Product Details

• Actors: David Janssen, Barry Morse, William Conrad, Bill Raisch
• Format: Black & White, DVD, NTSC
• Language: English
• Region: Region 1 (U.S. and Canada only. Read more about DVD formats.)
  
• Aspect Ratio: 1.33:1
• Number of discs: 4
• Rated: NR (Not Rated)
• Studio: Paramount
• DVD Release Date: December 8, 2009
• Run Time: 772 minutes
• Average Customer Review: 3.8 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (38 customer reviews)
• ASIN: B002OID508
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #21,393 in Movies & TV (See Top 100 in Movies & TV)
• For more information about "The Fugitive: Season Three, Vol. 2" visit the Internet Movie Database (IMDb)

Editorial Reviews

No description available for this title.
Item Type: DVD Movie
Item Rating: NR
Street Date: 12/08/09
Wide Screen: no
Director Cut: no
Special Edition: no
Language: ENGLISH
Foreign Film: noSubtitles: no
Dubbed: no
Full Frame: yes
Re-Release: no
Packaging: Sleeve

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

64 of 77 people found the following review helpful:

2.0 out of 5 stars CBS has cut corners again, don't waste your money, December 8, 2009

By 

Robert Dahl (Phoenix, Arizona USA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: The Fugitive: Season Three, Vol. 2 (DVD)

The music in Season 3 Volume 2 seems to be a mixed bag. Some episodes are nearly free of the awful Heyes replacement music, while others have much more.

NOT WITH A WHIMPER has quite a bit of Heyes replacement music. I noted soft Heyes cues at 18:00, 25:52, 29:32, and loud Heyes at 18:21, 28:40, 36:10. But I gave up taking notes in Act 4 when my hand started to cramp from jotting down all of the Heyes cues that I heard.

WIFE KILLER is a pleasant surprise. Yes, there are a few Heyes cues, but just a few. Overall, this episode's original music is mostly intact. I wonder if we'll ever get an explanation from CBS as to how one episode can be awash in Heyes, while the next is almost Heyes-free? Go figure.

THIS'LL KILL YOU lands somewhere in the middle. It's about 50% original and 50% Heyes. The more prominent Heyes cues are at 15:29, 29:32, 35:25, 42:15, and the one at 47:07 was so loud that it nearly blasted me out of my chair. Most of the too-loud Heyes cues are in Act 4.

ECHO OF A NIGHTMARE has a handful of Heyes cues. The ones that are noticeable are at 0:08 (in the teaser?!), 11:09, 17:11, 28:19, 35:02, 36:18, 43:19, and 47:09. But there are several more that are softer and blend so well that you don't notice them at first. Even though this episode has a fair amount of Heyes, it feels more like an original episode since so much of the Heyes is well-blended. Oddly, even though the music in the episode's teaser has been replaced by a Heyes cue, the identical scene in the episode (from which the teaser is lifted) has the original music! You can thank the roomful of monkeys in CBS' Audio Department for this gaffe.

STROKE OF GENIUS is almost completely untouched. The only Heyes cue that I noticed is at 4:08. The cue has the crisp artificial sound of a synthesizer, but is not overly loud. The remainder of the original music is intact.

SHADOW OF THE SWAN is mostly intact. All of the original carnival music and the cue near the end where the "swan" dies have been replaced.

RUNNING SCARED is almost completely intact, with only the background music in the airport lounge scene in Act 1 replaced. I thought that the scriptwriter gave us a nice bit of humor when Kimble's sister, meeting up with Kimble for the first time in many months, hands over his accumulated mail - mostly junk mail from pharmaceutical companies! It was a nice touch.

THE CHINESE SUNSET has a few Heyes cues, at 10:05, 20:53, 22:48, 44:24, 46:45, 47:25, and 48:38, but most of them are quiet and well-blended. Only the ones in Act 4 are noticeably loud.

ILL WIND is intact as far as I could tell. I heard no Heyes cues. Jonesie's song is intact. However, this episode's audio track is approximately 100ms out of sync with the video. This amateur mistake would never have been made if the cheapskate CBS management had given their technicians adequate time to do a thorough job.

WITH STRINGS ATTACHED is mostly intact. I heard Heyes cues only in Act 4 and in the Epilog, at 46:40, 47:49, 48:05, and 49:24.

THE WHITE KNIGHT is completely trashed with Heyes cues. A few of the Heyes cues that I heard are at 2:38, 4:43, 10:48, 20:04, 20:47, 22:05, 22:58, 23:26, 27:24, 28:00, 31:20, 33:18, 34:51, 35:47, 38:19, 40:26, 43:12, 45:36, 47:01, 48:29, 49:07. I heard only two original Rugolo cues in the entire episode.

THE 2130, probably the series' best 'chase' episode, has unfortunately been saddled with a lot of replacement music. In my estimation, it's about 40% original and 60% Heyes. I noted Heyes cues at 6:51, 12:04, 17:15, 21:38, 22:44, 24:06, 25:08, 37:40, 40:07, 41:35, and 48:08. Many of these are long cues.

- continued -
Those Fuge fans who are familiar with the original score will remember the majestic cue that underscores the Establishing Shot of the 'Medical Research Center'. This cue correctly appears at 17:04 (abbreviated), and at 28:58, but is REPLACED by Heyes cues at 12:03, 41:32, and 48:08! This is sheer incompetence on the part of CBS/Paramount - the sort of incompetence that would never have happened at Paramount before the shortsighted, cost-cutting CBS management took over.

A TASTE OF TOMORROW has a few Heyes cues, but just a few. I noted Heyes cues at 0:00 (in the teaser?!), 31:52, 33:45, 34:25, 34:53. The Heyes cues are reasonably-well blended. To my ears, this episode sounds 95% original.

IN A PLAIN PAPER WRAPPER has a few Heyes cues, at 12:56, 13:12, 27:40, 35:08, 38:40, 40:23, 41:09, 43:53, 45:36, 49:51. Acts 1 and 2 sound mostly original, with the replacement music getting heavier in Acts 3 and 4. To my ears, this episode sounds 80% original.

CORALEE, the final episode of the set, is completely saturated with Heyes replacement music. It would be pointless to list all of the cues here. There are only two original Rugolo cues in the entire episode, at 36:02 and 50:08 (during the final fade-out!). Some of the replacement cues are obvious soundalikes for classic Rugolo cues, e.g., those that occur during the Act fade-ins and fade-outs.

- continued -
The efforts of the CBS audio technicians were obviously cut short by their cost-cutting management, as evidenced by the fact that this episode's audio track is 150ms out of sync with the video. This amateur mistake would never have been made if the cheapskate CBS management had given their technicians adequate time to do a thorough job.

I've noticed that in several episodes, CBS has used overly-loud Heyes cues to underscore the episode's climax, usually occurring in Act 4. In Heyes-heavy episodes, Act 4 generally seems to be the most contaminated with the awful replacement cues.

SUMMARY --

Even though there are some good episodes in this set, they are overshadowed by the unconscionable amount of replacement music in S3V2. The haphazard and needless replacement of original cues has Fuge fans shaking their heads in disgust.

In the wake of the S2V1 music fiasco, CBS promised to reinstate the original Rugolo cues, as there was never any legal problem with their use. Now CBS has gone back on their word, replacing a great many Rugolo cues with awful synth music.

It wouldn't be so bad if CBS replaced an occasional cue whenever there was some difficulty in obtaining legal clearances. But there's no excuse for reneging on their promise to reinstate the original Rugolo cues.

I find it utterly mind-boggling that CBS would throw away perfectly good Rugolo cues, and replace them with the awful Heyes cues. I can think of only one reason why CBS would do this.

My guess is that CBS management is trying to rationalize the utter fiasco of S2V1 by trying to put a positive spin on it.

"Hey, we didn't REALLY make a colossal blunder by commissioning the Mark Heyes music. We made a WISE INVESTMENT in new replacement cues, which we can now use to replace all of those old, classic Rugolo cues. You see? We're getting our MONEY'S WORTH out of the Heyes music!"

No, you're just fooling yourselves, CBS. S2V1 was a major screw-up, plain and simple.

Let's look at this in dollars and cents, CBS. You probably paid Mark Heyes roughly $20,000 to compose the replacement cues. But when you use the Heyes cues to replace PERFECTLY GOOD Rugolo cues, you end up PISSING OFF legions of Fugitive fans, who then STOP BUYING your dvds, causing you to lose $100,000 or more in sales. You tell me, is that good business?

It's time to admit your mistake, CBS. You screwed up. Your lawyers didn't do their homework, causing you to commission new replacement music that wasn't necessary.

And now you're throwing away perfectly good Rugolo cues just to give you an excuse to use those unnecessary replacement cues. And you're deluding yourselves by thinking that you're now getting your money's worth for what was paid for the replacement music.

But here's the rub, CBS. Whenever you use the Heyes cues, you make the situation worse. You piss off even more fans. You lose even more in sales. You dig the hole a little deeper.

It's time to cut loose the dead weight of the Heyes music. Time to let it go, CBS. Just write it off, as you would a bad investment. That's what it is, really. A bad investment. A bad decision. A world-class blunder.

Take the Heyes music and toss it into the nearest trash can. Then, do your best to salvage the situation. FIX THE MUSIC. Otherwise, you'll alienate the very same people that you're counting on to buy your dvds.

Remove EVERY LAST HEYES CUE from Seasons 2 and 3, and restore the original music. (And don't make use of any replacement music in the upcoming release of Season 4.)

It's time for you to stop making excuses and cutting corners, CBS. It's time for you to go back and DO THE JOB RIGHT.

MY RECOMMENDATION --

I recommend giving this one a miss. Rent it, if you must, but don't buy it. Don't put your money into the pockets of CBS, which continues to ruin one of television's greatest dramatic series.

By CBS' own admission, the only musical cues in question are those which were originally licensed from the Capitol Music Library, the ownership of which is currently in dispute.

If CBS had attempted to stay as true as possible to the original music by only replacing those few Capitol cues -- "We had to replace just one Capitol cue in this episode, two Capitol cues in that episode, while we were able to leave this third episode untouched." -- then most Fugitive fans would have cut CBS some slack.

But to replace thirty, forty, even fifty cues in a single episode -- cues... Read more ›

24 of 29 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars From an original Fugitive fan, February 19, 2010

By 

C. J. Celebrezze (N Royalton, OH United States) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: The Fugitive: Season Three, Vol. 2 (DVD)

This is the first time I've written a review of DVDs for Amazon that I can recall and probably never will again. But I have to express my opinion on the controversy of replacement music for the classic series "The Fugitive".

I've watched this show since it aired in 1963. I've seen all the episodes dozens of times over the years. For those of you who don't care if the music has changed, good for you. You are seeing the best TV show ever broadcast. Enjoy it. The pictures are beautiful and the episodes superbly produced, written, directed and acted. Simply the best.

However, for those of us who watched many times, the "new" music is unacceptable. It's the same as listening to "new" rerecordings of the music of the 50s and 60s that I cherish. It's not what I remember and love and I don't enjoy it. It's that simple. I have pre-ordered all six volumes so far. But for Season Four I will wait till the reviews come in before purchasing any more. I'll just watch the Super Beta 1 tapes I made 20 years ago transferred to DVD.

C.J. Celebrezze
N. Royalton OH

19 of 24 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars GREAT COLLECTION OF EPISODES .... STILL TOO MUCH SUBSTITUTE MUSIC, BUT COULD BE MUCH WORSE .... OVERALL: A RECOMMENDED PURCHASE, December 17, 2009

By 

David Von Pein (Mooresville, Indiana; USA) - See all my reviews

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: The Fugitive: Season Three, Vol. 2 (DVD)

"THE FUGITIVE: SEASON THREE, VOLUME TWO" arrived on DVD from CBS/Paramount on December 8, 2009, just six weeks after the first half of Season 3 was released.

This 4-Disc set contains a great selection of episodes from what is (in my opinion) the very best television drama series that ever aired on American TV screens: "The Fugitive", starring David Janssen as falsely-convicted Dr. Richard Kimble and co-starring London-born actor Barry Morse, who seemingly was born to play the part of Kimble's chief adversary, Indiana Police Lieutenant Philip Gerard.

When I first received this volume and started looking over the episode descriptions on the inside cover of the DVD case, I kept saying to myself over and over: "Oh, that's right, THAT great episode is included in this set too! Excellent!" (or something similar to those thoughts anyway).

And while I consider myself to be a (very) big fan of "The Fugitive" and also fairly well-schooled in the episodes and their themes, etc., I will readily acknowledge that I'm not as much of an "expert" on this brilliant TV series as some other people I have encountered on the Internet, which is probably why I was making the above-mentioned comments to myself as I perused the episode list for this second volume of Season #3. I had simply not remembered that so many truly good episodes of this series would be occupying this DVD collection.

By "truly good episodes", I'm talking about the following "Fugitive" shows, which rank among my own personal favorites from this DVD volume (or from any season of "The Fugitive", for that matter):

>> "Wife Killer", co-starring Bill Raisch as the elusive one-armed man. This episode serves as a great roller-coaster ride, with Kimble chasing down (and catching) the one-armed man ("Fred Johnson") thanks to a car accident which results in Johnson nearly dying.

>> "Ill Wind" features another of the many instances in the series which has Lt. Gerard hot on the heels of Dr. Kimble, with Gerard actually recapturing his prey here, only to lose him again in the end.

This time, Mother Nature plays a big part in allowing Kimble to regain his freedom, as a hurricane forces the hunter and the hunted to take shelter in a rickety barn in southern Texas.

There are some things in "Ill Wind" that seem a bit on the implausible and far-fetched side, such as when Dr. Kimble saves the life of his pursuer not just once--but twice.

But the script (written by Al Ward) is a finely-tuned one, as it skillfully brings Kimble and Gerard together and allows for Kimble's ultimate re-escape from the law in a way that, in the end, doesn't throw credibility completely out the window. This is truly an exceptional installment in the 4-year lifespan of "The Fugitive". Don't miss it.

BTW, the haunting ballad (entitled "The Running Man") that is sung by Tim McIntire throughout "Ill Wind" is completely intact on the DVD, which is very good news indeed.

In fact, every note of music in "Ill Wind" is from the original 1966 version of the show. There's none of the annoying replacement music to be found in this sterling episode, which is more good news. (Although there is less music contained in "Ill Wind" than there is in most other "Fugitive" episodes, mainly due to the hurricane that rages throughout most of the show. The wind from the howling storm was meant to serve as a substitute for music in some spots of the script.)

>> "In A Plain Paper Wrapper" gives 15-year-old Kurt Russell a second opportunity to show up as a guest star. In an earlier episode from Season 2, Russell played Lt. Gerard's son ("Phil Jr."), but here he plays a different character, a boy who purchases a rifle through the mail and plans to capture Richard Kimble with the help of his friends. This is another episode that provides its fair share of good, tense moments, and Lois Nettleton's appearance certainly doesn't detract from the nice scenery either. ;)

>> "This'll Kill You" combines some tender moments with some good action and suspense, as Mickey Rooney guest stars as laundromat operator and former bookie "Charlie Paris", who is double-crossed by his former girlfriend (played nicely by Nita Talbot). Rooney is absolutely wonderful in his part here. A good, solid episode all the way around.

>> "The 2130" has veteran 64-year-old actor Melvyn Douglas making a guest appearance. Douglas' character attempts to aid Lt. Gerard in tracking down Dr. Kimble--with the help of a computer known as "The 2130".

The other shows on this four-disc set are pretty darn good too (a full episode list is provided later in this review), including the extraordinary "Running Scared", which is an episode that I had never once seen prior to getting this DVD collection. It co-stars Jacqueline Scott as Richard Kimble's sister, and Scott is excellent--as always. (Unfortunately, Scott's first name is misspelled in the credits of this episode.)

"Running Scared" had me on pins and needles all the way through it. It's a well-scripted cat-and-mouse nail-biter that was written by Don Brinkley and directed by James Sheldon.

It's an episode that features numerous interesting twists and turns, with Lt. Gerard travelling to Fort Wayne, Indiana, in another effort to recapture Dr. Kimble. The final seconds of Act III are brilliant. And just when I thought things couldn't get any better--along came Act IV.

In my opinion, Act IV of "Running Scared" is one of the best single "Acts" in any "Fugitive" episode during the entire four-year history of the series. The scene which reunites Dr. Kimble with his sister, Donna, is wonderful, with Jacqueline Scott shining especially bright in that scene. There's a tenderness there which seems so genuine and real, you'd almost swear that David Janssen and Jackie Scott were brother and sister in real life.

And the closing moments of Act IV place the final elements of "sheer perfection" on the episode.

I can't say enough good things about "Running Scared". It is simply sensational, and it makes this DVD aggregation worth owning all the more. Moreover, it's an episode that seems to have every note of its original 1966 music score completely intact (from what my ears could detect anyway).

One of the reasons why it's so nice to have complete-season sets of television programs on DVD is that it affords people the opportunity to experience shows like "The Fugitive" for the first time. And, in my case, this particular DVD set has now allowed me to see a first-rate episode of my favorite TV drama for the very first time ever. And I'm grateful for that.

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

THE MUSIC:

Like with the other CBS/Paramount DVD volumes of "The Fugitive" from Season 2 and Season 3 (but not Season 1), there is replacement music sprinkled throughout most of the 15 episodes in this S3,V2 set, which does not make me happy.

But it does appear to my ears that at least the majority of the original music from 1966 is intact on these DVDs, with a few of these Season-Three episodes escaping without a single note of Mark Heyes' substitute music in them, with those episodes being "Ill Wind", "Shadow Of The Swan", and "Running Scared". (Plus, "Stroke Of Genius" seems to be about 99% Heyes-free.)

Possibly the biggest mystery concerning this "Music Replacement Debacle" (which I think is a reasonable and accurate description for the mess surrounding the "Fugitive" music on the post-Season 1 DVDs) is this:

Why did CBS/Paramount decide to keep the original 1960s music completely intact for several ENTIRE episodes in Seasons 2 and 3, but then also decided to rip out and replace some of the VERY SAME background musical cues in other episodes? It just doesn't make sense.

I'm certainly no expert on music copyright issues, but the random and seemingly willy-nilly fashion in which some of the music on these "Fugitive" DVDs has been removed and replaced with new arrangements is truly baffling to me.

But I am glad that CBS/Paramount at least had the common sense (and the brains) to keep the bulk of composer Peter Rugolo's outstanding music intact and untouched on these DVDs (as well as keeping intact the majority of the background music that originated from the vaults of the CBS Music Library).

And I am also pleased that the people in charge at CBS/Paramount decided not to follow through with their original music-replacement plan for "The Fugitive" from 2008, when CBS Home Entertainment issued this statement:

"Obviously we would have preferred to include all the original music in "The Fugitive" second season DVD release, but unlike season one, there were a large number of cues, the current ownership of which was not clear. We didn't want to disappoint fans by significantly delaying the release of the second season so we chose to replace the music. We kept the original theme song, but decided it would be better to rescore full episodes to give viewers a seamless, consistent experience throughout. Taking everything into consideration, we thought this was the best solution. We hope our track record on previous releases shows that we truly care about classic TV and its... Read more ›