The Fugitive-A QM Production (1 Viewer)

[phil*]

Hopefully, the rumours concerning the impending release of "The Fugitive" come to fruition...and that all 4 seasons are released...

"Tuesday,August 29th...the day...the running...stopped..."

Is this the day in 2006 that "The Fugitive" will finally make its debut on DVD?

 

[Gary OS]

I love every single one of the shows you mentioned, Jeff. But I'd still have to give "The Fugitive" the edge over every one of those other shows as the overall best drama of all time. It is, as Michael said, the measuring stick.

Gary "this is the most awaited show on my list, and by a wide margin" O.

 

[David Von Pein]

I hate to be continually, constantly, and perpetually redundant (how's that for redundancy ), but I, again, agree with this sentiment without reservation.

Here's something I found at the Yahoo.Fugitive forum, re. the TVSoDVD.com Fugitive "rumor" (hope this person is wrong; I'll wager he is incorrect).......

"This is a false rumor. Legal entanglements between ABC Television, the estate of Roy Huggins and Paramount are in a stalemate and it is unlikely that the series will see a DVD release at any point in the near future. Paramount is also allegedly uncomfortable with the failure of the attempted CBS TV "Fugitive" revival of several years ago." -- Posted at Fugitive Forum; 06/01/2006

http://tv.groups.yahoo.com/group/fug...4?viscount=100


Of course, I can't see what "ABC Television" would have to do with anything re. the legal battle to release The Fugitive on DVD. That TV network surely doesn't have any say whatsoever as to what gets released by Paramount or any other studio...do they? If they do, it's news to me.

Plus, if Paramount and its CBS-DVD division are going to compare the 2000 TV version of "The Fugitive" to the David Janssen 1963-1967 version (and measure the two variants utilizing the same "Quality Yardstick"), they've flipped their collective wigs. Such a comparison is ludicrous and unfair, IMO.

It's like comparing the charm of the original "Leave It To Beaver" with the later 1980s version of the series. Can't be done, as there is no comparing these apples and apricots that were produced a generation apart.

Anyway, any and all "legal entanglements" notwithstanding......

I, myself, have absolutely NO DOUBT whatever that "The Fugitive '63" will eventually surface on DVD (all 4 seasons too). That's going to happen....one day. How soon? Who knows. But The Fuge is just TOO GOOD to be kept under a studio's rock for all time. Way too good for that...and Paramount has GOT to know that fact just as you and I do.

Plus: From a profit standpoint, a good-looking Fugitive set on DVD is going to sell too. No question about it. The fan base (not to mention sheer quality of the material) is certainly as strong for David Janssen's epic series as it is for many other titles being released on Digital Disc (e.g., Hazel, Good Times, Gimme A Break, Charlie's Angels, and dozens of others).

Charlie Townsend's "Angels" can't hold a candle to The Fuge (script-wise; not T&A-wise .... although I'll stack Suzanne Pleshette's "Ellie Burnett" up against Kate, Cheryl, or Farrah anytime ).

Once any "legal snafus" are ironed out (and they will be), The Fugitive will come.....just like Shoeless Joe in "Field Of Dreams".

 

[Jeff Willis]

Classicly-stated, Dave

 

[Jeff#]

And yet in the 1990s, to cash in on the success of The Fugitive feature film remake with Harrison Ford, it was NBC that briefly aired summer reruns of the earliest 1963 episodes and not ABC.

 

[Harry-N]

Somewhat off-topic, but I've never understood that particular practice. It seems that nine times out of ten, if a tribute to an old TV show is done on network TV, it's always on a different network than the series originally ran on. Curious.

Harry

 

[JeffWld]

Since Warner Bros. produced the failed 2000 remake, you would think that this would only help to emphasize to Paramount that the original is still a viable and standard-setting property.

 

[Jay Pennington]

Usually, a network does not have any ownership of the show itself. It just pays for a portion of the production costs in exchange for the rights to air it and sell advertising during it. The production company or studio retains ownership and after the network run, tries to make its money back via syndication, cable, home video.

 

[Jeff#]

I remember the 2000-2001 season remake of The Fugitive, which starred Tim Daly as Richard Kimble and Mykelti Williamson as Lt. Gerard. Although it's nothing compared to the original series, it was more entertaining than the Harrison Ford movie (I never cared for overrated Ford).

The acting by both of the main leads was quite good in their own right. As was the case of the late 1980s Mission: Impossible, the only thing superior to the original series was the opening theme to the new Fugitive. It was excellent, both in terms of the beautifully orchestrated music and flashy montage.

The new show didn't actually copy that many elements, and there were subplots and situations not present in earlier versions -- such as the remarried Gerard feeling responsible for not having the courage to save his first wife from an accidental drowning when their car went into a lake, Kimble finding out things he didn't know about his late wife, etc.

I saw most of the episodes when CBS first aired the series, but I missed the one they did in Atlantic City when Kimble was working in a casino.

My only complaint at the time involved the exciting season-ending cliffhanger when Fred Johnson, the one-armed man in the last scene is cornered by Kimble in a strip bar in Arizona. Kimble had just broken into a medical facility, and had taken some syringes and a chemical liquid. He ambushes the one-armed man in the bar, knocking him out. Richard injects the fluid into Johnson's neck. Part 2 was never produced because the show was cancelled!!

 

[Harry-N]

I fully understand that - it's just that it seems that more times than not, the tributes seem to be on different networks from the original run.

To my way of thinking, if I ran a network, I wouldn't want one of my former glory programs running elsewhere.

Harry

 

[Harry-N]

I taped most of those episodes, but haven't looked at any of them since that original run.

Does anyone remember the show that followed THE FUGITIVE on CBS? It was a little throwaway crime series called CSI: CRIME SCENE INVESTIGATION.

Harry

 

[Jeff#]

Yeah, and CSI remains a huge hit spawning 2 spinoffs. Go figure!

 

[Michael Alden]

Except the nitwits in programming at these networks are changed more often than people change their underwear. By the time the reunion shows are pitched to these 25 year old programming "geniuses", there's usually no one there that has a clue about the show or what it might have meant to the network. I can tell you for a fact that I know a Mr. Ed special was pitched to CBS (Alan Young and Connie Hines are both still alive) and they had no interest. Typical.

 

[Jeff#]

Come on....Who would want to see a Mr. Ed reunion, Wilbur?

 

[David Von Pein]

Possibly some encouraging news on "The Fugitive" DVD front......

I noticed this blurb at a Fuge Forum.....

"There is an article in the new EW {Entertainment Weekly} (August 18) where the magazine makes a plea for its top Most Wanted DVD, 'The Fugitive', to Paramount. A Studio exec says 'It's under discussion, but no date has been set'."

http://tv.groups.yahoo.com/group/fugitive/message/9347

My DVP Prediction: Fugitive Season 1 will be announced before October 31, 2006.

~crosses fingers~
~searches for wood to knock on~

 

[Bob Hug]

Thanks for that information, David. The very fact that the studio executive said "it's under discussion . . . " does give me hope, as it at least gives some indication that the show is on Paramount's radar screen.

On a bit of "Fugitive" related news, Barry Morse (Lt. Gerard) will be appearing at the Mid-Atlantic Nostalgia Convention in Aberdeen, Maryland from Sept. 14th throught 17th. Link:

http://www.midatlanticnostalgiaconvention.com/

 

[Jeff#]

If the The Fugitive is ever re-released on home video (in this case, DVD for the first time) I'm there!

 

[David Von Pein]

It's not a question of "if", Jeff. Only "when".

I truly believe that. Always have.

That goes for all 4 seasons of David Janssen's "Fugitive", too. All 120 shows (with just a few Season-Four exceptions IMO) are just flat-out too good to be shoved aside and kept in a DVD-less state forever.

And it seems to me there's an extra added incentive (of sorts) for Paramount to want to commit to all four seasons of "The Fugitive" on DVD (besides the obvious factor that it's a great series, through-&-through) --- i.e., the Season-Four series finale, which was at the time in 1967 the highest-rated TV episode ever broadcast in history. That would be, and should be, a pretty good selling point for S.4 of the series on DVD.

Plus -- With all of the TV-on-DVD chaff out there on the market (not mentioning any particular series, but let's face facts, there's certainly some chaff floating around to be sure; some of it might even be considered uber-chaff-like ), to think that "The Fugitive" (pure wheat in all respects) would be forever bypassed for seasonal DVD treatment is just plain kooky. (Possibly even uber-kooky.)

 

[Gary OS]

Of course this is a huge soap box for me, and I know I'm preaching to the choir in this thread, but again I have to ask the question: "What is Paramount waiting on with this all time great series?"

It's easily the biggest no-brainer release that Paramount has in their TV library. Nothing else is even a close second.

Gary "hope to goodness we get some news of this release soon" O.

 

[Jeff#]

So do I, Dave, and I've often said in the past that I believe The Fugitive will come out on DVD eventually.