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The Fugitive: Season 3 Vol.2

post #1 of 193
Thread Starter 
Box Art and details for a Dec 8th, 2009 release !!!!!

http://www.tvshowsondvd.com/news/Fugitive-Season-3-Volume-2/12644

I hope "micheal_ks" critically likes the box art more than for vol. 1

Gear mentioned in this thread:

Fugitive: Season Three, Vol. 2
post #2 of 193
This is somewhat of a surprise, being so close to S3V1, which comes out in late October.  That's only about a six or seven week spread between half-seasons!

Harry
post #3 of 193
Well, the economy is not getting any stronger and smart money has the $dollar$ hitting new lows before the end of the year.

This theory will only hold water if CBS/P narrows the gap between other new split-season releases.

Then again, it could be as simple as their desire to catch as many holiday shoppers as possible.

post #4 of 193
Perhaps it was actually the first volume of Season 3 that is the cause of this strangely short release time between V.1 and V.2.  That's where my money is at.  I'm betting Season 3, Volume 1 was originally going to be released in either July or August but got pushed back for some reason.  But whatever the reason was, it didn't affect the release date for V. 2 being in December.  And all I will say is that I'm quite confident I have the right angle on this one.

The only mystery is why the first volume was pushed back.  One can only hope it has something to do with CBS/P fixing the backscore issues and returning us to a Season 1 template in that area.  If that wasn't the reason for the delay, then I have no idea what it would be. 

Gary "probably just hoping beyond hope we get a nice Season 3 release for this great show - i.e., all the music restored that can be legally restored based on CBS's ownership of their own music library" O.

Edited by Gary OS - 9/9/09 at 5:50am
post #5 of 193
Season 1...August '07 & February '08

Season 2...June '08 & March '09

Season 3...October '09 & December '09

...still odd to have three volumes in the same calendar year...but no complaints here. 
post #6 of 193
 this is the same release pattern as the two volumes of The Untouchables Season 3. Does seem like summer is a dry time for DVD shopping. So focus them to the Fall and pre-Christmas season so folks will be in a shopping mood - especially when looking for a present for grandpa or someone who complained when RTN no longer ran Paramount shows like The Untouchables and The Fugitive. You put them out in May and there's a chance to stores will ship them back to the warehouse before October.

Although it would be nice to have both series wrapped up without waiting till the end of 2010.
post #7 of 193

Quote:
Originally Posted by TheGreatOz View Post

Season 1...August '07 & February '08

Season 2...June '08 & March '09

Season 3...October '09 & December '09

...still odd to have three volumes in the same calendar year...but no complaints here. 


The entire problem with the release pattern started with Season 2, V. 1 back in June of last year.  Had there not been an eruption of mammoth proportions over the music track with that one, we would have seen Season 2, V. 2 by December of last year.  But the furor over the backscore caused them to halt their release schedule for that second volume until they could figure out how to proceed.  If nothing had gone wrong the pattern would have been something close to this:

Season 1 - August '07 & February '08
Season 2 - June '08 & December '08
Season 3 - June '09 & December '09

And I'm sure that would hold for the final season as well, and if they get things ironed out with Season 3 we'll surely see Season 4 completed by the end of next year.  But that's a big "IF".

Gary "I'll personally be waiting on some reviews of S3, V1 before I make any purchasing decisions" O.

post #8 of 193


Quote:

Gary "I'll personally be waiting on some reviews of S3, V1 before I make any purchasing decisions" O.

 
Amen to that, Gary.  If vol. 1 is greenlighted by the fans, there'll be some nice viewing this fall and Christmas season.



Quote:

I hope "micheal_ks" critically likes the box art more than for vol. 1

Admittedly, I'm a bit too critical.  But what the heck is that structure, anyway? An overpass I suppose. Kimble meandering along a highway?   Never!
post #9 of 193
Call me gun shy, but I have a bad feeling about Season Three. Something is telling me both volumes will be similar to S2V2, i.e., loaded with Mark Heyes. I have a feeling many of us fans will be disappointed.

I can't wait to see some reviews on S3V1. Hopefully, I'm wrong, but after everything that has happened, I simply don't trust CBS. If I am right, I'll be finished with "The Fugitive," unfortunately.

I can't handle Mark Heyes. There are some episodes on S2V1, such as the "The Iron Maiden," that I will never, ever watch again because of too much Heyes music. Luckily I never bought S2V2 because, after watching my brother's copy, the amount of distracting Mark Heyes music was so much that I could barely get through most episodes. The Heyes stuff totally ruined my enjoyment.
post #10 of 193


Quote:
Originally Posted by jquirk View Post

Call me gun shy, but I have a bad feeling about Season Three. Something is telling me both volumes will be similar to S2V2, i.e., loaded with Mark Heyes. I have a feeling many of us fans will be disappointed.

Luckily I never bought S2V2 because, after watching my brother's copy, the amount of distracting Mark Heyes music was so much that I could barely get through most episodes. The Heyes stuff totally ruined my enjoyment.

I share your pessimism because I have the sinking feeling that the contract with Heyes called for his drivel that passes for music to be represented on the remaining volumes.  I hope I am wrong.

I doubt that I'll ever purchase S2V2 and will probably just Netflix it when I feel I can stomach sloppily composed/recorded/inserted synth chords.
post #11 of 193


Quote:
Originally Posted by michael_ks
I share your pessimism because I have the sinking feeling that the contract with Heyes called for his drivel that passes for music to be represented on the remaining volumes.  I hope I am wrong.
I am doubtful that Mark Heyes has that kind of control over all future Fugitive releases...

post #12 of 193
Quote:
Originally Posted by Guy Foulard View Post



I am doubtful that Mark Heyes has that kind of control over all future Fugitive releases...

 


Exactly. There's no way that Paramount would sign a contract where they HAD to use Heyes music even if they can clear the original music. Maybe if they had John Williams or James Horner doing it, they would have that kind of clout but the composer of already forgotten shows like Grace Under Fire and The Brian Benben Show absolutely does not have the clout to have his music contractually obligated to be used.
post #13 of 193
OK, Now that S3V1 has come out and is overall done very well, we can now turn our attention toward S3V2 and pray it is done just as well if not better !!
post #14 of 193
Yes, here's hoping S3v2 turns out as well as S3v1. Same goes for season 4, BTW. If this release schedule holds, we might see the show completed by mid-year 2010.
post #15 of 193
     Quote:
Originally Posted by Sam Favate View Post

Yes, here's hoping S3v2 turns out as well as S3v1.


Or even better! 

In all seriousness, I'm looking more forward to this upcoming second volume than the first one for S3 because there are more top notch episodes in this second half of this season, IMHO.  For starters the best episode of Season 3 will be included, namely "Wife Killer".  It's the premiere episode of this season as far as I'm concerned.  And there are many more that I absolutely love.  So here's to hoping that at a minimum I'm fortunate enough to see the episodes I really enjoy untouched music-wise. 

Gary "keeping my fingers crossed that 'Wife Killer' is Heyes-free" O.

post #16 of 193


Quote:
Originally Posted by Gary OS View Post

     Quote:



Or even better! 

In all seriousness, I'm looking more forward to this upcoming second volume than the first one for S3 because there are more top notch episodes in this second half of this season, IMHO.  For starters the best episode of Season 3 will be included, namely "Wife Killer".  It's the premiere episode of this season as far as I'm concerned.  And there are many more that I absolutely love.  So here's to hoping that at a minimum I'm fortunate enough to see the episodes I really enjoy untouched music-wise. 

Gary "keeping my fingers crossed that 'Wife Killer' is Heyes-free" O.

 

You really got me going Gary :)  As much as I have liked the S1V1 shows, can't wait.

Having never previously seen this show, I've read the posts about the S1V1 episodes and for me, I haven't seen a dropoff with them.  I only remember a couple of minor "duds" so far in the series up to this point.  I'm early into S3 viewing so far.
post #17 of 193
According to the Ed Robertson book, THE FUGITIVE RECAPTURED, the show's episode quality fell off after the two-parter, "Landscape With Running Figures".  I've never fully agreed with that assessment, but by the same token, I've not before heard that the quality got *better* in the second half of Season Three, though there are some superlative episodes to come in next week's release.

A lot of critical types will also mention the first part of Season Four as having a lesser quality than the great bulk of the series, and again, I'm not sold on that idea either.  There are certainly some differences to Season Four, with the switch to color.  It's almost distracting eye-candy for a couple of the episodes, but I've always found most episodes of the series to be rather consistent in terms of quality.  Quinn Martin's productions generally told their stories pretty well and we could usually count on superior acting talent available from both the leads and the guest stars.

Harry
post #18 of 193
     Quote:
Originally Posted by Harry-N View Post

According to the Ed Robertson book, THE FUGITIVE RECAPTURED, the show's episode quality fell off after the two-parter, "Landscape With Running Figures".  I've never fully agreed with that assessment, but by the same token, I've not before heard that the quality got *better* in the second half of Season Three, though there are some superlative episodes to come in next week's release.


I'm more than willing to admit my assessment that the second half of Season 3 is better than the first half is certainly a minority view amongst Fugitive fans, but I think a lot of that has to do with my less than stellar opinion of "Landscape."  Since most Fugitive fans think of that two-parter as one of the Top 5 episodes of the entire series it's understandable that most would rate the first half of the season higher than the second.  Since I'm one of those weird guys that doesn't rate those 2 episodes nearly that high I have always enjoyed the second half of the season better.  But I know it's a minority view.


Gary "hope you are completely over your cold, Harry" O.

post #19 of 193
All I can say is, as a 1st-time viewer, I haven't seen any dropoff of this show and I'm into the early part of S3 right now.  "Landscape" Pt 1 is the next one that I'll watch soon.

"All the Scared Rabbits" was great.  Seeing Suzanne Pleshette again in the show was cool.  It seemed to me that those 2 (Janssen/Suzanne) had some kind of a screen rapport.  I remember seeing that in the earlier episode "World's End".

"An Apple A Day": Another jem.  Mom will like that one in a few weeks.
post #20 of 193
Jeff, I don't think you'll notice any drop off at all until you get to Season 4, and even then I don't think it's as huge a drop off as some people make it out to be.  And my comments about thinking the second half of Season 3 is a bit better than the first half should not be construed to mean I believe the first half wasn't great.  It was!  I just think that pound for pound (or episode for episode) there are a couple more I really, really like in the second half of the season.  The entirety of S3 is fantastic as far as I'm concerned.


Gary "keeping my fingers crossed that most of S3, V2 come unscathed" O.
post #21 of 193
There are six or seven very good episodes in the last half of season 3.  The problem is there are seven or eight mediocre ones.  Cora Lee, Not With A Whimper, Shadow Of The Swan, White Knight, With Strings Attached, and several others leave the impression you've seen it before and it was better before.

For the record, I love Ill Wind, Wife Killer, The 2130, Echo of a Nightmare, Running Scared, and for its light comedic touch, The Chinese Sunset.

I'm one of those who thinks Season 4 drops off a lot in quality.  We'll debate that one when Season 4 is released.

Thanks....

Steve L.
post #22 of 193
Paul Mavis's review is now up at DVDTalk for anyone interested.  As always, he does a great job!

Gary "busy day for me so I doubt I'll be posting much until late tonight" O.
post #23 of 193
Thread Starter 

Quote:
I'm one of those who thinks Season 4 drops off a lot in quality.  We'll debate that one when Season 4 is released.

 

I can't imagine there being much of a debate about the drop off pertaining to season 4 but I do enjoy the two part finale as I think we all do.
post #24 of 193
I've always enjoyed The Fugitive, but I do feel that the S4 episodes don't have the same quality of the first three years. Maybe it's the jarring switch to colour--I feel much atmosphere is lost when Kimble runs in colour--but there are many episodes in S4 that just don't hold up for me. Of course the QM repertory of actors continue to do great work, as does Janssen (except for that episode where he's temporarily blind--ugh) and the final two-part episode is fantastic (I love the final scene). Regardless of the quality drop, there are still many good episodes and I look forward to their eventual release on DVD. 
post #25 of 193
Funny, one of the season 4 episodes I do like is the blind episode.  I know Ed Robertson didn't like it, but it seems more like a Fugitive episode than many of the others.

For now, I'm looking forward to S3V2 and hope the music's no worse than V1.  It will be interesting to see how they handle Ill Wind.

Steve L.
post #26 of 193
Thread Starter 
The other highlight to season 4 other than the classic two part finale as I recall is like four or so appearances of Fred Johnson...as I'm guessing the producers realizing this was the last season of the Fugitive...decided to wet the appetites of viewers with more stories involving the one armed man....so that's another plus taking in consideration the drop off.  Speaking of Fred Johnson episodes...I recall enjoying "A Clean and Quiet Town" with Janssen getting roughed up quite a bit back when A & E was airing the show.  I remember the "blind" episode from the A& E days too (was Fred Johnson in that one, too ??....seems like I remember him in that one briefly)...but I DO remember laughing outright at Janssen's acting "blind"...somehow I felt that performance belonged in Police Squad.

Anyway....I'm definitely looking forward to the final season of The Fugitive
post #27 of 193
Other S4 highlights for me are "The Ivy Maze" (I love William Windom) and "Dossier on a Diplomat"--diplomatic bureaucracy prevents Gerard from arresting Kimble! I look forward to the S3 V2 release this Tuesday and have no doubt we'll see S4 released next year on DVD!
post #28 of 193
 I always enjoy getting these releases a bit early - I've had S3 Vol.2 since Friday but was finishing Vol.1 before going into it. Since I obviously cannot readily differentiate  between what is original vs non original regarding the music best not to try! Hopefully I will start watching it by Monday.
post #29 of 193
Looking forward to hearing how S3v2 fares in the music department. My copy isn't likely to arrive for a week or so, which is fine as I am backed up and making my way through the previous volumes.
post #30 of 193
Music info from a poster (Robert Dahl) on Amazon: (not mentioned below since he hadn't watched Ill Wind yet, but a couple of people have reported that the song in Ill Wind is intact):
 

Quote:
The music in Season 3 Volume 2 seems to be a mixed bag. Some episodes are nearly free of the awful Heyes replacement music, while others have much more. 

NOT WITH A WHIMPER has quite a bit of Heyes replacement music. I noted soft Heyes cues at 18:00, 25:52, 29:32, and loud Heyes at 18:21, 28:40, 36:10. But I gave up taking notes in Act 4 when my hand started to cramp from jotting down all the Heyes cues that I heard. 

WIFE KILLER is a pleasant surprise. Yes, there are a few Heyes cues, but just a few. Overall, this episode's original music is mostly intact. I wonder if we'll ever get an explanation from CBS as to how one episode can be awash in Heyes, while the next is almost Heyes-free? Go figure. 

THIS'LL KILL YOU lands somewhere in the middle. It's about 50% original and 50% Heyes. The more prominent Heyes cues are at 15:29, 29:32, 35:25, 42:15, and the one at 47:07 was so loud that it nearly blasted me out of my chair. Most of the too-loud Heyes cues are in Act 4. 

ECHO OF A NIGHTMARE has a handful of Heyes cues. The ones that are noticeable are at 0:08 (in the teaser?!), 11:09, 17:11, 28:19, 35:02, 36:18, 43:19, and 47:09. But there are several more that are softer and blend so well that you don't notice them at first. Even though this episode has a fair amount of Heyes, it feels more like an original episode since so much of the Heyes is well-blended. 

STROKE OF GENIUS is almost completely untouched. The only Heyes cue that I noticed is at 4:08. The cue has the crisp artificial sound of a synthesizer, but is not overly loud. The remainder of the original music is intact. 

SHADOW OF THE SWAN is completely intact as far as I can tell. I heard no Heyes music at all; just a great many cues lifted from THE TWILIGHT ZONE. But it's just another version of the "Kimble meets psycho female" story, with Joanna Pettet as the wingnut with a crush on Kimble. 

RUNNING SCARED is also completely intact, with no Heyes cues that I could hear. I thought that the scriptwriter gave us a nice bit of humor when Kimble's sister, meeting up with Kimble for the first time in many months, hands over his accumulated mail - mostly junk mail from pharmaceutical companies! It was a nice touch. 

THE CHINESE SUNSET has a few Heyes cues, at 10:05, 20:53, 22:48, 44:24, 46:45, 47:25, and 48:38, but most of them are quiet and well-blended. Only the ones in Act 4 are noticeably loud. 

I've noticed that in several episodes, CBS has used overly-loud Heyes cues to underscore the episode's climax, usually occurring in Act 4. In Heyes-heavy episodes, Act 4 generally seems to be the worst. 

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Gear mentioned in this thread:

Fugitive: Season Three, Vol. 2