"The Fugitive: Season 1, Volume 2" -- A Personal Review (1 Viewer)

[David Von Pein]

You don't win anything, Harry. Because I had no knowledge of Ken's "Trek" appearance. Sorry.

But, as a consolation prize, I will award you a half-filled bottle of black hair dye (previously owned by Dr. Kimble).

But in order to win the complete "Edmund Hotel Sweepstakes" (as mentioned in Post #59), you've got to guess the 2 shows I'm thinking of. (And utilizing "TV.com" or "IMDb" as cheating tools will disqualify the applicant. Plus, such tactics will result in Officer Lynch donning his oft-worn pistol and sheriff's hat and tossing you directly into the pokey, with the key then tossed into Myers Lake in Mayberry.)

 

[Dan McW]

David, do I receive one night's stay if I guess one of the two shows? Without going to IMDb, right now I can think of only one non-cop appearance for Mr. Lynch. But there's a TV-cop connection with this appearance . . .

 

[David Von Pein]

Neither one I'm thinking of has any "cop" connection at all.

Sorry....no luxurious Edmund accommodations today.

 

[Dan McW]

How about a ticket to Alaska?

In the episode I was thinking of, Mr. Lynch played a refrigerator repairman ("Is your name BUNKER?") who made a stop on Hauser Street, accompanied by one Ron Glass.

 

[michael_ks]

Well I disqualified myself--couldn't help going to IMDB.com. My recollectation of Mr. Lynch playing anything other than a cop is probably tainted by the six appearances of him as a patrolman/FBI type in "Gomer Pyle".


Or perhaps a nice little garden house...?

 

[David Von Pein]

Yes, that's one of the two I had in mind.

But I can see no "cop" connection in his repairman role at all. I must've missed that connection.

 

[JoshuaB.]

Ken Lynch played a bartender in the The Twilight Zone's Western-themed episode, "Mr. Denton on Doomsday".

One of the best things about the episode on DVD is that Martin Landau does an audio commentary and still remembers a lot of the character actors by name (including Mr. Lynch) and has very kind things to say about their performances or work in general.

 

[Dan McW]

I feel like a rat in a corner, about to travel a lonely road to the storm center.

 

[David Von Pein]

Oh, OK. That was a riddle inside a riddle, wasn't it? (hehe)

And Lynch's "T.Zone" appearance isn't the other one I'm thinking of either.

 

[Lou Sytsma]

David, given your deep knowledge of this series I am as to your feelings on Harrison Ford/Tommy Lee Jones - The Fugitive movie. And how it compares to the show.

 

[David Von Pein]

I like the movie quite a bit. But, IMO, there's really no "comparison" between the '60s TV series and the 1993 motion picture. The dissimilarities far outweigh any similarities.

For example, it's hard to compare Morse's "Phil Gerard" to Jones' "Sam Gerard". They are totally different in character and attitude. They are both chasing a fugitive named Kimble, yes. But that's where the similarities end, IMO.

You've gotta LOVE that train wreck at the beginning of the movie, though. A great start to the film.

And Tommy Lee is given some fun dialogue to say too, which I like:

"Kimble just did a kamikaze right off this ledge here! Just jumped right in! Holy cow!" [or "Holy one-armed man!"]

 

[Jeff Willis]

I reember the movie. I guess I'm probably the only one here that saw the movie before any of the series shows But I'm making up time now with these DVD's

I just finished watching the last one in S1V1 with Mom (ny 2nd time around viewing the set). The last one we watched yesterday was "Glass Tightrope". I remember when I watched that one myself the 1st time a few weeks ago, it wasn't one of my favorites in the set at the time, but I'm finding out that the 2nd viewing of this show gives me a little more out of the ones that weren't my favorites the 1st time.

There are a lot of "Ken Lynch" fans out there. I remembered the Twilight Zone episode and one of the "Big Valley's" where he appeared as the sherriff of Stockton.

 

[Jeff Willis]

VP, very funny

Well, how about....."One Adam 12...a 211 in progress....handle Code 2"

Didn't Ken Lynch play a stick-up guy at the restauarant in an Adam-12?

 

[Corey3rd]

the interesting part of the series is how many episodes aired before we're given a flashback to the night of the killing. We have quite a bit of time to watch Kimble on pure faith that he's not the killer. We never doubt that Harrison Ford is innocent.

 

[David Von Pein]

Could be. I have no idey(/idea).

Looks like I'll have to provide a "hint" for the other Lynch non-cop role ---

Think: "Tiger Pajamas".

A strange hint, yes. But appropriate, given the episode in question.

 

[David Von Pein]

Well, I'm still not too sure of his innocence myself, Corey.

After all, a few years prior to "The Fugitive" he was seen brandishing high-powered firearms and affiliating with unsavory aliens near Mos Eisley and roaming the galaxy with a "walking carpet" who wouldn't hesitate to pull the arm out of a person's socket if he got angry enough.

Sure, these items above don't make "Dr. Kimble" (alias: "Mr. Solo") a "killer", per se. But it's just food for thought when the D.A. takes the guy to court the next time.



"What a wonderful new smell you've discovered!"

 

[David Von Pein]

Here's something I wrote a couple of years ago which has a fun "Fugitive" connection to it. It's a tongue-in-cheek "Mock Trial" kind of thing revolving around Kimble's specific alibi that he used at his Indiana trial.

I inserted former Los Angeles prosecutor Vincent Bugliosi into this simulated court scenario, because he is my favorite lawyer (and favorite true-crime author as well). VB's book on the JFK assassination is easily the best book ever written on the subject. (But, that's another kettle of fish altogether.)

It would appear, though, as if I'm placing my favorite attorney into a situation where he is, indeed, trying to convict an innocent man.

Well, I guess this will be merely the second defeat in Bugliosi's career. In real life, VB lost only 1 felony jury trial that he was involved in; and he was 21-0 in murder cases, so this "trial" will be a "Perry Mason" moment for Vince--his first-ever loss at a murder trial (assuming, that is, that the Stafford jury comes back with the proper verdict of "Not Guilty"; but, ya never can tell with juries).

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OK. 10-4. Point taken.

However -- there's still a pretty big problem/hurdle for Doctor Kimble
and his defense team to overcome in this timeline regard.

And that is:

If Kimble sees the boy fishing at a time quite a bit EARLIER than the
murder (which he obviously DID, seeing as how Kimble sees the killer
{one-armed man Fred Johnson} emerging from the Kimble house and picks
him up in his headlights, which was obviously AFTER DUSK) -- this
leaves an opening for the prosecution to argue (and rightly so) that
Kimble would have easily had enough time to get back home to murder his
wife, Helen, AFTER seeing the boy fishing in the rowboat.*

* = Unless the defense wants to argue the ridiculously-silly point that
Johnson murdered Helen Kimble, but did not exit the house right away
after the killing (possibly deciding to clean up in the bathtub or get
a bite to eat before departing the Kimble residence, a la the
Tate-LaBianca {Manson} killers on their two nights of senseless
slaughter in August 1969).

Obviously, the "delayed departure" argument is a stupid one that likely
never happened. Which means that even if Dr. Kimble IS telling the
truth about seeing a boy fishing (before dusk has fallen) and about
Johnson fleeing the murder scene and catching a glimpse of the killer
"in the headlights" (i.e., after dark), it still wouldn't necessarily
indicate a rock-solid alibi for Dick Kimble.

A good prosecutor like Vincent T. Bugliosi would certainly have
hammered home this "timeline" snafu re. Kimble's alibi and would have
exploited its weaknesses in front of the jury.

Let's listen in as Vince B. makes just such an argument to the Stafford
County (Indiana) jury of twelve.....

"Ladies and gentlemen of the jury.....this defense team of attorneys
wants you good folks to believe that just because Doctor Kimble saw a
young lad fishing on the lake at approx. 5:50 PM EST on September 17th,
1961, this gives the good doctor an ironclad, fool-proof, non-skid
alibi for the EXACT TIME OF HELEN KIMBLE'S MURDER!!

Well, ladies and gentlemen, I'm here to tell this defense team that
IT'S NOT QUITE THAT EASY! It's not at all that easy!

For even if Doctor Kimble DID see young Mr. Smith fishing, alone, on
the lake near Stafford Point on the east side of town...the doctor
could STILL have easily gotten back home in time to murder his wife.
This timeline has been PROVEN by members of the prosecution staff,
ladies and gentlemen! It was proven via three separate re-enactments!

What it comes down to, ladies and gentlemen, is that Doctor Kimble, in
reality, HAS NO USEFUL ALIBI WHATSOEVER FOR THE PRECISE TIME WHEN IT
WAS DETERMINED BY THE STAFFORD COUNTY CORONER THAT HELEN KIMBLE WAS
BEING BRUTALLY SLAUGHTERED!

[Long Pause.....]

Ladies and gentlemen,

Helen Kimble is not with us here in this courtroom today...BUT FROM HER
GRAVE, SHE CRIES OUT FOR JUSTICE!" --- Vincent T. Bugliosi; Lead
Prosecutor; Mock Trial; The State Of Indiana Vs. Richard Kimble; circa
1962

 

[Harry-N]

Yes, it was all pre-decided in advance, that the only way to get a show like THE FUGITIVE on network TV at all was to establish, right up front, that the man is innocent.

The idea that a network series would follow a wife-murderer around from week to week was just not going to happen. Not in 1963. These were the days when justice was always visited upon the committers of crimes, and Roy Huggins and Quinn Martin early on wanted everyone to know that "Richard Kimble is innocent."

Harry

 

[Doug Wallen]

Ken Lynch - father of flamenco dancing son in the neighborhood talent show episode of Dick Van Dyke. Wasn't the youngest son from My Three Sons also in this episode?

Doug

 

[David Von Pein]

Yes....and yes.

Congrats.

Pack your bags (and your black hair dye) -- you are Edmund Hotel bound!