History Series / TheFugitive

''The Fugitive'' was a ground-breaking TV drama series that aired on {{ABC}} from 1963-67.

* RecycledSoundtrack: Unlike many series of its time in the '60s (and subsequently), the series relied on a specially composed library of music by Pete Rugolo and licensed music written for CBS shows rather than have any episodes receive an original score.

** Lampshaded in the ''MadMagazine'' parody, "The Phewgitive". Both Kimble and Gerard realize that if they ever actually catch the One-Armed Man and Kimble, repsectively, the series will be over, so when each narrowly misses his quarry the response is actually one of relief ("Phew!") rather than disappointment.

** Gerard technically counts as one of these, appearing (outside of the opening) in only 37 of the show's 120 episodes.

* SeriesGoal: Find the One-Armed Man and clear Kimble's name.

* PosthumousCharacter: Helen Kimble

* FridgeLogic: Notably averted, in that the show's very premise provided the answer to a couple of questions that earlier series such as ''{{Route 66}}'' had left unanswered: why don't the protagonists just settle down in one place, and why solve the problems themselves instead of calling the police?

* FridgeLogic: Notably averted, ''The Fugitive'' finally provided the answer to a couple of questions that shows like {{Route66}} left unanswered: why don't the protagonists just settle down in one place, and why solve the problems themselves instead of calling the police?

''The Fugitive'' was adapted as [[Film/TheFugitive a film in 1993]], and a short-lived {{remake}} series in 2000 which starred Tim Daly as Kimble.

''The Fugitive'' was adapted as [[Film/TheFugitive a film in 1993]], and a short-lived remake series in 2000 which starred Tim Daly as Kimble.

''The Fugitive'' was a ground-breaking 1963-1967 TV show.

* TheUntwist: The final 2 episodes are a 2 part story. In Part 1, the One-Armed Man is caught and held in jail for an unrelated crime, but is inexplicably bailed out by someone else. He tells the bail bondsman that he didn't kill Helen Kimble but saw who did and it wasn't her husband. When Kimble breaks into the bondsman's office later, he finds the bondsman dead, murdered, and sees in the bondsman's file that the name of the person who paid for the One-Armed Man's bail is...Leonard Taft, ''Kimble's own brother-in-law!'' People began speculating that Len would turn out to be the killer. In Part 2, it turns out that, nope, the One-Armed Man was just lying to the bondsman whom he then murdered. He really did kill Helen. It even turns out that Len [[spoiler:wasn't even the guy who paid the One-Armed Man's bail. Instaed it was a next-door neighbor who had witnissed the One-Armed Man murdering Helen and told no one about it, who paid the bail using Len's name.]]

** Also Gerard's wife. She appeared briefly in 2 episodes, each time played by a different bit actress (one of them was even uncredited). The one time she had a major role to play was in a rare two-parter where she was played by SpecialGuestStar Barbara Rush.

* RecurringCharacter: The One-Armed Man, Captain Carpenter, Donna Taft, Leonard Taft

** Helen Kimble, also. She first appears in flashback mid-Season 1, her body is seen in the opening credits of Seasons 2-4, and one final flashback in the GrandFinale, revealing the one clue that finally clears Kimble: [[spoiler:There was a third person in the Kimble house the night of the murder, who witnessed the One-Armed Man murder her, and kept silent solely because he didn't want to be exposed as a DirtyCoward.]]

* TooHappyToLive: The prologue of the premier episode established that Dr. Kimble had an ideal life--[[HappilyMarried a beautiful wife]], plans to have children and buy a new house, and a stellar career as a surgeon--before it was blown apart by his wife's murder.

''The Fugitive'' was a 1963-1967 TV show.

** Gerard technically counts as one of these, appearing (apart from the opening) in only 37 of the show's 120 episodes.

** [[GoodIsOldFashioned GoodCannotComprehendEvil]]: Sometimes Kimble gets caught off-guard by seemingly-helpful people who happen to be pulling a BatmanGambit that now needs a patsy - say a WronglyAccused doctor - for their plans to work.

[[DepartmentOfRedundancyDepartment An innocent man is wrongly convicted for a murder he did not commit]]. However, while being transported to Death Row by train, there is an accident that enables him to escape.

Now he must continually travel throughout the country, looking to find the true murderer and [[ClearMyName clear his name]]. In the meantime, he takes small jobs and inevitably gets involved in the personal lives and problems of the strangers he encounters.

In addition to his quest, the man is pursued by a police detective who is determined to capture him, thus precluding the fugitive from simply settling down in an remote area with an assumed identity.

''The Fugitive'' was adapted as [[Film/TheFugitive a film in 1993]], and a short-lived remake series in 2000.

!!The show provides examples of:

** [[GoodIsOldFashioned Good Cannot Comprehend Evil]]: Sometimes Kimble gets caught off-guard by seemingly-helpful people who happen to be pulling a XanatosGambit that now needs a patsy - say a WronglyAccused doctor - for their plans to work.