Customer Reviews

The Fugitive: Season Three, Vol. 2

5 star:		(19)
4 star:		(4)
3 star:		(7)
2 star:		(3)
1 star:		(5)

 

 

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 Oddly, even though the music in the episode's teaser has been replaced by a Heyes cue, the identical scene in the episode (from which the teaser is lifted) has the original music!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 that were perfectly legal and didn't need to be replaced -- shows that CBS wasn't thinking about what its customers wanted. CBS was only thinking of its own pocketbook.

CBS should change its slogan, from "We put Classic TV on a pedestal" to "We do things as cheaply as possible."

Several reviewers here feel that too much has been made of the music issue, and they have attacked reviewers like me for focusing on this issue. These misguided attacks amount to "shooting the messenger".

The real issue here is that CBS has needlessly -- repeat, NEEDLESSLY -- replaced music that never needed to be replaced at all. This has become common practice at CBS -- tossing out original music and replacing it with a cheap alternative -- just to save a few pennies.

Wait until it happens to YOUR favorite show. "Sorry, but we were too cheap to keep the theme song from SINGING IN THE RAIN. We hope you'll like this Elevator Muzak instead."

I make no apology for focusing on the music issue. Music replacement is a form of aesthetic butchery. It's important that we preserve the creators' original vision and artistic integrity.

POSTSCRIPT -- SOME FREE ADVICE TO CBS

Dear CBS, as long as I have your attention, let me give you some free advice. Take it for what it's worth.

Have you ever asked yourself why a company like Image Entertainment can turn out such great dvds, while you (CBS/Paramount) continue to be mired in customer complaints resulting from your mis-handling of Classic TV shows?

I'll tell you, CBS. It's the difference between "DOING IT RIGHT" versus "DOING IT ON A BUDGET". Let me give you an example to illustrate what I mean.

Take, for example, Image Entertainment's release of their DEFINITIVE TWILIGHT ZONE dvds. They did a magnificent job. Every episode carefully restored, with promos, vintage commercials, audio interviews, commentaries, isolated music tracks.

I'm sure it cost them a bundle to produce that set. But they earned back their investment because of the HIGH QUALITY of their product. They ended up with a lot of very satisfied customers.

On the other hand, CBS has continually cut corners on their release of THE FUGITIVE in an attempt to keep costs down. No subtitles, no extra featurettes, no commentaries, no interviews, no isolated music tracks, no promos, no vintage commercials. Some episodes are not even sourced from the original negatives. And the less said about the awful replacement music, the better.

I'm sure that CBS executives feel that they are justified in holding down costs and releasing THE FUGITIVE as cheaply as possible. After all, customer complaints are up and sales are down. THE FUGITIVE probably won't be a big money-maker for CBS, so why throw good money after bad, eh, CBS?

But if CBS had initially approached this project with the attitude of "DOING IT RIGHT" instead of "DOING IT ON A BUDGET", they could have created a set of first-class dvds, with original music and lots of extras.

If they had done so, they would have ended up with a lot of very satisfied customers. The increased sales would have offset their increased costs of doing a thorough, painstaking job.

As it is, CBS' penny-pinching approach doomed this release from the outset. They released a mediocre set that satisfies no one.

This is a prime example of how a company's reluctance to spend money for fear that they may not recoup their investment creates a self-fulfilling prophecy resulting in a substandard product that few customers will want to buy, thus fulfilling the prediction that sales may not recoup the investment.

This is a management problem. CBS technicians are fully capable of doing good work. But good work takes time, and the technicians can only do good work when their management allocates sufficient time and money to allow the technicians to do a thorough job.

When management cuts costs to the bone, then technicians are only given enough time to do a slapdash job, as we've seen here in this S3V2 release.

CBS management has made a fundamental mistake -- they seem to believe that "Consumers are morons who will buy whatever we give them."

But we're NOT morons, CBS. And if you give us a shoddy dvd release, filled with replacement music and sourced from second-rate negatives, then we'll just keep our money, and your product will sit on the shelves.

There is a direct correlation between the new management at CBS Home Video and the nosedive in CBS' profitability. CBS shareholders ought to take a hard look at Ken Ross and his management team.

It was their idea to institute wholesale music replacement and other cost-cutting measures, in the false belief that we moronic consumers wouldn't know the difference between a good product and a shoddy one.

That belief has resoundingly been proven false. Whenever CBS replaces music or uses second-rate negatives, we consumers will simply refuse to purchase their product.

Paramount was doing a good job with their dvd releases before the cheapskate CBS management took over. The best decision that CBS shareholders could make at this point would be to fire Ken Ross and his management team, and put the former Paramount executives back in charge.

THE BOTTOM LINE

The bottom line is that SALES ARE INVERSELY RELATED TO ALTERATIONS. The more you alter these shows, the smaller your sales will be.

Hypothetically, let's say that CBS projected worldwide sales of Fugitive dvds at $800,000. If the cost of completely restoring the series was $200,000, this would leave a profit for CBS of $600,000.

But then CBS management says, "Hey, if we cut costs down to $100,000 by replacing music and using second-rate negatives, we can boost our profit to $700,000. After all, we'll still sell $800,000 worth of dvds worldwide, right?"

WRONG!

If you replace music or make similar alterations, the hardcore fans won't buy the product. Your sales will suffer a sharp decline. Profits will be even smaller, perhaps even nonexistent.

The lesson here is that TV-on-dvd is a NOSTALGIA market. Customers want the shows they remember. If you alter these shows, then your sales will suffer a sharp decline.

Best to just leave these shows intact, PAY THE MUSIC LICENSING FEES (even if those fees are artificially high due to opportunistic pricing by the Music Industry), and give the customer the shows they remember.

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

"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.

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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 fans." -- CBS Home Entertainment; June 17, 2008

But, as CBS/Paramount soon found out from devoted fans of "The Fugitive", that "best solution" was actually the worst possible solution (by far) to the music problem.

The currently-available "Fugitive" DVDs for Season 2 and Season 3 aren't perfect, music-wise, that's for sure. But those discs, which have most of the original 1960s music included on them, are light-years better than CBS' "best solution" alluded to above.

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THE EPISODES:

Disc 1:
Not With A Whimper
Wife Killer
This'll Kill You
Echo Of A Nightmare

Disc 2:
Stroke Of Genius
Shadow Of The Swan
Running Scared
The Chinese Sunset

Disc 3:
Ill Wind
With Strings Attached
The White Knight
The 2130

Disc 4:
A Taste Of Tomorrow
In A Plain Paper Wrapper
Coralee

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SOME DVD SPECS:

>> Video is presented, as it should be, in its originally-aired Full-Frame format (1.33:1). The picture quality is just superb for these black-and-white shows, just like the other volumes in this "Fugitive" series of DVDs distributed by CBS/Paramount.

>> Audio is crisp and clean-sounding on 2.0 Dolby Digital Mono tracks.

>> There are no bonus features included (except for a few CBS DVD "Previews" attached to Disc 1).

>> Menus are silent and static (as all DVD menus should be, in my opinion).

>> A "Play All" option is provided on each disc.

>> All episodes seem to be uncut (from the standpoint of "running time", that is), with each show running in the neighborhood of 51-and-a-half minutes.

>> No subtitles. But Closed-Captioning is offered.

>> Seven chapter breaks per episode.

>> The four discs are all single-sided and dual-layered.

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SOME "ILL WIND" TRIVIA:

>> The ballad "The Running Man", which is such an integral part of the episode "Ill Wind", was written by "Fugitive" associate producer George Eckstein.

>> "Ill Wind's" original episode title was "Ballad For A Bitter Land".

>> Costumer Steve Lodge recalls a prank that the crew pulled on David Janssen during the filming of "Ill Wind". .... "David was a devoted fan of [the TV series] 'Batman'," Steve explained. "When we found that out, one of the guys on the crew cut a stencil resembling the Bat Signal, then taped it to a baby spotlight while David was rehearsing a scene. .... Then somebody turned on the spotlight so that the Bat Signal was projected onto the [canvas backing] behind David. .... 'What in hell is that thing supposed to mean?' demanded the director, Joe Sargent. David just grinned and said, 'I think that someone's trying to tell me that I'm a 'Bat' actor.'"

[Trivia Source: Pages 132 and 133 of "The Fugitive Recaptured", by Ed Robertson ©1993.]

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FINAL THOUGHTS:

Dr. Richard Kimble has been on the run for 90 episodes now, and each of those 90 shows has made its way onto DVD in good-looking form, thanks to the efforts of CBS/Paramount.

The substitute music that must be endured for Season 2 and Season 3 is another issue, of course. But if you're a true-blue fan of this television show, then I honestly believe that every single volume that has been released on DVD to date by CBS/Paramount is worth owning--even with some of the subpar Mark Heyes replacement music randomly thrown into the episodes.

"The Fugitive" (1963-1967) is THAT good. Even with a little Heyes.

I now look forward to the fourth and final season of the series on DVD, which will have a markedly different look to it. For better or for worse...."NEXT -- THE FUGITIVE -- IN COLOR!"

David Von Pein
December 2009

That's pretty much all I have to say about what CBS/Paramount did to THE FUGITIVE series.

The Fugitive Season Three Volume Two
On December 8th, CBS/Paramount released the second part of season three of the greatest TV series ever made: The Fugitive!
Paramount/CBS states they put classic TV on a pedestal. When they released The Fugitive Season One Volume One and Two, they released it with pedestal treatment. The first season sets of The Fugitive gave fans what they wanted and what this classic show deserved: a night of broadcast release with all of 99.9% of its original music intact. Sadly, the Season Two Volumes of The Fugitive is where CBS/Paramount showed that unless it is "Star Trek" or "Lucy" related, there is no pedestal treatment: only a back seat view.
With the release of Season Three, Fugitive fans were given hope that maybe CBS/Paramount would not make the blunder they did with the release of Season Two (which had much of the original back score music replaced) and would return to the format of Season One. The release of The Fugitive Season Three Volume One, it appeared, that CBS/Paramount at least tried to return to the Season One format. Much of the original music was retained. And for the music they did replace, the replacement music at least sounded somewhat to the original tone. But with the release of Season Three Volume Two, CBS/Paramount once again told the Fugitive fans that The Fugitive was a show that did not deserve pedestal treatment.
With Volume Two, quite a bit of the original music is gone. And the replacement music went back to the format of Season Two which is way too loud and takes away from the feel of the show and sounds like something your neighborhood kid would do on a $20.00 cheap keyboard in the garage.
I know that for the most part, there are two camps on this battle front. One camp who says "who cares about the music?" and the other camp (which I belong too) who says that "all of the music used in the original run adds to the show and there is no reason for CBS/Paramount to remove the back scores because THEY OWN IT!"
I do not believe that CBS/Paramount has a rights issue as they claim as much as they have royalty issues and just don't want to pay out the money to the composers each time their music is used. For instance, you may hear a part of a certain back score in one episode and in another that utilized the same score; the song is gone and replaced with replacement score. Usually in a royalty contract, the person who composed the score gets a monetary amount each time their piece is used. If it is used two to three times, they get paid the two to three times it is used. So it seems that CBS/Paramount will pay to use a composer's score for one episode and pay out the money in order to keep some of The Fugitive fans happy, and then replaces it in another episode with garage made cheap music to keep their pocket books happy. If you disagree, and you are free to do so, then please explain why they keep a score in one episode and replace the SAME score in another?
At one time I was giving CBS/Paramount slack for replacing jukebox and radio music but after watching the 46hr Twilight Zone marathon this New Years week end I can't even give them slack for that. The Twilight Zone, which is also owned by CBS/Paramount, shared quite a bit of their background score with The Fugitive. Watching the marathon this week end I noticed that a lot of the juke box and radio music in the Twilight Zone was also used in The Fugitive and removed from the Fugitive DVD's. Of course, on the Twilight Zone DVD's, all of the original score, even juke box and radio music, is retained. So the question remains, why can CBS/Paramount release one series with all of the music intact but can't release another series with the exact same score used in the previous series intact unless it is a money issue?
One saving grace on this DVD set is that CBS/Paramount did not molest the episode "ILL WIND" at all. This episode remains 100% intact. Even the song that was written and sung throughout this episode, "The Running Man", is complete and intact. On that note I would like to thank the powers that be at CBS/Paramount for listening to the fans regarding this episode since I know many have written in requesting they did not damage this episode like they did Season Two's "Ballad for a Ghost".
Once again, the statement that these episodes were transferred from the original negative is missing. From the looks of the picture quality used on these episodes compared to the first two season's quality, it looks as though the original negative were not used. These episodes show a lot of grain and scratches and age marks. Given that, these episodes still look better than any previous VHS release. They are still, for the most part, very sharp and clear. Also, all of the episodes are, with the exception of the music, intact. None of these episodes are cut and run their full length. Again a huge thank you to CBS/Paramount for not using cut episodes.
I have debated on what I am going to give this release in terms of star rating. I would like to give a five star rating because this series deserves nothing less. And for the series, I give it a 5 as it was originally produced. So my rating goes only on Paramount/CBS production release of the series.
In my opinion, Paramount/CBS took a huge leap backwards from the Season Three Volume One release. The episodes are not from the original negative elements and CBS/Paramount owned music has again been replaced with loud, obtrusive, synthesized, cheap sounding, kid's keyboard music. If the music had to be replaced, CBS/Paramount could have at least hired a real orchestra like they did in the restoration of the Star Trek Original Series. But they choose not too and thus again, ruined the feel of the greatest TV series of all time.
To me, if the title has "Star Trek" or "The Beverly Hillbillies", or "I Love Lucy"( or anything to do with Lucy to be matter of fact), Paramount/CBS bends over backward to obtain the musical rights and numbers. They have bent over backwards for "Bonanza" and they have already stated they have cleared any royalty rights associated with Barnaby Jones so it will be released with the original score intact. Fugitive fans deserve the same respect. To me, it is funny that CBS/Paramount replaces a musical number written specifically for a season two episode (Ballad for a Ghost) but can release musical numbers written for "Star Trek" (the episode "Charley X") and all of the Desi Arnaz musical numbers in "I Love Lucy". So again, it appears it is a royalty issue and the studio just don't want to pay the money out?
I hate to add such a low rating to the greatest TV series of all time but in the hands of CBS/Paramount and their butchery once again, I can only give this release a two star rating. One star for the release of "ILL WIND" untouched and one star for the continued release of The Fugitive on DVD and, even though they are not from the original negatives, these still look better than any other previous video/DVD release.
If you are pondering on buying this Volume Two of Season Three, I would rent it before I would buy it. I am not suggesting you not to buy it: only rent it before you buy it to see if you can deal with the butchered music.
The Fugitive season four used much of an entirely different score and it was in color. Let's hope that CBS/Paramount will release all of season four with its music intact and the original negative with the color restored.

1/2/2010 if any one wishes to call CBS/Paramount and ask why keep a score in one episode and remove the same score from another episode thier number is: Paramount - 323-956-5000

Mr. Dahl's review is most informative and accurate. I'd refer those who would like to know the details of this artistic abortion to his comments. My review, such as it is, is to balance the odd number of positive reviews given such a piece of hackwork.

Just when you thought it was safe.........the sharks at CBS have taken another bite out of Fuge fans. Buying from this company has become something of "a grab bag" for those who care about the show being presented properly. Volume One of both Season Two and Season Three were done quite well (relatively speaking, and only the replacement set on Season Two), but Volume Two of both of those seasons has been pretty bad. Yes, the picture quality is good as is the packaging but the audio is badly done at times with original cues barely audible and Heyes replacement music blasting and blaring over everything else in the scene.

This is the last time I'll be commenting on these releases as I feel that I and others have done what we could to get CBS to listen, and in part they did. But contrary to what the previous reviewer stated REPLACING THE AMOUNT OF MUSIC THAT THEY HAVE ON THESE SETS IS NOT AN UNFORTUNATE "NEED" - IT WAS A CHOICE! One can only speculate what the real reasons are behind this botchy release, but in the months and years ahead I'm sure it will become clear to some of us.

For those who can live with the substitution work represented on these discs, enjoy. For those of us who want the real thing it looks like we'll have to go elsewhere. I've bought every set up to this one, but I had a bad feeling CBS couldn't be trusted this time so I picked up a demo copy with the bar code scratched out. It was cheaper, and CBS didn't make any money off of it. They're not getting anymore of my money.

First of all, let me just say that I won't go into every episode and pick out areas where there is replacement music. That has already been done, and I'm thankful for it. But a few episodes in particular have me and I'm sure other folks scratching their heads in confusion. I want to specifically talk about "Echo of a Nightmare". Now, it's very difficult for the logical, well established individual to deduce the rhyme or reason involving CBS's removal of the original music. In "Echo of a Nightmare" for example, we have the original music from the teaser, quite a compelling piece I must add, removed and Heyes music put in its place. This alone would not have me confused, if not for the scene in the episode where the teaser is taken from. Apparently, the original music in this scene is left intact, and it is exactly the same music that plays during the teaser! Now, obviously one would ask why, if it's good enough to be left intact for the original scene, would it be taken out of the teaser if it's the same music? My only guess is, is that CBS either didn't have to pay for the rights for the music in the scene itself (since the music in the scene seems to be edited very slightly just at the end by the show's music editors) or, and this is the troubling part, CBS spent only a limited amount of money to purchase select tracks from the show. If the latter explanation is in fact true, then it speaks to a larger issue and just goes to show how cheap CBS can be. Obviously, if they replace music in one part of an episode, yet leave the same exact music in another part, they are doing this throughout the whole series. This is a very troubling trend occuring with the music replacement....although I'm glad they have left original tracks intact, I'm miffed that they seem to be haphazardly going about the music replacement process. For Fugitive fans, one of two things must occur with these DVD sets. Either CBS must leave all original music completely intact (the preferred solution), or if that is not a possibility, then CBS must hire competent staff to make sure identical tracks not taken out in one scene are left intact in others. And, if my previous conclusion (that CBS is only paying for a limited amount of original music to be used) is in fact what's happening here, then fans should put up as much of a stink about it as they did when season 2 vol. 1 came out with all of the original music replaced. CBS, if you're going to replace music (which is not what fans want in the first place), at least try to get things right.

I have just read all of the reviews and must say that after watching the episodes and hearing an alarming amount of the music replaced the negative reviews are correct and should not be criticized. I totally disagree with comments like we should just accept the replaced music and let life go on. That's saying we should settle and those who do sell themselves short. We deserve the very best from one of the greatest shows ever made. I hope they will make replacement discs for season three volume two. Loyal customers deserve this. As far as season four goes I think CBS should be very meticulous as regards the music even if it means that we the customer pay more. You get what you pay for. If season four comes out at a higher price with the correct music it will be well worth the money.

I see what some of the complaintants are saying about the goofy music in the latest run of "The Fugitive" dvds and
I have to say that it's very annoying. I've noticed that some episodes use the original sound, but most don't and
it doesn't make sense why they substituted this generic sound for the original, which seemed to blend in better with
the action and plot. Also, on my dvd at least it seems like the sound of the generic music and sound effects are
much louder than the dialogue of the actors and when you try to increase the volume for the dialogue then the sudden
crash of music will about knock you out of your chair. Too bad they loused up these dvds with adopted generic sound when the original fit so well.