The Fugitive: Season Four, Volume 1 (2 Viewers)

[rjd0309]

Here's something odd. In "The Sharp Edge Of Chivalry", at time index 37:59, Kimble hears voices on the other side of a closed door. In the new CBS version, he hears a policeman's voice saying, "It's beginning to look like he got away." But in the original episode, it is Gerard asking, "There's no other way out?", and Richard Anderson's character replying, "No."


What reason would CBS have for altering this little bit of dialogue?


Robert

 

[jquirk]

Originally Posted by rjd0309

Here's something odd. In "The Sharp Edge Of Chivalry", at time index 37:59, Kimble hears voices on the other side of a closed door. In the new CBS version, he hears a policeman's voice saying, "It's beginning to look like he got away." But in the original episode, it is Gerard asking, "There's no other way out?", and Richard Anderson's character replying, "No."


What reason would CBS have for altering this little bit of dialogue?


Robert

Maybe this is CBS' way of getting back at all the people who complained about the music changes? "They don't like Mark Heyes, eh? Well, we'll take his music out for 'em, but screw with their heads by screwing up other parts of the series by making 'other' changes that make no sense whatsover. Ingrates. They should feel honored buying our products."

 

[Hollywoodaholic]

So the one-armed nemesis shows up in the third episode, "A Clean and Quiet Town." Ever notice how they never give that actor very many lines? Because he's really bad. He looks great and menacing, but they never let him say anything. So there's Kimble and his sworn nemesis together and ... nothing. Course we know he's not going to confess or anything. But what a missed opportunity to build even more animosity or tension between the two if 'Cramer' just looks him coldly in the eye and says something like, "You're insane" or tells everyone else that. But the actor never would have been able to pull it off. He was originally hired basically as a prop, to get the story rolling. And although I couldn't tell for sure (because he's bulky as it is and could have had it strapped to his side), I assume he really does just have one arm. But I don't think the producers thought ahead to how they would deal with any confrontational scenes down the road. And here we are down the road and, boy, it just lays there flat.

 

[Jack P]

Bill Raisch was not a professional actor. He was a former dancer who had then lost his arm and was then making a living doing occasional stunt work (in "Spartacus" there is a grisly scene where we see a Roman soldier's arm cut off during a battle. That's Raisch who had a prop arm affixed for the sequence). In the final season it was decided to increase the one-armed man's visibility more and that meant for the first time asking him to so something that wasn't his usual line of work, which was act. So yes, while he's flat and stiff, you can't really blame him for that. Janssen and Morse both gave him what help they could for handling the extra responsibilities and by the last episode where his role is at its most prominent he at least is more passable.


I'd also note that recasting the part with a professional actor would have been out of the question, since Raisch's face was seen at the beginning of every episode from S2 on with the stills from "Girl From Little Egypt". The audience would not have accepted that.

 

[buford2]

Does the music seem to be intact through out the entire set?

 

[Harry-N]

Originally Posted by rjd0309

Here's something odd. In "The Sharp Edge Of Chivalry", at time index 37:59, Kimble hears voices on the other side of a closed door. In the new CBS version, he hears a policeman's voice saying, "It's beginning to look like he got away." But in the original episode, it is Gerard asking, "There's no other way out?", and Richard Anderson's character replying, "No."


What reason would CBS have for altering this little bit of dialogue?


Robert

Good catch!


I can confirm this little change, having now compared the scene from two sources side by side. My "old" version is from WWOR New York when they ran the show in the '90s, and of course the new version released this week.


I truly have no explanation for the change, though I'm sure there must be a story about it somewhere. It certainly sounds and feels like the Morse/Anderson dialog is the more authentic. The voice of the generic "Cop" sounds awkwardly out of place. The subtitles provide the same line as the audio.



I can come up with a possible scenario of how this could have occured. Flash back to 1966. After completing production on the episode, someone in the creative chain objected to the dialog Kimble hears through the door. Why? What could possibly be wrong with it? Well, minutes earlier, at time index 34:25, Gerard asks the very same question of Richard Anderson's character:





Perhaps someone thought the dialog was too redundant and they did a quick substitution for the network airing. Meanwhile, other prints with the original dialog survived and ended up in syndication.


It's not so far-fetched when one recalls the final episode where William Conrad's narration says: "August 29th - The day the running stopped." And there are clearly versions out there (I have the LaserDisc) where it was changed to "Sept. 5th" - The day the running stopped." The explanation there is that other territories, like Canada, I believe, aired the show on the later date. There also may have been affiliates that aired it a week late due to baseball telecasts. At any rate, there clearly CAN be differences in prints between network airings and syndication.

I have no clue as to what aired on ABC on October 4th, 1966, and I don't think there's anyone else with a clear enough memory of that exact line of dialog to know for sure one way or the other. It's quite a mystery, though.

Harry

 

[Jack P]

Maybe Mark Heyes provided the new dialogue!

 

[Gary OS]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Harry-N



Gary "very neat pick up, Robert" O.

 

[Harry-N]

Originally Posted by Gary OS


Harry

 

[Hollywoodaholic]

Interesting. Thanks for that info. It explains a lot, and probably why this episode wasn't as dramatically powerful (or logical) as it could have been with this big 'reunion.' And you're right, there was no way to re-cast.


I was a pre-teen when this show aired and it was 'too adult' for me to watch, though I was allowed to watch a few episodes and the finale with my parents. And when you have an episode like this with scenes in a strip club, I can understand why I wasn't the target audience at the time. But I've certainly enjoyed seeing all the seasons essentially for the first time on DVD, and appreciating the quality (barring music substitions, of course - my interest is mostly the story).

Originally Posted by Jack P

Bill Raisch was not a professional actor. He was a former dancer who had then lost his arm and was then making a living doing occasional stunt work (in "Spartacus" there is a grisly scene where we see a Roman soldier's arm cut off during a battle. That's Raisch who had a prop arm affixed for the sequence). In the final season it was decided to increase the one-armed man's visibility more and that meant for the first time asking him to so something that wasn't his usual line of work, which was act. So yes, while he's flat and stiff, you can't really blame him for that. Janssen and Morse both gave him what help they could for handling the extra responsibilities and by the last episode where his role is at its most prominent he at least is more passable.


I'd also note that recasting the part with a professional actor would have been out of the question, since Raisch's face was seen at the beginning of every episode from S2 on with the stills from "Girl From Little Egypt". The audience would not have accepted that.

 

[jquirk]

I think Harry's explanation makes the most sense. The episode on the disc - sans minor music substitutions - probably represents the dialogue that was used when it originally premiered.

 

[Harry-N]

From the "you learn something new everyday" section:


The first six episodes of the fourth season have a slightly different opening sequence. The two differences are:


1) The title card. The first six title card have the text in white, while the balance of the season the text is yellow (orange for "QM Production").


2) The David Janssen picture. For the first six episodes, a picture from "Death is The Door Prize" is used. After that, it's a shot from "Nobody Loses All The Time." In prior seasons, actual shots of Jansen from each episode was used.

Harry

 

[shadyguy]

Does it appear the music is for the most part unaltered, at least where Heyes is concerned in all the episodes ??

 

[Jack P]

There is not a note of Heyes to be heard through four episodes and I believe that will be the case through all 15.

 

[Gary OS]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Jack P

There is not a note of Heyes to be heard through four episodes and I believe that will be the case through all 15.

Very good news! I've felt for a long time like we'd probably get an unmolested 4th Season, so I'm inclined to believe the same, Jack.



Gary "thanks again for the updates" O.

 

[Harry-N]

Other than source music being replaced, which is OK in my book, everything sounds original to me.


Source music in the first few episodes includes the stuff at the hi-fi show, a radio turned on, music in a stripper club, stuff like that. It as the same in season one (and really throughout the series).


Harry

 

[Gary OS]

Right, Harry. I'm aware that source music was changed in Season 1 from time to time and that didn't really bother me. I can't say I don't notice it every so often, but it's definitely not a deal breaker.


Gary "looking forward to receiving my set from B&N sometime early next week" O.

 

[Professor Echo]

Forgive me for not remembering this with more specificity, but I know somewhere in the four seasons there is an episode where Kimble is in a bar and a baseball game is playing on the television. If I remember correctly, I believe you can clearly hear Vin Scully's voice calling the game. Does anyone know if this memory is correct and, if so, did it survive intact on these DVD incarnations?

 

[Jeff Willis]

Originally Posted by Point-Blank
Forgive me for not remembering this with more specificity, but I know somewhere in the four seasons there is an episode where Kimble is in a bar and a baseball game is playing on the television. If I remember correctly, I believe you can clearly hear Vin Scully's voice calling the game. Does anyone know if this memory is correct and, if so, did it survive intact on these DVD incarnations?

Yes, it's on the DVD. I remember Vin's call...."Maury Wills...."

 

[Harry-N]

Originally Posted by Point-Blank


Harry