David Von Pein
Senior HTF Member
- Joined
- Feb 4, 2002
- Messages
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THE FUGITIVE: SEASON TWO, VOLUME ONE
(THE "REPLACEMENT DISCS" VERSION)
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QUICK DVD STATS:
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UP-FRONT NOTES ABOUT THE MUSIC:
After eight months of extreme displeasure and "Oh My God, How Can Paramount Treat A Classic Series Like This So Shabbily?!" backlash from fans of "The Fugitive" due to the fact that every single bit of background music for these fifteen episodes on DVD was replaced with new (and less-appealing) musical arrangements, CBS/Paramount pulled a real surprise out of their hat on February 17, 2009, when that DVD studio officially announced that it was introducing a Replacement Disc Program for "THE FUGITIVE: SEASON 2, VOLUME 1". [Details HERE.]
And I'm one of those "Fugitive" fans who was certainly thrilled to hear that particular announcement, because it means that Peter Rugolo's exquisite music for this series has been inserted back into each of these 15 episodes on the replacement DVDs. And most of the CBS Library music that accompanied each of these shows when they first aired in 1964 has also been put back onto the soundtrack for these four DVDs as well.
So, maybe I was right when I said this last June:
"The Fugitive" is a series that relies quite heavily on its musical arrangements (composed mainly by Peter Rugolo). A lot of the mood, soul, drama, and atmosphere of this television series rest within its music. And when Paramount ripped the musical guts out of the first fifteen episodes of Season 2 by releasing this DVD set in June 2008 with completely-different background music, it was a very bitter pill to swallow for fans of the series (and fans of Mr. Rugolo). The episodes just aren't the same without that famous Rugolo (and CBS Music Library) underscore. And, thankfully, Paramount Home Entertainment has apparently realized that fact as well.
Overall, I'd have to say that I'm very pleased with the final "music" results on these replacement discs, and even Mr. Heyes' arrangements seem to blend in fairly well with the original Rugolo and CBS cues in the locations where Heyes' material is retained. I haven't heard any of the annoying and loud "blasts" of Heyes' music that appear many times on the 2008 re-scored discs.
I think "Man On A String" is probably the episode that has the most Heyes music retained for these replacement discs, especially in Act IV, which is "Heyes heavy" to be sure.
More of my own thoughts concerning CBS/Paramount's replacement disc program HERE.
And for lots more talk about "The Fugitive" and this wild and messy "We've Come Full Circle And We've Got The Good Music Back In Season 2, Volume 1" subject, CLICK HERE.
And for additional information about the Replacement DVD Program for "The Fugitive: Season 2, Volume 1", go HERE.
==========================
REVIEW OF SEASON 2, VOLUME 1:
David Janssen is back as Dr. Richard Kimble in "THE FUGITIVE: SEASON TWO, VOLUME ONE", the greatest dramatic series ever put on television (in my opinion anyway).
Like the two first-season sets, CBS/Paramount serves up 15 "Fugitive" programs in this 4-Disc DVD collection. The episodes appear to be complete and uncut, running about 51-and-a-half minutes each, just as they did when they were first aired on ABC-TV in late 1964.
Just as a sample, here are the exact run times for the four episodes that appear on Disc #1:
"Man In A Chariot" = 51:35
"World's End" = 51:35
"Man On A String" = 51:25
"When The Bough Breaks" = 51:38
The 51+-minute average run time includes the "preview" segments that appear prior to the opening credits for every show. These previews (or trailers) were a new feature implemented for the second season of the series.
However, I'd advise first-time viewers of these classic '60s shows to skip the previews and go directly to "Act I" of each episode, in order to avoid any "spoilers" (or even mini-spoilers) revealed within the preview clips.
Even after having seen each of these episodes numerous times, I still tend to want to skip past the preview/trailer snippets, to avoid having some of the scenes diluted or spoiled when watching the complete program.
Clicking "chapter advance" or "skip" on the remote control after the episode begins playing will bypass the preview section and the opening credits too. You can go straight to "Act I" with one click.
There are a total of 7 individual DVD chapters per show, logically placed at the end of each of the four "Acts" and at the end of the "Epilog" scene for every episode.
The video and audio quality for these fifteen black-and-white shows is very good indeed, with only one (partial) exception to this rule--and that's during a small portion of "Cry Uncle", where parts of Act II of that episode suffer from some apparent damage to the original film print, resulting in white lines and dots showing up on the screen.
The outdoor scenes (which are abundant in number throughout the four-year history of "The Fugitive") look particularly clear and pristine throughout these DVDs, with only a small amount of grain visible in the indoor scenes as well.
All things considered, I couldn't be more pleased with the way this series looks and sounds on these Paramount DVDs (as of March 2009, that is, thanks to the replacement discs). Like with the Season-One sets, this first volume of Season Two contains a notation on the back of the case which indicates that these episodes have been "TRANSFERRED FROM THE ORIGINAL NEGATIVE WITH RESTORED AUDIO".
Every single episode in the 120-show lifespan of "The Fugitive" (1963-1967) is definitely a worthwhile experience (IMO). Of course, different people are bound to have their personal favorites vs. some episodes that didn't quite make the top grade.
Among the fifteen shows that comprise this four-disc DVD set, my favorites are: "World's End", "Nemesis", "Man In A Chariot", "Escape Into Black", "Tug Of War", and "Tiger Left, Tiger Right".
==========================
DVD SCREEN CAPTURES:
Below are some sample DVD images from "The Fugitive: Season 2, Volume 1", courtesy of "DVD Beaver". Click on each picture to see a larger version:
(THE "REPLACEMENT DISCS" VERSION)
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QUICK DVD STATS:
- Number of DVDs -- 4.
- Number of Episodes -- 15.
- Video -- Full Frame OAR (1.33:1). B&W.
- Audio -- English Dolby Digital 2.0 Mono.
- DVD Distributor -- CBS Paramount Television / Paramount Home Entertainment.
- DVD Release Date -- June 10, 2008. (Replacement Disc Program made available to the public on February 17, 2009.)
- DVD Cover (Back Side).
--------------------------------------------------------------
UP-FRONT NOTES ABOUT THE MUSIC:
After eight months of extreme displeasure and "Oh My God, How Can Paramount Treat A Classic Series Like This So Shabbily?!" backlash from fans of "The Fugitive" due to the fact that every single bit of background music for these fifteen episodes on DVD was replaced with new (and less-appealing) musical arrangements, CBS/Paramount pulled a real surprise out of their hat on February 17, 2009, when that DVD studio officially announced that it was introducing a Replacement Disc Program for "THE FUGITIVE: SEASON 2, VOLUME 1". [Details HERE.]
And I'm one of those "Fugitive" fans who was certainly thrilled to hear that particular announcement, because it means that Peter Rugolo's exquisite music for this series has been inserted back into each of these 15 episodes on the replacement DVDs. And most of the CBS Library music that accompanied each of these shows when they first aired in 1964 has also been put back onto the soundtrack for these four DVDs as well.
So, maybe I was right when I said this last June:
Thank you, CBS/Paramount, for listening to the many outraged fans of this outstanding TV series, and for re-doing these DVDs with Mr. Rugolo's music intact. Some of the newly-created music score (composed mostly by Mark Heyes) can still be heard in several of these episodes. But for the most part, the original 1960s background music is back where it belongs."Hopefully enough fans of this exquisite series known as "THE FUGITIVE" will make a big enough stink so that Paramount will feel compelled to right this atrocious wrong. They did fix a problem with some "Andy Griffith" laugh tracks a while back, remember. So they aren't totally unreasonable when it comes to responding to public opinion and/or outcries (and I can only assume that Paramount didn't fix those TAGS tracks on their own, sans any outside prodding from some angry consumers). .... Paramount must fix this. Not fixing this appalling hack job that has been done to one of the finest shows ever to grace the tube would be like leaving a bunch of graffiti all over the Mona Lisa and not caring about it at all." -- DVP; June 10, 2008
"The Fugitive" is a series that relies quite heavily on its musical arrangements (composed mainly by Peter Rugolo). A lot of the mood, soul, drama, and atmosphere of this television series rest within its music. And when Paramount ripped the musical guts out of the first fifteen episodes of Season 2 by releasing this DVD set in June 2008 with completely-different background music, it was a very bitter pill to swallow for fans of the series (and fans of Mr. Rugolo). The episodes just aren't the same without that famous Rugolo (and CBS Music Library) underscore. And, thankfully, Paramount Home Entertainment has apparently realized that fact as well.
Overall, I'd have to say that I'm very pleased with the final "music" results on these replacement discs, and even Mr. Heyes' arrangements seem to blend in fairly well with the original Rugolo and CBS cues in the locations where Heyes' material is retained. I haven't heard any of the annoying and loud "blasts" of Heyes' music that appear many times on the 2008 re-scored discs.
I think "Man On A String" is probably the episode that has the most Heyes music retained for these replacement discs, especially in Act IV, which is "Heyes heavy" to be sure.
More of my own thoughts concerning CBS/Paramount's replacement disc program HERE.
And for lots more talk about "The Fugitive" and this wild and messy "We've Come Full Circle And We've Got The Good Music Back In Season 2, Volume 1" subject, CLICK HERE.
And for additional information about the Replacement DVD Program for "The Fugitive: Season 2, Volume 1", go HERE.
==========================
REVIEW OF SEASON 2, VOLUME 1:
David Janssen is back as Dr. Richard Kimble in "THE FUGITIVE: SEASON TWO, VOLUME ONE", the greatest dramatic series ever put on television (in my opinion anyway).
Like the two first-season sets, CBS/Paramount serves up 15 "Fugitive" programs in this 4-Disc DVD collection. The episodes appear to be complete and uncut, running about 51-and-a-half minutes each, just as they did when they were first aired on ABC-TV in late 1964.
Just as a sample, here are the exact run times for the four episodes that appear on Disc #1:
"Man In A Chariot" = 51:35
"World's End" = 51:35
"Man On A String" = 51:25
"When The Bough Breaks" = 51:38
The 51+-minute average run time includes the "preview" segments that appear prior to the opening credits for every show. These previews (or trailers) were a new feature implemented for the second season of the series.
However, I'd advise first-time viewers of these classic '60s shows to skip the previews and go directly to "Act I" of each episode, in order to avoid any "spoilers" (or even mini-spoilers) revealed within the preview clips.
Even after having seen each of these episodes numerous times, I still tend to want to skip past the preview/trailer snippets, to avoid having some of the scenes diluted or spoiled when watching the complete program.
Clicking "chapter advance" or "skip" on the remote control after the episode begins playing will bypass the preview section and the opening credits too. You can go straight to "Act I" with one click.
There are a total of 7 individual DVD chapters per show, logically placed at the end of each of the four "Acts" and at the end of the "Epilog" scene for every episode.
The video and audio quality for these fifteen black-and-white shows is very good indeed, with only one (partial) exception to this rule--and that's during a small portion of "Cry Uncle", where parts of Act II of that episode suffer from some apparent damage to the original film print, resulting in white lines and dots showing up on the screen.
The outdoor scenes (which are abundant in number throughout the four-year history of "The Fugitive") look particularly clear and pristine throughout these DVDs, with only a small amount of grain visible in the indoor scenes as well.
All things considered, I couldn't be more pleased with the way this series looks and sounds on these Paramount DVDs (as of March 2009, that is, thanks to the replacement discs). Like with the Season-One sets, this first volume of Season Two contains a notation on the back of the case which indicates that these episodes have been "TRANSFERRED FROM THE ORIGINAL NEGATIVE WITH RESTORED AUDIO".
Every single episode in the 120-show lifespan of "The Fugitive" (1963-1967) is definitely a worthwhile experience (IMO). Of course, different people are bound to have their personal favorites vs. some episodes that didn't quite make the top grade.
Among the fifteen shows that comprise this four-disc DVD set, my favorites are: "World's End", "Nemesis", "Man In A Chariot", "Escape Into Black", "Tug Of War", and "Tiger Left, Tiger Right".
==========================
DVD SCREEN CAPTURES:
Below are some sample DVD images from "The Fugitive: Season 2, Volume 1", courtesy of "DVD Beaver". Click on each picture to see a larger version: