On this day in 1967, 78 million people tuned in to watch the finale of The Fugitive

Really wild that it only lasted 4 seasons in an era when hit TV shows (e.g. Andy Griffith, Mission Impossible, etc.) got at least 7 seasons (if not a couple of extra after retooling the show and retitling it, e.g. Mayberry RFD and Archie Bunker’s Place).

The Fugitive show runners must have been the proto-Vince Gilligan. “He’s not going to be on the run forever, eventually we’ve got to close the story.”

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Over 78 million viewers tuned into the show, which meant that 72% of people who were watching television that Tuesday night were watching The Fugitive.

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It's insane. 78 million people is roughly equivalent to today's population of Germany.

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78 million people is a massive number for 1967.

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Indeed it was. The population of the United States in 1967 was just approaching 200 million so that was approximately 40% of the entire country. Pretty impressive

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The other networks must have known what they’d be up against; opposite part one of “The Judgment,”

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CBS aired a Harry Reasoner documentary on “The Hippie Temptation,”

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NBC showed a rerun of the movie The War of the Worlds

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Try this today:

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unlike other series finales, the conclusion to The Fugitive was aired in August, after the rerun season. As it was known that the fourth season of The Fugitive was to be the last, this allowed the suspense to build up throughout the summer; had that final episode aired in May or June, the reruns might have seemed ridiculous, but this way they were still relevant, still part of the chase, since Kimble was theoretically still running. Therefore, when the series ended, it really ended. It’s a brilliant idea, and I still wonder why more series don’t do it that way.

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I bet the 2nd to the last episodes was a big cliffhanger, that probably pissed a bunch of people off. Would be interesting to talk with a fan about this.

www.itsabouttv.com

The greatest TV show of all time

According to one site I found, only two shows had more for their finales:

Cheers (80.4 million
M.A.S.H (105 million)


I doubt anyone ever tops MASH's record considering how viewing is done these days.

Unless you count things like YouTube views, in which case I have no idea.

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The greatest TV show of all time

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The Fugitive - "Il Wind"

Directed by Joseph Sargent
Written by Al C. Ward

S3 E24
March 8, 1966

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This episode is something of a family affair, with John McIntire, his wife Jeanette Nolan and their son Tim McIntire) cast in key roles. As "Mike Johnson", Kimble (David Janssen) blends into a community of migrant workers in Texas near the Gulf Coast, befriending the nomadic Kelly family. Arriving in the community, Lt. Gerard threatens Lester Kelly (John McIntire) with arrest unless he reveals Kimble's whereabouts. But before Gerard can move in for the capture, a hurricane sweeps through the area, forcing everyone to take refuge in a single, none-too-solid structure. Ultimately, Kimble finds himself in the ironic position of begging the migrants to donate blood in order to save Gerard's life--even while the storm continues to rage all around them. -- Allmovie

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I'm going to guesstimate (I actually don't mind that word) 99.99% of posters here have never seen an episode of the original Fugitive. This isn't a bad episode to start with. It has many of the show's classic elements: Kimble trusted by a community (and a girl falling in love with him), Gerard showing up to spoil his idyll, Kimble having to re-prove himself worthy of trust.

"Ill Wind" has one very impressive, very noirish shot, in the warehouse when Kimble is trying to escape. He thinks he's made it when he looks in the doorway and sees Gerard, backlit like some sort of avenging angel.

Film nor fans should give The Fugitive a try. There has never been another TV series quite like it.

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Does that site have all the episodes so you could watch it from the pilot to the finale?

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I haven't checked

YT has episodes but the picture quality is terrible. That Dailymotion playlist was the best I could find in a 30 second google search this morning.

Since there is at least one other person interested in the show I'd like to set up a (weekly?) group watch and discussion. We could start with "Ill Wind" and jump around, or start with the pilot and proceed in order -- but only the notable episodes. I don't want to do every episode (there are, regrettably, a few duds).

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Most mid-markets, like Baton Rouge with 150k in the region, had 2 channels: NBC and CBS and they split The popular ABC shows between them.

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This is true. If you had a huge antenna you might pick a Lafayette or New Orleans station as well, but if you had standard rabbit ears you had WBRZ and WAFB (NBC/ABC and CBS/ABC). This was pre-LPB.

It was also broadcast against reruns.