Customer Reviews

The Fugitive: Season Two, Vol. 2

5 star:		(31)
4 star:		(7)
3 star:		(5)
2 star:		(5)
1 star:		(23)

 

 

-- UPDATE, 6 July 2009 --

Dear CBS,

I'm very disappointed with your release of Season 2 of THE FUGITIVE, and I'd like to tell you why.

The issue is the music. Yes, I know that you've heard this before, and you might believe that you've already addressed this issue and put it behind you.

But you'd be wrong. The music is still being screwed up.

I happen to think that THE FUGITIVE is one of the finest dramatic series ever produced for American television. Perhaps THE finest. So I was overjoyed when I first heard that CBS was going to release this series on DVD.

And Season One was great. Well, almost great. It would have been perfect if a few instances of background music on radios and jukeboxes hadn't been needlessly replaced in the episodes GARDEN HOUSE and WHERE THE ACTION IS.

But beginning with your release of Season 2 Volume 1, all of that changed. The music was horrible. Absolutely horrible.

CBS finally admitted that they had thrown out the entire musical score and commissioned a brand-new score composed of Crap Synthesizer Music. And all because of a handful of musical cues that had been originally licensed from the Capitol music library, the ownership of which was now in legal limbo.

This was a first-class example of 'throwing the baby out with the bath water'. -- "A few musical cues have got to go, so let's just throw out the entire musical score." This ranks as perhaps the most colossal blunder in the history of television.

Tens of thousands of Fugitive fans wrote letters, wrote emails, boycotted CBS products, and returned their DVDs for refunds. The outpouring of fan rage was unprecedented.

CBS recoiled in shock. Why were the fans so concerned about the music, when CBS had long ago concluded that "The Music Doesn't Matter"?

Fans were livid because The Music DOES Matter.

Let me say that again, CBS.

THE MUSIC *DOES* MATTER. Especially to a show like THE FUGITIVE.

Now, I can think of a great many series whose music is unmemorable. But THE FUGITIVE is different. It's a film-noir series. The protagonist is a tired, lonely, beaten-down guy who is being chased by the police for a crime he didn't commit.

The music underscores his lonely plight. It sets the mood, underscores his loneliness, gets the audience emotionally involved. The music is of primary importance to this series. Which is why any alteration to the music is jarring, changes the mood, changes the impact of the scene, and totally ruins the experience. THAT'S why the fans were outraged.

Thousands of fans returned their S2V1 DVD sets for a refund. This hit CBS where it mattered most, in the pocketbook. And CBS eventually responded by issuing Replacement Discs for S2V1, with the original music restored, and with only those few Capitol cues replaced.

(Personally, I believe that CBS' decision to issue Replacement Discs for S2V1 was primarily due to the embarrassment that CBS suffered when this issue was made public in an article entitled "CBS/Par Can't Escape Fugitive Burn" in the daily film-industry newspaper, VARIETY.)

(CBS has long turned a deaf ear to complaints from fans of other Classic TV shows that CBS has butchered. CBS probably would have ignored FUGITIVE fans too, if not for Jon Burlingame's VARIETY article. Thanks, Jon!)

Having issued the S2V1 Replacement Discs, you probably thought that you had resolved this music-replacement issue and put it behind you, didn't you, CBS?

But the S2V1 Replacement Discs didn't REALLY restore all of the original music (save for those few Capitol cues). A great many of the original cues were STILL needlessly replaced!

As an example, let's take a look at the Season 2 episode ESCAPE INTO BLACK. CBS has publicly stated that, in this episode, there is only one cue in question, a 39-second Capitol cue composed by Nick Carras.

(For proof, Google "The Fugitive Music Debacle: Why It Happened")

So, there is only one cue that had to be replaced in ESCAPE INTO BLACK. And if you pull out your old VHS copy and compare it to the S2V1 Replacement version, you'll find that the original score is intact, save for that one replaced cue, right?

Wrong. I made the comparison, and I found 25 instances where original cues have been needlessly replaced by Crap Synthesizer Cues. Here they are, listed by time index.

02:32 - flashback: Kimble sees one-armed man
02:41 - flashback: one-armed man in headlights
05:34 - amnesiac Kimble struggles to remember
06:01 - doctor interrogates Kimble
08:05 - Ruskin confronts Towne
08:24 - Ruskin argues with Towne
08:49 - Ruskin discusses Barlow case
09:02 - police want fingerprints
09:23 - Ruskin talks to Barlow
13:53 - Lascoe takes Kimble's fingerprints
14:01 - Kimble being fingerprinted
14:58 - Ruskin leaves hospital room
15:08 - Ruskin takes Kimble's file photo
35:49 - Kimble grabs Towne's lapels
44:40 - flashback: Kimble on train
44:48 - flashback: train wreck
46:10 - flashback: one-armed man runs from house
46:18 - Kimble talks to Ruskin
46:41 - flashback: Kimble runs to house
46:56 - Kimble apologizes to Ruskin
47:09 - Ruskin warns Kimble
47:14 - Gerard recognizes Kimble
47:20 - Gerard chases Kimble
47:45 - Kimble watches train recede
47:50 - (cue inserted where none existed)

The explanation is obvious. CBS did NOT start with the original score, and then replace that single Capitol cue. Instead, CBS started with the Crap Synthesizer Version from their first S2V1 release, and then sprinkled a few original cues back in, leaving a great many Crap Synthesizer Cues remaining.

CBS *could* have restored ALL of the original music, save for that single Capitol cue, but CBS chose to cut corners to save a buck, sacrificing quality in favor of cost-cutting expediency.

CBS probably thought that the fans wouldn't notice. But CBS has continually underestimated the intelligence of the fan base. First of all, the fans know every note of music, and will notice even the slightest change. Second, fans are able to communicate this information to each other by means of the Internet.

I have watched every episode of Season 2, and ESCAPE INTO BLACK is a pretty typical episode in terms of replaced music. I'd estimate that the S2V1 Replacement-Version episodes have an average of 60% original cues and 40% Crap Synthesizer Cues (in terms of number of cues, not necessarily running time).

It's worse for S2V2. I would estimate that the average S2V2 episode has 50% original cues and 50% Crap Synthesizer Cues.

This isn't remotely fair, CBS. We're already paying you double for these dvds, because you've split the season into two half-season sets. And what do we get for our double payment? We only get about half of the original musical cues! We're getting ripped off TWICE.

C'mon, CBS, charging us double for only half of the music is low-down and dirty. You really need to fix this.

Those CBS executives who thought that this music-replacement issue had already been resolved are sadly mistaken. This is still a huge issue to a huge number of FUGITIVE fans, and CBS is going to continue to lose sales until this issue is properly addressed.

This touches on the broader issue of Needless Music Replacement. CBS is guilty of editing and replacing the music of several tv series, among them GOMER PYLE, THE ODD COUPLE, and MY THREE SONS.

Why is CBS the only major dvd company that routinely replaces music? The answer seems to be that CBS is waging its own war against the Music Industry. Ken Ross, CBS' VP and General Manager, actually BOASTS about saving money by replacing music rather than paying music licensing fees.

With all due respect to Mr. Ross, I'd like to ask him to PLEASE STOP waging this war against what he perceives to be excessive music licensing fees. Fans of Classic TV would rather have the original music, even if it means that the dvds cost a little bit more.

Listen carefully, CBS. Waging war against the Music Industry by replacing music only serves to alienate your core dvd customers. IT'S NOT WORTH IT.

Put your customers first, Mr. Ross. Just PAY THE LICENSING FEES and give your customers the Classic TV that they're asking for. PUT YOUR CUSTOMERS FIRST, not your pocketbook or your ego.

If you're still not convinced that replacing music is a bad idea, CBS, let me illustrate with an example.

For my example, let's look into the bowels of CBS/Paramount, where an audio-video engineer is preparing an episode of GOMER PYLE for DVD release. Our engineer, Skippy, has just deleted a one-minute segment in which Gomer sings a song.

Skippy is proud of himself. "If I had kept Gomer's song intact, CBS would have had to pay $2000 to license that music. That would have driven up the unit price by 5 cents, and we would have overshot our Price Point. Besides, those stupid consumers will never know that I deleted Gomer's song."

Wrong, Skippy. It turns out that the Cost Model used by CBS fails to take two factors into account. First, consumers are not the stupid morons that CBS believes them to be. Second, in this age of global Internet communications, consumers can instantly communicate with each other.

So here is what actually happens. As soon as the DVDs are released, a sharp-eyed consumer realizes that Gomer's song has been deleted. That person communicates this information to other fans by means of an Amazon review and by postings to various websites.

Many consumers who were planning to buy the DVDs then cancel their purchases, based on these reviews. CBS loses the sale of perhaps 30,000 units.

Great job there, Skippy. Nice going. Give yourself a pat on the back. By deleting Gomer's song, CBS saved a penny but lost a fortune.

This is the critical flaw in CBS' thinking. Whenever CBS replaces music, they end up losing more in sales than they save in licensing fees.

It makes no economic sense to replace music. Anytime that you mutilate the music, consumers will find out and will cancel their purchase of your product. You're going to lose even more money than if you had just left the music alone.

And consumers would be happy to pay a slightly higher price if it meant that the episodes would be uncut and unedited -- in "Night of Original Broadcast" quality.

If CBS continues to replace music, here is what I think is going to happen to THE FUGITIVE. -- CBS will release Seasons 3 and 4, which will sell in modest numbers. Overall, the entire series will be a break-even product for CBS, or even a modest financial success.

Then, a few years later, a different DVD company will go back and release the series again, this time paying more attention to restoring the original music. And they will end up selling TEN TIMES as many units as CBS did.

And the executives at CBS will scratch their heads and say, "Gee, we only sold one-tenth as many units. Where did all of that demand come from? Where were all of those customers when WE released our DVDs?"

I'll tell you, CBS. Those customers are right here, right now. Waiting for you to release their favorite show in pristine, un-edited, un-mutilated, night-of-original-broadcast form. And if you give it to them, they'll buy every last DVD set that you can produce. But if you tamper with the music, they'll stay away in droves.

The ball is in your court, CBS. You have an opportunity here to change your attitude and rectify your mistakes. You can make a ton of money by giving the fans their show in pristine condition, or you can lose it all by continuing your self-destructive practice of replacing music. The decision is yours.

In the eventuality that you make the intelligent choice, please permit me to give you my Wish List, in order of priority:

(1) Please re-release Season 2 in its entirety, this time starting with the original score, and replacing ONLY those cues as absolutely necessary. And restore the Janis Paige scene in BALLAD FOR A GHOST.

(And remove that insulting end-credit screen that gives musical credit to the composers of the Crap Synthesizer Music!)

If you're unsure about the legal ownership of some of the cues, go hire Ken Wilhoit as a temporary employee. Ken was the original Music Supervisor during the series' original four-year run, and can identify the heritage of every single cue. He's retired now. If you can't get Ken, there are many other music experts in the Los Angeles area who could do the same job.

(2) Please restore the background music that was needlessly replaced in the Season One episodes GARDEN HOUSE and WHERE THE ACTION IS, and issue replacement discs.

(3) Please release Seasons 3 and 4 with all original music intact. If you come across any musical cues of uncertain legal ownership, make sure that you exhaust all other options before you take the drastic action of replacing them.

And don't play games with the music of seasons 3 and 4! It would be very easy for CBS to decide to INTENTIONALLY replace some of the musical cues in S3 and S4 with Crap Synthesizer Cues, for the following reason:

"If we release seasons 3 and 4 with all of the original music intact, then the fans will DEMAND that we go back and get rid of the Crap Synthesizer Music that we allowed to remain in Season Two. This would bring Season Two's music up to par with Seasons 1, 3 and 4."

"But we'd have to go back and restore all of the original music to Season Two, and we'd rather not spend the money to do that. So let's intentionally replace about half of the musical cues in S3 and S4 with Crap Synthesizer Cues. By watering down the music in S3 and S4, those seasons will be on par with Season 2."

(4) If any of your executives still have the attitude that "The Music Doesn't Matter", fire them or ask them to take early retirement. This attitude has been the root cause of CBS' problems.

(5) How about including episode introductions by Barry Morse, who played Lieutenant Gerard? Though he passed away in 2008, Barry recorded episode introductions averaging 3 or 4 minutes in length for the VHS release of Fugitive episodes by Nu Ventures in the early 1990s. Nu Ventures released 40 episodes on 20 VHS tapes, and though I'm uncertain if Barry recorded introductions for all 40 episodes, I know that he recorded at least 37 of them, because I've got them.

(6) How about some extras? I'm sure there must be interviews and documentaries out there. It would be great if some of them were included on these discs.

(7) CBS, maybe it's time that you threw in the towel on THE FUGITIVE, given the fact that you've continually screwed up the music.

How about turning this project over to a more competent DVD company? Consider Shout Factory and Image Entertainment, for example. They do great work, and they treat the music with the respect that it deserves.

Look at the excellent job that Image Entertainment did with their DEFINITIVE TWILIGHT ZONE release. That is how you should be treating THE FUGITIVE -- with restored video, original music, and lots of extras.

THE FUGITIVE has been called "The Greatest Dramatic Series of the 1960s". This should be a Showcase Product for you, CBS. You should give it the kind of gold-plated treatment that Image Entertainment gave to its DEFINITIVE TWILIGHT ZONE release.

Don't be in such a hurry to "Get these DVDs out the door, music be damned." Take your time and do a proper job. Give us THE FUGITIVE with restored video, original music, and lots of extras.

If that is too difficult for you, CBS, then maybe you should outsource this project to Image Entertainment.

I wanted to wait a little while before I reviewed the latest release of The Fugitive Season Two volume Two due to I have very mixed emotions regarding the release of The Fugitive on DVD and Paramount/CBS treatment of this classic series.
The series itself, deserves nothing less than 5 stars! I was born in 1970 and never seen the show until A&E showed the series in the 1990's. From the first episode, I was hooked and The Fugitive became, and remains to this day, my favorite TV show. I was thrilled the day CBS/Paramount announced the release of the show on DVD format! Back then, CBS/Paramount really did put classic TV on a pedestal. The first two releases of The Fugitive are outstanding! There are some minor music changes on the first two volumes, but they are barely noticeable. The changes are in background incidental music such as juke box and radio music. While this still was unpleasant to me, it is still as I said, barely noticeable and very minute. But when CBS/Paramount released Season Two Volume One, they destroyed the whole feel to the show by doing something no other studio has ever done to a DVD release: They stripped the entire underscore and added new music. This was inexcusable and the fans outrage was tremendous. CBS/Paramount heard the fans and reissued the Season Two Volume One set with, in my opinion, 90-95% of the original score restored. Although I appreciate their effort, they still destroyed some of the episodes in the re-issue and many on this new volume two release.

Most of the scores they replaced on Season Two, Volumes One and Two, they own and there is no reason to remove them. There are scores used on other CBS/Paramount shows such as the Twilight Zone, which the Fugitive borrowed from heavily, that CBS/Paramount still replaced. There is no reason for this. And to add injury to insult, In their statement issued with the exchange program, they promised that Season Two Volume Two would be close to the release of Season One volume one and two. It is not. To be precise, Volume Two of Season Two shows more tampering with and replaced music than the episodes on the replacement set of Volume One Season Two.
CBS/Paramount states that they put classic TV on a pedestal. They do but only for certain shows . I believe that this is not a rights issue but a financial issue in that Paramount/CBS does not want to pay out royalties. To prove my fact, take a look at Star Trek and I love Lucy. Every bit of music on these shows remains intact and complete. In the latest (I refer to the non-Bluray issue) release of Star Trek, Paramount/CBS paid an orchestra to re-do the Star Trek score using original instrumental set up and original music cue sheets according to the extras found on the first season DVD set. And as I mentioned before, I Love Lucy: Every musical number performed by Desi Arnaz is intact and complete! Why can't The Fugitive fans get the same treatment? Instead we get replaced scores using synthesizers and in Volume One, the episode Ballad for a Ghost, the song performed by Janice Page was totally removed and replaced by a new song and new singer! This is uncalled for because that song was written for that episode by the show's producer, and is in the script!

Another disappointment for this new release is some of the episodes have music added in places where there was no music initially. In the episode "Fun And Games And Party Favors", there is music added in segments where there is no music originally. Now, not only is CBS/Paramount replacing music unnecessarily, they are adding music where music wasn't originally! And the episode "Brass Ring" unfortunately is pretty much totally ruined by the new music that plays in many different portions of it, especially during the chase scene in Act IV. The climax of Act III also is destroyed by the heavy use of the composer's loud synthesized horns. Also note that all of the "merry-go-round" music from the original "Brass Ring" soundtrack has been replaced with new music as well which there is no reason for that replacement since that music seems to also appear in the premier episode, "Fear in a Dessert Town", and it remains untouched. The `merry-go-round" music that is used is in public domain anyway and there was no reason to replace it. The episode "The Survivors" is also laced with heavy replacement music that ruins the feel of the show.
On the plus side, the picture quality of the episodes on the DVD's of The Fugitive are excellent. CBS/Paramount states the DVD's are being produced from the original negatives and from the look of these episodes, they are. The episodes are appear to be very clean and well preserved. The picture quality is very sharp! The episode "Corner of Hell", like volume ones episode of "Cry Uncle" does show some damage to the negative but only in the preview of this episode. No other damage seems present in the rest of the episode. It is too bad that CBS/Paramount didn't search for better prints. These two episodes were released by Nu Ventures video when they were releasing The Fugitive in the 90's and the episodes they used showed no damage.
The sound (the original, not the CBS/Paramount produced fake sound) is outstanding as well! The clarity for a show of this age is very clear and CBS/Paramount did an excellent job of cleaning up the audio. There are no hisses, drop outs, pops or cracks! Very excellent audio clarity!
I hope that CBS/Paramount listens to the fans of The Fugitive and realizes that there are as many Fugitive fans as there are Lucy and Trek fans and this time really go back and redo Season Two in its entirety with the original music score and performances added back into the episodes and rereleases them. Since they own the majority of the music, there is really no reason why the show cannot be released in its original broadcast form. I hope that Paramount/CBS clears any and all legal and royalties issues before releasing Season Three. I am sending my Season Two Volume Two back like I did my Season Two Volume One. I believe that this is the only way that CBS/Paramount will hear our outrage and release The Fugitive correctly! Come on CBS/Paramount! Release The Fugitive in its original broadcast form and show us you really do care about your customers and really do put the classic TV show The Fugitive DVD on a pedestal!

If you really care about this classic show, I encourage you to contact the powers that be at paramount and ask that they release this classic intact as originally brodcasted. I will make it easy for you: Here is the address and phone number of the person to contact.

CBS Home Entertainment
ATTN: Ken Ross, Exec. VP & General Manager
1700 Broadway, 33rd Floor
New York, NY 10019

Leave a Voice Message:

(212) 975-3241 When transferred to an operator, ask for Ken Ross.

Finally bowing to the wishes of the consumer, CBS/Paramount has announced that they will be issuing replacement discs for The Fugitive - Season Two, Vol. 1, restoring most of the original music. Just go to <[...]> for replacement instructions. Also this release, The Fugitive: Season Two, Vol. 2, will be identical to Season one with most of the original music intact!

This is wonderful news the American consumer! I guess the squeaky wheel does get the grease!

Update: 03/05/09

Wow, that was fast! I received my replacement unit today and it is a complete replacement; keep-case, discs, insert, the whole works. Just finished watching episode one. It's not perfect but what a difference! Here's hoping everyone takes advantage of this program and gets a quick turn-around. Mine was a mere 16 days. Happy viewing everyone!

Update: 04/05/09

I must digress a bit to comment on this release. After all the hoopla about the "wonderful" replacement discs for S.2.V.1, we have been hoodwinked and bamboozled by CBS/Paramount! Substituted music abounds in many episodes, sometimes in overbearing, disjointed volumes. Season two has been a cluster mess-up from start to finish.....just a bungled mess!

Dear Mr. Nemerovski;

I spoke to you by phone on May 13th, stating my displeasure with CBS' treatment of the Season 2 DVDs of The Fugitive series. My issue concerns the music "sweetening" process your company enforces.

As well documented, the first volume of Season 2 from The Fugitive was overwrought with substitute music. Much of the music was shrill and maladjusted to the scenes which it embodied. Great writing and acting aside, the music changes made for an extremely unpleasant viewing experience. In short, true Fugitive fans swiftly discerned where Pete Rugolo's legacy concluded and where entry level type musical inflections began. Needless to say, the series did not FEEL like The Fugitive.

We fans complained in hopes that you would listen. Many of us sent back proof of purchase labels for replacement discs. The discs we received featured a few more Rugolo and Capitol cues, but obvious alterations to the musical score remained. Among them, the song "There's Just One Road I Travel" from the Ballad For A Ghost episode was removed. Why? There couldn't have been a copyright issue for a song written by a regular contributor to the series. I am speaking of writer George Eckstein. He wrote the song specifically for that broadcast. The episode had more than a minute of action excised.

In another episode, Escape Into Black, we were led to believe that perhaps all but 39 seconds of music was original. However, a careful review of this episode with a VHS tape (which I have) compared to the DVD replacement disc, features some 25 music alterations. Many of these are unnecessary in content. Without canvassing every episode, ALL of which I have seen some 25-40 times, I'd say about 40 percent of Season 2, Volume 1 features replacement music. Moreover, there are episodes with scenes in which some music is omitted outright.

I eagerly awaited the release of Season 2, Volume 2 of The Fugitive, convinced that CBS had put the "sweetened" music debacle behind them.
And lo and behold, I find out that Fun And Games And Party Favors, along with Brass Ring among others, suffer from the same musical malady. Once again, I, along with other enlightened Fugitive fans were completely crestfallen and deflated.

How tough is it to secure rights to calliope music you used in the pilot episode of the series? Background music in "Party Favors" was inconsiderably removed. Other episodes with replacement music in the extremely tense moments of the program are The Survivors, Trial By Fire, & May God Have Mercy. All told, Season 2, Volume 2 of The Fugitive contains about 50 percent of its original music.

When asked about the reason for the redesigned music, your company's reply is "well, the ownership of Capitol is in question", or "we're trying to avoid a lawsuit", or "there are royalty issues which make this very difficult".

My question is "Why weren't these things considered and discussed among management and your lawyers before the release of The Fugitive?" Companies of astute foresight, such as yourselves, usually take every conceivable legal precaution before distributing a product. And at the very least, a company will set aside a certain amount for potential legal complications. Apparently, this essential element of business practice eludes Season 2 DVD episodes of The Fugitive.

CBS owns The Fugitive & The Twilight Zone outright. Many of The Jerry Goldsmith cues used in The Twilight Zone appeared throughout The Fugitive series. Music stock libraries were interchangeable among shows in the 60's. If there were no conflicts of interest in 1963, then it is very dubious that one of these recording entities or estates would retrosue 46 years later. Not when CBS/Parmount is introducing The Fugitive and its musical corps to a new legion of fans. There is more money for Paramount as well as the estates of those involved with The Fugitive. Everyone wins.

IF CBS/Paramount was truly concerned about packaging The Fugitive at or near pristine condition, consultations with surviving musical contributors would've meliorated matters. Peter Rugolo is alive. He provided some 125 minutes of music for the show. Was he contacted by your firm? How about Ken Wilhoit and John Elizalde, the music supervisors of The Fugitive? Joel Goldsmith, Jerry Goldsmith's son, is a composer. There were many sources to contact to help detangle the music issue.

Taking the minimal approach to constructing Season 2 tells a customer that attention to detail is sacrificed in the name of mass production and a hurried profit. Taking the maximum approach to constructing season 2 leads to greater sales, fewer complaints and returns, and satisfied patrons. Not to mention a concerted effort by CBS to honor The Fugitive's musical and theatrical composition.

As I stated in our phone conversation, products are bought with a trust between a merchant and his customer. The merchant advertises a product with known or assumed features and the customer purchases believing the product meets their needs or desires. The merchant trusts that the customer will be happy. When a customer finds that the product differs greatly from its public billing, understandably, the customer will feel angry, betrayed, pirated, and desirous of a replacement or a refund.

Such has been the case in the recent history of CBS/Paramount releases. Wonderful TV classics bearing the CBS/Paramount trademark such as Gomer Pyle, Happy Days, Laverne & Shirley, The Odd Couple, and My Three Sons have been sold as merchandise resembling their nights of original broadcast. Then a customer finds that the DVD they own features SYNDICATED episodes with songs, background music and scenes changed or completely deleted. In some cases, scenes begin with the remnant of crowd laughter.

A continued indulgence in this glorified bait and switch method of operation will cost you longtime and potential buyers and big money. The aforementioned shows are relics of a television heritage which will never be equalled or excelled. That heritage could - and should - be furthered by CBS/Paramount. PROPERLY. TV ads (similar to the ones issued by Columbia House) would expose the DVDs likely to garner public demand.

In closing, I will say that we Fugitive fans are a sentimental, nostalgic lot who know that Pete Rugolo's music speaks in a way that Richard Kimble doesn't have to. By removing the pristine musical properties of this viewing gem, the show lacks the intensity, the emotion, the sympathetic hues, and the sense of foreboding danger which makes it the greatest drama of all time. The music is the backbone of The Fugitive. THE MUSIC IS THE BACKBONE OF THE FUGITIVE.

My advice to CBS/Paramount is this: Either re-release Season 2 Volumes 1 & 2 of The Fugitive with all or nearly all of its original music and cues, or offer your customers a complete refund. No strings attached. IF you must edit portions of musical cues, please provide the most minute, indiscernable adjustments as humanly possible.

If doing The Fugitive right is THAT big a problem, then outsource the show to entities such as Time/Life HBO, Image Entertainment, or Canada's Shout Factory. Their customers are satisfied with their products. The same can and should be said about your customers.

Thank you for your time.

Respectfully Submitted,

Mark Gaston

NOTE: The preceding was a letter I sent to Mr. Jeffrey Nemerovski, a Vice President for CBS Home Entertainment. The people at CBS/Paramount will not move unless WE Fugitive fans move. If you are sincerely troubled by CBS' continued tampering with the musical score of The Fugitive, let them know. Mr. Robert Dahl has, Mr. John Kinser has, and so have I. Get on board.

While CBS's release is not as horrific as the original Season 2, volume 1 releases that they eventually replaced, a number of these Season 2, volume 2 episodes are significantly problematic for me. I'm not a viewer who knows the show backwards and forwards (in fact a number of these episodes are new to me), but there is a distinctive sound to the work of the original artists which when CBS drops in one of those "newer" Heyes synthesizer cues or some other interpolation...my god, what a jarring sensation. You're into the mood of the show and then you're taken right out of it. I had this experience so far with "Nicest Fella You'd Ever Want to Meet", "Fun and Games and Party Favors" and "Scapegoat". I bought this set after the replacement discs had been released..thinking that CBS/Paramount had decided to do the right thing. Then I got this set and the same problems (just to a lesser degree). I'm not buying the next release until I know that they haven't done this bait and switch tactic again.

I have always been a fan of this series, and I have purchased the discs for the first two seasons. However, I was under the impression that with the Volume Two disc, the cheesy synthesizer musical segments had been eliminated. Indeed, much of the music of the original series has been restored, but there are still sections of individual episodes that feature synthesizer passages.

I too was raised in the era of the Fugitive on TV.

CBS you did the "right thing" with Season-2 Volume-1 by replacing the "bad music DVD's.....please do it for Volume 2!

I just finished watching The Fugitive - season two, vol. one, which I purchased only after finding out that CBS would offer replacement discs with the original music restored. I am now ready for season two, vol. two. Unfortunately CBS, for some reason, has decided not to release this set with the original music intact. Why? Perhaps it's too expensive to secure the music rights. Perhaps it's because not enough people knew about the altered music or bothered to voice their concern. Perhaps it's because enough people bowed to the studio and wrote 5-star reviews that placed an inferior product high on a pedestal and, in a strange twist of logic, criticized those who sought to uphold the importance of artistic integrity. Perhaps CBS is smiling in the knowledge that their customer base consists largely of the uninformed and better yet, those who are informed, but choose to huddle together like frightened sheep, fearful that if they step out of line they might be deprived of something they think they need.

So for what it's worth, let me add my name to the many before me that are willing to stand up for what is right and do justice to a time-honored television series that deserves no less. There will forever be a gap in my collection because I refused to compromise. I refused to take the easy way out and pretend that it didn't matter.

My season 2, vol. 2 arrived today and I just made it through the first disc. These replacement cues are horrible. Thank you for keeping some of the original cues but it only makes it all the more difficult and stomach churning when the replacement music occurs. Don't you people realize this changes the feel and character of the show completely? I know there are people who hadn't known the show until these discs who say "what's the big deal about all this music stuff?" but for those of us who know and love the show, this is a terrible thing. As I said, it changes the show completely. I would also think anyone with half an ear, even if they hadn't seen the show before, would be able to tell the change in mood and character when the replacement music starts to play. Is this the only way these shows are going to be available? I do pray for the day that the original music will be restored in its entirety. I realize there are legal issues with the music, but can't they be addressed? For myself and many others who love this show, these shows have become almost unwatchable with the replacement music. Some episodes have more replacement music than others. On the first disc, the first episode (Brass Ring with Angie Dickinson) and the last (Fun and Games and Party Favors) had the most music gone. It is really bad. I say again, Don't you people realize how much it changes the show to replace the music? Won't the original versions ever be made available? Could you imagine replacing some of Bernard Herrmann's music in Psycho and trying to present it as the same thing as the original? That is what this is and it is far from the same thing as the original. What a thing to befall this show! And whoever is writing this replacement music, obviously you are in the business. How can you do this to someone else's music for a mere job? If you have any respect for your craft and know the power that music provides a picture and that indeed the audiences come to care for a picture and its music, then you know a travesty is being committed.

I bought Vol. 1, and would pay immediately for the rest of the series, but for one thing: the problem with the music has not been handled to anyone's satisfaction. For now, I'll stick to VHS converted to DVD, and that's a shame. Please try and get it right, CBS.