You may also want to check out our "Fugitive (2000)" page.

Series Description

The Fugitive TV show was a 60 minute drama series on ABC about a Doctor by the name of Richard Kimble who came home one day to find his wife had been murdered. He saw a one-armed man who was obviously the murderer fleeing from his home but the police wouldn't listen to his story. Kimble was arrested, tried for murder, and given the death penalty! Fortunately for Kimble, while being transferred from sentencing to prison, the train wrecked and he was able to escape! He hoped that somehow he would find the one-armed man and prove himself innocent. Unfortunately, as far as the law was concerned, Kimble was a dangerous, escaped convict. Every law enforcement agency was looking for him and one police Lieutenant was even spending his full time tracking the Fugitive down like a wild animal and bringing him back to the death chamber!

The Fugitive Cast

David Janssen .... Doctor Richard Kimble (The Fugitive)
Barry Morse .... Lieutenant Philip Gerard
William Conrad .... Narrator

The Fugitive Opening Narrative

(First episode only:)

"Name: Richard Kimble. Profession: Doctor of Medicine. Destination: Death Row, State Prison. Richard Kimble has been tried and convicted for the murder of his wife. But laws are made by men, carried out by men. And men are imperfect. Richard Kimble is innocent. Proved guilty, what Richard Kimble could not prove was that moments before discovering his wife's body, he encountered a man running from the vicinity of his home. A man with one arm. A man he had never seen before. A man who has not yet been found. Richard Kimble ponders his fate as he looks at the world for the last time. And sees only darkness. But in that darkness, fate moves its huge hand."

(All other episodes:)

"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 on 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 ... Tonight's Episode ..."

(Then that evenings episode would be described.)

The Fugitive Trivia:

David Janssen was not just a TV star. He also appeared in many movies. He also starred on the series "Richard Diamond, Private Detective" for 4 seasons and 77 episodes beginning in 1957. The Fugitive TV show was his biggest success on TV with five seasons and 120 episodes from 1963 to 1967. Seven years after The Fugitive ended, David starred on another series titled, "Harry O" which ran for 2 seasons and 46 episodes. In 1978, he also appeared in the magnificent 26-hour "Centennial Miniseries" that followed the development of the western U.S. from shortly after the civil war until the current day (1970s).

William Conrad narrated the Fugitive TV show with his deep serious voice that kept fans on the edges of their seats! William also narrated "Rocky, Bullwinkle, and Friends (1961)"; "Buck Rogers in the 25th Century (1979)"; "The Highwayman (1988)"; and the 1977 miniseries: "How the West Was Won". Much earlier, from 1952 to 1961, Conrad starred on the "Gunsmoke Radio Show" as Marshal Matt Dillon! He didn't take the role on the "Gunsmoke TV Show" because he felt that he was to fat for audiences to accept him as a tough guy. That didn't hurt him years later when he starred on several TV series, two of which were "Cannon (1971)" and "Jake and the Fatman". He played tough guys on both of those series!

The final two episodes of the Fugitive TV show were possibly the most satisfying wrap up of any TV series in history! If you watched the series for the first 118 episodes, you grew to feel like Richard Kimble was your friend. You agonized each week over his terrible situation. From successful Doctor to desperately staying one step ahead of the death chamber! After a while, fans wanted Kimble to find the one-armed man and prove his innocence so bad that it almost hurt! That's exactly what happened during the final two episodes in one of the most exciting and dramatic finales ever seen on television!

The very last episode of the Fugitive TV show set a record with 72 percent of U.S. homes tuned in to cheer David Kimble on in his quest! That record held for 13 years until the "Dallas TV Show" episode where the person who shot J.R. Ewing was disclosed!