The Fugitive
He has lost everything but hope.
The Fugitive (1963-1967)
Seasons: 4,
episodes: 120
Episode runtime: 60 min
Average rating:
8/10
5 511
Production
Status
Completed
Creators
Scenario
Jo Heims
Author
Producer
John Meredyth Lucas
Actors
David Janssen
Richard Kimble
Barry Morse
Lieutenant Gerard
William Conrad
Narrator
Gabriel Dell
Chester
Norma Crane
Mrs. Mavis Hull
Robert Ivers
Dave
George Savalas
Prisoner
James Broderick
Sheriff Owen Troop
Short description
Richard Kimble is falsely convicted of his wife's murder and given the death penalty. En route to death row, Kimble's train derails and crashes, allowing him to escape and begin a cross-country search for the real killer, a "one-armed man". At the same time, Dr. Kimble is hounded by the authorities, most notably dogged by Police Lieutenant Philip Gerard.
Seasons
| Season | Episodes | Release date | Rating |
|---|---|---|---|
Season 1 The first season of The Fugitive aired Tuesdays at 10:00-11:00 pm on ABC (US) from September 17, 1963 to April 21, 1964.
|
30 | 1963-09-17 | — |
Season 2 The second season of The Fugitive originally aired Tuesdays at 10:00-11:00 pm on ABC (US) from September 15, 1964 to April 20, 1965.
|
30 | 1964-09-15 | — |
Season 3 The third season of The Fugitive originally aired Tuesdays at 10:00-11:00 pm on ABC (US) from September 14, 1965 to April 26, 1966.
|
30 | 1965-09-14 | 1 |
Season 4 The fourth and final season of The Fugitive originally aired Tuesdays at 10:00-11:00 pm on ABC from September 13, 1966 to August 29, 1967.
At the time of its initial airing, "The Judgment: Part 2" was the highest-rated episode of a TV series until the record was surpassed by the Dallas episode "…
|
30 | 1966-09-13 | — |
What's left behind the scenes
- A one-armed man named Gerard also appears in "Twin Peaks." The detective hunting Richard Kimble shares the same last name.
- Robert Lansing, James Franciscus, and Anthony Franciosa auditioned for the lead role.
- The final episode, aired on August 29, 1967, became the highest-rated of its time. It was watched by approximately 78 million Americans, accounting for nearly 46% of all TV-owning households. This record was only broken on November 21, 1980, by the 'Who Done It?' episode of the soap opera 'Dallas', which was watched by an estimated 83 to 90 million people (approximately 76% of the total viewership share).
- The series was so popular in West Germany that one German magazine wanted to hold a contest where readers would try to find David Janssen while he hid in the streets of Berlin.
- Initially, Roy Huggins intended for the antagonist to be a red-haired villain, but he felt such a trait was too cliché and decided to abandon the idea. Instead, he chose a one-armed man.
- Occasionally, guest actresses, while trying to seduce Bill Reiter, would remark on how realistically the special effects simulated the absence of his arm, unaware that the actor had actually lost his right arm while serving in the Navy during World War II.
- The final season is the only one of the four filmed in color. The change in format was primarily due to the departure of the original showrunner, Alan Armer.
- Originally conceived as a modern western, the series adopted many plot elements from Victor Hugo's "Les Misérables." Like Jean Valjean, Richard Kimble is on the run from the authorities and is forced to change his place of residence frequently to avoid capture. His pursuer, Gerard, was inspired by and named after Inspector Javert.
- Barry Morse recalled how a waiter once handed him a note in a London restaurant. It read: "Kimble is in the kitchen."
- ABC executives initially rejected the idea of ending the series, fearing it would hurt the show's syndication profits.
- Before starring together in "Star Trek," William Shatner, DeForest Kelley, and James Doohan appeared in this series.
- In 2002, the series ranked 36th on TV Guide's list of the "50 Greatest TV Shows of All Time."
- In 2013, TV Guide ranked the One-Armed Man 5th on its list of the '60 Most Vile TV Villains'.
- In 1997, TV Guide ranked the series finale (The Judgment: Part 2) 23rd on its list of the '100 Greatest Episodes of All Time'. In 2009, this episode rose to 16th place.
- In Season 1, the wanted posters for Dr. Kimble listed Beloit, Wisconsin, as his place of birth. This was later changed to the fictional town of Stafford, Indiana.
- The plot of Season 1, Episode 2 is reminiscent of the 1956 thriller 'Bad Blood'.
- The title of Season 1, Episode 3 ('The Other Side Of The Mountain') is a line from the English children's song 'The Bear Went Over The Mountain'.
- Robert Duvall, who played Eric Christian in the two-part (4-5) episode of Season 1 ("Never Wave Goodbye"), later worked with both lead stars of the series' feature film adaptation: Harrison Ford in "The Conversation" (1974) and "Apocalypse Now" (1979), and Tommy Lee Jones in "Betsy" (1978) and "The Lone Dove" (1989).
- In 1957, when David Janssen first rose to fame in the lead role of the series "Richard Diamond, Private Detective," he was dating Beverly Garland, who later became his co-star in Season 1, Episode 7 ("Smoke Screen").
- After working together in Season 1, Episode 8 ("See Hollywood & Die"), David Janssen and Brenda Vaccaro later appeared together in the films "The Meaning of Life" (1969) and "Once Is Not Enough" (1975).
- It was originally planned that Dr. Kimble would be from Wisconsin, but the producers later discovered that Wisconsin did not have the death penalty for murder.
- The first series whose final episode wrapped up all plotlines and answered all the questions.
- Some sources incorrectly state that an alternative ending was planned in which Kimble removed his prosthetic arm, revealing himself to be the real killer. In the book The Fugitive Recaptured (and subsequently in its audio version), Barry Morse explains that this rumor may have started with a joke about pulling out the arm—one that was never actually performed—planned for his and David Janssen's public appearances. Janssen also frequently joked that he himself had killed Kimble's wife because she 'talked too much.' Morse also mentioned that he and Janssen had come up with a joking alternative epilogue to the finale, in which Kimble wakes up in bed with his wife Helen and tells her that he just had 'the most terrible nightmare.' Additionally, in a TV Guide interview around the time the show ended, Janssen claimed he had suggested ending it with a scene where Kimble is lying on a beach reading a newspaper note about the One-Armed Man's execution. Then, with his signature smirk, he stands up, removes the prosthesis from his shoulder, and goes surfing. It is unknown whether the actor was serious or simply joking.
- In the epilogue of Season 4, Episode 27 ('The Walls Of Night'), Dr. Kimble walks past Del Floria's Tailor Shop—the entrance to the U.N.C.L.E. headquarters from the television series 'The Man from U.N.C.L.E.'
- During the fight scene in the pilot episode ('Fear In A Desert City'), David Janssen suffered bruises to his ribs when he slammed into a bus after being pushed by Brian Keith.
- It is clearly visible that the train transporting Richard Kimble to death row in the opening credits is French, not American.
Auditions in India
Casting calls in USA
Castingi w Polsce
Кастинги в Україні
