The Fugitive: Season Three, Vol. 2
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DVD details
Actor: Barry Morse, Bill Raisch, David Janssen, William ConradBrand: Par
DVD: Region Code 1
Audio: English (Unknown); English (Original Language)
Format: Black & White, DVD, NTSC
Picture Format: 1.33:1
Running Time: 772 minutes
DVD Release Date: 2009-12-08
Audience Rating: NR (Not Rated)
Studio: Paramount
DVD Reviews of The Fugitive: Season Three, Vol. 2
DVD Review: CBS has cut corners again, don't waste your money
Summary: 2 Stars
The music in Season 3 Volume 2 seems to be a mixed bag. Some episodes are nearly free of the awful Heyes replacement music, while others have much more.
NOT WITH A WHIMPER has quite a bit of Heyes replacement music. I noted soft Heyes cues at 18:00, 25:52, 29:32, and loud Heyes at 18:21, 28:40, 36:10. But I gave up taking notes in Act 4 when my hand started to cramp from jotting down all of the Heyes cues that I heard.
WIFE KILLER is a pleasant surprise. Yes, there are a few Heyes cues, but just a few. Overall, this episode's original music is mostly intact. I wonder if we'll ever get an explanation from CBS as to how one episode can be awash in Heyes, while the next is almost Heyes-free? Go figure.
THIS'LL KILL YOU lands somewhere in the middle. It's about 50% original and 50% Heyes. The more prominent Heyes cues are at 15:29, 29:32, 35:25, 42:15, and the one at 47:07 was so loud that it nearly blasted me out of my chair. Most of the too-loud Heyes cues are in Act 4.
ECHO OF A NIGHTMARE has a handful of Heyes cues. The ones that are noticeable are at 0:08 (in the teaser?!), 11:09, 17:11, 28:19, 35:02, 36:18, 43:19, and 47:09. But there are several more that are softer and blend so well that you don't notice them at first. Even though this episode has a fair amount of Heyes, it feels more like an original episode since so much of the Heyes is well-blended. Oddly, even though the music in the episode's teaser has been replaced by a Heyes cue, the identical scene in the episode (from which the teaser is lifted) has the original music! You can thank the roomful of monkeys in CBS' Audio Department for this gaffe.
STROKE OF GENIUS is almost completely untouched. The only Heyes cue that I noticed is at 4:08. The cue has the crisp artificial sound of a synthesizer, but is not overly loud. The remainder of the original music is intact.
SHADOW OF THE SWAN is mostly intact. All of the original carnival music and the cue near the end where the "swan" dies have been replaced.
RUNNING SCARED is almost completely intact, with only the background music in the airport lounge scene in Act 1 replaced. I thought that the scriptwriter gave us a nice bit of humor when Kimble's sister, meeting up with Kimble for the first time in many months, hands over his accumulated mail - mostly junk mail from pharmaceutical companies! It was a nice touch.
THE CHINESE SUNSET has a few Heyes cues, at 10:05, 20:53, 22:48, 44:24, 46:45, 47:25, and 48:38, but most of them are quiet and well-blended. Only the ones in Act 4 are noticeably loud.
ILL WIND is intact as far as I could tell. I heard no Heyes cues. Jonesie's song is intact. However, this episode's audio track is approximately 100ms out of sync with the video. This amateur mistake would never have been made if the cheapskate CBS management had given their technicians adequate time to do a thorough job.
WITH STRINGS ATTACHED is mostly intact. I heard Heyes cues only in Act 4 and in the Epilog, at 46:40, 47:49, 48:05, and 49:24.
THE WHITE KNIGHT is completely trashed with Heyes cues. A few of the Heyes cues that I heard are at 2:38, 4:43, 10:48, 20:04, 20:47, 22:05, 22:58, 23:26, 27:24, 28:00, 31:20, 33:18, 34:51, 35:47, 38:19, 40:26, 43:12, 45:36, 47:01, 48:29, 49:07. I heard only two original Rugolo cues in the entire episode.
THE 2130, probably the series' best 'chase' episode, has unfortunately been saddled with a lot of replacement music. In my estimation, it's about 40% original and 60% Heyes. I noted Heyes cues at 6:51, 12:04, 17:15, 21:38, 22:44, 24:06, 25:08, 37:40, 40:07, 41:35, and 48:08. Many of these are long cues.
- continued -
Those Fuge fans who are familiar with the original score will remember the majestic cue that underscores the Establishing Shot of the 'Medical Research Center'. This cue correctly appears at 17:04 (abbreviated), and at 28:58, but is REPLACED by Heyes cues at 12:03, 41:32, and 48:08! This is sheer incompetence on the part of CBS/Paramount - the sort of incompetence that would never have happened at Paramount before the shortsighted, cost-cutting CBS management took over.
A TASTE OF TOMORROW has a few Heyes cues, but just a few. I noted Heyes cues at 0:00 (in the teaser?!), 31:52, 33:45, 34:25, 34:53. The Heyes cues are reasonably-well blended. To my ears, this episode sounds 95% original.
IN A PLAIN PAPER WRAPPER has a few Heyes cues, at 12:56, 13:12, 27:40, 35:08, 38:40, 40:23, 41:09, 43:53, 45:36, 49:51. Acts 1 and 2 sound mostly original, with the replacement music getting heavier in Acts 3 and 4. To my ears, this episode sounds 80% original.
CORALEE, the final episode of the set, is completely saturated with Heyes replacement music. It would be pointless to list all of the cues here. There are only two original Rugolo cues in the entire episode, at 36:02 and 50:08 (during the final fade-out!). Some of the replacement cues are obvious soundalikes for classic Rugolo cues, e.g., those that occur during the Act fade-ins and fade-outs.
- continued -
The efforts of the CBS audio technicians were obviously cut short by their cost-cutting management, as evidenced by the fact that this episode's audio track is 150ms out of sync with the video. This amateur mistake would never have been made if the cheapskate CBS management had given their technicians adequate time to do a thorough job.
I've noticed that in several episodes, CBS has used overly-loud Heyes cues to underscore the episode's climax, usually occurring in Act 4. In Heyes-heavy episodes, Act 4 generally seems to be the most contaminated with the awful replacement cues.
SUMMARY --
Even though there are some good episodes in this set, they are overshadowed by the unconscionable amount of replacement music in S3V2. The haphazard and needless replacement of original cues has Fuge fans shaking their heads in disgust.
In the wake of the S2V1 music fiasco, CBS promised to reinstate the original Rugolo cues, as there was never any legal problem with their use. Now CBS has gone back on their word, replacing a great many Rugolo cues with awful synth music.
It wouldn't be so bad if CBS replaced an occasional cue whenever there was some difficulty in obtaining legal clearances. But there's no excuse for reneging on their promise to reinstate the original Rugolo cues.
I find it utterly mind-boggling that CBS would throw away perfectly good Rugolo cues, and replace them with the awful Heyes cues. I can think of only one reason why CBS would do this.
My guess is that CBS management is trying to rationalize the utter fiasco of S2V1 by trying to put a positive spin on it.
"Hey, we didn't REALLY make a colossal blunder by commissioning the Mark Heyes music. We made a WISE INVESTMENT in new replacement cues, which we can now use to replace all of those old, classic Rugolo cues. You see? We're getting our MONEY'S WORTH out of the Heyes music!"
No, you're just fooling yourselves, CBS. S2V1 was a major screw-up, plain and simple.
Let's look at this in dollars and cents, CBS. You probably paid Mark Heyes roughly $20,000 to compose the replacement cues. But when you use the Heyes cues to replace PERFECTLY GOOD Rugolo cues, you end up PISSING OFF legions of Fugitive fans, who then STOP BUYING your dvds, causing you to lose $100,000 or more in sales. You tell me, is that good business?
It's time to admit your mistake, CBS. You screwed up. Your lawyers didn't do their homework, causing you to commission new replacement music that wasn't necessary.
And now you're throwing away perfectly good Rugolo cues just to give you an excuse to use those unnecessary replacement cues. And you're deluding yourselves by thinking that you're now getting your money's worth for what was paid for the replacement music.
But here's the rub, CBS. Whenever you use the Heyes cues, you make the situation worse. You piss off even more fans. You lose even more in sales. You dig the hole a little deeper.
It's time to cut loose the dead weight of the Heyes music. Time to let it go, CBS. Just write it off, as you would a bad investment. That's what it is, really. A bad investment. A bad decision. A world-class blunder.
Take the Heyes music and toss it into the nearest trash can. Then, do your best to salvage the situation. FIX THE MUSIC. Otherwise, you'll alienate the very same people that you're counting on to buy your dvds.
Remove EVERY LAST HEYES CUE from Seasons 2 and 3, and restore the original music. (And don't make use of any replacement music in the upcoming release of Season 4.)
It's time for you to stop making excuses and cutting corners, CBS. It's time for you to go back and DO THE JOB RIGHT.
MY RECOMMENDATION --
I recommend giving this one a miss. Rent it, if you must, but don't buy it. Don't put your money into the pockets of CBS, which continues to ruin one of television's greatest dramatic series.
By CBS' own admission, the only musical cues in question are those which were originally licensed from the Capitol Music Library, the ownership of which is currently in dispute.
If CBS had attempted to stay as true as possible to the original music by only replacing those few Capitol cues -- "We had to replace just one Capitol cue in this episode, two Capitol cues in that episode, while we were able to leave this third episode untouched." -- then most Fugitive fans would have cut CBS some slack.
But to replace thirty, forty, even fifty cues in a single episode -- cues that were perfectly legal and didn't need to be replaced -- shows that CBS wasn't thinking about what its customers wanted. CBS was only thinking of its own pocketbook.
CBS should change its slogan, from "We put Classic TV on a pedestal" to "We do things as cheaply as possible."
Several reviewers here feel that too much has been made of the music issue, and they have attacked reviewers like me for focusing on this issue. These misguided attacks amount to "shooting the messenger".
The real issue here is that CBS has needlessly -- repeat, NEEDLESSLY -- replaced music that never needed to be replaced at all. This has become common practice at CBS -- tossing out original music and replacing it with a cheap alternative -- just to save a few pennies.
Wait until it happens to YOUR favorite show. "Sorry, but we were too cheap to keep the theme song from SINGING IN THE RAIN. We hope you'll like this Elevator Muzak instead."
I make no apology for focusing on the music issue. Music replacement is a form of aesthetic butchery. It's important that we preserve the creators' original vision and artistic integrity.
POSTSCRIPT -- SOME FREE ADVICE TO CBS
Dear CBS, as long as I have your attention, let me give you some free advice. Take it for what it's worth.
Have you ever asked yourself why a company like Image Entertainment can turn out such great dvds, while you (CBS/Paramount) continue to be mired in customer complaints resulting from your mis-handling of Classic TV shows?
I'll tell you, CBS. It's the difference between "DOING IT RIGHT" versus "DOING IT ON A BUDGET". Let me give you an example to illustrate what I mean.
Take, for example, Image Entertainment's release of their DEFINITIVE TWILIGHT ZONE dvds. They did a magnificent job. Every episode carefully restored, with promos, vintage commercials, audio interviews, commentaries, isolated music tracks.
I'm sure it cost them a bundle to produce that set. But they earned back their investment because of the HIGH QUALITY of their product. They ended up with a lot of very satisfied customers.
On the other hand, CBS has continually cut corners on their release of THE FUGITIVE in an attempt to keep costs down. No subtitles, no extra featurettes, no commentaries, no interviews, no isolated music tracks, no promos, no vintage commercials. Some episodes are not even sourced from the original negatives. And the less said about the awful replacement music, the better.
I'm sure that CBS executives feel that they are justified in holding down costs and releasing THE FUGITIVE as cheaply as possible. After all, customer complaints are up and sales are down. THE FUGITIVE probably won't be a big money-maker for CBS, so why throw good money after bad, eh, CBS?
But if CBS had initially approached this project with the attitude of "DOING IT RIGHT" instead of "DOING IT ON A BUDGET", they could have created a set of first-class dvds, with original music and lots of extras.
If they had done so, they would have ended up with a lot of very satisfied customers. The increased sales would have offset their increased costs of doing a thorough, painstaking job.
As it is, CBS' penny-pinching approach doomed this release from the outset. They released a mediocre set that satisfies no one.
This is a prime example of how a company's reluctance to spend money for fear that they may not recoup their investment creates a self-fulfilling prophecy resulting in a substandard product that few customers will want to buy, thus fulfilling the prediction that sales may not recoup the investment.
This is a management problem. CBS technicians are fully capable of doing good work. But good work takes time, and the technicians can only do good work when their management allocates sufficient time and money to allow the technicians to do a thorough job.
When management cuts costs to the bone, then technicians are only given enough time to do a slapdash job, as we've seen here in this S3V2 release.
CBS management has made a fundamental mistake -- they seem to believe that "Consumers are morons who will buy whatever we give them."
But we're NOT morons, CBS. And if you give us a shoddy dvd release, filled with replacement music and sourced from second-rate negatives, then we'll just keep our money, and your product will sit on the shelves.
There is a direct correlation between the new management at CBS Home Video and the nosedive in CBS' profitability. CBS shareholders ought to take a hard look at Ken Ross and his management team.
It was their idea to institute wholesale music replacement and other cost-cutting measures, in the false belief that we moronic consumers wouldn't know the difference between a good product and a shoddy one.
That belief has resoundingly been proven false. Whenever CBS replaces music or uses second-rate negatives, we consumers will simply refuse to purchase their product.
Paramount was doing a good job with their dvd releases before the cheapskate CBS management took over. The best decision that CBS shareholders could make at this point would be to fire Ken Ross and his management team, and put the former Paramount executives back in charge.
THE BOTTOM LINE
The bottom line is that SALES ARE INVERSELY RELATED TO ALTERATIONS. The more you alter these shows, the smaller your sales will be.
Hypothetically, let's say that CBS projected worldwide sales of Fugitive dvds at $800,000. If the cost of completely restoring the series was $200,000, this would leave a profit for CBS of $600,000.
But then CBS management says, "Hey, if we cut costs down to $100,000 by replacing music and using second-rate negatives, we can boost our profit to $700,000. After all, we'll still sell $800,000 worth of dvds worldwide, right?"
WRONG!
If you replace music or make similar alterations, the hardcore fans won't buy the product. Your sales will suffer a sharp decline. Profits will be even smaller, perhaps even nonexistent.
The lesson here is that TV-on-dvd is a NOSTALGIA market. Customers want the shows they remember. If you alter these shows, then your sales will suffer a sharp decline.
Best to just leave these shows intact, PAY THE MUSIC LICENSING FEES (even if those fees are artificially high due to opportunistic pricing by the Music Industry), and give the customer the shows they remember.
Description of The Fugitive: Season Three, Vol. 2
No description available for this title.Item Type: DVD Movie
Item Rating: NR
Street Date: 12/08/09
Wide Screen: no
Director Cut: no
Special Edition: no
Language: ENGLISH
Foreign Film: noSubtitles: no
Dubbed: no
Full Frame: yes
Re-Release: no
Packaging: Sleeve
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