Home Theater Forum › Home Theater Forum › Blu-ray, DVD, Streaming Video and Digital Downloads › TV on DVD and Blu-ray › "The Fugitive" (1963): Season 1; Volume 1 Rumored To Be In The Works!
New Posts  All Forums:Forum Nav:

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

post #1 of 707
11/24/06 at 9:58am
Thread Starter 
From TVShowsOnDVD......

"The Fugitive has been rumored to be on-the-way to DVD from Paramount/CBS on and off for quite some time. ... But now we have a DVD release title for the very first time: 'The Fugitive - The 1st Season, Volume 1'! And the nature of it indicates that the studio has a plan: breaking up the show into half-season sets, which isn't suprising since the hour-long episodes ran for 30 weeks during it's first year on ABC."

http://tvshowsondvd.com/newsitem.cfm?NewsID=6639



I'd prefer an 8-Disc set with all 30 first-year episodes....but I'll take Richard Kimble and Lt. Gerard any way I can get them at this point, even split in half.
Reply
post #2 of 707
11/24/06 at 10:01am
Thread Starter 

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



http://groups.yahoo.com/group/fugiti.../?viscount=100

http://www.amazon.com/gp/customer-re...e=ReviewDetail
Reply
post #3 of 707
11/26/06 at 5:38am

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

That's a rumor that I'm inclined to believe, because a TV series as great and as important as The Fugitive has already come to home video (VHS). It was only a matter of time until it's released in DVD format.

I'd hate to see each season split into 2 volumes, with 15 episodes for each. There have been several other shows that went that route including COMBAT! and the half-completed WISEGUY. There is no reason why The Fugitive (an hour show) can't come out as a single volume. CBS Video / Paramount delivered The Wild Wild West that way, although that show's first year had 28 episodes, not 30. Rawhide's first season was a partial, with only 16 episodes produced mostly in 1958 to premiere midseason in January 1959. However, I believe we will see the 1959-1960 season on one set.
Reply
post #4 of 707
11/27/06 at 11:42am

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

I'll take it any way I can get it as long as it is not given up on. Even in thirds!
Reply
post #5 of 707
11/27/06 at 4:54pm

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

Me, too. Court records clearly show that The State has sentenced the original Dr. Richard Kimble to an indefinite stay on my DVD shelf, prior to his trip to the death house. And that's regardless of whether Fate moves its huge hand or not!
Reply
post #6 of 707
1/9/07 at 2:13am

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

I agree! Probably my favorite show of all time. I used to watch it all the time on A & E 17 years ago when I was in college, and I have been eagerly awaiting its appearance on DVD. Here's hoping we get a release date soon!
Reply
post #7 of 707
1/9/07 at 6:24am

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

As most of the regulars on this forum know, this series is my personal "holy grail" of TVonDVD. It's easily the greatest show ever made, IMHO.

Gary "I feel pretty good about this current 'rumor' being solid, and I'd expect us to see a 2nd quarter release date" O.

P.S. If this series doesn't "sell" then I will know the Apocalypse is upon us.
Reply
post #8 of 707
1/9/07 at 7:10am

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

Quote:
Originally Posted by Gary OS
As most of the regulars on this forum know, this series is my personal "holy grail" of TVonDVD. It's easily the greatest show ever made, IMHO.

Gary "I feel pretty good about this current 'rumor' being solid, and I'd expect us to see a 2nd quarter release date" O.

P.S. If this series doesn't "sell" then I will know the Apocalypse is upon us.

Is that one your "Holy Grail", Gary? We didn't know Kidding! I'm also wanting this one for a different reason. It's been so long since I've seen any of these eps that it will almost be a blind-buy for me. But, because of the HTF'ers, I'll get this one for sure. All I remember of this one is that it was Dad's favorite show and he never missed it during it's original airings.

- Jeff "I sure hope that the Apocalypse doesn't materialize" W
Reply
post #9 of 707
1/9/07 at 7:29am

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

Quote:
Originally Posted by Gary OS
As most of the regulars on this forum know, this series is my personal "holy grail" of TVonDVD. It's easily the greatest show ever made, IMHO.

Gary "I feel pretty good about this current 'rumor' being solid, and I'd expect us to see a 2nd quarter release date" O.

P.S. If this series doesn't "sell" then I will know the Apocalypse is upon us.


If this isn't the greatest show of all time then I don't know what is. Honestly, does anyone know a person who's seen the show that doesn't think it's great? The concept was perfect. It made sense for him to be in a different situation with different people every week. Unlike a genre show, cop, lawyer, etc., the show could vary it's story lines far greater than other shows. I just hope if Paramount releases this they do it right and go back to the 35s and don't give us those 46:30 Worldvision tapes.
Reply
post #10 of 707
1/10/07 at 1:31pm

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

Today I had a yearning to see a FUGITIVE episode, so for kicks, I thought I'd throw in an old VHS tape from Nu Ventures Video and transfer it to DVD.

I picked the two-parter, "Landscapes With Running Figures", and transferred all of the Barry Morse intros too.

What was fun with that particular tape was that they must have used an old ABC-TV broadcast print, since it still had the half-hour station ID bumpers ("The Fugitive" will continue after station identifiction). It also had the "brought to you by" liners at both the front and back of each episode, and at the end of part 1, there was a "preview of next week" hosted by David Janssen himself. Cool stuff. I'd love for this kind of stuff to make it to DVD someday.

The downside of that particular tape was that the print was in miserable shape, shifting and jumping all over the place, with a few splotches and missing frames here and there, and general grime all over it.

Still, it made a cool DVD transfer, just for fun.

Harry
Reply
post #11 of 707
1/10/07 at 6:21pm

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

Quote:
What was fun with that particular tape was that they must have used an old ABC-TV broadcast print, since it still had the half-hour station ID bumpers ("The Fugitive" will continue after station identifiction). It also had the "brought to you by" liners at both the front and back of each episode

You've probably noticed that that the NuVentures episodes with the "brought to you by" and the station-ID bumper are the only ones that run the full 50-51 minutes. I haven't watched my set in a couple of years, but it seemed that an uncut episode was paired with another uncut one on a handful of the tapes. Most of the tapes in the NuVentures series used syndicated prints for both episodes in each volume, with the run times mentioned by Michael above.

Syndicated (time-compressed and/or slightly cut) prints for another series that Worldvision had its hands on, "Combat!," appeared on Encore Action and on DVD, so I've got my fingers crossed on "The Fugitive" release.
Reply
post #12 of 707
1/11/07 at 2:30am

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

Yes, in fact, I can recall that after years of seeing THE FUGITIVE in syndication on both A&E and the old WOR cable service, I'd gotten used to hearing those higher-pitched-up versions. When I first played the NuVentures versions that were running at normal speed, they sounded "draggy" by comparison, particularly the two announcers on the opening narrations.

Harry
Reply
post #13 of 707
1/11/07 at 7:19am

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

Quote:
Originally Posted by Michael Alden
I just hope if Paramount releases this they do it right and go back to the 35s and don't give us those 46:30 Worldvision tapes.

Also, don't forget those miserable Worldvision copies (at least, as shown on A&E), ditched the original episode captions and they crudely superimposed new ones over the opening moments of Act 1.Only reason I can see why they did this was, apparently, to eliminate "TONIGHT'S episode" from the soundtrack, in case some idiot out there in TV land went insane hearing the announcer say "tonight" when he could see it was daylight outside.

I'll be very surprised (but pleasantly so) if the prints they issue are completely unedited. Mid-episode bumpers, correct vintage end boards and "next week" trails would simply be icing on the cake and are, IMO, how vintage TV should always be presented on home video (like the recent Twilingt Zone sets).
Reply
post #14 of 707
1/12/07 at 8:53am

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

Quote:
Originally Posted by AndyMcKinney
Also, don't forget those miserable Worldvision copies (at least, as shown on A&E), ditched the original episode captions and they crudely superimposed new ones over the opening moments of Act 1.Only reason I can see why they did this was, apparently, to eliminate "TONIGHT'S episode" from the soundtrack, in case some idiot out there in TV land went insane hearing the announcer say "tonight" when he could see it was daylight outside.

That was something A and E did. The tapes weren't sent out that way.
Reply
post #15 of 707
2/7/07 at 2:42am

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

I know we're still early into 2007, but is anybody else concerned/frustrated that we haven't heard any more news about this release?

I see these other Paramount vintage shows like "The Untouchables" and "The Streets of San Francisco" coming out in the "Season One, Vol. One" style, but where is "The Fugitive"?
Reply
post #16 of 707
2/7/07 at 8:35am

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

All we've heard anyway are rumors, which don't mean a thing. Until we hear some concrete news, the rumors are just that. I have no doubt we'll see this at some point and it'll be funny when the 20-something year old execs are caught by surprise when the DVDs fly off the shelves. As with many shows of this type that have not had perpetual syndication, the young-uns making decisions haven't a clue just how popular a show this is.
Reply
post #17 of 707
2/7/07 at 11:05am

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

Quote:
Originally Posted by Michael Alden
All we've heard anyway are rumors, which don't mean a thing. Until we hear some concrete news, the rumors are just that. I have no doubt we'll see this at some point and it'll be funny when the 20-something year old execs are caught by surprise when the DVDs fly off the shelves. As with many shows of this type that have not had perpetual syndication, the young-uns making decisions haven't a clue just how popular a show this is.


I have yet to meet any exec at a studio that's in their 20s.

Gord
Reply
post #18 of 707
2/7/07 at 12:30pm

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

I have a job where I work with the Hollywood studio marketing execs, and the majority of the VP's are 30's and 40's.
Reply
post #19 of 707
2/7/07 at 12:32pm

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

Quote:
Originally Posted by Gord Lacey
I have yet to meet any exec at a studio that's in their 20s.

Gord
Not directly on topic, but Gord (and I love you and your site) what exactly does the average studio exec/ and or standard project rep you interact with look like?
Reply
post #20 of 707
2/7/07 at 1:43pm

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

Quote:
Originally Posted by TimT
Not directly on topic, but Gord (and I love you and your site) what exactly does the average studio exec/ and or standard project rep you interact with look like?

Most of them are mid/late 30s on (some are....GASP....in their 50s) for the larger studios, and some of the smaller ones. There are some young publicity people though, but they aren't involved in deciding what's being released on DVD, they're the ones that try to get people to write news stories on them.

Gord
Reply
post #21 of 707
2/7/07 at 7:29pm

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

Quote:
Mid-episode bumpers, correct vintage end boards and "next week" trails would simply be icing on the cake and are, IMO, how vintage TV should always be presented on home video (like the recent Twilingt Zone sets).

I disagree completely. Vintage TV shows aren't just nostalgia for baby boomers, they're also entertainment, and bumpers and the like are just an annoying distraction for most viewers. Going through the TZ sets, for example, I found that the mid-episode bumpers and the blaring *Wanted: Dead or Alive* promos got old really fast, and in fact, I would guess most people who go through this set will wind up as annoyed by this stuff as they would be by commercials. Within the context of watching the TZ now - as opposed to 1959 - they serve no useful purpose anyway other than to interrupt the flow of the presentation.
Reply
post #22 of 707
2/8/07 at 4:32am

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

Quote:
Originally Posted by MichaelEl
I disagree completely. Vintage TV shows aren't just nostalgia for baby boomers, they're also entertainment, and bumpers and the like are just an annoying distraction for most viewers. Going through the TZ sets, for example, I found that the mid-episode bumpers and the blaring *Wanted: Dead or Alive* promos got old really fast, and in fact, I would guess most people who go through this set will wind up as annoyed by this stuff as they would be by commercials. Within the context of watching the TZ now - as opposed to 1959 - they serve no useful purpose anyway other than to interrupt the flow of the presentation.

Yes. I agree. The bumpers, trailers, etc. should be included, but as EXTRAS - not something that interrupts the flow of the show itself. I didn't make that clear in my post above about THE FUGITIVE episodes I had on tape with the bumpers included. It was fun to watch *once* but I wouldn't want 120 episodes interrupted in that way. It takes you out of the story. Put that stuff on an extras disc.

Harry
Reply
post #23 of 707
2/8/07 at 10:07am

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

Okay, it is very easy to master a show with the following method:


For those of us who are purists and would like to see the show as it originally aired, put in a play all feature. For those people who don't enjoy it, have a play without additions feature.

I thought it was great when they included original commercials on the Naked City set but it would have been better to have them in the show, not as extras at the end. To collecting purists, there is nothing better than to see a show from the 50s or 60s as it aired. It's like being in a time machine. I can understand that some folks don't feel that way but many others do. I've put on shows for friends to watch where they didn't show much interest in the show but perked up when the commercials came on.
Reply
post #24 of 707
2/8/07 at 1:39pm

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

I was showing my older brother (him sixties, me fifties) some Cheyenne episodes that still had their commercial break bumpers and everytime the bumper came up he said, "What was that?!! They should edit that out"!!.

The thing about the Cheyenne bumpers,(and this may have been true of all the Warners westerns) was they were white on black drawings. Mostly it was the same standard title logo drawing but sometimes the bumpers used were drawn to portray the specific episode. So editing them out is cutting out something from the show. (The episode specific drawings were used on the end credits too. But possibly not always.)

Also on Warner shows the opening teasers and scenes for next week that showed a scene from within the show were sometimes out-takes and were different from the scene in the actual show. I'd like to see them on the DVD releases.
Reply
post #25 of 707
2/8/07 at 4:14pm

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

Quote:
For those of us who are purists and would like to see the show as it originally aired, put in a play all feature. For those people who don't enjoy it, have a play without additions feature.

I don't think this is possible without branching, which I doubt anyone is going to use because of reliability issues. The only solution is probably to include *play all* and *without additions* versions on the same disc, and maybe this will happen once HD becomes standard.

Quote:
To collecting purists, there is nothing better than to see a show from the 50s or 60s as it aired.

It wouldn't bother me so much if a show were presented as it originally aired, but including bumpers and promos *without* the intervening commercials creates jarring jumps in continuity.
Reply
post #26 of 707
3/6/07 at 4:13am

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

Someone on Youtube has created a 10-minute flashback of the events leading up to Richard Kimble's flight. It's edited together from separate flashbacks of the story that were originally part of the first season episode called "The Girl From Little Egypt". Nicely done.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pY1qkygzcQE

Below is one of the ABC-TV screen bumpers for THE FUGITIVE used in the third season.


Harry
525x525px-LL-vbattach200.jpg
Reply
post #27 of 707
3/6/07 at 4:51am

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

Quote:
Yes. I agree. The bumpers, trailers, etc. should be included, but as EXTRAS - not something that interrupts the flow of the show itself. I didn't make that clear in my post above about THE FUGITIVE episodes I had on tape with the bumpers included. It was fun to watch *once* but I wouldn't want 120 episodes interrupted in that way. It takes you out of the story. Put that stuff on an extras disc.

I strongly disagree. I recently ordered the complete definitive collection of The Twilight Zone and I am very glad to know that the bumpers and the promos will be included. That will make the set all the better. For the length of time that they appear, it is ridiculous to say they interrupt to flow of the presentation. I want to see the shows just as they originally aired. It is not like you are being asked to sit through several minutes of commercials for every episode. If you don't like the way the shows originally aired that is your problem but those episodes originally premiered on television and not in a theater.
Reply
post #28 of 707
3/6/07 at 4:57am

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

So I suppose then that the CSI sets (or any modern show) should all have squished credits and logo bugs in the corners on their DVDs, since "that's how they originally appeared."

I understand your passion though, and admire your wish for everything. But I guess we'll have to agree to disagree regarding the bumpers, etc.

Harry
Reply
post #29 of 707
3/6/07 at 7:06am

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

TV shows are segmented by acts. As such, the bumper serves as a sort of "intermission card," and should absolutely be included whenever possible. TV shows aren't meant to be continuous (like films), so they really shouldn't be viewed with that expectation.
Reply
post #30 of 707
3/26/07 at 5:18am

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

And the rumor gets closer and closer to reality!

http://www.tvshowsondvd.com/newsitem.cfm?NewsID=7075

Harry
Reply
New Posts  All Forums:Forum Nav:
  Return Home
  Back to Forum: TV on DVD and Blu-ray
Home Theater Forum › Home Theater Forum › Blu-ray, DVD, Streaming Video and Digital Downloads › TV on DVD and Blu-ray › "The Fugitive" (1963): Season 1; Volume 1 Rumored To Be In The Works!