The Fugitive: Season Four, Volume 1 (1 Viewer)

[Harry-N]

A couple of observations after finally getting through "Wine Is A Traitor" (it's not so bad after all...) and "Approach With Care".


Things seemed awfully familiar in the surroundings of "Approach With Care". I can report that the carnival background music is unaltered, which leaves a sour taste in the mouth regarding the earlier "Brass Ring", which had all of IT's boardwalk/carnival music replaced.


But check this out. Back in "Ten Thousand Pieces Of Silver" I noticed this rather yellow-looking television set in the background:



It looks like the very same model (and condition) that was used in "Approach With Care."




Now look at the interior of the migrant worker's trailer in "Wine Is A Traitor".

It looks identical to the one used as Kimble's trailer in "Approach With Care."





Finally, I found this amusing in "Approach With Care". It seems Dr. Kimble is having another nightmare at Northoak". Check the calendar behind him:




Harry

 

[Hollywoodaholic]

Are you implying studios re-use props and scenery on television series to save costs? Or that they do a poor job of hiding that? But seriously, could that television have been an early example of product placement? I didn't catch the brand, though. And, I don't know this, but did Quinn Martin exclusively use one brand of automobile in all their series, such as Fords in The FBI?


I enjoyed the photos, though. That stuff is always fun.

 

[Harry-N]

Well I'm sure most of us know that studios use and re-use props. It's just fun to spot them doing so.

I think one of the problems with the color episodes is that things like this stand out a little more. A number of fans have mentioned that the California area looked more realistic as "other cities and towns" throughout the black & white run of THE FUGITIVE, but was less forgiving in the color episodes. I guess the same applies to the props and sets.


The trailer set was particularly fresh in my mind, as it was used in two consecutive episodes. And the TV just stood out both times with its yellowish screen.


Harry

 

[Hollywoodaholic]

I had the same issues with Combat! when it went to color - suddenly the dry brush hills of California couldn't remotely pass for Europe anymore. It's a strange and ironic phenomenom when the addition of color actually makes a show (or its setting) less realistic.

 

[Jack P]

Originally Posted by Harry-N

Well I'm sure most of us know that studios use and re-use props. It's just fun to spot them doing so.

And costumes too, like when Leslie Parrish wore her "Star Trek" costume again on "Mannix"!


http://www.startrekpropauthority.com/2009/05/star-trek-at-smithsonian-lt-palamas.html

 

[Harry-N]

Originally Posted by Jack P

Well I'm sure most of us know that studios use and re-use props. It's just fun to spot them doing so.

And costumes too, like when Leslie Parrish wore her "Star Trek" costume again on "Mannix"!


http://www.startrekpropauthority.com/2009/05/star-trek-at-smithsonian-lt-palamas.html

[/QUOTE]

Yep. I spotted that one too!


http://www.trekbbs.com/showpost.php?p=2652353&postcount=22


Harry

 

[Harry-N]

Not to beat a dead horse, but I had to laugh while watching "Nobody Loses All The Time" and noticed Joanna Moore's television in her apartment. It looks like the same old yellow "Quattron" prototype!







Most times in THE FUGITIVE, the actual locations aren't specified in the dialog or narration, but sometimes can be gleaned from signs, geography, or license plates. In "Nobody Loses All The Time", we see Joanna Moore's car with a license plate that reads Ohio, 1966.






However, earlier in the episode, we saw Richard Kimble walking around outside, and Ohio wouldn't be my first guess as to locale. Here we see Dr. Kimble pause in wonderment at seeing a palm tree growing in Ohio...

 

[buford2]

In second half of season 4 in the episode "Goodbye My Love", Marlyn Mason sings a song. I wonder if that is going to get modified?

 

[Jack P]

Hopefully not. CBS/Paramount did leave intact Marlyn singing in a S1 "Barnaby Jones" episode.

 

[Harry-N]

In the first act of "Goodbye My Love", she sings a thirty-second conclusion to "Strangers In The Night", then plays a few chords on the piano. Similarly in the epilogue, she noodles a bit on the piano before being interrupted.


My guess is that the "Strangers In The Night" part will remain - it's a :30 second usage and easy enough to track down the copyright holders. The piano noodling? Who knows? It may stay or could be replaced as "source music".


Harry

 

[Professor Echo]

Great observations and pics, Harry! I love that stuff.


Even if it is the same color challenged model over and over again, I'm always glad when they show a TV set in someone's residence on a television show. Why is it in so many TV shows from the 50's-60's, barely anyone seems to own a TV, let alone watch one? You would think that would be the FIRST prop they would place on the set that is supposed to represent someone's home given that it's a TELEVISION show they are producing!


Speaking of recycled props, I'm reminded of all the WB western shows of the 50's-60's where the same WANTED poster could be seen in just about every Sheriff's and Marshall's office, that of character actor George Tobias as "Rosario" as used in the 1940 Warner picture, TORRID ZONE. Man did that poster get around!

 

[Jeff Willis]

Originally Posted by Point-Blank
Great observations and pics, Harry! I love that stuff.


Even if it is the same color challenged model over and over again, I'm always glad when they show a TV set in someone's residence on a television show. Why is it in so many TV shows from the 50's-60's, barely anyone seems to own a TV, let alone watch one? You would think that would be the FIRST prop they would place on the set that is supposed to represent someone's home given that it's a TELEVISION show they are producing!


Speaking of recycled props, I'm reminded of all the WB western shows of the 50's-60's where the same WANTED poster could be seen in just about every Sheriff's and Marshall's office, that of character actor George Tobias as "Rosario" as used in the 1940 Warner picture, TORRID ZONE. Man did that poster get around!

Ditto on Walker's "Thanks", Harry, fun reading in this thread.


Walker, regarding the TV prop, I've often wondered the same thing about the lack of that prop in a lot of the older series sets. I still remember our family "Zenith" B/W set. When I was in tech class, I opened up that set and installed a headphone jack to use headhpones. I remember my Dad panicking when he saw my head inside his prize Zenith. He probably thought I was "Dagwood Bumstead" and the set would be in a hundred peices all over our living room floor after a few minutes ha

About the Fugitive S4 sets, I'm probably the only one here that's watching this show on DVD's for the 1st time. It's a great ride so far, almost done with S3. I avoid some of the posts here because of spoilers, just scan thru them, but one of the big spoilers has already been spoiled for me a while back, when I was reading Barry Morse's obituary in our local paper. Before I could stop reading, I read something that I didn't know about the final 2-parter but I'll still enjoy watching how the show closed up some of the main arcs.

 

[stevelecher]

Jeff Willis:


Is that true for the whole series that you are seeing them here on DVD for the first time? What prompted you to try it? If you're finishing up season 3, what did you think of the different seasons and do you think all of the first three seasons remained equally strong? Could you tell that something was amiss with the music in some of the episodes? Did it affect your enjoyment of them? Thanks for your thoughts.


I've finished all of S4,V1 and find it the most satisfactory release since S1,V2. I have no music issues. I sure wish seasons two and three could have been done this well. I also wish the scripts were as good as those seasons. When watching "Approach With Care," amongst others, didn't you feel like they had done it before and done it much better?


Great posts with pictures from season 4 with the yellow screened TV and the trailer shots. Very fun. On youtube a year or so ago, someone posted a video from season one, Never Wave Goodbye Part 1, that featured numerous scenes of Kimble going into the police station and coming out and getting on the bus and all the scenes featured the same little man with a white hat as an extra in the scenes. It was hilarious. It was called "Never Wave Goodbye To An Extra."


I can't say where, but on Perry Mason and other TV shows of this era, I have seen Dr. Ryder's house (exterior) from the episode "The 2130."


Thanks to all and let's hope Volume 2 is as satisfactory.


Steve Lecher

 

[Harry-N]

Today I watched "Right In The Middle Of The Season" with guests Dean Jagger, Nancy Malone, and James T. Callahan.


This one was enjoyable as it's an episode I've probably not seen in many years. Though I had it on a VHS tape, and even transferred that tape to DVD in the past year, I didn't actually WATCH the show.


In fact, when I taped all of these episodes from the WWOR EMI Service back in the '90s, I made myself a check list of episodes that I was watching, in an effort to keep track of the ones I'd seen recently and the ones that I hadn't. That checklist is still being used as a bookmark in my Ed Robertson book. Today I looked at it, and sure enough, "Right In The Middle Of The Season" doesn't have a checkmark next to it, telling me that even though I'd taped it, I probably hadn't actually looked at the episode since perhaps its original broadcast back in 1966, or perhaps a late '60s rerun somewhere.


Dean Jagger did his usual fine job as the crusty and feisty skipper. Nancy Malone wasn't given a lot to work with, but was good in her role. James Callahan played his usual competent role that he did so many times in QM productions back then, and the story, though a bit derivative of some other episodes of THE FUGITIVE, had me wondering how he was going to get out of it THIS time.


As I've noticed on many prior episodes, particularly in this fourth season in color, during stunt or fight scenes, David Janssen's stunt double's face is fairly clearly visible. I'm sure that, like the producers of so many '60s series, THE FUGITIVE's powers-that-be were not concerned at the time with anyone seeing a stunt double's face as televisions just weren't that good back then. Nowadays, with our ultra-sharp high definition television, these little details now stand out very clearly.


Looking at my checklist, I see that 'The Blessings of Liberty" is another one I hadn't watched on VHS, and I don't really recall the details of the story, so I'll probably enjoy that one when I get to it too. I know that Kimble takes a job in an inner-city furniture/upholsterer's shop, and that Arlene Martel (STAR TREK's T'Pring) is a guest star.


Harry

 

[stevelecher]

Harry N:


Regarding Right In The Middle Of The Season and Sharp Edge of Chivalry:

Right In The Middle of The Season found Richard Kimble with extraordinary luck. Just when the Coast Guard was going to overtake them they were able to go into a fog bank and then the Guard's radar went on the fritz. Then the police don't check the perimeter of the boat. Laughable. How about The Sharp Edge Of Chivalry. Kimble says the police will stop looking for him if they find the other killer, even after he's seen Lt. Gerard, and then, the police, other than Gerard, leaves after the other killer is found.

It is this kind of writing that disappoints about Season 4.

 

[phil*]

I wonder when we might expect to see the final (Season 4 Volume 2) dvd released? My guess would be sooner rather than later, because I suspect the entire series might be released on bluray (with music left entirely intact,hopefully).

 

[TravisR]

Since it will be 14 years into the life of DVD before Paramount releases all of The Fugitive on DVD, I think it will be a long, long time before it comes to Blu-ray (if ever).

 

[Jeff Willis]

Originally Posted by stevelecher
Jeff Willis:


Is that true for the whole series that you are seeing them here on DVD for the first time? What prompted you to try it? If you're finishing up season 3, what did you think of the different seasons and do you think all of the first three seasons remained equally strong? Could you tell that something was amiss with the music in some of the episodes? Did it affect your enjoyment of them? Thanks for your thoughts.


I've finished all of S4,V1 and find it the most satisfactory release since S1,V2. I have no music issues. I sure wish seasons two and three could have been done this well. I also wish the scripts were as good as those seasons. When watching "Approach With Care," amongst others, didn't you feel like they had done it before and done it much better?


Great posts with pictures from season 4 with the yellow screened TV and the trailer shots. Very fun. On youtube a year or so ago, someone posted a video from season one, Never Wave Goodbye Part 1, that featured numerous scenes of Kimble going into the police station and coming out and getting on the bus and all the scenes featured the same little man with a white hat as an extra in the scenes. It was hilarious. It was called "Never Wave Goodbye To An Extra."


I can't say where, but on Perry Mason and other TV shows of this era, I have seen Dr. Ryder's house (exterior) from the episode "The 2130."


Thanks to all and let's hope Volume 2 is as satisfactory.


Steve Lecher

Steve,


Yes, this is the first time that I've watched this series, on the DVD's. When this first aired, my Dad watched it but I was too young for a drama show like this one. I was watching shows like "The Rifleman", "Lone Ranger", and cartoons back then. When S3-4 was airing, I was watching "Lost In Space" and "Star Trek", among other shows.


During the syndication years, I always seemed to miss this one for one reason or another. I knew about the show and it's reputation but there seemed to be other shows that I was watching at the time.


Gary O convinced me to take a chance on te S1 V1 DVD set and from then on, I was hooked. I'd rate this show as my top 1-3 shows on my all-time list, probably a tie with my childhood grail show "Combat!".


I'm nearing the end of S3 at present and imo, the show's not lost any of its momentum, scripts, etc. Having not seen S4, I am familiar with the info about it, color season, the loss of producer Alan Armer after S3. I'm expecting some drop-off in S4 but I'm also looking forward to the unique closeure that the series gave it's viewership as I watch it 13 years removed from those August evenings in 1967. I still remember Dad "taking control" of the family Zenith B/W TV for the final episodes.


Although I am watching this show for the first time, I did notice the "Heyes" music edits and the absence of the library que's in the affected DVD sets. I think one reason that I didn't like to see the CBS/P music edit issues with this show, is that although I'm watching this one for the first time, I'm also familiar with the backscores of similar shows from this era since I was around back then and the music edits don't get the job done, imo.

When I compare episodes like "Man on a String" or "Moonchild", with the original score vs the "Heyes" score, there's a big difference to me. The Heyes edit affected these episodes considerably, to me. I realize that there are some that consider the Rugolo que's to be the main issue regardng the score and I know that's the main part, but the absence and substitution of the library que's significantly affected the studio releases.


Among my favorite episodes of this series, I'd put the 2-parter "Never Wave Goodbye", "Nightmare at Northoak", "Smoke Screen", "See Hollywood and Die", "Terror at High Point" "Search in a Windy City", "Angels Travel on Lonely Roads", among some of he best that I've seen. I was really impressed with S1.

 

[Harry-N]

I finally got through "The Blessings Of Liberty" today. I'd started it a few days ago but got interrupted, and it took this long to get back to it. The episode was OK, but as I've learned, it was one of the earlier Wilton Schiller-John Meridyth Lucas-produced episodes that was delayed from its earlier production date to air during Christmas week. I suppose that was an effort to "burn off" an inferior episode at a time when it wouldn't hurt the ratings, a game still played to this day on some series.


It wasn't "bad", but it just didn't have the pizazz of many FUGITIVE episodes. I'll bet it would have been better as a black and white episode. It's one I hadn't seen in a lot of years, so it was almost like a new episode in that I didn't know where it was headed. Like so many of the Schiller-Lucas episodes, it really didn't seem to go anywhere...


Harry

 

[stevelecher]

In most of the fourth season episodes, Kimble isn't really that worried about being caught. He can take his time about getting out of town and he just has to walk across the street and get on the bus. That's another reason these don't have much tension. If Kimble's not on edge, why would we be?


It is still satisfying that CBS did a good job on this set with music and picture quality.


Steve Lecher