The Fugitive, Season Two Volume 1 - Reviews

Carabimero · 06-10-2008, 05:15 AM

I'm not going to rant and rave, I'll just say that with the exception of the opening and closing title, every piece of music in all the episodes on disc one has been altered (I only spot-checked the rest and they were changed as well). This is hardly The Fugitive without the great music. I know I am in the minority and others may think it makes little difference, but to me the music is half the show. It's too painful to watch, so I'm giving my set away and not buying any future sets where ALL of the music has been replaced.

I didn't complain too much when non-instrumental music in season one had been changed--music on juke boxes, etc., because that music was not composed for the show. They REMOVED ALL the music composed for the show. I could understand if they even replaced the stock music (cues heard in other shows like The Twilight Zone, etc.), but they REMOVED ALL OF MUSIC COMPOSED FOR THE SHOW except the opening and closing titles. What the....?

I still can't believe it. I've waited for years for this show to come out on DVD. I am tremendously sad and disappointed. I sat there in front of the TV and couldn't believe what I was hearing.

Why would Paramount/CBS do this? I can understand them not wanting to deal with clearance issues for a series that will probably sell modestly. But how can it be a clearance issue when it's ALL the music composed specifically for the show? The only thing I can think of is that they didn't want to bother figuring out what was stock and what wasn't, so they replaced it all.

I thought maybe it was a contract clause about using the music on newer media, but the same music they changed in S2 V1 is the same music they used in the season 1 sets.

I still can't believe it. Part of me thinks if I go to bed and wake up in the morning and put the DVD back in, it will all have been a bad dream.

Al.Anderson · 06-10-2008, 07:06 AM

Wow. That's extremely disappointing. I hope we get more information on why that occurred and whether it's going to continue. I was anxiously waiting for the release and had my trip to the store inked in for today - but now I'm thinking I'll have to rent this set until I hear more.

Harry-N · 06-10-2008, 07:14 AM

Uh-oh!

Harry
...world crashing down around him...

jamoon2006 · 06-10-2008, 07:42 AM

Uh oh is right! I'm really surprised - Paul Mavis (a reviewer I trust) didn't mention this at all in his recent review of the set. To remove the incidental score composed for the show is just ridiculous!

Mike*HTF · 06-10-2008, 08:32 AM

He's mentioned the music disclaimer in each of his reviews.

For instance, for season 2, vol. 1 Mavis writes:

Quote:

PLEASE NOTE: As with most vintage TV series released by CBS/Paramount, there is a small disclaimer (smaller than normal, actually, with no prominent border box for this one) at the back of the DVD slimcase that states, "Music has been changed for this home entertainment version. Some episodes may be edited from their original network versions." There is no further explanation of what cuts, if any, were made. Most of the episodes time out at around 51 and a half minutes, which is about right or close for the original network run times. It's possible, though, that these are the syndicated versions, which may account for the minor cuts for time. As well, music licensing fees are exorbitant for vintage TV, with most studios opting for simply replacing expensive music cues with music either in their domain, or generically produced specifically for those replacement cues. Edited TV shows are one of the hottest topics concerning DVD releases, and as a reviewer, I've taken both sides of the issue, depending on what title I'm reviewing. It's usually a case-by-case basis.

It would appear that he is simply not familiar enough with the show to recognize what was removed.

**HTF Ads**

jamoon2006 · 06-10-2008, 08:55 AM

Sorry, I wasn't attempting to imply he was being deliberately misleading. It's just that in other reviews (Odd Couple springs to mind) he mentioned some of the specific edits.

Meek Rubel · 06-10-2008, 09:17 AM

David,

I really hope you're kidding here. Removing the dramatic score from this series is like cutting out its heart. Since often it's close to wall-to-wall, I just can't believe it. Imagine the work required to do this!

If true, my candidate for DVD Defamation of the Year.

Meek Rubel · 06-10-2008, 09:24 AM

Just a follow-up. Is this possibly a manufacturing problem, rather than a "creative" or copyright choice? Like those goofy Andy Griffith episodes that showed up in the initial DVD releases sans laugh track? (Which were then corrected.)

I CANNOT BELIEVE THIS IS INTENTIONAL!!

Can't wait for David Von Pein to weigh in on this.

Ockeghem · 06-10-2008, 09:36 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Carabimero

I'm not going to rant and rave, I'll just say that with the exception of the opening and closing title, every piece of music in all the episodes on disc one has been altered (I only spot-checked the rest and they were changed as well). This is hardly The Fugitive without the great music. I know I am in the minority and others may think it makes little difference, but to me the music is half the show. It's too painful to watch, so I'm giving my set away and not buying any future sets where ALL of the music has been replaced.

I didn't complain too much when non-instrumental music in season one had been changed--music on juke boxes, etc., because that music was not composed for the show. They REMOVED ALL the music composed for the show. I could understand if they even replaced the stock music (cues heard in other shows like The Twilight Zone, etc.), but they REMOVED ALL OF MUSIC COMPOSED FOR THE SHOW except the opening and closing titles. What the....?

I still can't believe it. I've waited for years for this show to come out on DVD. I am tremendously sad and disappointed. I sat there in front of the TV and couldn't believe what I was hearing.

Why would Paramount/CBS do this? I can understand them not wanting to deal with clearance issues for a series that will probably sell modestly. But how can it be a clearance issue when it's ALL the music composed specifically for the show? The only thing I can think of is that they didn't want to bother figuring out what was stock and what wasn't, so they replaced it all.

I thought maybe it was a contract clause about using the music on newer media, but the same music they changed in S2 V1 is the same music they used in the season 1 sets.

I still can't believe it. Part of me thinks if I go to bed and wake up in the morning and put the DVD back in, it will all have been a bad dream.

Carabimero,

There are few posters I've read over the years on any Board who believe that music is half the show. For my own part, I agree with this wholeheartedly. I will even go so far as to say that in certain cases it is more than half of the show. I also believe that this pertains to films in some instances.

I'm very pleased you've written this post, since I would probably have sprung for this show very soon. Now I will wait to see what transpires before doing anything.

Thanks for the heads-up.

TravisR · 06-10-2008, 11:20 AM

No offense to Carabimero but I want to hear from someone with more than one post that the entire score (which I assume that Paramount owns) has been removed from the episodes.

Harry-N · 06-10-2008, 11:30 AM

Yeah, me too. I'm noticing his post is identical over at the amazon review page, and a similar post over there is repeated on the Fugitive Yahoo group.

It's either true, or there's a campaign out there to spoil this release for some reason. I'll probably pick up the release if I can find it, so I cam judge for myself.

I find it hard to believe that all of Rugolo's cue's are gone, when they're all intact in the Season One releases.

Did Rugulo or his agents suddenly raise the rates?

Where's David Von Pein? (Probably composing a thorough review, I'll bet!)

Harry

TravisR · 06-10-2008, 11:40 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Harry-N

Did Rugulo or his agents suddenly raise the rates?

By no means am I an expert on ownership of music, etc. but I would think that Paramount owns the score to the show. With all the talk of music replacement, have you ever heard of a score being replaced? If that was a possibility, I think it would have happened before now on small catalog movies and other small TV shows.

Unless there was some very weird legal snafu when the contracts were signed (and even 45 years ago, there would have been a ton of lawyers working to make sure that wouldn't happen), I have a real hard time believing this.