Sfdoordie, I regret to say that the show isn't available on home video in any format. Therefore, obtaining the episodes may be difficult.
To answer your other question, there was a lot of hype prior to its debut. While CBS hoped that it would become a big hit, that was not to be. Although first two episodes garnered big ratings, it went downhill after that. People just simply tuned out.
Indeed, there have been several other shows that were followed by remakes (excluding "based-on-TV-show" movies), such as Family Affair and The Odd Couple. But the result was the same: the remakes were short-lived. It could be very well that the audience's response was "been there done that." I guess it shows that certain things only work once. Just because a show worked well doesn't guarantee that a remake would become equally successful.
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sfdoordie
19 years ago
Yeah, I didn't expect it to last too long but I did expect it to last a little while. The fact that it was a remake was enough by itself. My mom was familiar with the original series and didn't like this one. I think it likely would have made it a while if they had waited longer before remaking it, because there are still a lot of people that are familiar with the original. Pretty much only the good shows get remade because they were popular, but at the same time, that means that the remake has a lot to live up to. I think the only problem with this version of The Fugitive was that it wasn't the orignal.
Jo
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dlrbond
19 years ago
I was around for the original series and feel that (comparing the level of TV writing and acting at the time) new one was definitely equal to if not better than the original. My wife and I seem to have a curse on any show that is very good....if we like it, it will be cancelled. One example is The Marshal starring Jeff Fahey. Another well written and directed series with good actors and good acting. Once we took a liking to it, bang there it went. One more example, Under Cover with John Rhys-Davies and Linda Purl (1991). We liked it for the six weeks it was on then, bang. And there are others. Oh well, here's to hoping The Fugitive (and others) comes out on DVD some day.
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alien_4
18 years ago
Does it not only show, starting a remake (or any other show for that matter - fictious or not) with a "bang" (big audience expectations from the start), instead of developing good stories from the ground (even for remakes), is the most certain path to doom?
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