The Fugitive

Tuesday September 10, 1963 at 9:30pm was the last time the Untouchables aired in prime time on ABC. By that time Quinn Martin had started his own production company. One week later on September 17, 1963 QM productions took over the Tuesday night slot at 10pm. The show that aired was ‘The Fugitive’ starring David Janssen, who a few years earlier starred in Richard Diamond, Private Eye, and Barry Morse, who years later co-starred in Space 1999. By now most people know that Mr. Janssen played Dr. Richard Kimble who was found guilty of killing his wife. He didn’t kill her and he escaped Lt. Gerard and was trying to find the real killer, the one armed man that he saw leaving his house when he got home. Lt. Gerard followed him across the country trying to recapture Kimble and take him back to prison. The only other regular on the show was the voice over of William Conrad who would go on to fame in another QM Production called Cannon. Actors like Jacquelin Scott or Bill Raisch were occasional see as Kimble sister and the one armed man. Around the time of show there was a trial on another Dr. who was to have killed his wife. Many believe the series was based on this event but not given credit on the show.
Kimble changed his name to Roy Lincoln in the first episode and the network executives wanted him to keep that name for the run of the series. They thought it would be too confusing for the audience to have a different name every week. The writers and producers told them that if you were on the run for real you would have to change you name in every town. For once the network executives agreed and his name changed almost every episode. The show was a hit and it was so believable that in an interview Mr. Morse, who lived in Canada, said he was always stopped in the airport and people asked him “Why don’t you leave that poor man alone?” This was perhaps the first time that a show was done about a man on the run from the law. It was so successful that other shows like it still pop up from time to time. There was Run For Your Life, Run Buddy Run, The Incredible Hulk and the short lived Hot Pursuit. While I enjoyed all of them none of them did it better then the Fugitive. The show did one thing that I don’t believe any of those programs ever did. It actually had an ending. A record setting 72 percent of all viewers watched Dr. Richard Kimble confront the one armed man. Dr. Kimble was about to be killed till Lt. Gerard showed up. Gerard had finally pieced everything together and believed Dr. Kimble was innocent. In the nick of time he shot and killed the one armed man before he could kill Dr. Kimble. I was just 5 or 6 at the time but for years I had a memory of seeing the final episode. I didn’t know how that could be as I was too young to watch any shows that aired at 10pm. Finally I looked up the show and saw the date of the last episode. It was August 29, 1967. That is a special date for me. It was my 6th birthday and Mom and Dad let me stay up late. That is why I got to see the last episode of The Fugitive. The theme of the show is still strong today. When the cable network A & E aired the reruns it was one of their highest rated shows. It was made into a move with Harrison Ford as Dr. Kimble and Tommy Lee Jones as Gerard. Mr. Jones won an Oscar for best supporting actor. Hmmm! First Connery then Jones. Quick someone do a Streets of San Francisco so some other deserving actor can get an Oscar! David Janssen had died by the time the movie came out. However, his Mom was still alive and they gave her a part as an extra in the film. She is in the court room when Dr. Kimble is on trial. The show was made into a TV series again on the strength of the film with Tim Daly as Dr. Kimble. While it was enjoyable the ratings weren’t there and it was cancelled after a season. A sequel to the movie called U.S. Marshals with Tommy Lee Jones as the star didn’t do as well. Again Gerard was after an innocent man who was on the run. I think it would have done better if he was after a guilty man and they focused on the police work to catch him. After all some of them had to be guilty.
Roy Huggins conceived the series and said he was really trying to do a western. It was the lone stranger riding into town. He solved everybodies problems then rode out never to be seen again. At least this time we knew his background. On a sidenote some people say that David Janssen is the son of Clark Gable. I don’t know if it is true but if you put a moustache on Mr. Janssen he does look like Gable.
The above TV Guide cover I got from this auction site.