 The Fugitive
1 9 6 3 - 1 9 6 7 (USA)
120 x 60 minute episodes
"Name: Richard Kimble. Profession: Doctor of
Medicine. Destination: Death Row, State Prison. Richard Kimble has
been tried and convicted for the murder of his wife. But Richard
Kimble is innocent..."
Produced by the prolific Quinn Martin and
screened on ABC, The Fugitive Starred David Janssen as Doctor
Richard Kimble, a man wrongly tried and convicted for the murder of
his wife. The weekly saga concerned his
escape from custody (after the prison train taking him to his
execution derailed) and his quest to clear his name and bring to
justice the real killer- the shadowy, ever elusive, one armed man.
Kimble's single-minded quest enthralled
audiences world-wide as he crossed the USA in pursuit of his wife’s
killer, whilst trying to escape the clutches of the law himself, and
in particular the man responsible for his capture, his police escort
Lieutenant Gerard. Prisoners in the USA regularly wrote to Janssen
saying that they had been framed too; convicts on a chain gang in the
deep south threatened to riot when a warden said he's stop them
watching The Fugitive, and old ladies reported sightings of
suspicious one-armed men.
In Britain, when Granada TV suddenly
stopped showing the series halfway through, 600 Liverpool factory
girls formed an action committee to persuade the company to change its
mind. Shortly afterwards it returned to English TV.
The quest was actually resolved in a two
part special in 1967 which saw Kimble finally bring his wife's elusive
murderer to ultimate justice, and clear his own name. The finale had a
72% viewing share of the audience in the USA - At that time the
largest recorded for a single episode of an on-goings series. To keep
the outcome secret, the final segment was televised all over the world
on the same day so everyone was able to see Lt Gerard shoot the
one-armed bandit as he wrestled with Kimble in a life-and-death
struggle at the top of an amusement park tower, and the real villain
plunged to his death.
Janssen went on to play Harry O
before his well publicised alcoholism brought about his premature
death. In 1993 Harrison Ford portrayed Richard
Kimble in a new and highly successful movie version of The Fugitive
which also inspired a sequel, US Marshals. A 2000-2001 CBS
version of the series starred Tim Daly as Kimble.
Thanks to Joyce
Andrews for info and corrections
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