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Nobody in the world knew how ''The Fugitive'' would end
The writers didn't even know whether the one-armed-man would be brought to justice.
The Fugitive is one of the greatest crime dramas of all time. Throughout four seasons, the wrongly accused Dr. Richard Kimble evaded the law, a man on the lam after the murder of his wife. Even though he didn't do it, he gets arrested anyway as the primary suspect in the homicide case. But destiny intervenes, and while he's being transported to death row, Kimble's train derails, and he's able to escape into the night. As he eludes capture, Dr. Kimble also pursues the mysterious "one-armed man," the real killer.
You'd think a story like this would have a clear beginning, middle and end. But, according to those involved with the show, that wasn't necessarily the case.
In a 1965 interview with the Sunday Mirror's Matt White, TV's Dr. Kimble (real name: David Janssen) couldn't spill the beans, even if he wanted to. It turns out the actor wasn't aware of his character's fate. Janssen had no clue how the saga would unfold.
"Not even the writers know if Dr. Kimble will ever catch the one-armed man he believes murdered his wife," said Janssen. The interview occurred in July of '65, during the summer before the third season's premier. So with two years of a story already told, this is the midway point of the series. "Maybe [Kimble] will be exonerated of the murder conviction. Maybe the one-armed man will be caught. Maybe we will never ever know."
It's an issue that has plagued many shows since. If the mystery is the engine, and the intrigue is what drives the series forward, a resolution spells the show's end. Take, for example, Twin Peaks. The show is built around a central quandary: "Who killed Laura Palmer?" As soon as the audience knows the answer, the show is pretty much doomed.
Janssen, nonetheless, was able to draw motivation from the story, even without knowing its ending. "To me, as an actor, the concept of the show is not so much a chase but that of a man's survival." To him, the conclusion was (at least at that juncture) irrelevant. Janssen was able to perform believably because his character didn't know what would happen either.
"I don't think it's important whether he finds the one-armed man or not," said Janssen. "What is important is how he exists."
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34 Comments
Great story with fantastic writing and actors. Ahead of its time.
I've always loved the fugitive, however, Cannon and Perry Mason I could watch all day. Thanks ME Tv.
Next to Leave it to Beaver this was the first TV show to have a conclusion. Which I remember just like everyone I knew.
Too good of a show to be on at 2am eastern time.
Tbh if the series finale revealed that Kimball was the killer and the hunt for the one-armed man was a ruse to deceive the audience would have been great. As bizarre as it sounds, it would still be talked about as one of the greatest tv reveals of all-time.
But by then, everyone had gotten used to Richard Kimble. Even if they thought he did it, by the series ending likely most had changed their minds.
I never saw it new, so it was just a "wagon train to the stars" on earth to me.
I never saw it new, so it was just a "wagon train to the stars" on earth to me.
I thought David was also excellence in Harry O. Sadly, it only lasted two years. I thought it was well written, and well acted.
I can’t remember ever watching it. 🤔
Hello. That's something. I think maybe watched one or two episodes of The Fugitive, but I was pretty young at the time. I don't even know what time or night it was on in our area. I probably watched other shows that were more suited to my age. Like cartoons, Leave it to Beaver, et al.
Wow 😯! That’s truly something off the cuff!
The movie was also good.
Most shows had no anticipation of an ending. They weren't written that way, or planned. You just keep going until cancellation. Tnere often isn't a chance to finish things off
I agree with Pacificsun, as almost nobody else caught the fact that the MeTV writer-wannabes called Dr. Richard Kimble "Robert"!
Then they write: "Maybe the Kimble will be exonerated of the murder conviction..." "The Kimble"... as opposed to the "Non-Kimble"???
Then they write: "Maybe the Kimble will be exonerated of the murder conviction..." "The Kimble"... as opposed to the "Non-Kimble"???
Unless the Producer/Creator/Writer combination has a long history of success. In the day, most of the offerings were never convinced of their longevity! Contracts were usually 3 years with an option of 5 years. But, competition among only 3 networks was brutal. Even when the Series had merit, the numbers ran the game. Because it was a selling point for advertisers, which translated into network revenue, which sustained (they guessed) the certainty of their own programming positions. (Wrong). It's sad to think the success of one Series, depended upon the failure of the one, opposite. And what we have today, appearing on Classic TV, are amazing success stories. Whether we think there's too much of one, or not. They deserve recognition and appreciation.
Remember the show called "The Immortal"?
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From what I understand if Quinn Martin had it his way The Fugitive would have ended a lot differently than it did. Martin wanted a final scene where Dr. Kimble discards an artificial arm along a beach, proving that he was actually the one-armed man he claimed had killed his wife.
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Like David Banner in The Incredible Hulk.
I remember that 'dream year' from "Dallas". But the series finale of "Newhart" had a funny surprise ending.
Since u mentioned it, I always believed the "Bobby Ewing dream season" was exactly the point where Dallas went wrong with their series, and it never recovered from that and was nevrr the same after that. And not only did they choose to do that, they did it right at the peak of the show's popularity and perch in American culture. Dallas was at the height and peak of its performance and ratings and success at the time, and they completely blew it, in my opinion, with making a whole season just end up being a dream, and then u start all over again the next year from scratch......with what? I always saw that as the turning point of Dallas, and where it lost its magic. Of course, that season-ending cliff-hanger obviously was one of the most talked about of all time, but then u get to the point of "well, now we are at two years since anything 'real' happened"---I didn't think they handled coming back from that and figuring out a way to move on from that very well......they should have never done it at all. U could have had Bobby come back from the dead the next season, but kept the same "Dallas reality" going the season that he missed. That would have made for a much better cliffhanger and return, and gotten much better reviews--run a story where Bobby survived but something happened where he wasn't able to come back until the next season--but don't make the one ENTIRE SEASON all a dream! Sorry for the rant, but I was a huge Dallas fan, thats one of the best and most underrated series, in some ways, of all time, in my opinion. It was a staple and an Iconic symbol of the 80s. Dallas was a part of my personal family culture! Dallas was an EVENT in my family's life--every single family member gathered around the TV set every Fri night at 9:00 PM. It was the most looked-fwd to hour of the weekend! Everybody wanted to tune in and see what JR was up to this week, esp my old man!! LOL. then as soon as the episode was over, my family members would get on the phone and call each other to discuss that week's show!!! "Did u see what JR did to Cliff Barnes?", or "Can u believe what happened with Sue Ellen?" Thats when TV was TV. And when we had a better world. Of course, the 60s even more so. I would have given anything to have lived the time period of my parents, the Boomers--instead I got stuck right on the cusp between Gen X and Millennial. As a matter of fact, I was born the month of Who Shot JR--May 1980!!!! Which is the storyline that actually brought the life to that series, and put it on the map for the first time, in a way it had never been before. Dallas had a slow, modest beginning the first couple of seasons, but then BANG!!! WHO SHOT JR blew up the series and became a cultural phenomenon from that May of '80 until Nov when the new season began. Those three shots gave birth to the entire decade of the 80s and made Dallas what it became going fwd--until Bobby got run over by that car--oh wait, that was just a dream! 🤬😝😄 And idk if anybody ever caught any of the new Dallas series or not--the remake in 2012--it wasn't bad for awhile, but of course Larry Hagman's death is what ended up defining how that series would turn out--they had to adjust the storylines for the show on the fly after his death, because they already had a JR storyline going before Hagman died, but they had to adjust it after that. It ended up being a bit of a long-winded journey to get there, but as a lifelong fan of the show, it was all worth it to watch Cliff Barnes left to rot inside a Mexican prison for trying to set JR up and have him killed--the best part of that whole thing was, in the final episode, watching Cliff's daughter come to see him in the prison after she had finally found out everything about her father, and what he had done--ol Cliffy thought she was coming to rescue him and get him out, because originally, she had been in cahoots behind everybody's back with him trying to get the Ewings. But she ended up coming around in the end, and seeing the light, and realizing just how far her father's hate for JR had gone over the decades, and how much damage it has caused to those families, and how many lives were destroyed by it. It took alot of episodes and alot of watching, but the conclusion to all of that on the New Dallas was pretty wild--and definitely worth it once u got there! My father and I waited all our lives to see Cliff Barnes finally pay for his crimes, and we both got to see it, and it was damn worth it!!! LOL and u had to love ol John Ross--there was no doubt he was his father's son! Dallas is where it's at, folks!!!! Thanks for letting me share!
Great call on Newhart series finale--had forgotten about that one--one of the best and one of the most creative series finales in TV history!
Well, we do know the end of the story! In a planned move, ABC ran a final episode where the one-armed man is killed after confessing he did it! That remains the second-highest hour-long broadcast after "Who Shot JR?"
No Spoiler Alert, huh. For those who haven't finished the run. During owl-watchers hours overnight.
But we've had 𝒕𝒉𝒂𝒕 discussion here before, too. Those records need to be parsed out. If not by decade, then format. MASH was intended to be an hour's-worth of farewells. Except that in the day, programing didn't easily give up an hour of their regular prime-time programing. Because in the day, MASH was viewed as a quality Series, obviously. But not of the historical value which it has today. It has become an hour long feature, to celebrate occasions and adding interviews.
I haven't recently looked up the viewing records of Mini-Series in the early days. But didn't Roots also break some kind of record? For the novelty and historical perspective. It was a very powerful entry then. But, again, it ran for two-hours.
So the only point to be made is, considering what was the format of the collective viewing timeframe. And how was the product, defined. Actually, what was augmented Dallas' most notorious episode, was the promotional value of conversation peaking everyone's anticipation and curiosity. They'd send key actors to Talk Shows, ramping it up, without divulging the secret. But it was billed as a pure murder mystery. Probably not unlike Daytime Soap Operas either.
In reference to what's below:
But we've had 𝒕𝒉𝒂𝒕 discussion here before, too. Those records need to be parsed out. If not by decade, then format. MASH was intended to be an hours-worth. Except that in the day, programing didn't easily given up an hour of their regular programing during prime-time. It has become an hour long feature, to celebrate occasions and with interviews. Like they've extended Cheers as well.
I haven't recently looked up the viewing record of Mini-Series in the early days. But didn't Roots also break some kind of record.
So the only point to be made is, what was the format of the viewing collective. And how was the product, defined. Actually, what was attributed to Dallas' most notorious episode, was the promotional value of conversation peaking everyone's anticipation. It was billed as a pure murder mystery!
I haven't recently looked up the viewing records of Mini-Series in the early days. But didn't Roots also break some kind of record? For the novelty and historical perspective. It was a very powerful entry then. But, again, it ran for two-hours.
So the only point to be made is, considering what was the format of the collective viewing timeframe. And how was the product, defined. Actually, what was augmented Dallas' most notorious episode, was the promotional value of conversation peaking everyone's anticipation and curiosity. They'd send key actors to Talk Shows, ramping it up, without divulging the secret. But it was billed as a pure murder mystery. Probably not unlike Daytime Soap Operas either.
In reference to what's below:
But we've had 𝒕𝒉𝒂𝒕 discussion here before, too. Those records need to be parsed out. If not by decade, then format. MASH was intended to be an hours-worth. Except that in the day, programing didn't easily given up an hour of their regular programing during prime-time. It has become an hour long feature, to celebrate occasions and with interviews. Like they've extended Cheers as well.
I haven't recently looked up the viewing record of Mini-Series in the early days. But didn't Roots also break some kind of record.
So the only point to be made is, what was the format of the viewing collective. And how was the product, defined. Actually, what was attributed to Dallas' most notorious episode, was the promotional value of conversation peaking everyone's anticipation. It was billed as a pure murder mystery!
Well, I am right about the hour-long record! MASH ended with a 2 and a half hour episode and most other finales were extended! Technically The Fugitive had a 2 hour finale but ABC wisely chose to split it into 2 shows!