The Fugitive
The Fugitive
TV-PG | 17 September 1963 (USA)
SEASON & EPISODES
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  • Reviews
    InformationRap This is one of the few movies I've ever seen where the whole audience broke into spontaneous, loud applause a third of the way in.
    Bessie Smyth Great story, amazing characters, superb action, enthralling cinematography. Yes, this is something I am glad I spent money on.
    Lucia Ayala It's simply great fun, a winsome film and an occasionally over-the-top luxury fantasy that never flags.
    Payno I think this is a new genre that they're all sort of working their way through it and haven't got all the kinks worked out yet but it's a genre that works for me.
    calvinnme If "All in the Family" was the beginning of modern comic television, then "The Fugitive" was certainly the beginning of modern dramatic television. Premiering in 1963, it was ahead of its time in so many ways - showing that the law was capable of making a mistake that could cost a man his life, that a member of law enforcement could be partially driven by darkness in his own personality that he mistook for a pure quest for justice, and realistically depicting the angst between family members and the quiet desperation in middle America in general. The first three seasons of this series' four season run is absolutely splendid. It did lose something in the fourth season, if my memory serves me correctly, when it went to color TV in its final year.If I have any criticism of the show at all it is for a failure in the overall story arc. First - WARNING SPOILER AHEAD. I won't say who did actually commit the murder of Dr. Kimble's wife, but I will tell you who didn't and who the writers originally intended the murderer to be - Dr. Kimble's brother-in-law. The network suits - yes, they did exist and cause trouble even in the 1960's - decided that viewers would be completely turned off by the idea of a member of Kimble's family being both the culprit and also cheating on his own wife with a member of his own extended family - Dr. Kimble's wife. After four years of challenging the audience with ground-breaking stories about the civil rights movement, family violence, and small-town corruption, and the audience favorably responding to that challenge, the network executives should have had more faith.At any rate, the first three seasons are fantastic, I'll talk just a bit about one of my favorite episodes in season one - "Home is the Hunted". In that episode Kimble returns to his hometown when he learns his father has had a heart attack. Knowing what I do about who the killer was originally intended to be makes this episode all the more powerful, especially since it is Kimble's sister and brother-in-law who take him in and hide him and who are both so sympathetic to him. Plus the confrontation between Dr. Kimble and his brother Ray in this episode is great drama.I highly recommend the series.
    tnutty925 My dad introduced me to when it first came out, must have been around 16 or 17 at the time. Now 21, yet I still can get enough. Absolutely love the show. Every episode just has some kind of thrilling twist. Show isn't about highly cost cameras that can do just about anything these, this is old school. Yet how in depth they get with each character, and certain camera angles really puts this show way past its time. Sad they didn't run the show longer, but there are plenty of episodes and think they did a great job on how they ended it. For anyone looking for good ol' black and white shows, The Fugitive is a must for checking out.
    hnt_dnl I wonder how many fans of the relatively recent masterful big-screen adaptation THE FUGITIVE (starring Harrison Ford and Tommy Lee Jones) know that there actually was a pretty masterful TV series that preceded it by 30 years! This 1960s TV series, THE FUGITIVE, tells the story of one Dr. Richard Kimble (played brilliantly by David Janssen). Kimble is arrested and put on death row for the alleged murder of his own wife, Helen. The arresting officer is Lt. Philip Gerard (well played by Barry Morse), the only other major character in this series. Kimble and Gerard carried the show for 4 seasons until Kimble's acquittal of his wife's murder in the series finale in 1967, when it was proved (as Kimble always asserted) that a one-armed man committed the crime.Kimble escaped from the train that was to take him to jail, thus the series focused on his adventures cross-country trying to find the elusive one-armed man. Basically an anthology series, each episode was self-contained and really focused more on life lessons than on Kimble's predicament. Kimble would drift into some town, get caught up with ne'er do-wells somehow, then actually play detective and solve the crime and help catch the bad guys, then disappear and thus stay one step ahead of Gerard.You'll notice in watching the series that the same actor would play different characters from time to time, so if you think that is the character you saw before, you'd be wrong. The lady who played Kimble's sister was a recurring character though and she appeared in the last episode when Kimble was acquitted.I got to see a summertime marathon of this show several years ago and was thoroughly engaged. Janssen was perfect in the role of Kimble. I can't think of another actor who could relay Kimble's reserve, calmness, humanity, and unabashed determination to clear his name. Morse (a very small man in stature) was solid as the cop who was obsessed with bringing Kimble to justice, at times conflicted as to whether or not Kimble really did kill his wife.THE FUGITIVE is one of those old, forgotten series that gets lost in the shuffle due to modernization and all of the diluted stuff on TV nowadays. But trust me, this classic 60s series is a keeper!
    jbull1968 This was a truly great and inventive series of the 1960's. Intelligent scripts, great acting by the guest stars as well as the series leads, Janssen and Morse, coupled with excellent production values. I understand that Paramount holds the rights to this great series. I for one can't understand why it hasn't been released onto DVD. I know that were periodic releases of the series on video by legitimate companies including, I think, Columbia House. I picked up a used VHS edition which had two episodes on a tape and an introduction to each episode by Barry Morse. Somebody at Paramount is definitely letting a cash cow slip through their fingers by not releasing it...wake up Paramount!