THE FUGITIVE, Season 2, Vol. 1 - Replacement Program Announced - Page 3

Re: THE FUGITIVE, Season 2, Vol. 1 - Replacement Program Announced

Wow. This is Great News. I get most of my TV DVDs the Friday before street date and was bummed when I read on here that the music had been replaced. So I was stuck with the set after already opening it and held off watching it hoping the studio would do a replacement program.
I had only watched a handful of episodes that our local library had on VHS before getting the S1 and S2 Vol 1 sets and after watching season 1 I could not get enough interest to watch the S2 set knowing that all of the music had been changed except the theme and end credits. Like many others here said the music plays a large part of the show. After hearing this news today I ordered S2 Vol 2.

Thanks to the HTF, the guys at TVShowsonDVD, the members here and everyone else who fought to get this show back on track and a big thank you to CBS/Paramount for doing this for the fans.

Re: THE FUGITIVE, Season 2, Vol. 1 - Replacement Program Announced

This is fantastic news. I too wrote a letter of complaint, but am so pleased with this replacement offer that I cannot thank all involved enough. I was in the midst of researching alternate ways to follow the adventures of Richard Kimble, but now I can happily support the official releases. Season 2, Volume 2 just went from being a "no way" to a "must buy"!

Re: THE FUGITIVE, Season 2, Vol. 1 - Replacement Program Announced

When the set first came out and I heard what they did, I sent mine back to Amazon. I wrote and emailed CBS/Paramount about my displeasure for what they did to my favorite TV show. I was polite about it, yet firm. I always had faith deep down that Paramount would do the right thing once they saw the huge outcry from the fans. But I must admit, in the last few months I had given up hope. Today, after reading about the replacement program, I jumped for joy! My only fear is that the song on "Ballad for a Ghost" will still be the changed version instead of the original version that was originally written for THAT episode. If it is, that will still kill that episode! The third season episode "Ill Wind" has a song throughout that episode also that was written for that episode. If the song on "Ballad" still remains changed, I fear the song on "Ill Wind" will be messed up also. Hopefully your friend will be able to clear this one up for us Gord.

Re: THE FUGITIVE, Season 2, Vol. 1 - Replacement Program Announced

Oh, how sweet this news is!!!!!!!!

I can finally treat myself to The Fugitive, S2, V1 at long last. Be it that this was to have been a birthday present for me last year, this will be, for me a belated birthday present for myself!!!!!

For those of you here at Home Theater Forum you recall when this music issue came down, S2 V1 was released FOUR DAYS BEFORE MY BIRTHDAY AND WAS TO HAVE BEEN A SPECIAL BIRTHDAY PICKUP AS A RESULT.

And, as an extra added sweet treat, I shall also proceed to pick up S2, V2 of The Fugitive on March 31, 2009, giving me a Hat Trick for the final three weeks of March, with The Nanny, S3 and Room 222, S1 coming out in the two weeks preceeding it.

Thank you very much, CBS/Paramount, for restoring the confidence of consumers such as myself who are not only Fuge fans...but also to those who have picked up some of your other TV DVD products as well.

And to David, Gord and all the friendly folks who were vigilant in helping to see this through...right on!!!!!!!!!!!!

And now...on to the rest of The Mod Squad's sophomore season!!!!

Re: THE FUGITIVE, Season 2, Vol. 1 - Replacement Program Announced

"Happy days are here again
The skies above are clear again
So let's sing a song of cheer again
Happy days are here again!"

© 1929 by Milton Ager (music) and Jack Yellen (lyrics)

Re: THE FUGITIVE, Season 2, Vol. 1 - Replacement Program Announced

I can now resume collecting and watching THE FUGITIVE on DVD!
Completely unexpected and great news for fandom!

Re: THE FUGITIVE, Season 2, Vol. 1 - Replacement Program Announced

I don't see how they can cut the song from ILL WIND because it is repeatedly woven into the body of the episode. The story would not make as much sense.

I fear the song in BALLAD FOR A GHOST is gone for good in the official releases.

Re: THE FUGITIVE, Season 2, Vol. 1 - Replacement Program Announced

Oh, I'd expect they'll be in the eventual complete series box set in a 3 or so years!

Re: THE FUGITIVE, Season 2, Vol. 1 - Replacement Program Announced

I'm also betting that the new discs will just show up in future sets if they need to manufacture another run due to demand. They're not going to knowinglt repress "wrong" material when the corrected masters are available.

This will be like the situation with the CDs of THE BEATLES CAPITOL ALBUMS VOLUME 2. Those masters were done wrong (some mono tracks used wrong masters), there was a replacement program put in place, and the marketplace was then slowly filled with the newer corrected discs - without a recall of the incorrect ones.

For months, maybe years, the incorrect discs sat on shelves, still selling to unsuspecting customers, yet right next to them on the same shelf was the corrected discs in another set. The tell-tale code of "SK1" to someone in the know, was printed on a front sticker of the package.

There have been other examples - in the DVD world, there was an errant release of the Connery/Bond flick, NEVER SAY NEVER AGAIN, with a scene missing during a layer change. The company issued a send-and-replace disc program, and placed three asterisks next to the title on the top sticker of the package, so one could identify it as the corrected disc, if one were in possession of such knowledge. But again, they didn't recall the old ones - they just left them on shelves to sell.

I'm betting that CBS/P will leave the errant sets selling, and stealtfully issue the new discs in future manufactured packages. Perhaps their reasoning on a September cutoff date is that by then, they expect all of the current sets to have sold, and the corrected product replaced in the marketplace - without notice.

It'll be interesting to see if the sharp-eyed among us will spot the "code".

Harry

Re: THE FUGITIVE, Season 2, Vol. 1 - Replacement Program Announced

Add me to the list of people that were upset over the music replacement debacle and are ecstatic about the replacement discs. I finally put in my order for a set yesterday. Thanks to the guys at TV Shows on DVD for posting the news.

Re: THE FUGITIVE, Season 2, Vol. 1 - Replacement Program Announced

I'd agree, Harry. From CBS Paramount's point of view, there are economics to consider in rolling out this replacement program. It's likely less expensive to go the route they have chosen, i.e., mailing the discs to consumers who have purchased the "bad" sets rather than recalling these sets from the retailers and then restocking with new pressings. This way, they'll be able to sell down current inventories at retailers, and the retailers will not have to bundle up the "bad" sets and sent them back to the distributor. It may not necessarily be the best way to do it from a consumer's point of view, but I think I understand the economics behind it and sincerely appreciate CBS Paramount's make-good effort. And I think you're absolutely correct that future pressings of season 2, volume 1 beyond 9/1/09 will contain the corrected discs though there is bound to be some remaining inventory of the "bad" sets that are intermingled with the new.

Re: THE FUGITIVE, Season 2, Vol. 1 - Replacement Program Announced

Great news, indeed. I was very happy to get the TSoD email yesterday about this. Big thumbs up to CBS for showing respect to the fans and to the show.

Cheers, also, to Gord for following up with this particular title and issue and for being the bearer of good news.

Re: THE FUGITIVE, Season 2, Vol. 1 - Replacement Program Announced

I am very happy about this too, but I am going to wait and see how much is being replaced. If it is just incidental music like in season 1, I have no problem with that.

Looks like I have to double dip. I was so mad with the original set that I gave it to my son to trade in with a bunch of other disks. But if the new sets are the same as season 1, I will be happy to.

Re: THE FUGITIVE, Season 2, Vol. 1 - Replacement Program Announced

I'm so impressed. Not just with studio actually responding, but mostly with the voices and the efforts of posters on this site who carried the torches (sometimes swinging them quite wildly), wrote the letters, reviewed on Amazon, and created enough buzz to make this happen. Congratulations!

I read through the original thread more as a curious spectator (and casual Fuge fan) and it was like a love story (for the show) that turned into a horrified story (for the music switch) that turned into a hate story that got so ugly the story was finally cut off in mid sentence. But now ... now ... it's a Frank Capra story, with a happy ending and everyone in love again. Oh, yeah, and justice.

Sigh. Great drama. Right here on the HTF.

Re: THE FUGITIVE, Season 2, Vol. 1 - Replacement Program Announced

Happy to be a "guest star in tonight's story"!

Harry

Re: THE FUGITIVE, Season 2, Vol. 1 - Replacement Program Announced

I'm a little blown away.

While I thought there was a possibility that they'd correct the problem on future releases, I NEVER thought it was even realistic to expect them to correct S2V1. Others were demanding they do it, but I kept saying it simply would never happen.

Well, I'm glad I was wrong. While I had every intention of collecting future releases with replacement or original music, I much prefer the original music. I was also getting tired of every Fugitive discussion being about the music.

You've gotta take your hats off to CBS/Paramount on this. While they screwed up by replacing all the music, they made good, and as far as I'm concerned, they went above and beyond by redoing discs that had already been released.


Side note -- I feel a little bad for Mark Heyes, who was a guy who simply did his job, but seemed to become the focus of a lot of anger. His music wasn't all that bad -- at times it was quite well done. The use of replacement music deserved to be criticized, but his own work didn't deserve the lashings it received.

Re: THE FUGITIVE, Season 2, Vol. 1 - Replacement Program Announced

Any chance of My Three Sons fans getting decent treatment now? Or at least the possibility of future sets being more intact?

I'd almost be willing to settle for the awful music they're supplying us in My Three Sons if we could at least have the option to turn it off. Wouldn't be the same as the original episodes, but at least we'd only be watching/listening to what belongs on the episode. Would beat by a mile listening to the awful replacement music.

Re: THE FUGITIVE, Season 2, Vol. 1 - Replacement Program Announced

Dave, that's my position for now. I don't want anyone here to misinterpret this as doing another "rain about this. KUDOS to Gord/Dave for their relentless pursuit of this issue. They knew this one was a big deal with collectors among the HTF'ers and frequent TSoD hitters.

I mailed in my form today and will check it out upon arrival. I'll get the Fuge expert (my friend Gary) to help me determine where the Capitol cues are located in some sample episodes. As Dave (buford2) mentioned, restoring the Rugolo portion of the original backscore is a very important move on CBS/P's part. I "second" the motion to organize some sort of online "thanks" site where we can sign it and possibly ask Gord/Dave to relay it to the folks at CBS/P.

This series, for me, is a unique situation where the original backscore is concerned. I'd guess that if this were 99 other series that I collect, I'd have no hesitation about un-corking my applause from 90% to 100% if the restored S2V1 set is the same as the S1's. Since we're hearing that the report from Gord's source is saying that some "Heyes" music is present in the restored S2V1, I'll wait and see on this one.

Bottom line is that I agree with you guys that this is a BIG move on CBS/P's part and deserves our profound Thanks, particularly given the current economical environment.

I'll sign off this one with a line from Star Trek TOS from the episode "Mirror Mirror" (sidebar tribute for "Rick" in Tulsa )

"In every revolution, there's one man with a vision".

In this case, there were many here that pasted the stamps, mailed the letters. salute to you all.

Re: THE FUGITIVE, Season 2, Vol. 1 - Replacement Program Announced

I would have to agree--I finally broke down and began watching S2V1 a while ago, and was generally not as displeased with his music as I feared I would be. Heyes tried to keep true to the general feeling of the original music, but without being able to use the resources (and score) Pete Rugolo had for the originals.

Nevertheless, I dropped my disc replacement form in the mailbox this morning! (and pre-ordered S2V2 as a gesture of good faith in CBS/Paramount)

Re: THE FUGITIVE, Season 2, Vol. 1 - Replacement Program Announced

This is just *fantastic* news!!

I'm going to be placing my order for S2, V1 when I get home tonight!
Some of my favorite Fuge eps of the entire series are included with this set; and I was beginning to believe that I would never see a proper release for them.

As others here have stated, I can accept the replacement music for the Capital Library music as long as the bulk of the Rugolo cues remain. And it sounds as though that's what was done.

Anyway, tremendous kudos to CBS/Paramount for this response. It clearly indicates that they *do* listen to their customers. This is a "win-win" for Fugitive fans, classic TV fans, and the studio. Congrats all around!!!

Re: THE FUGITIVE, Season 2, Vol. 1 - Replacement Program Announced

I wanted thanks to CBS/Paramount for stepping up the plate to address this situation. Kudos to them for standing up and facing the music (pun intended) on this one. Like others, I had been highly critical of the way the music replacement had originally been handled (and the lack of any real forewarning), but this resolution exceeds anything I foresaw.

I was delighted finally to purchase a copy of Season 2, Volume 1 earlier today after hearing this wonderful news.

Major thanks go to Gord, Dave and TVShowsonDVD, along with Variety, HTF members and others, for voicing the extreme displeasure of the fans both as to the replacement itself and the lack of forewarning to prospective purchasers. Thanks also need to be sent out to Film Music Society and the others (including many here) who quickly made it known to the public how much of the score was owned by CBS/Paramount and how absurd it was to have thrown the musical baby out with the bathwater, as it were.

Truly a wonderful day for fans of The Fugitive of all ages (including those of us who were not even born when the program went off the air),

Jay

Re: THE FUGITIVE, Season 2, Vol. 1 - Replacement Program Announced

Sometime late yesterday afternoon, when I went to Amazon to update my review there, I noticed that the rank for Season Two, Volume One was in the 3,000 range.

Later that evening before retiring for the night, I saw it had climbed to the 2,000 ragne.

Now, this afternoon, it's up to the 1,000 range. Obviously news has spread fast, and people are scrambling to obtain copies so they can take advantage of the replacement offer from CBS/Paramount.

Just for the heck of it, yesterday, upon learning of the replacement program just before I headed out to lunch, I checked in a Best Buy and a FYE store. Neither had any copies of Season Two, Volume One. In fact, Best Buy had no FUGITIVE sets at all. FYE had the two from season one.

Harry

Re: THE FUGITIVE, Season 2, Vol. 1 - Replacement Program Announced

I do hope you are wrong my friend and that the song in "Ballad for a Ghost" has been restored since it was written for that show. But, if it isn't, and as long as the origianl soundtrack has been restored, I won't gripe: I will just be dissapointed. Either way, I am overjoyed that CBS/Paramount not only heard our complaints, but addressed them and fixed the best series ever to have been produced. I watched some of the Season 2 Vol. 1 again last night. Not having the original soundtrack just kills the mood of the show! I remember when I was growing up. I grew up alone with no brother and sisters around so I usually played by myself. When I pretended to be "The Fugitive" when I was playing in the yard, it was always the Da Da- Da Da theme I had playing in my mind when I was running from Gerard or chasing the man with one arm.

Re: THE FUGITIVE, Season 2, Vol. 1 - Replacement Program Announced

I sent my Fugitive disc replacement form in today. The last Fugitive episodes I saw were the two-parter "Angels Travel on Lonely Roads." (It seemed like they used every stock music cue in the CBS library on that one, especially in part 1.) I have not watched an episode since the news about the music replacement on S.2 V.1 broke. I think now I'll finally watch another episode

Re: THE FUGITIVE, Season 2, Vol. 1 - Replacement Program Announced

I haven't even looked at my S2 V1 set since I opened the set and discovered the music replacement (before I saw the thread here at the HTF). After reading the unbelievably good news, I grabbed my set (it sat on a shelf in a seldom-used closet) and sent in the form. The Fugitive was the last vintage show I really wanted to have completely on DVD and I thought the opportunity was lost. Many thanks to CBS/Paramount for their efforts to appease Fuge fans. For Richard Kimble, the running continues!

Re: THE FUGITIVE, Season 2, Vol. 1 - Replacement Program Announced

I got mine out last night to cut off the tabs for the return and put in the second disc. Just couldn't get into it with out the Fugitive music.

Re: THE FUGITIVE, Season 2, Vol. 1 - Replacement Program Announced

The shows feel like The Fugitive again, even if synthesizers ocassionally pop up. But having the show FEEL like The Fugitive is the main thing.

Re: THE FUGITIVE, Season 2, Vol. 1 - Replacement Program Announced

I am assuming that the Mark Heyes music that is still on the set is the music you hear over the radio or in the pub setting or so forth. I can live with that if it is. No big deal to me as long as the Fugitives original theme ie present throughout. I really miss the Gerard theme in these episodes! I can't see Paramount/CBS going to this much of an expense to redo the DVD's and issue replacements if the music change don't mirror the Season one sets since they got no complaints about them. I just hope they continue to issue the epsiodes with the music intact and the episodes uncut as they have been so far.

Re: THE FUGITIVE, Season 2, Vol. 1 - Replacement Program Announced

I was also overjoyed when I read the news yesterday. I had traded in my season 2 set earlier because I could not stand the overly loud new underscore. After this news, I picked up a used copy and have already removed the proof of purchase tabs and will be dropping them in the mail tomorrow.

Thanks you Paramount for listening to your customers and working to correct a terrible miscarriage of justice. Looking forward to continuing my adventures with Dr. Kimble in the future.

Doug