A bad finale has the potential to ruin a television show. No matter how successful a series is, if it's tied off with a bad finale, it leaves a bad taste in the audience's mouth for years to come.

After watching Dr. Richard Kimble run for his life throughout four seasons of The Fugitive, it seemed like audiences had earned the right to see the man breathe a sigh of relief as he finally reached safety.

But according to Leonard Goldberg, who was a network programming executive at ABC during The Fugitive's airing, there was no concrete plan for a satisfying finale to the series...at first.

"It will be over like all other television shows," said Goldberg in an interview with the Los Angeles Times. "We hadn't planned on ending it."

Still, Goldberg was receptive to audiences' keen desire for a final chapter to wrap up the series. To not give them that would almost be considered a slap to the face.

"I said, 'Our viewers invested four years with Richard Kimble,'" said Goldberg. "'And they want to know what happens to him."

Goldberg's sense of justice prevailed, to the delight of viewers everywhere. According to the article, the second part of The Fugitive's finale was seen in 72% of homes using television on the night it aired.

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Despite the high volume of viewers, the finale wasn't given much fuss in the entertainment column of newspapers.

"The media didn't understand how important it was to the viewers," said Goldberg. "Had they realized it was going to be this enormous of an event, I think they would have done a better job of finding out what the ending was going to be."

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