The Fugitive: The Most Wanted Edition - Complete Series

CBS/Paramount have gone the extra mile to give the fans of this series what they have asked for and fought for. From what I can tell, and I have done back to back comparisons with my old VHS copies, these contain every musical cue from the original showings. Everything from back ground scores, radio music, juke box music, EVERYTHING has been restored to the original night of broadcast showing. I don't know what hoops that were jumped through to get this set in the condition it is but this is diffidently the set you will want if you want this series in a night of broadcast release.In the previous release, the episode "Cry Uncle" had some severe damage to the print. Unfortunately, what CBS/Paramount has to work with are the original prints. When this episode was released on VHS several years ago by another distributor, the print was mishandled causing the damage. CBS/Paramount again have went the extra mile to find another/better print but none exist. I know this for a fact because I sent them my Laser Disc and they couldn't use it because the transfer was done in standard def and not hi def. What they have done though is have gone through and digitally repaired the print the best way they could. The damage is barley noticeable now and if you didn't know there was previous damage to this print then you more than likely wouldn't even see the repairs to the scenes that have been repaired.All of the episodes from what I can tell are complete: no missing footage. A trouble from what I have experienced with TV shows on DVD's is that many of the shows are syndicated cut up copies. This is not the case with The Fugitive. The episodes here are complete and uncut. The original sets state that these episodes were transferred from the original negatives and it appears they are.The only down fall I can see, and especially in the first season, certain episodes have a lot of. what I call, flicker in them. But I have also noticed this on my Andy Griffith sets and can only assume that it is because of the age of the film and deterioration of the original film elements.The series was filmed in the 60's and the film is showing age. Film deteriorates over time and you can't stop it. Thankfully we live in a day and age where they can now be transferred digitally and preserved for ever.I know many are mad that they have purchased the previous half season sets when the show was first released on DVD and now you can buy it in a complete box set. I also purchased the sets this way. Yes, I wish that this would have been the way the show was released originally but it wasn't. So, it is what it is. I donated some of mine to the library and also traded them back in at Amazon for other DVDs when I bought the Most Wanted set

Wow, this is a huge set. I knew it was 33 discs but none of the pics I've seen really indicate the fact that this is the size of a large book. Actually I will likely keep the sturdy box in a display space and keep the dvd season cases on my shelf for easy access. My replacement discs are on the way (I made the call immediately after receiving the set). I saved a good amount of money by ordering this through one of the other vendors (via Amazon). It came within a week, nicely packaged. My only lament over this is that it's not blu-ray. I held out as long as I could stand it. I've been watching some of the episodes on Youtube, which is less than optimal. CBS could make the blu-ray happen (their exemplary Twilight Zone and Star Trek TOS blu-rays are spectacular). Since very few other classic TV shows have been released on BD, I finally decided to go for this. So I just had to ding it one star, since it could have been so much better in high definition. It's certainly watchable, but doesn't have that extra bling of blu-ray (the reduced resolution makes Telly Savalas' patterned shirt go nuts in "Where the Action Is"). I also noticed (on at least one episode) that there is a very slight "echo" in the dialog. I often listen via headphones, so this may not be something you would normally notice. It sounds like that artifact one can sometimes hear on older analog tape. It's a nice set (especially if you opt for the lower price point). Just don't go in expecting the incredible clarity of The Twilight Zone blu-rays. Sorry for the obsessive blu-ray rant; I guess it's kind of off-topic. But after you've seen how good it CAN be, it's tough to settle. Oh, and let me add that the included mono soundtrack CD sounds excellent. I've got a version of the title theme from one of those "TV's Greatest Hits" compilations and the clarity of the new CD puts that previous version to shame (that one sounds compressed and mushy). Even though this is in mono, you feel like you're in there with the studio orchestra. I've also got a few of the other music cues via a CD of Dominic Frontier's music for The Outer Limits. I tossed 'em into my Fugitive playlist in iTunes. :)UPDATE on the audio: I'm noticing more "echo" in the dialog tracks. Nobody else notice this?! It's clearly evident when a character shouts in an otherwise quiet scene. In an episode with Robert Duvall, he shouts and you can hear it repeated twice. Odd.

I'm happy to FINALLY be able to give this dvd set the review it deserves. The show I'm sure everyone is familiar with. The premise of an innocent man on the run and out to clear his name likely began with this series, but it's also been copied in more modern day shows like the fantastic (though seemingly stalled out on dvd release) series "First Wave" and several others. The packaging is awesome. Much more than I was expecting. I was really surprised by the size of it and the cleverness of it all when I first opened up the package. And now that the much delayed replacement discs are FINALLY going out (I got mine a short time ago) we finally have this series complete with all of the original music in tact. There has been mention of the fact that the replacement discs come in plain sleeve wrappers. I don't have an issue with that as I fail to see why they should go to the bother of anything elaborate when the idea should be to use the replacement discs to outright replace the faulty ones. I will comment though that the discs are packaged up in shrink wrap with a sticker on the shrink wrap declaring that the discs are Replacement Discs and which episodes they replace. I have yet to sit down and watch the entire set (I've been waiting on the replacement discs before doing so) but I did watch the entire first season when it was issued previously and was very impressed with it. The issue of replacement music scores didn't happen until the second season came out years ago by the way. In the end, it took my complaining directly to about 15 or so CBS Entertainment execs, before the right fire seemed to get lit under the right backside, but within a matter of hours of complaining to them I got an e-mail from the replacement disc outfit telling me that my discs had shipped a few days earlier. From what they told me there was a delay in mailout because they didn't get enough discs with the first batch. Why this was not explained to the public with press releases is beyond me, but it seems that many sets of replacement discs are just starting to ship out now. I have not checked their toll free number to see if people can get through to them now to find out where their replacement discs are, but I would be very surprised if they didn't act to make room for new messages on their voice mail - considering all the ruckus I raised about that. If you are still waiting on discs I suggest you try this number(1-877-335-8936) or contact CBS Entertainment if you have to. I'm glad to finally have this set in a complete deluxe edition with everything as it should be. I do remain curious about one thing and perhaps someone can clear it up (in a press release perhaps?)... Do NEW copies of this release come with replaced discs, or will people who buy the sets now - STILL have to contact these people for the replacement discs??? It won't effect me personally, but I'm sure there are plenty of potential customers interested in this release who would like to know the answer to that question before buying.

**As of November 15, 2012, the web site TV Shows On DVD has announced that CBS is offering replacement discs for 5 defective DVDs in this set. The 5 discs are the two Season 1 discs containing the audio issues in the episodes "Bloodline" and "Taps For a Dead War," the season two disc containing the episode "The Iron Maiden," which has music issues, the season three disc containing the episode "Three Cheers For Little Boy Blue," and the season three disc containing the two-part episode "Landscape With Running Figures." Those episodes had playback problems.Here is the link to the web site explaining how to order your replacement discs:[...]A reviewer named Richard H. Campbell posted a review on Amazon.com regarding some defective discs in the newly-reissued 2012 edition of this set. I don't intend to review the product as a whole at this point, but will comment on this defective disc issue.According to Mr. Campbell, the set contains four defective discs. He identifies them as Season 1, Volume 2, discs 2 and 3; Season 3, Volume 1, discs 2 and 3. Mr. Campbell says that the lip sync is off in the Season 1 episodes "Bloodline" and "Taps For a Dead War." He says there are issues playing the Season 3 episodes "Three Cheers For Little Boy Blue" and the two-part "Landscape With Running Figures." I have not checked the Season 1 discs in my own set to see if those episodes suffer from the same problem, however there are some comments on hometheaterforum.com where reviewers are discussing exactly the same lip sync issue with both those episodes. I assume this is an issue with every set, and there must have been some error made in the sound mixing of those episodes.As for the Season 3 discs, I did check mine, and there are huge problems. "Three Cheers For Little Boy Blue" skips and freezes up, and if you try to fast forward or skip to another chapter, you will often be taken to the wrong place in the episode. You cannot play the episode all the way through to the completion of the end theme. In "Landscape With Running Figures," there are also skipping and freezing issues. In that two-part episode, you cannot even fast forward, rewind, or skip to another chapter. Those functions simply do not work on those episodes.Problems with a fifth disc in this set were also discovered sometime later. The season two episode "The Iron Maiden" contained some new substituted Mark Heyes music at certain points in the episode. The season two disc containing this episode is also part of the replacement program, and presumably, CBS is restoring the original soundtrack in that episode.Now that CBS has announced this replacement disc program, I am satisfied that they have done everything they could to make this release the one the fans--and this legendary series--deserve.Five stars. Perhaps we could have gotten more in the way of special features, but the quality of this series, perhaps the best dramatic TV series ever done, and the remastering put into the video and audio, still earn this release five stars.

I have been a fan of this series for a long time. I delayed buying any of the single volumes due to the reviews stating that the original music had been dubbed. After watching this set, it seems to me that all episodes are included exactly as presented originally with the music and background themes. The remastering is terrific & the colour episodes are amazing. This set is a must for any fan of the series or anyone interested in watching it for the first time.

For those of you wondering if there are still problems with the disks...there are. I ordered this new from Amazon.ca in September of 2014 and three disks have problems. There is a replacement program that I now have to go through to get these disks replaced. If you have the same problem then check out this link that explains what to do:[...]

WHAT AN AWESOME CLASSIC SHOW & TO HAVE THEM ALL ON DVD IS GREAT.I USE TO WATCH IT AS A KID & MISSED A FEW BUT GO THROUGH ALL OF THEM IN CHRONOLOGICAL ORDER & WITH NO COMMERCIALS IS WELL WORTH THE MONEY. A GREAT THING TO HAVE & OF COURSE THEY DON'T MAKE SHOWS LIKE THIS ANYMORE.