O Fugitivo

I was not alive yet when the show was in its original run. When I became a teenager, I happened to be flipping through the channels one late night and I stumbled across a rerun of "The Fugitive". I was hooked immediately.

I idea behind watching any TV program or movie is to provoke raw emotion from the viewer. Whenever I watch "The Fugitive", my heart actually beats faster. I always felt nervous, merry due to Kimble triumphing, scared, etc. No other program I have ever watched has given me such great feelings.

The show had an excellent premise (we all know it). The character development is the best of the best. Kimble, we saw his weaknesses, did not deserve the injustice that was brought to him. His strengths always kept him one step ahead of Gerard. Gerard, he was the epitome of a man possessed. Great characters and a great story.

Granted, the show has some continuity problems. But those things were overshadowed by an excellent product.

Most other drama on TV today is sappy and weak compared to this.

"The Fugitive" is what a real dram is supposed to be!!

'The Fugitive' is a classic dramatic series I watch whenever I have an opportunity. David Janssen was (and still is) the best Dr. Richard Kimble (sorry Mr. Ford and Daly!). Barry Morse was equally effective as Lt. Philip Gerard, the man obsessed with capturing our hero. This classic lasted four years and 120 episodes. (The real reason I watch this show is because some of its elements would be later used in 'The Incredible Hulk,' which is my all-time favorite episodic TV series.)

Of course, the character of Richard Kimble was loosely inspired by Dr. Sam Sheppard. The major difference was that while Dr. Richard Kimble spent four years chasing the real killer (a one-armed man) of his wife Helen, Dr. Sheppard spent ten years in jail for the 1954 murder of his wife Marilyn.

It might be interesting to note that when Dr. Sheppard was acquitted in a second trial in November of 1966, 'The Fugitive,' which was then in the middle of its fourth season, began to slip in the ratings. For this reason, the producers were smart not to wait for the ax to fall and risk having the series cancelled without doing a finale.

"The Judgment," the two-hour series finale, aired in the summer of 1967. After four years of chasing and being chased, Kimble finally catches up with Fred Johnson, the one-armed man, who admits to having been Helen's real killer. He is then shot and killed by Lt. Gerard, who saves Kimble in the process.

While the finale was weak in some respects, it was generally a fitting conclusion to the 'Fugitive' series. Of course, it was also one of the highest rated TV finales of all-time.

The Fugitive was a top show starring David Janssen as Dr. Richard Kimble. Kimble had been wrongly accused of the murder of his wife and he went on the run pursued by Lt. Gerard (played by Barry Morse). His only method of proving his innocence was to find the one-armed man who had killed his wife.

It was a very realistic drama show and David Janssen drew the audience into his predicament. Whatever pain he was feeling, the audience felt too. He was a man who viewers could empathize with. Each week he travelled from place to place meeting up with people, most of whom sympathized with his predicament. There was tension and drama throughout the entire series run. It was a very believable drama. It's a pity that nobody can produce shows like that any more.

One other thing; I believe this show inspired The Incredible Hulk live action series from the late 70's. In both cases, innocent men were on the run for crimes they didn't commit, both men were pursued (David Banner was pursued by a reporter) and both David Janssen as Kimble and the late Bill Bixby as David Banner drew the viewers into their predicament.

With each passing decade, we seem to descend further into lower and lower literary standards in prose, film, everything. Jumping back thirty or forty years, we see that even television could be deep at times. This and many other shows of the first twenty years or so of TV actually had believable premises, developed characters and strong supporting roles as foil to the lead (Barry Morse's lawman here). The good news is that cable will continue to unearth gems from the past such as "Fugitive" due to sheer need of programming.

I read a Roy Huggins novel called "Too Late For Tears" that was turned into a solid film noir movie. Huggins also is responsible for the western series "Maverick." With "The Fugitive" Huggins combines elements of noir (a man trapped in circumstances beyond his control) and the western (a loner wandering across the American landscape) for one of the best dramas in the history of television. David Janssen is perfectly cast as Doctor Richard Kimble -- fugitive. There's an aura of sadness that seems to cling to Janssen that feels just right for the situations the fugitive is always finding himself in. Despite his predicament Kimble is always putting the needs of others above his own. In the wrong hands such lofty morale aspirations might feel a bit forced, but The Fugitive manages to keep it well grounded.