In the beginning of season 1, he had a more prominent role, but towards the end of season 1, not so much... in fact he wasn't in many episodes. I dont get it.
WITHOUT giving away any spoilers et.. does he have more screen time after season 1? thanks guys
No, Gerard only appeared occasionally throughout the series. I think this was a good decision because this way, not every episode was about whether Kimble would be recaptured. I don't think it would have lasted 4 years with Gereard on every week.
shareOut of 120 episodes total, my count is 37 episodes in which Lt. Gerard appears. My figure matches one that is found elsewhere on the internet.
First season: 12
1.1 Fear in a Desert City 1.3 The Other Side of the Mountain 1.4 Never Wave Goodbye, part 1 1.5 Never Wave Goodbye, part 2 1.7 Smoke Screen 1.10 Fatso 1.11 Nightmare at Northoak 1.14 The Girl from Little Egypt (flashback only) 1.15 Home is the Hunted 1.19 Search in a Windy City 1.26 Somebody to Remember 1.30 The End Game
Second season: 8
2.2 World's End 2.5 Nemesis 2.9 Escape into Black 2.13 The Iron Maiden 2.17 The End Is But the Beginning 2.21 Corner of Hell 2.25 May God Have Mercy 2.30 Last Second of a Big Dream
Third season: 9
3.4 Trial by Fire 3.9 Landscape with Running Figures, part 1 3.10 Landscape with Running Figures, part 2 3.13 The Good Guys and the Bad Guys 3.17 Wife Killer 3.20 Stroke of Genius 3.22 Running Scared 3.24 Ill Wind 3.27 The 2130
Fourth season: 8
4.4 The Sharp Edge of Chivalry 4.5 Ten Thousand Pieces of Silver 4.10 Nobody Loses All the Time 4.14 The Evil Men Do 4.21 The Ivy Maze 4.26 Dossier on a Diplomat 4.29 The Judgment, part 1 4.30 The Judgment, part 2
I watched the series when it originally aired, so it's been a long time. But no, I don't recall Lt. Gerard having much screen time after season 1, except in a very few episodes and in the final two episodes of the show.
shareAn old thread, but I'll throw in my take on it...
Barry Morse was a Briitsh actor who was not in the USA full time. In fact, I believe I read where he filmed many eps of The Fugitive at the same time so that he would be free to his other interests abroad. One assumes the scripts were ready, and he did the Gerard scenes; the rest of the ep would be filmed according to schedule.
Another advantage of sparse appearances is that when he is in it, he is in a very tense episode. If he was in every week, it might get rather trite.
His Captain (Paul Birch), however, disappears in later seasons with no real explanation. He would at times try to remind Gerard of his duty on the home front, and it seemed granted Gerard his own time to pursue Kimble, but it wasn't always technically police time he was on. Gerard is even referred to as being in charge of his department in later eps, though that would seem questionable.
Since Kimble was an interstate fugitive, I'd question if a local policeman (Gerard) would have had any jurisdiction over pursuit, but the matter turned over to the FBI instead.
The series is as much about Gerard as it is about Kimble. We see Gerard go beyond obsessive quite often. The Kimble case affected his personal life, his marriage; he was heading toward crazy-koo-koo-ville himself.
When I first got into the Fugitive re-runs in the 1990s I would sometimes complain that there was "not enough Gerard".
But as the years/decades passed and I got to see more and more episodes, my views changed.
While it is true that some Gerard shows were "tense", not all of them were tense, in fact some drove the viewer round the bend because we knew he would never catch Kimble.
Here is my list of top ten Fugitives, some feature Gerard and others don't.
See Hollywood And Die (Gerard-less)
Come Watch Me Die (Gerard-less)
The End Game (featured Gerard)
A.P.B. (Gerard-less)
Conspiracy Of Silence (Gerard-less)
Second Sight (Gerard-less)
The Devil's Disciples (Gerard-less)
The Ivy Maze (featured Gerard)
The Judgement Part One (featured Gerard)
The Judgement Part Two (featured Gerard)
Good choices there to be sure.
I just watched "The Ivy Maze" last night. Haven't seen it in a long time, but remembered the basics of it.
I still wonder why Kimble threw Johnson at Gerard with a "here's your man!" comment. I mean, other than the writers giving Johnson the opportunity to break the hold and run. Had Kimble held tightly, what would Gerard have done? And had the existence of a tape not been disclosed to Johnson, would that have been held by the police and ultimately forced a reopening of the case?
Off camera William Windom tells Gerard everything Johnson said. On camera Gerard mentions he could file a deposition. Of course, he never admits believing the story, although by now you'd think Gerard to be cracking a bit...there IS a one armed man (Gerard has admitted that, if only by recognizing Johnson as the man Kimble is pursuing, not that this one armed man actually had done anything illegal), and pieces of Kimble's story begin to fall into place.
Had David Janssen not opted to bow out after 4 seasons, a 5th was planned. I wonder where it would have gone? So many scenarios had been played out, including by Season 4 appearances of Johnson becoming more frequent. Thankfully, the idea of a son tagging along with Kimble never were produced.
A son tagging along with Kimble??
Thank god that never happened.
I have a mental picture of Kimble and son walking down a highway each week with William Conrad talking over them "...another day, another problem for Richard Kimble and son Tom Kimble".
Heeeeeeeeeeeeelp!
Regards
StuOz
I believe it's in the fine book "The Fugitive - Recaptured" that mentions the idea of a son had been tossed around for S4 as a way to increase ratings (I'm sure it wouldn't have). The book also mentions had a S5 occurred, filming was considered for Puerto Rico, Mexico, and Hawaii.
The same book also points out that during the B&W era, every attempt was made at realism for law enforcement. The uniforms and vehicles had the exact logos of the geographic locations they were intended to represent. Once color/S4 began, you'll notice generic green/tan for the Sheriff, blue for police, and usually nothing else on the logo other than "Police" or "Sheriff." I noticed that night while watching...
I would call that book okay rather than "fine".
The episode guide stated that one of my top seven episodes, Second Sight (the 4th season one where Kimble goes blind), was poor.
It also over-rated some of the lesser episodes.
Yes, I see your point, but while watching "Second Sight" even I was thinking could Kimble trip over any more trash cans?? :) Plus I tend to agree that David's eyes and his ability to express their emotion were a true gift, lost in that episode.
I also feel many eps were less on the quality scale than the book may have inferred, but we all have our own opions as to what we feel works or not. I have definitely noticed the generic look of sheriff and police uniforms/cars in S4 because of the book pointing that fact out.
As far as the book, it would also be interesting to read a little more per ep, and point out any flaws (telephones that do no light when ringing is a major stickler for me!), but all in all, it's been a good resource to read as I watch each ep again.
Over the next day or two I will finish the series. I have many of the usual criticisms of "The Judgement" in that it seems rushed to an extent; that Johnson climbing the tower hardly made for a getaway, etc etc,and I would have loved to see a portion of the new trial itself and the judge dismissing the case, plus a few key players outside the courthouse. I understand that Gerard telling Kimble "good luck" was cut from the production, and that any lengthy discussion between them unlikely. Still, to have Kimble express anything to Gerard and Gerard to respond to it would have been a bonus.
The one tidbit of The Judgement is that I grew up in the Los Angeles area, and visited Pacific Ocean Park many times, the locale of the finale.
Anyway, I still think The Fugitive stands as one of the best shows produced for TV....
Had David Janssen not opted to bow out after 4 seasons, a 5th was planned. I wonder where it would have gone? So many scenarios had been played out, including by Season 4 appearances of Johnson becoming more frequent
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I believe they know S4 would be the last so wanted episodes that would lead up to the finale. Certainly, THe Ivy Maze fits this, with Johnson's confession anticipating in detail the flashback to the murder. And, yes, Gerard's unyielding belief in Kimble's guilt had to be cracked a lot because of this episode.