and already love this show...I definitely want to buy the complete set...seems like 4 seasons, while not a real long series, seems the right length for this one...Im not sure if they could have stretched this premise to 10 seasons...but I'm curious, to those whove seen the whole series, by the end, does it feel like you got the complete story, like it doesnt feel like there couldve been more stories that couldve been told?
sharePersonally, I would have liked to see one more season, but 4 worked out well IMHO. No real need to have stretched it out.
FYI, the show ended mainly because the star, David Janssen, was simply too exhausted to continue and had to quit. Rating were still high. He was drinking heavily & on quite a few pills to get through the hectic schedule as it was. Unlike many other shows with multiple characters, he had to be in almost every scene, which made it much more work for him.
Enjoy the show. I couldn't stop the 1st time I watched it in the early 90's and have watched it 3 more times since then in full. Hooked another friend on it also.
EDIT: If you plan to purchase the entire set, probably best to wait for the complete most wanted edition coming out soon. It was delayed slightly due to technical issues but I assume shouldn't be much longer. It was discussed recently.
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0056757/board/nest/190433417
http://www.tvshowsondvd.com/news/Fugitive-The-Complete-Series/16057
Thanks for the info...I didn't know that he was taking pills and drinking...he mustve been under a lot of stress...when youre watching season 4 does it feel like it builds towards a climax of him finally catching the one armed man or does it feel kind of abrupt and tacked on watching the judgment because david janseen declined a season 5 and they had to scramble to create an ending to the series? are most of the episodes in season 4 episodic like earlier seasons?
shareHey cmtennie,
I never missed an episode of this show when I was a boy and the series was in it's initial run. I totally bought into this poor guy's plight, and I pulled for him every week. Four seasons seems like it worked out well, and the series built toward the final episode just right. When the final episode finally aired in August of 1967, it was close to being the most watched TV episode of all time (up to that point). It was nice to see a series like this have an ending instead of just going off the air and leaving the viewers hanging. I have seen many episodes recently (including the finale), and they have held up remarkably well.
I believe this series worked due to the fact David Janssen was a great actor with screen presence. This was evidenced in his series in the mid-70's titled "Harry O", in which he played a cantankerous P.I. (another series I never missed).
David Janssen lived life hard and aged prematurely because of it. I'm sure this lead to his untimely death at such a young age. Too bad.
I read several times that "The Fugitive" had the best ratings until JR from "Dallas" has been shot (1980). So that was 13 years in which no other TV series came even close to "The Fugitive" ratings.
shareThe show had run its course. It should be remembered that they produced 30(!) episodes each of the four seasons,which would be the modern equivelent of a fifth season. No wonder David Janssen was eager to leave when he did.
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