"The Fugitive" (1963): Season 1; Volume 1 Rumored To Be In The Works! - Page 8

AndyMcKinney · 08-02-2007, 09:23 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Gary OS

That's putting it nicely. Colin is clearly not a fan of the show, and I'm hoping to get reviews from people who actually appreciate this series and aren't stuck in "action only" mode (aka the Harrison Ford debacle).

Did you even read Colin's review start-to-finish? Bother to read the last line: "This is a quality series that deserves your attention." You call that negative?

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The greatest show television has ever seen deserves a better review than this.

You say that as if it's a fact. It's an opinion.

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To refer to "FATSO" as an after school special is ridiculous! It was an awesome episode, ripe with plenty of action, drama, and great acting.

Are you saying that there are no weak episodes of the Fugitive? C'mon, any series that runs 120 episodes is going to have the occasional dud episode, or weak moments.

Quote:

Gary "geesh, how can one not be moved by Kimble's plight in these first 15 episodes?!!!" O.

Andy "geesh, how can someone take this review so personally?!!!" M.

Harry-N · 08-02-2007, 09:27 AM

Thank you Colin, for the review. It gives an interesting look into how the younger generations might view what has been billed as "the greatest drama TV ever had."

Obviously Gary, David, myself and others look on THE FUGITIVE as something that perhaps Colin and members of younger demographics might not quite see. So much has changed in the landscape of not only television, but life in general since this show was produced.

I hinted at this in an earlier post:

http://www.hometheaterforum.com/htf/...&postcount=152

I found Colin's review to be fair and honest. Those first few episodes after the pilot were somewhat strange choices as early episodes, and I can understand exactly where he's coming from. As for the "babe of the week", well, I suppose that with a drama about police pursuing an innocent man, the trend back in the '60s was to give the women in the audience something to grab onto as well. I can tell you that this red-blooded American male never minded feasting his eyes on the lovely actresses of the day as they made their procession through the weekly episodes.

That's perhaps another point. These shows were meant to be played out in the large time-frame of a week-to-week series. Kimble drifts into a town, interacts with the population, and leaves. Then we don't see him for another whole week, when he turns up somewhere else.

With the series available for instant viewing in a "Play All" mode, sometimes the similarity of the format might become more repetitively annoying. "Geez, just twenty minutes ago he was madly in love with Vera Miles, now he's falling for Pat Crowley?" When, in fact, the idea is that weeks - months - have passed in between.

There have to be countless days and nights of Kimble's flight and pursuit that we don't get to see. The episodes themselves represent the unconnected highlights of his journey.

So, yeah, I'm happy that Colin seemed to enjoy the series as much as he did, and hope that he can continue to do so as the series progresses forward. Within the scope of the entire series, there are bound to be themes, situations, that ring familiar, mostly due to the constraints of the format - a man on the run interacting with different people every week.

Indeed, with the "stable" of guest stars that Quinn Martin liked to use, we many times get to see the same actors playing different roles. We'll see Robert Duvall and Bruce Dern again in later episodes, and as mentioned, we get to enjoy Suzanne Pleshette in two different roles - only a few episodes apart as one came at the end of one season and the other came near the beginning of the next.

(Correction to above: It's Lois Nettleton who appeared in two episodes very close together numerically. She was in episode #89 near the end of the third season (last episode filmed that year), and in episode #92, the second episode in the fourth season under the new production management.)

Richard Anderson, who plays Kimble's brother-in-law even gets to play a different character during the series.

Harry
...with 12 days to THE FUGITIVE on DVD...

Gary OS · 08-02-2007, 09:38 AM

Well, I stand by my initial comments about this first "review." But I'm not going to get into an argument with others about it.

Bob, I'm so glad to hear about Paul Mavis getting a review ready. I agree with you that his review of the "OZZIE & HARRIET" set from Shout was the best I'd ever read. He clearly loves classic tv, so I'm looking forward to his review.

Gary "less than 2 weeks to go now!!" O.

Dave Scarpa · 08-02-2007, 09:39 AM

Also lets understand how many imitators there's been to the Fugitive, such as the Hulk, that the formula seems stretched out now, when it was fresh then

Bob Hug · 08-02-2007, 09:51 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Dave Scarpa

Also lets understand how many imitators there's been to the Fugitive, such as the Hulk, that the formula seems stretched out now, when it was fresh then

The imitators started even while "The Fugitive" was still being aired in prime time. "Run for Your Life" with Ben Gazzara was a variation on "The Fugitive" and began broadcasts in 1965.

Ivan G · 08-02-2007, 05:16 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Bob Hug

The imitators started even while "The Fugitive" was still being aired in prime time. "Run for Your Life" with Ben Gazzara was a variation on "The Fugitive" and began broadcasts in 1965.

...and The Guns of Will Sonnett is essentially "The Fugitive Out West."

phil* · 08-02-2007, 06:46 PM

"Though I couldn’t call the music bold and dynamic"..Colin Jacobson's reference to Peter Rugolo's music left me somewhat flabbergasted...but I suppose I could use the same terminology in describing Colin's writing...

Harry-N · 08-02-2007, 07:32 PM

Added a correction to my last post above.

Harry

Colin Jacobson · 08-02-2007, 08:51 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by phil*

"Though I couldn’t call the music bold and dynamic"..Colin Jacobson's referance to Peter Rugolo's music left me somewhat flabbergasted...but I suppose I could use the same terminology in describing Colin's writing...

Geez, some people like to go on the attack! I'm starting to regret posting my review.

For the record, my reference to the music reflects the score's REPRODUCTION on the DVD. It has nothing to do with the score's inherent quality as a score. I made absolutely no comment on the score as music at any point - I just referred to whether it sounded good or not.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Gary OS

Well, I stand by my initial comments about this first "review."

Hey, thanks a lot for that condescending remark! Nothing like having my work referred to as a "review" in ironic quotes to make me feel good!

Colin Jacobson · 08-02-2007, 08:55 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by michael_ks

Well, the opening salvo to the "review" ("For folks of my generation, we best know The Fugitive as the 1993 Oscar-nominated Harrison Ford flick...") pretty much told me all I needed to know and I had to stop right then and there.

So those of us who weren't born until after the series aired have no right to review it? Our opinions are invalidated? That makes sense.

And for the record, I knew of the series before the movie - I'd simply never seen it. I don't think I'm unusual in that regard - I don't think this is a series that was big in syndication, so if you want to find people who know it well, you'll probably have to stick with those in the 50+ age range. Apparently only their opinions matter. Nice to know - I'll never review anything made before my 10th birthday ever again, since I'm not qualified!