Part I) ****

5. NEVER WAVE GOODBYE (Part II) ****

6. DECISION IN THE RING ***1/2

7. SMOKE SCREEN ***1/2

8. SEE HOLLYWOOD AND DIE ***1/2

9. TICKET TO ALASKA ****

10. FATSO ****

11. NIGHTMARE AT NORTHOAK ***1/2

12. GLASS TIGHTROPE ****

13. TERROR AT HIGH POINT ****

14. THE GIRL FROM LITTLE EGYPT ****

15. HOME IS THE HUNTED ***



NO SPECIAL FEATURES



THIS REVIEW IS DEDICATED TO ANYONE, LIVING OR DEAD, INVOLVED IN THE MAKING OF "THE FUGITIVE".

The release of "The Fugitive" is certainly an exciting development. The only downside is the "volume 1" designation. In essence you are only receiving the first half of Season 1 (15 episodes). Presumably there will be a "volume 2" which will release the other 15 episodes (as Season 1 was actually comprised of 30 shows).