A doctor, wrongly convicted for a murder he didn't commit, escapes custody and must stay ahead of the police to find the real killer.A doctor, wrongly convicted for a murder he didn't commit, escapes custody and must stay ahead of the police to find the real killer.A doctor, wrongly convicted for a murder he didn't commit, escapes custody and must stay ahead of the police to find the real killer.
- Won 1 Primetime Emmy
- 5 wins & 10 nominations total
Storyline
Did you know
- TriviaThis was the first series to feature a "final episode" in which all the plot lines were resolved, and all questions answered.
- GoofsHelen Kimble is shown in various flashbacks throughout the series as being beaten to death by Fred Johnson using the base of a lamp. Police would have found Johnson's fingerprints on it, and not Kimble's. But following this basic forensics procedure would have made this a single-episode series instead of four years.
- Quotes
Narrator: The Fugitive, a QM Production, starring David Janssen as Dr. Richard Kimble, an innocent victim of blind justice, falsely convicted for the murder of his wife, reprieved by fate when a train wreck freed him en route to the death house; freed him to hide in lonely desperation, to change his identity, to toil at many jobs; freed him to search for a one-armed man he saw leave the scene of the crime; freed him to run before the relentless pursuit of the police lieutenant obsessed with his capture.
- Alternate versionsThe final episode of the series aired on a different date in Canada (September 5 as opposed to Aug. 29 in the US). For Canadian prints of the final episode, the ending narration was changed to mention September 5. Some VHS releases of "The Judgement" released in the US retain the Canadian narration.
- ConnectionsFeatured in TV Guide: The First 25 Years (1979)
Of course, the character of Richard Kimble was loosely inspired by Dr. Sam Sheppard. The major difference was that while Dr. Richard Kimble spent four years chasing the real killer (a one-armed man) of his wife Helen, Dr. Sheppard spent ten years in jail for the 1954 murder of his wife Marilyn.
It might be interesting to note that when Dr. Sheppard was acquitted in a second trial in November of 1966, 'The Fugitive,' which was then in the middle of its fourth season, began to slip in the ratings. For this reason, the producers were smart not to wait for the ax to fall and risk having the series cancelled without doing a finale.
"The Judgment," the two-hour series finale, aired in the summer of 1967. After four years of chasing and being chased, Kimble finally catches up with Fred Johnson, the one-armed man, who admits to having been Helen's real killer. He is then shot and killed by Lt. Gerard, who saves Kimble in the process.
While the finale was weak in some respects, it was generally a fitting conclusion to the 'Fugitive' series. Of course, it was also one of the highest rated TV finales of all-time.
- 4-Kane
- Mar 1, 2001
Details
- Release date
- Country of origin
- Official site
- Language
- Also known as
- Auf der Flucht
- Filming locations
- Tucson, Arizona, USA(pilot Episode)
- Production companies
- See more company credits at IMDbPro
- Runtime51 minutes
- Color
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