Reviews (4)

Two Good Episodes: Focus on Motivation not Action
In WORLD'S END and NEMESIS, both from the start of season two, directors Robert Butler and Jerry Hopper continue the high quality of scripting and plotting that came to characterize the first season. Since the audience was both large and loyal, the scripters thankfully did not feel the need to jazz up their scripts with ideas that abandoned strong character development and frequent use of Kimble's past. Suzanne Pleshette, who plays Ellie Burnett in WORLD'S END, is one of Kimble's most memorable leading romantic interests. Off screen, they were carrying on a real life relation and that chemistry showed. Miss Pleshette was also used successfully in another episode, ALL THE SCARED RABBITS. The booming voice of narrator William Conrad, besides being used to repeat the most famous example of a run on sentence in literary history that began each episode, also narrated prepared introductions that provided useful information. Conrad tells the viewer that Kimble is reading from his hometown newspaper and sees in the classifieds: 'Personal to R. K. Have information, regarding September 17th. Phone me at home. Urgent. E. B.' Unfortunately for Kimble, Lieutenant Gerard reads the Stafford Sentinel too and guesses correctly who 'RK' and 'EB' are. Burnette has long loved Kimble and will do anything to be with him. She has information about the one-armed man that disheartens Kimble--the one-armed man is dead, thus opening the way for Kimble to cease looking for him and perhaps settle down permanently somewhere with her. At the last moment, she receives word that her information was in error. The one-armed man yet lives. The dramatic focus is on Gerard's tailing Burnett to catch Kimble and on whether she will hide the error and keep Kimble or tell the truth and lose him to further searches. This episode is a fine one in that it explores the ethical limits that a woman will go to keep a man. Plus the aura of Gerard in the background generates further suspense.
NEMESIS is another superb episode because it contains a number of themes that enrich the complexity of the relation between pursued and pursuer. The focus is mostly on Gerard and his son. The audience has seen Gerard mostly as a monomaniacal hunter of Kimble. He seems to live and breathe his job to catch the fugitive. But this total involvement comes with a price. Every day that he is on the road chasing Kimble is one day less that he has for himself and his family. NEMESIS shows Gerard in one of his rare days of relaxation with his son as they go on a camping trip. The boy, well-played by Kurt Russell, likes his dad and looks forward to spending time with him. By coincidence, Kimble is working near where Gerard plans to camp. When a local cop notifies Gerard that Kimble is in the area, Gerard is seen as having to make a choice that he must make often in future episodes. He must sacrifice his family for his duty. He does so here, and asks the cop's wife to mind the boy for the duration of the hunt. A plot complication is the boy's decision to hide out in the sheriff's car which Kimble steals to escape. Thus Gerard's son, Phil Jr., is an unwitting hostage. When his father finds out where his boy is, he reveals a side of his personality that he tries hard to suppress, that Kimble may not be guilty of murder after all. Gerard does not show concern that Kimble might harm his son. He tells the sheriff: 'He'll feed the boy.' Phil Jr. tries to help his father by leaving clues as to his whereabouts. Kimble again shows his inner goodness by helping Phil Jr recover from an injury even at the risk of recapture.
This episode and its companion are well-written and show aspects of the universe of Kimble and Gerard that immeasurably enhance the pleasure of their watching.

The Fugitive finally gets his man!
I had seen this episode years ago when I was a kid. I remember everyone was so anxious for the conclusion the following week. I had looked for this episode for years, I was finally able to find it on Amazon.com. Anyone who ever enjoyed "The Fugitive", absolutly must have this. I only wish it was available on DVD.

Great Volume Of A Great Series!
These two episodes of David Janssen's 1963-1967 Classic TV drama, "The Fugitive", are both favorites of mine! The best episodes are the ones that feature that relentless of all police detectives, Lt. Philip Gerard (Barry Morse)! And both of these classics contain Gerard in all his chasing splendor.

Two fine guest-star appearances are on tap here as well. .........
In "Nemesis", a very young Kurt Russell is featured as Phil Gerard, Jr. (Kurt also appears in another Fugitive episode later in the series, but NOT as Lt. Gerard's son). Kurt is very good in "Nemesis", as he accidentally stumbles upon his dad's #1 prey. Slim Pickens also guest stars in this program. It's another one of the many stellar cat-and-mouse episodes in this series, with Gerard hot on the trail of Dr. Kimble, only to have him slip through the dragnet at the very end! It's implausible, indeed, when you stop and think about it, that Kimble could evade capture time and time again during the course of this series' 4-year run [especially considering such a shrewd pursuer as Gerard is chasing him]. But, heck, it's fun anyway! And, obviously, if he's captured, the series is over! So Kimble must elude the authorities each week.

The beautiful Suzanne Pleshette stars with Janssen in this volume's second offering, "World's End". Suzanne, like Russell, also was featured in other episodes of the series (at least 1 that I can think of), but not as the same character.

There's 98 minutes of chases and thrills on this VHS cassette, and you'll also get to see the episode previews (or "trailers") that were shown before the main titles on each show.

Richard Kimble vs. LT Gerard In Two Episodes Of TV Classic
This tape contains two episodes of the classic 1960s drama starring David Janssen and Barry Morse. Nemesis originally aired in October of 1964 while World's End aired in 1965.

Nemesis is the more fascinating of the two episodes. While driving his son Phil Jr. (Kurt Russell) on a camping trip, LT Gerard learns that Kimble is in the area. He leaves Junior with the wife of Sheriff Deebold, but the youngster hides in their car as they close on The Fugitive. Kimble steals the car - and is shocked to find the son of his enemy in his presence.

Junior does all he can to leave clues to Kimble's whereabouts - he leaves a trail of football cards (Kimble confiscates the cards, then mails them back at the end), he lights a campfire, then leaves a sweater folded into an arrow delineating their direction (Gerard Sr. notes that "Phil never folded a sweater that neatly before in his life"). Eventually the two fugitives are caught by a local hunter named Corbin (Slim Pickens), but Kimble beats him up and escapes. Junior pursues but steps on a bear trap. Kimble frees him, and Junior's view of The Fugitive changes completely. ... Read more

Reviews (1)

A MUST for Sal Mineo fans
In this thrilling western,  cowpoke Kiowa Jones (Robert Horton) crossespaths with a U. S.  Marshall escorting two convicted killers to Fort Smithto be hanged.  The two convicts are "The Gypsy" (Nehimiah Persoff),  a man who killed his wife because of an illness out of mercy,  and BobbyJackwell Wilkes (SAL MINEO),  a heartless killer of over 20 men.  Stricken with a sudden illness,  the Marshall dies,  but before he passes he deputizes Jones and asks him to escort the killers to Fort Smith, where a $1, 000 reward is waiting.  But the task will not be simple.  Bobby Jack (MINEO) has also put the word out that he will pay anyone $2, 000 to anybody who will rescue him from the law, and countless bounty hunters are waiting in the wild west to ambush Jones and free Bobby Jack! And the bounty hunters will stop at nothing to save him. Along the way, Jones runs into a fearless yet beautiful woman, played by actress , Diane Baker, who helps Jones fend off two bounty hunters and decides to join Jones on his journey.  But the REAL reason to watch this film is to watch Mineo's amazing turn as an evil character.  Sal Mineo's performance as the vindictive killer Bobby Jack is riveting.  His character is so evil and unremorseful,  and, with an angelic smile,  he delivers a deliciously evil, maniacal laugh throughout the film. Although the other actors turn in decent performances, most notably, Diane Baker, Sal Mineo by FAR is the most interesting character here.  His performance is so richly played to the extreme without making it seem forced.  We really believe Mineo is evil, which is a far cry from his other roles.  This film will convince any Sal Mineo fan of what a versatile,  intense actor he was.  Capable of playing any role of any genre, Sal Mineo is utterly amazing in this role.Highly recommended to all Sal Mineo's legions of fans. ... Read more

Reviews (2)

Never Wave Goodbye: Among the Best of the Fugitive
During the four year run of THE FUGITIVE, there were two kinds of episodes that stood out as exceptional: the kind that dealt with Kimble's past and the trial (like LANDSCAPE WITH RUNNING FIGURES and THE GIRL FROM LITTLE EGYPT) and those that developed Kimble's relation with another character, usually a romantic interest, so that the inevitable pain on parting is seen as the price he had to pay to maintain his freedom. NEVER WAVE GOODBYE is an example of the latter type, not only because of the terrific chemistry between David Janssen and his love interest Susan Oliver, but also because of the almost unbearable suspense generated by the oh-so-close chase scenes of Lieutenant Gerard.
Kimble as Jeff Cooper is hiding out in Santa Barbara, California, as a sailmaker. He has been on the run for only several months, but he is already fatigued, both physically and emotionally. This two part episode is the fourth entry in the series and in each of the first three, Kimble has had fleeting relations with Vera Miles (FEAR IN A DESERT CITY), Patricia Crowley (THE WITCH), and Sandy Dennis (THE OTHER SIDE OF THE MOUNTAIN). With all three women, Kimble has learned the dangers of permitting love to cloud his judgment. Yet he yearns for more than superficiality. Now with Karen, played convincingly by the lovely Susan Oliver, Kimble can reassess the cost versus benefit of staying. At first, he tells her that he will leave, but he changes his mind, partly because of his love for her, and partly because he has seen a newspaper article about the arrest of a one-armed man in Los Angeles, and he is determined to see if this is the same man who killed his wife. Gerard, too,has seen this article and correctly guesses that Kimble will go to the jail to see this man. Kimble does only to find out that this is the wrong man. Gerard spots him in the jail, but Kimble manages to escape. It is at this point that Kimble tries reverse psychology on Gerard. Kimble assumes that Gerard will think that he would leave the scene after having been identified, and so Kimble decides to stay. Unfortunately for Kimble, Gerard is smarter than that and decides to stay to search for him. And search he does. Gerard locates the sailmaking store where Kimble works, but Kimble and Karen escape in a rowboat with Gerard pursuing in a dinghy. Gerard's dinghy crashes on the beach and he would have drowned had not Kimble saved his life. Kimble tells Karen that despite his love for her, he is now sure that he must resume his search for the one-armed man. This episode is one of the best of the series. The viewer can see the weariness vanish from Kimble's mind as he allows himself the very temporary luxury of the good life with the woman he now loves. There is also the personal confrontation at the end when Gerard is still weak from his near death and tells Kimble, 'Give yourself up. I'll always be one step behind you.' The audience can sense that this cat-and-mouse game that had so believably been enacted on the screen must be re-enacted in the future. The chemistry between Janssen and Oliver was so intense that when the finale of the series was aired four years later, I hoped that it would be Susan Oliver who would wind up as Kimble's permanent partner. It wasn't but NEVER WAVE GOODBYE captures for a brief time the barest suggestion of what it must have been like for the Good Man to have to walk the fine line between having a semblance of a normal life and having the freedom to seek to regain that life.

Richard Kimble And Friend Go All Out To Escape Gerard
Never Wave Goodbye is the fourth story of The Fugitive TV series, and is one of the best, combining gut-wrenching emotion with some exciting action.

Kimble now works as a sailmaker in San Diego. Susan Oliver plays Kimble's girlfriend Karen, and Will Kuluva is her uncle, who knows Karen is in love with Kimble and wants him to marry her - much to the consternation of a rival sailmaker (Robert Duvall).

LT Gerard learns of the arrest of a one-armed perp in LA and wants to interrogate the man, believing it will help bring out Kimble. His superior, Captain Ed Carpenter, is reluctant to let Gerard go off like this, disturbed as he is by the lieutenant's obsession.

But Gerard gets his wish and flies out to LA, just as Kimble learns of the man's arrest. He travels to the LA jail and finds he is not the one-armed man who killed his wife. But as he leaves, Kimble stumbles into Gerard, and a chase ensues. Karen helps Kimble escape, but he has to leave.

Or does he? Unable to abandon the woman who so loves him, Kimble decides he and she should fake their own deaths in a sailing accident. Perhaps then they can share the life together they both so desperately want.

It is often painful to see the effort Kimble and Karen undertake to fake their own deaths. It truly draws the audience into loving these characters and hating Gerard - all the right requisites for superb storytelling. ... Read more

Reviews (2)

The saga of George Plimpton, NFL Quarterback
Ah, I have fond memories of this 1968 movie, which speaks to the unspoken dream of every armchair quarterback who would like to take a few snaps as a NFL QB and make the big play just once in their life. The film is based on the book by the late George Plimpton, who made his reputation as writing stories for "Sports Illustrated" about his first-hand endeavors in the world of sports. Plimpton fought bulls in Spain with Ernest Hemingway, played goalie for the Bruins, played basketball with the Boston Celtics, played tennis with Pancho Gonzales, joined the high wire trapeze act of the flying Apollos, played golf with Arnold Palmer and Jack Nicklaus, played bridge with Oswald Jacoby, played in Leonard Bernstein's percussion section in the New York Philharmonic, entered an amateur night contest at the Harlem Apollo Theatre, survived a few rounds with champion boxer Archie Moore, and played football with the Detroit Lions.

In 1968 a film version of "Paper Lion" with a young Alan Alda in his first starring role as Plimpton. What made director Alex March's film interesting is that beyond Alda's girlfriend Kate, played by Lauren Hutton and a few minor players, the rest of the cast consisted of the real Detroit Lions. Of course when Plimpton actually played with the Lion Joe Schmidt was the middle linebacker, but in the film he is now the coach. However, Alex Karras was still around, showing he was a natural performer. Other prominent Lions were John Gordy, the 300 pound Roger Brown (who gets traded to the Rams during the film), and the man with the scariest eyebrows this side of Eugene Levy, Mike Lucci.

Among the things I remember fondly about this film are Vince Lombardi suggesting Plimpton try to go to training camp with an AFL team, how beautiful Lauren Hutton looked (and how sexy the gap between her two front teeth was and is), how skinny Alan Alda was back then, and how good the football players do as actors (granted, they were playing themselves, but you trying doing that on camera). The film has its comic moments (when George gets his big moment at the end of a preseason game he lines up behind the guard) and you get a sense of what it is like at a NFL training camp in the old days (making the rookies sing their college fight songs and pulling pranks on each other), but there is also some serious side: when the players find out George is a reporter they confront him about making what they do a joke.

Football fans should check "Paper Lion" out at least once in their life. Between the Marx Brothers' "Horse Feathers" and Robert Altman's "M*A*S*H," this was the funniest football game you could find in a movie. Several years after this film Plimpton again did the football training camp bit, this time with the Baltimore Colts. There was a television special about his experiences and when he got into the game that time a hole opened up in front of him, he tucked the ball under his arm, started to fun through the hole, and tripped over the foot of one of his linemen.

Aren't you jealous?

What skinny reporter would not want to be an NFL QB?
Ah, I have fond memories of this 1968 movie, which speaks to the unspoken dream of every Monday morning quarterback who would like to take a few snaps as a NFL QB. Specifically, (1) how Vince Lombardi made an AFL joke, (2) how beautiful Lauren Hutton looked, (3) how skinny Alan Alda was, and (4) how good some of those NFL players were as actors, especially Alex Karras. The film was based on the book about the true story of George Plimpton, who was never quite as skinny as Alan Alda, and who went to summer camp with the Detroit Lions to play quarterback and write about his experiences (he had pitched against baseball all-stars and boxed with a pro for earlier stories). When you watch this film today you can see how in a sense it was ahead of its time in showing the camaraderie and high jinx that exists in the locker room of a professional sports team (remember Jim Bouton's "Ball Four" had not come out yet). The film contains some real moments because it was filmed during another training camp with the Lions (the trade of 300+ lbs. Roger Brown, who was the biggest football player in the world way back when). As with any sports film the movie comes down to the climax of the game. In this case, it is the final possession of the Lions in a pre-season game against the St. Louis Cardinals. A total meaningless game, but we have invested an entire film in rooting on good old George who goes out and, well, has a couple of moments. The action is dated but the fun is not. ... Read more

Reviews (4)

An Excellent Beginning To A Highly-Memorable TV Series!
"Fear In A Desert City" represents the premiere episode of one of the finest television dramas ever to grace the small screen -- "The Fugitive", starring David Janssen as "Dr. Richard Kimble", the physician who was falsely accused of murdering his wife, Helen (played a few times during the series by the lovely actress Diane Brewster, who also portrayed "Beaver" Cleaver's first school teacher, "Miss Canfield", in another Classic TV series, "Leave It To Beaver").

This debut episode of "The Fugitive" is a winner in my book. It features Brian Keith and Vera Miles as the primary guest stars -- both of whom are terrific in their roles here (particularly Keith, who is savagely menacing and brutal, to the point of being downright scary).

The picture and sound quality on this VHS video are pretty good. One of the things that might stand out boldly to those who watch this video for the first time is its relatively-lengthy running time: 49 minutes. As is fairly evident from this run time, TV shows back in the 1960s featured several fewer minutes of annoying commercial interruptions -- meaning longer episode lengths for shows like "The Fugitive". I think it's safe to say that this VHS version of "Fear In A Desert City" contains the complete, uncut program (as originally aired in 1963).

SOME "FUGE FACTS", SERIES' INFO, AND TRIVIA ------------

>> Kimble's first alias was "James Lincoln" (used in this pilot episode).

>> "Fear In A Desert City" was first broadcast (on ABC-TV) on Tuesday night, September 17, 1963 (at 10:00 PM, Eastern Time).

>> "The Fugitive" lasted for four fabulous seasons (1963-1967), with a total of 120 episodes aired. (The first three seasons were broadcast in Black-and-White; while the fourth and final season was shown in "Living Color". A little bit of "edge" and atmosphere were lost during the final color campaign, IMO. But, still, many first-rate episodes are included during the final year as well.)

>> Dr. Kimble saves the life of Lt. Philip Gerard, the man desperately attempting to re-capture Kimble, in FIVE separate episodes during the series' four years on the air. One show, in fact, has Kimble TWICE rescuing Gerard from near-certain death! While the frequent life-saving episodes during the series are indeed a tad on the unrealistic side, they did offer up some of the best dramatic moments in the series.

>> The character of Philip Gerard (played to perfection by Barry Morse) actually appeared in only 38 of the 120 episodes during the series (not counting the opening credits, during which he's always shown). Although it "seemed" like he was in many more. Gerard's "presence" is felt in nearly every episode however. But in most of the shows he's not physically shown on camera.

>> The "one-armed man" was played by Bill Raisch, who really did have one arm missing. He lost part of his right arm during World War II, after being badly burned while fighting a fire.

If you're a big fan (or even a casual fan) of "The Fugitive", I'd recommend picking up this VHS video containing the outstanding premiere episode. I'd also recommend the "companion book", entitled "The Fugitive Recaptured" (by Ed Robertson). That volume contains a complete episode guide, with very detailed information on every show, including an abundance of interesting trivia and photographs.

An Amazon link to that book appears below.....

http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/tg/detail/-/0938817345/ref=pm_dp_ln_b_1/104-1695827-8497526?v=glance&s=books

Kimble Starts to Run
The first episode of THE FUGITIVE, FEAR IN A DESERT CITY, established what was to be a successful formula for the next four seasons. Doctor Richard Kimble is accused of his wife's murder. He knows that a one-armed man is the culprit, but can't prove it. He is tried, found guilty, and sentenced to die in the electric chair. On route to the death house, he escapes from Lieutenant Philip Gerard, who then spends much of the next four years chasing a doctor who is similarly chasing his quarry. At the start of this initial episode, the sonorous narration of William Conrad informs the audience of this background information. Kimble, who now calls himself Jim Lincoln, rides a bus into Tucson, Arizona, and finds work as a bartender. He strikes up a relation with Monica Welles, played by Vera Miles, only to find that his anonymity is threatened when her rich but crazy ex-husband stalks her and wonders at the temerity of a drifter to dare date the ex-wife of a local powerful and influential citizen. The plot revolves around Kimble's helping Monica to escape from her ex.
This episode established the basic persona of pursuer and pursued. Kimble is the good doctor yanked out of his comfortable life, with the audience wondering whether he can regain that life. Barry Morse as Lt.Gerard is the policeman who trails him with a monomania that does not become clearer until future episodes. It is David Janssen's tremendous acting that made this show a monster hit. His interpretation of Richard Kimble suggests a controlled fear that is never absent. Kimble simply cannot permit himself the luxury of a relationship. When he does, the result is often to expose him to danger. Every time, I saw Kimble impacting on others, I knew that I was seeing how one bright but faceless man kept his hopes up to reclaim a life that I knew one day would return. This was a terrific first episode that hooked an audience for four more years.

It's On!!
What an auspicious beginning for a TV classic! Richard
Kimble (David Janssen) takes up in Tucson, AZ where he becomes a bartender. He befriends and courts a nightclub singer (Vera Miles) who is married to a mean, abusive husband (Brian Keith). Keith is splendid as the possessive,
drunken Ed Welles with the friends and the funds to deflect criticism.

Kimble tries to lay low and avoid any attention which would attract the police and ultimately, Lt. Gerard, played by Barry Morse. Welles alerts the police about Kimble and an investigation ensues. Kimble is genuinely shaken afterwards in a manner which sets the tone for the entire series. Kimble decides to leave Tucson after confessing
to Welles wife, leading to a final confrontation with the enraged husband.

Gerard makes a brief appearance and Kimble talks about
the trial to Welles wife. These issues would be covered in later episodes. The pilot has a rare ongoing narration of Kimble's mindset by William Conrad.

This episode - and others to follow - depict a Janssen who
occasionally seems ill at ease and self conscious in front of the camera. At times he even underdelivers lines. If was as if Janssen was unsure of himself and his abilities. He had no reason to be. For Janssen and this show were about to become an enduring fixture on the television landscape. Check it out and you'll see why this series had many imitations but one indelible premise.

The Chase Begins!
This episode beings it all. We see Doctor Richard Kimble step off the bus to Tucson, Arizona just six months after the fated train crash. He stays at a hotel and gets a job at the Branded Barhouse as a bartender where he befriends a pianist woman who is abused by her husband played by Brian Keith. Keith comes into the bar regualry for his scotch and soda and gets into arguments with Kimble also know in this episode as James Lincoln. Don't want to tell you more because you have to see this classic episode. This episode is great because this is the first episode of the best series of all time. You can find an actor as serious as David Janssen anymore. This episode is a must for series collectors. ... Read more

Reviews (2)

2 Episodes: RK Gets Help in Each
This video contains one episode from the first season, FLIGHT FROM THE FINAL DEMON and one from the second, CRY UNCLE. Both are quality episodes with each revealing varying aspects of Kimble's personality. In FFFD, Kimble is apprehended while working in a health club, but gets help from a fellow worker, played convincingly by Ed Nelson. Steve Edson (Nelson) helps Kimble only because he is the obverse of the fugitive. He is a guilty man who at his trial was found innocent, and his conscience bothers him to the point that he wants to be caught. During Kimble's and his flight from the law, Edson keeps dropping clues as to their whereabouts. What is of interest to viewers is that for the first time, Kimble verbalizes what many would be lam artists might need to know: the many 'tricks' that a fugitive needs to know to avoid capture. Carroll O'Connor, in his pre-ALL IN THE FAMILY DAYS, is convincing as the pursuing sheriff. CRY UNCLE is the better of the two. At the start of the show, Kimble seeks refuge in an orphanage and two boys suspect that he is a fugitive, and Kimble must use his natural affinity for children that he had shown in previous episodes to convince them not to turn him in. Ronny Howard of THE ANDY GRIFFITH SHOW and Donald Losby, who played Mark Welles in the series' opener FEAR IN A DESERT CITY, play the two boys. The only way for Kimble as Pat Thomas to explain his presence is for him to pose as Sean's (Losby) uncle. At first, Sean is unruly and seeks only to kick back at a world that has smacked him around since birth. Kimble seems like a perfect target, one who must obey him or risk being turned over to the police. But ever so slowly, Kimble's inherent goodness teaches him that not all adults are evil, and that if he is to advance in the world, he must learn to trust others. And this is one of the subtle subtexts that appear in many of the shows. Trust can appear in the most unexpected of places, and when it does, that person ought to let it grow.

suspense & drama at their best
To review a single video of this serial ca'nt do justice to the
spell that the hide& seek of David Janssen/Barry Morse had cast
on their viewers throughout the years of its marathon run.Every
episode deserves 4 to 5 stars rating.Though we know the epilogue
of each episode yet we sit through from the haunting title theme
to its end. ... Read more

Reviews (16)

A Classic Show
Some Fugitive fans refuse to watch this episode (the final one) because they don't want the closure. They want to imagine that Richard Kimble is still running. I understand how they feel -- but I say give the poor doctor a break!

Go ahead and watch this episode. It's not the best example of the show, but it's still pretty darn good. There are lots of twists. (I still wonder why the one-armed man climbed to the top of the water tower to escape Kimble. Where was he going to go from _there_?)

If you can, watch the other episodes, too. You get to see 1960s drama at its best. Back then, TV shows didn't have adult language, but they could still have adult plots.

David Janssen's work in this show was underrated. So was the work of Barry Morse. There were lots of great supporting actors, from Angie Dickinson to Telly Savalas to William Shatner.

This show had the highest ratings of any TV drama until the "Who Shot J.R." episode. I think this one far surpassed it. (The writers of "The Fugitive" respected their audience more -- they never had David Janssen come out of the shower and realize it was all a dream.)

Anne M. Marble Reviewer, All About Romance

The end of the flight
What up to then was the largest television audience ever tuned in to watch Dr. Richard Kimball's four-year flight from unjustice come to an end. "The Fugitive," disputably inspired by the 1954 murder in Ohio by Dr. Sam Shepherd of his wife, Marilyn, remained aloft the Nielsen pack during its entire run until David Janssen, pushed for his character's final absolution. It comes here in the two-hour series finale that has Dr. Kimball, laboring at one in a series of menial jobs, recognizing in a newspaper article the face of the infamous one-armed man he saw fleeing from his home in Indiana four years earlier. Trekking to Los Angeles in a bid to corner his wife's killer, Kimball instead walks into capture by his dogged nemesis, Lt. Gerard. After he extradites Kimball back to Indiana, though, Gerard soon begins to doubt his own certain about the doctor's guilt. By then, the one-armed killer also has returned to Indiana, and there's the inevitable final showdown between the wrongly accused and the guilty. Sure, only entertainment, but the series' final line, " ...the day the running stopped," fills us with a sense of vindication, and we say good-bye to Dr. Kimball with the hope that, finally, he can resume a life interrupted by a miscarriage of justice that cost him four years of his life.

Kimble Finally Stops Running
I was turned on to this show by my uncle who was a diehard fan during its original run. I was only 3 when "The Judgement" aired in August of 1967, so naturally, I would not have been old enough to have recalled anything about this show, but in early 1992, while A&E ran episodes of "The Fugitive" in syndication, I finally had the chance to see Richard Kimble finally nail the one-armed man. At the time, I thought that this was really a cool ending to the show, even if it was 25 years after the fact. Upon reading some of the comments here, I have some info to share, courtesy of "The Fugitive: Recaptured", a book by Ed Robertson. As it turned out, George Eckstein and Michael Zagor, who co-wrote the finale, were up against a time deadline to write the script, which is why, by Eckstein's admission, isn't perfect. ABC wanted a 5th season, but David Janssen was the one who called a halt to the show, mainly due to his own exhaustion, so Eckstein and Zagor had to sort of rush to write the script. Nonetheless, a classic ending to a classic TV show. It was also interesting to discover Lloyd Chandler as the "surprise witness" to Helen Kimble's murder, but at least the show resolved its premise, as most people expected. Props to Roy Huggins for giving us arguably the best show of the 1960s. David Janssen, God rest his soul, was terrific as Richard Kimble, and equal props to Barry Morse and Bill Raisch for keeping the fans on the edge of their seats every week for four years.

The Day the Running Stopped
THE FUGITIVE was the first drama that had a concluding episode that tied up the loose ends. For those who had watched the series faithfully for four years were generally satisfied with the closure, despite the several logical inconsistencies in the two-part finale. THE JUDGMENT allows Richard Kimble to regain his life by finally catching the man with one arm, but it is the manner that he did it that provides an emotionally satisfying end to a roller coaster of a series that millions of viewers religiously followed. The charm of THE JUDGMENT is that it encapsulates in one twin segment the very qualities that had stamped its high quality since the 1963-64 season. Many of the themes, ideas, character developments, and plot devices were combined with a surprise twist to justify the time America spent to get involved in the running triangle between Kimble, Lieutenant Gerard, and Fred Johnson, the one-armed man.
Director George Eckstein borrowed heavily from earlier episodes to frame a finale in a way that ties together a myriad of strands that had been left hanging from previous episodes. Gerard learns that a one-armed man has been arrested in Los Angeles and suspects that Kimble will read of it as well. His hope is that Kimble will try to see this man to verify his identity. This is exactly the same plot device that the show used in NEVER WAVE GOODBYE from the first season. It worked well then and works well now. Kimble does indeed read of this in a Tucson newspaper where he works. For viewers with long memories, Tucson was also the setting for the very first episode, FEAR IN A DESERT CITY. Gerard flies to Los Angeles and questions Fred Johnson in a manner that clearly shows the evolution of Gerard's certainty of Kimble's guilt to a doubt. Gerard shouts at him, 'Did you kill Helen Kimble?' From a dramatic standpoint, this doubt is required to make it plausible that Gerard would later believe in the possibility of Kimble's innocence long enough to give him twenty-four hours to find Johnson. Kimble arrives in Los Angeles where he is reunited with Jean Carlisle, played by Diane Baker, who was the court reporter at the trial and has long loved Kimble. She tips him off about the trap and hides him in her apartment. Gerard nevertheless suspects that she is hiding Kimble and tricks him into taking a taxi, where he arrests Kimble. While this is going on, the plot takes a surprise twist when Johnson is bailed out by a man who is later revealed as Lloyd Chandler, Kimble's next door neighbor in Stafford, who was right there in the living room when he saw Johnson kill Helen Kimble. But since he did not want to expose himself as a coward, he kept his mouth shut and left Kimble as the sacrificial lamb to his own shame. This surprise revelation of an eyewitness to Kimble's innocence was prefigured in an earlier episode, TRIAL BY FIRE, where an army captain also saw Johnson run out of the Kimble residence just moments before Kimble returns home in his car. Johnson seeks to blackmail Chandler, who intends to kill Johnson to insure his silence. At the closing reel. Johnson inextricably climbs a high tower with Kimble in pursuit. At the top, they battle, and in a scene of high tension, Johnson admits that he murdered Helen Kimble. Gerard saves Kimble's life by shooting Johnson dead. Using Chandler's account of Kimble's innocence, the case and the series close.
This last episode had the largest cast in the series' history. Besides the usual sterling acting of David Janssen and Barry Morse, Kimble's sister Donna, well played by Jacqueline Scott, reprises her continuing role as the emotional bedrock of support that she has provided for Kimble's entire run. Bill Raisch as Fred Johnson again radiates menace in every grimace of his brutal face. His lack of an arm in no way diminishes his aura of alarm. Diane Brewster, who plays Helen Kimble, is finally seen as more than just a corpse that lies on the floor with the opening scene that begins each episode. The flashbacks of THE JUDGEMENT portray her as a woman who loves her husband but has marital problems with him. Incidentally, her issues with Kimble are the only time in the show's four year run that show any woman as having relating problems at all with Kimble. In the show's last few minutes, when reporters swarm around Kimble and Jean Carlisle and ask him what he intends to do now that he is again a free man, Kimble replies, 'I want to start my life up again.' And part of this start is to shake the hand of the policeman who admits his part in putting an innocent man through four years of hell. Kimble and Jean walkoff into the sunset, ready to start their new life. Gerard walks off in the opposite direction, ready to do the same. And the viewer turns off his television, not quite ready to abandon the memories of watching one man seeking to reclaim a life that had been unfairly put on hold for that same four years.

Judging the Judgement.
This great series deserved a great ending. This great series did not have a good ending. The two part conclusion
of The Fugitive did not equal the excellent writing, attention to details or characterizations of its predecessors. There were too many inconsistencies, coincidences, and outright
absurdities to qualify Judgement as the penultimate Fugitive
finale. First off, Kimble sees a newspaper that happens to
have a picture of the one-armed man in an LA bar. Second,
Gerard, while grilling the one-armed man about a barfight,
loses his cool and suddenly questions him about Helen Kimble's murder. Gerard never wanted to believe in a one armed man, despite having confronted him in the past. Gerard wanted to believe that he wasn't wasting his time chasing the wrong man. Third, Gerard is seen walking through the police station by a Jean Carlisle whose father
happens to be a friend of Kimble's. Why did it take 119 episodes for her to pop up in Kimble's life? A better choice
of woman would've been either Susan Oliver or Suzanne
Pleshette since both had a past with Kimble. Fourth, Kimble goes to LA and is taken in by Gerard. Gerard then
agrees to give Kimble 24 hours to find the one-armed man.

Again, this is a man who had Kimble in his hand on numerous occasions. If saving the Gerard family didn't convince the lieutenant of Kimble's innocence, then neither
would a chance encounter with the one-armed man.

Fifth, Kimble confronts the one-armed man (Fred Johnson) at an amusement park. Kimble orders Johnson to hold. Johnson fires his gun and takes off running. Kimble was a onetime skeet shooter champion. A basic shot to Johnson's good arm or one of his legs keeps him from committing absurdity number six....
Running to and climbing up a tower unarmed! Why have
Johnson take this information atop a tower when Kimble needs him alive for exoneration? Even if Johnson confesses it would be his word against Kimble's.

For all of that madness, just have Johnson commit suicide
along the way and leave it at that.

So Johnson gets the gun from Kimble and as he takes aim, Gerard shoots him with a rifle from the man who witnessed Helen Kimble's murder. Again, why did it take
120 episodes for this so called friend of Kimble's to reluctantly admit to witnessing the Helen Kimble homicide?
He only let Kimble go through a private hell and a near execution.

Nevertheless, it was unprecedented for ANY series to
to conclude with a final episode. That concept deviated from
the norm. The Fugitive should be remembered for its well
casted lead and supporting cast, cutting edge issues, creative methods of escape for Kimble, and great visual
locales. These qualities helped the show to stand the test of time and STILL compare to and eclipse today's idea of
great programming. In my mind, The Fugitive ranks as the
best drama of all time, hands down. ... Read more

Reviews (1)

comedy content
cant recall for sure if i saw this episode but did like most of them cant remember much comedy in them however memory not to good sometimes +_)(*&^%$#@!~9876543210... ... Read more

Reviews (2)

Another Fugitive Falsely Accused
One of the most commonly used themes that the script writers of THE FUGITIVE liked was the one of a man, other than Richard Kimble, being falsely accused of a crime. During the course of a four year run, this sort of thing routinely happened. In TERROR AT HIGHPOINT, Jamie, a strong but mentally disabled young man, is hired by Buck (well played by Jack Klugman). The other field workers taunt him mercilessly, causing Kimble to take pity on him and offer whatever solace he could. In many episodes Kimble shows his essential goodness of nature by helping those humans and animals who are in need of that help. Buck's wife is attacked but cannot identify the attacker. Naturally, the confused Jamie is blamed, who runs away in fear. Later, Kimble learns that the predator is one of the posse members.
This is one of the very ordinary episodes, whose only saving grace is to further bring out Kimble's willingness to help others even at the risk of his own detection.

Richard Kimble Clears Boy, Helps Construction Boss
Terror At Highpoint is a first season episode of The Fugitive featuring an unusually good supporting cast in Jack Klugman, Elizabeth Allen, Buck Taylor, and James Best - Dukes of Hazzard fans will likely be shocked to hear Best speaking without a drawl.

David Janssen is Richard Kimble, using the alias Paul Beaumont, now working as timekeeper to a construction project under Buck (Klugman). Kimble also serves as a surrogate big brother to Jamie (Taylor), a retarded young man whose physical strength lands him a job at the site that he needs to feed his family. The other, older men at the site mercilessly taunt Jamie, leading to a fight early on between Kimble/Beaumont and a particularly vicious bully named Dan (Best).

In addition to his relationship with Jamie and Buck, Kimble also gets swept into the angst between Buck and his wife (Allen), who wants to have a child but cannot because Buck fears that he cannot father a healthy child.

Eventually Buck's wife is attacked and beaten nearly to death, and the clues indicate it was the work of Jamie. Kimble is certain Jamie didn't do it, and has to stop a lynch mob led by Buck to prove it. ... Read more

Reviews (4)

The Fugitive as Healer
One of the many themes running through four seasons of THE FUGITIVE is that of Kimble as the healer. In his pre-fugitive days, Kimble was a pediatrician. After his escape from the death train, in many episodes, he is seen as a healer of some sort, sometimes a healer of the body, others of the mind. In BRASS RING, Kimble as Ben Horton, lands a job as a personal attendant for a man crippled in both mind and soul. Robert Duvall plays Leslie Stevens, who years before suffered a car accident that left him paralyzed from the neck down. His paralysis affects him personally. He becomes withdrawn and abusive to his sister, Norma, played with a great deal of repressed sexuality by Angie Dickinson. Norma grows to hate her brother and his tantrums. It is only the fact that Leslie was given many thousands of dollars as an insurance settlement that keeps her by his side. Since she shies away from caring for a man with such total disability, she hires Kimble, but not only to care for him. Slowly, she compares Kimble's goodness to her boyfriend, Lars, who plans to kill him for the money, and the more she sees how Kimble interacts with Leslie, the better he looks. Kimble works with Leslie daily, overlooking the sarcasms dumped on him, knowing that he can help. And help he does. Little by little Kimble teaches Leslie how to regain mobility. Leslie, of course, is overjoyed and asks Kimble to leave town with him and spend the insurance money on riotous living. This idea does not sit well with Lars, who kills Leslie and blames the murder on Kimble. Surprisingly, Norma admits the truth to the police, knowing that she will go to jail for her role in the murder of her brother.
This episode, while not one of the series' finest, is still one of the better ones in that Kimble gets yet another opportunity to show how his inner goodness can act as a tonic to bring out the best in those who only suspect that they are good too.

Brass Ring
This episode, like almost all the others in the first 3 seasons episodes, was outstanding. The writing and acting are superb. David Jansen was the perfect actor in the perfect role in the golden age of television. I hope the entire series comes out on DVD some day. It is a series to be cherished.

Top-notch professional acting.Angie is fabulous(ly) sexy.
I never watched this series when they were originally aired but I now have about 105 episodes and this is one of the best.Angie is a perfect example of how to be sexy without any of the obvious methods used today and without showing any skin. Not once did I hear the word,"okay" in this version. Great stuff.

Devious couple tries to frame Kimble with murder
Norma Sessions (Angie Dickinson) hires Kimble to care for her brother Leslie (Robert Duvall) who is physically disabled. Kimble doesn't realize that Norma and her boyfriend are plotting to murder Leslie to collect the insurance money. When Norma suspects that Kimble is hiding from the police, she decides to pin the crime on him. ... Read more

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The saga of George Plimpton, NFL Quarterback
Ah, I have fond memories of this 1968 movie, which speaks to the unspoken dream of every armchair quarterback who would like to take a few snaps as a NFL QB and make the big play just once in their life. The film is based on the book by the late George Plimpton, who made his reputation as writing stories for "Sports Illustrated" about his first-hand endeavors in the world of sports. Plimpton fought bulls in Spain with Ernest Hemingway, played goalie for the Bruins, played basketball with the Boston Celtics, played tennis with Pancho Gonzales, joined the high wire trapeze act of the flying Apollos, played golf with Arnold Palmer and Jack Nicklaus, played bridge with Oswald Jacoby, played in Leonard Bernstein's percussion section in the New York Philharmonic, entered an amateur night contest at the Harlem Apollo Theatre, survived a few rounds with champion boxer Archie Moore, and played football with the Detroit Lions.

In 1968 a film version of "Paper Lion" with a young Alan Alda in his first starring role as Plimpton. What made director Alex March's film interesting is that beyond Alda's girlfriend Kate, played by Lauren Hutton and a few minor players, the rest of the cast consisted of the real Detroit Lions. Of course when Plimpton actually played with the Lion Joe Schmidt was the middle linebacker, but in the film he is now the coach. However, Alex Karras was still around, showing he was a natural performer. Other prominent Lions were John Gordy, the 300 pound Roger Brown (who gets traded to the Rams during the film), and the man with the scariest eyebrows this side of Eugene Levy, Mike Lucci.

Among the things I remember fondly about this film are Vince Lombardi suggesting Plimpton try to go to training camp with an AFL team, how beautiful Lauren Hutton looked (and how sexy the gap between her two front teeth was and is), how skinny Alan Alda was back then, and how good the football players do as actors (granted, they were playing themselves, but you trying doing that on camera). The film has its comic moments (when George gets his big moment at the end of a preseason game he lines up behind the guard) and you get a sense of what it is like at a NFL training camp in the old days (making the rookies sing their college fight songs and pulling pranks on each other), but there is also some serious side: when the players find out George is a reporter they confront him about making what they do a joke.

Football fans should check "Paper Lion" out at least once in their life. Between the Marx Brothers' "Horse Feathers" and Robert Altman's "M*A*S*H," this was the funniest football game you could find in a movie. Several years after this film Plimpton again did the football training camp bit, this time with the Baltimore Colts. There was a television special about his experiences and when he got into the game that time a hole opened up in front of him, he tucked the ball under his arm, started to fun through the hole, and tripped over the foot of one of his linemen.

Aren't you jealous?

What skinny reporter would not want to be an NFL QB?
Ah, I have fond memories of this 1968 movie, which speaks to the unspoken dream of every Monday morning quarterback who would like to take a few snaps as a NFL QB. Specifically, (1) how Vince Lombardi made an AFL joke, (2) how beautiful Lauren Hutton looked, (3) how skinny Alan Alda was, and (4) how good some of those NFL players were as actors, especially Alex Karras. The film was based on the book about the true story of George Plimpton, who was never quite as skinny as Alan Alda, and who went to summer camp with the Detroit Lions to play quarterback and write about his experiences (he had pitched against baseball all-stars and boxed with a pro for earlier stories). When you watch this film today you can see how in a sense it was ahead of its time in showing the camaraderie and high jinx that exists in the locker room of a professional sports team (remember Jim Bouton's "Ball Four" had not come out yet). The film contains some real moments because it was filmed during another training camp with the Lions (the trade of 300+ lbs. Roger Brown, who was the biggest football player in the world way back when). As with any sports film the movie comes down to the climax of the game. In this case, it is the final possession of the Lions in a pre-season game against the St. Louis Cardinals. A total meaningless game, but we have invested an entire film in rooting on good old George who goes out and, well, has a couple of moments. The action is dated but the fun is not. ... Read more