Fugitive comes to DVD in a 33 disc set on Nov. 1st 2011

Yep.  My crystal ball said this set was probably coming, but the music issue was not revealed to me.  Not even the mighty crystal ball can see everything. 

 

Seriously though, all we can really do is hope for a miracle. 

 

 

Gary "I'm not holding my breath that this set will include all the unnecessarily deleted cues" O.

 

I think David Lambert has it slightly incorrect in the TVSoDVD blurb. It looks to me as if it's going to be a 34-Disc set, with 33 DVDs and 1 audio CD (vs. 32 DVDs + 1 CD).

 

My initial guess was that the audio CD would probably be the same as the "Silva Screen" soundtrack CD that came out in circa 2001 (which is very good). But then I looked at the running time for the Silva CD and it's 47 minutes. And CBS/Paramount says that the CD being released on Nov. 1 contains 70 minutes of Fugitive music, which is much longer than the Silva CD.

 

I sure don't want to buy all those season sets again just for a bonus DVD and an extra 23 minutes of soundtrack music, though.

 

Oh, well....this is the eternal frustration of TV-on-DVD, isn't it? You've bought 8 sets of the show already, and you're caught between a one-armed man and a hard place in Stafford, Indiana, when confronted with an upcoming mega-set that's now staring you in the face.

 

~sigh~

 

:)

 

http://The--Fugitive.blogspot.com

Edited by David Von Pein - 8/15/11 at 8:49pm

Any serious fan of The Fugitive has already purchased all 4 seasons of this show. This set basically adds nothing except perhaps for an audio CD..which I already have as well. There is no word from the studio whether ORIGINAL music or Mark Heyes abomination will be on these.Therefore,this collection is basically a non starter for me.

However, a bluray...perhaps 3D collection...with the original music intact..now that would get me to open my wallet.

"Tonight's episode......Crack In A Crystal Ball." (Okay, I'm repeating that joke but it works better here!)

Like anyone reading this thread, I'd wish they'd correct all the music but I think there's no chance that this set is anything but the existing discs (and the CD) in one box.

I'll be following this thread, but don't have much hope that music issues have been resolved.  

 

Harry

Adding a fake 3D effect would be just as much an abomination as the unnecessary music replacements. Blu-Ray, unadulterated picture? Fine. 3D or cropped to 16:9? Bad.

Blu-Ray of any sort for this show is likely a pipe dream anyway. Best we can hope for is that they used the "mail away" version of the bungled S2 volume 1 discs instead of the retail version.

If anything, this set is going to be inferior to the standalone season sets. Wasn't season 1 largely untouched before they got terrified of the Capitol cues afterwards? I can hear Mark Heyes hard at work right now creating computer synthesized music that sounds completely out of place for season 1...

I sure hope the fans don't get their hopes up just to get dashed yet again. Heck, the lack of any word in that press release pretty much tells the tale right there. They'd be advertising from the get go if they had undertaken any substantial restoration of the original audio. That would be a huge selling point to get fans to double dip and get those that held off purchasing any of the flawed season sets into purchasing the series. The lack of any word pretty much seals its fate, if you ask me.

I just hope they don't screw up and fail to use the best version for each disc that they have thanks to the couple (If I remember right) replacement programs they had. Would be ashame if fans got stuck with an inferior version that wasn't necessary.
Edited by LeoAmes - 8/15/11 at 8:48pm

 

If CBS/P was going to put back in all the original/correct music, I have a feeling that would have been one of the first things we would have seen in the official CBS blurb put out today. But there's not a word about the music. That silence probably says a lot. Unless CBS is just being spiteful by putting out a mega-set with every note of the original '60s music intact, but then not saying word 1 about it in this initial press release:

 

"Dr. Richard Kimble (David Janssen), wrongly accused of murdering his wife, escapes custody while en route to Death Row. He now must elude police and Lt. Philip Gerard (Barry Morse), who is obsessed with his capture. So Kimble must constantly relocate and change his name, while he continues his quest to find the real killer: a one-armed man (Bill Raisch) he saw leave the scene of the crime.

"The critically acclaimed classic TV suspense drama, The Fugitive, available in a complete series box set! Includes all 4 seasons, 33 discs housed in a collectible package. Also features a bonus disc loaded with exclusive content, plus an audio CD with 70 minutes of music! TV Guide named The Fugitive the best dramatic series of the 1960s (1993 ranking). Nominated for 5 Emmy Awards, including Outstanding Continued Performance by an Actor in a Series (Lead) David Janssen (1964, 1967). Narrated by acclaimed actor William Conrad, and Executive Produced by Quinn Martin (The Streets of San Francisco, The Untouchables)."

 

BTW, IMO this cover art is hideous. You can't even read it. (Although the higher-resolution version will undoubtedly look better.) I wonder why they can't just use the "stenciled" Fugitive font? ~shrug~ ....

 

Yet, why would they offer this with a music CD if the original music wasn't present on the actual episodes? That doesn't make any sense either.

Not a bad point, Ethan.

 

Because surely CBS isn't silly enough to put out a CD of the Heyes substitute music. (I can just envision hordes of fans flocking to the stores for a CD like that. LOL.)

 

However, to speculate: Perhaps CBS/Paramount felt that by providing an Audio CD of the original '60s music from the show, they were at least giving ardent fans of "The Fugitive" SOMETHING in the way of a totally unblemished soundtrack (although, of course, having the original music on a separate CD is still a far cry from having it in place on every episode on the 32 DVDs in the set).

 

 

 

Not a bad point and it seems logical enough.

But it also wouldn't be the first time something similar to this has happened over the years. I can recall several bonus features on various DVD releases over the years where the highlights they were showing from a specific episode as they're interviewing someone looked pristine, but that moment during the actual episode with the transfer they used looked horrible and clearly wasn't from the same source..

It isn't related to classic television on DVD, but I recall something similar with a classic videogame compilation from a few years ago. The music in a certain game was subbed out and replaced with a horrible replacement track, yet the selection menu, which had footage of each game as you select it, still had the original music intact when the clip for that game was played.

So it wouldn't be the first time where some strange decision by a publisher was made that didn't make any sense. But I suppose it gives some reason to still have a tiny shred of optimism, although I don't think Fugitive fans have much of that left at this point.

Well if they re-released the episodes with the Heyes music and then dangled a carrot by releasing the original music on the CD, it would adding insult to injury. If anything could start a full-scale Paramount boycott, that'd be it!

Miracles sometimes do happen, my friend!

I'm sure all the series episode discs are exact clones of the individual sets (as these collections tend to be), but the real question is which discs will they be using for S2 V1: the original, heavily-altered ones (which were the only ones available at retail), or the mail-away replacements which at least restored part of the original music? If it's the latter, those who missed out on the mail-in exchange offer might be tempted to have a go at this.

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I'm in support of that statement, Neil.  Here's hoping for the best. 

 

 

Gary "if we did get the original score with this set I'd certainly double-dip" O.

That sci-fi-ish cover is pretty weird, to say the least. It'll probably be the same episodes as those already released, and the CD as consolation prize. -If not, I'd call it a real screw over, to deliberately make new music knowing the original would later come in a box-set. A couple of minutes of new interviews as extras likely won't be enough to make me buy it again, it'd have to be something really spectacular, like archival TV with Janssen or Morse. Maybe we'll get subtitles for the first three seasons at last, that could be the best we can hope for. Seriously, who's going to buy this if it contains what's already and still available anyway. Time will tell, but do wish they'd revitalize stalled titles rather.

I think that, at least, they will use the replacement disks. The inclusion of the soundtrack CD suggests that they did pay for some of the music and figure they may as well put it on CD. One reason to not mention the music in the press release is that there may still be some music replacements even if most of the music is intact, and they do not want to put qualifiers in the press release. One question is whether the season 1 soundtrack will be as untouched as it the original releases. My guess is that tvshowsondvd will have more details about this set soon, but that we will really have to wait for the set to be released and it to be reviewed to get the full picture. BTW: I like the cover.

I only have the first season, and if the correct music is in this complete set, count me in for another purchase.... Here's hoping!

There are a couple of items to consider here, music-wise.  The Rugolo cues were released, as we all know, from Silva-Screen Records back in the early part of the 2000s.  This new, bonus CD likely contains all of that material, plus what? The 2000 soundtrack CD totals 47:18, so there's room for 23+ minutes more to take the total up to 70:00.  Will there be more of the Rugolo cues?  Possibly so, probably not.  CBS owns all of this music, and KNOW that they own it, so its inclusion is a given.

 

How about some TWILIGHT ZONE music?  The Goldsmith score for "Back There" was used a lot in THE FUGITIVE, along with some other TZ cues.  CBS owns this stuff too.

 

And what about Dominic Frontiere?  His interviews were included on the S4 DVD's as if he actually composed stuff for THE FUGITIVE, when in fact all that was really done was that they ported over some OUTER LIMITS cues.  Those OL cues were "under license from Dominic Frontiere" himself on the recent La-La Land Records release, but we all wondered why in the world Mr. Frontiere got special treatment on the S4 DVD releases.  Perhaps putting some of his stuff on a bonus CD is part of whatever deal he agreed to?

 

Or, this new CD could go the route of some other television soundtracks and simply place sound from the actual program onto CDs, like the first season narration, two versions, and the subsequent narration in S2-S4.  Or even some 'music + dialog' tracks of some key moments in the series.  I personally don't care for those, but there may be others who would be thrilled with something like that.

 

Harry

...just some rambling thoughts, online...

Whoa!!  Amazon has the set up for pre-order and they are listing the MSRP at $242.99.  Their discount brings it down to $169.99, but that's just way too much money for this set.  At that price they had better have the original music restored.   If they don't, I'm not sure they'll be getting too many customers at that steep a price. 

 

 

Gary "I honestly didn't think they'd set the price that high" O.

Let's look at the math:

 

Breaking it down, there were eight original half-season sets, all at the original suggested retail price of $39.99.  8 times $39.99 works out to $319.92, so the $242.99 seems a bargain in that sense.

 

The half-season sets were commonly sold between $25 and $30 when new.  $242.99 divided by 8 works out to $30.37 list, just slightly above what the initial sets commonly sold for.

 

Amazon's initial price for the mega-set is $169.99, which divided by 8 works out to $21.25.  Currently, the half-season sets sell on Amazon for anywhere between $20 and $31, so this is not an outrageous price, nor is it any kind of 'buying-in-bulk' bargain.

 

This is just the raw numbers and doesn't take into account the fact that this set claims some extras, nor does it take into account anything about the music, one way or the other, since nothing is yet known for sure.

 

Harry

I'm trying to channel some of Danny's optimism, and hope that there is a "secret code" in the subtitle of this release ("The Most-Wanted Edition"). Otherwise, this will be a worthless product (except to Paramount), and we'll still have only half of this series seeing a proper release. Since there are Paramount employees who monitor this site from time to time, perhaps one of them will deign to share some info regarding this release with us peons at some point. Or not.

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I get the numbers, Harry.  I really do and I had calculated that before I even posted.  Yes, according to how CBS/P was pricing the half-season sets this does seem better.  But I felt that at a MSRP price that translates to over $60 per season that's just asking too much.  Most people agree the split season model is just a way for the studio to milk more money from the fans, so I refused to judge the pricing of this set on that model.  But to each his own.

 

 

Gary "just the way I see it" O.

 

Yeah, that it just way too much. Maybe an MSRP of $200. Unless the music is restored, i wont touch this set.

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Ditto.   If the backscore substitutions are fixed with S2-3 in this set, this series would be the only one that I'd do the double-dip dance.  If not (S2-3 music the same as the previously-released sets), I already have the CBS half-season sets and for me, the CD and any extras aren't enough for me to double-dip, even for the Fugitive series.
 

 

Hopefully CBS/Paramount will finally rectify the biggest fiasco in the history of TV shows on dvd and release this show with the original score intact. Given their track record though, I highly doubt it. Thanks to them, we're probably going to have to live with the bastardized version of The Fugitive forever, not only on DVD but on television as well, as stations looking to air this show in HD will use the HD masters which evidently only have the butchered version of the scores. Probably the same will hold for streaming; they'll use the HD ruined versions. No one is going to go back and restore the original music; no one other than CBS/Paramount has the means or the will to go to the expense. It's such a travesty, especially considering the fact that all this didn't have to be done. Congratulations CBS/Paramount; you only ruined one of the greatest shows ever made, needlessly at that; quite a legacy.
Edited by jdee28 - 8/17/11 at 11:16pm

This is great news the complete series is coming out. I have it on my agenda to purchase. I just hope the pricing is reasonable. I like to watch the final episode as tribute to my recent deceased friend, who told me he never seen the last episode.