The Fugitive-Season One Thesis

832 Words4 Pages

Nevertheless, I believe that the main selling point of the idea and series overall would be the main character - Dr. Kimble. He is believable and relatable from the pilot episode. Firstly, he encounters people that sympathize with him, and these people are usually outsiders as well: Americans marginalized by society just because of who they are: migrant workers, a black man struggling against racism, people suffering from mental disturbances (“'The Fugitive' reconsidered”). The pilot episode features a woman and her son trying to flee an abusive husband (Grauman, 1963). 1960s in America are the times of initial push for equality for afro-americans, women and marginalized groups, that is why the main character would be able to provoke empathy …show more content…

By offering a startlingly different view of America for the first time on American television, the series found almost instant interest from the audiences. The combination of traditional themes of romance, suspense and adventure together with vast representation of current issues allowed The Fugitive to finish up at 28th place for the year, making it one of only six ABC shows to make it into the Nielsen Top Thirty (Brooks, Marsh 1459-60). After that, the ratings changed from season to season (Tropiano, Van Buren). The Fugitive was later nominated for five Emmy Awards and won in Outstanding Dramatic Series category in 1966. Even more recently, already in 21st century, it was named No. 36 on TV Guide's 50 Greatest TV Shows of All Time (Brooks, Marsh 1459-60). ABC aired four full seasons, further cancelling the show due to the decline of David Janssen to sign the contract for the fifth (Pasternack). Nevertheless, the second part of the last episode of the fourth season became the most watched series finale of all times and remained one up until 1980. 25.7 million household tuned in to watch the final episode of the show (45.9 percent of American households with a television set), which accounts to more than 78 million people ("Fugitive Gets Huge Rating”, C19). Reputation wise, this risky move to greenlight the controversial idea made ABC a revolutionary in television field. This series had future influence on such hits as Run for Your Life, The Incredible Hulk, etc. (Pierson, 78) and gave a star status to David Janssen. The Fugitive fulfilled expectations of both creators and broadcasters, gaining popularity even overseas. It aired in 69 countries and was ABC’s most popular program overseas (Battaglio). Despised by the network at first and countercultural in nature, The