Dial File — Steve Bornfeld: Slipping the cuffs on ‘The Fugitive’

Friday, Feb. 11, 2000 | 8:57 a.m.

Steve Bornfeld is the Sun features editor. His television column appears Fridays. Reach him at steveb@vegas.com or 259-4081.

Can you hear it?:

"On the run, again; I just can't wait to get on the run, again; The life I love is dodging frying in The Chair; Oh, I can't wait to get on the run again."

Now all CBS has to do is sign up Willie Nelson to sing the theme.

And erase -- or, at least, diminish -- the indelible images of David Janssen's exquisite angst and Harrison Ford's macho misery. And find a small-screen Tommy Lee Jones to both electrify and amuse viewers each week. And tempt the pop culture gods one more time.

Then the resurrected adventures of "The Fugitive" are good to go.

With actor Tim Daly ("Wings") already on board in the title role, CBS is reportedly bullish on a possible fall revival (the pilot is in the works) of the classic ABC series (1963-67) that modernized Victor Hugo's "Les Miserables." The original "Fugitive" substituted the relentlessly pursued Dr. Richard "I didn't kill my wife" Kimble and his relentless pursuer, Lt. Gerard, for beleaguered bread bandit Jean Valjean and that ferocious French flatfoot, Javert. (The rest of the inspiration was provided by the real-life murder case of Dr. Sam Sheppard.)

A classic updated into a classic. But could this latest updating be a classic mistake? Maybe. Maybe not. (How's that for ironclad wishy-washyness?)

Resuscitating iconic TV characters has become part of the programming playbook as the medium increasingly cannibalizes its past to stock its future.

(We were mercifully spared a planned "Mary & Rhoda" series, but earlier this week were still exposed to the mopey-dopey TV movie that revisited the MTM gals 23 years later. Most of us would probably have preferred to recall the MTM gang hilariously waddling en masse over to Mare's desk for a tissue in the legendary finale -- and leave it at that.)

"The Fugitive," however, requires a remake, rather than a reunion. (The latter would, of course, be ridiculous: Perhaps Kimble and Gerard hugging and reminiscing about that wacky train wreck and their silly misunderstanding over a glass of Asti Spumante.)

The impetus for the show's return is obvious: It's a slam-bang concept, with proven drawing power over several generations of fans.

The finale of the '60s series made TV history as one of the most-watched episodes ever: An astonishing 72 percent of viewers tuned in to see Gerard gun down the one-armed man as he was grappling with Kimble atop a tower. And decades later the series spawned the '93 flick with Ford and Jones, making it a worldwide sensation all over again.

But which of two very different "Fugitives" are they remaking? The moody, haunting series or the action-packed film? And which one will best tap into the sensibilities of contemporary viewers?

From the poetic, basso profundo narration of William Conrad that could break your heart to the propulsive-yet-melancholy theme music to the palpable pain etched into the stoic face of the perfectly-cast Janssen, "The Fugitive" was TV noir. (It was filmed in black-and-white until its final season.)

The semi-documentary-style series from producer Quinn Martin was a low-key, introspective character study of the human condition, a luxury afforded a weekly show that can build a character, take the time for subtlety and add layers week after week. Unlike far too few series of late, it was richly textured work: Tension, sadness, weariness and anger expertly intertwined as Kimble sprinted across America, his life colored and altered by the people he met.

Action was hardly a factor (when Janssen finally erupted in rage in the finale -- his screams of "you KILLED her!" punctuating every punch as he pummeled the one-armed man -- it was genuinely shocking).

For four years, until the fateful finale, "The Fugitive": The Series was about the emotional and psychological fallout from coping with an unimaginable hell. And we connected because it was a magnification of our own lives. Janssen's Richard Kimble had to cope, week after week, just as we had to cope, week after week, with our own lesser, personal hells made of life's daily injustices.

"The Fugitive": The Flick, laboring under different constraints -- its goal was to be a single, full-throttle, eye-popping piece of action moviemaking for one viewing at the multiplex -- was about resolving an unimaginable hell.

With less texture and more razzle-dazzle, the Ford flick was a buffed-up, turbo-charged redesign that had two hours -- amounting to two episodes of the original series' 120-episode run -- to breathlessly tell its tale of injustice and redemption. It was built for speed and action -- not complexity and insight. It was a thrill ride -- buoyed by great acting, but aimed squarely at action flick fans.

Both sets of lead actors as Kimble and Gerard -- Janssen and Barry Morse in the series, Ford and the enormously entertaining Jones in the film -- tailored their performances to their mediums.

Where Janssen was enigmatic, Ford was energetic. Where Morse was tightly wound, Jones was loosey-goosey. The TV actors underplayed, stringing the tension along every week. The movie actors chewed the scenery, as they had to in telling this tale over two hours.

Flash forward to 2000: What to expect?

In the title role, the often underrated Daly -- known mostly for his light comedy in "Wings" -- could surprise (he changed a lot of made-up minds with his mesmerizing portrayal of cult leader David Koresh in the tele-flick "Ambush in Waco").

The as-yet-uncast role of Lt. Gerard will be tricky, given that Jones set a new, wonderfully quirky standard for the part in the film -- but at the same time, one way too quirky not to seem overbearing in a weekly series. And in the original series, Gerard, although a constantly felt presence, only actually appeared in about one in four episodes, allowing the show to probe Kimble's long-term psychological struggle. If the update attempts a weekly cat-and-mouse game between the two men -- a la the film -- it could get boring fast.

In an obsessively youth-driven market and with state-of-the-art special effects at the ready for more intense action sequences, CBS is probably hoping to capitalize more on the memory of the Ford/Jones flick than the Janssen classic. And yet, given TV's built-in advantage -- the week-in/week-out opportunity to carve out depth and subtext -- that would be a regrettable waste.

How do you merge the introspection of the '60s series with the intensity of the '90s flick for TV viewers raised on pumped-up, hydro-powered movies?

It's a dilemma that must have CBS on the run.

Croon a Tune: Happiness is "Peanuts" theme music (and, yes, a warm puppy).

Last week's theme was the late Vince Guaraldi's bouncy, infectious music for the "Peanuts" specials of Charlie Brown and the gang, which have been entertaining us for 35 years.

Croon-a-Tune giants who knew the "Peanuts" theme were: Jerry Gordon, Tony Varchetto, Jeff Siciliano and Peter Green (all four of whom also knew that Guaraldi was the jazzy genius behind the gem), Joe Lacy (who actually knew the name of the tune -- "Linus & Lucy"), plus Mark Ritchie, Dollie Ferguson, Rich Kackstetter, Linda Noel, Dan Brown, Karin Gavin and Ed Boucher.

(By the way, don't miss "Good Grief, Charlie Brown!: A Tribute to Charles Schulz," tonight at 8 on CBS.)

Since Monday is Valentine's Day -- and we all know how well ol' Chuck did on Valentine's Day -- may you all find love with the little red-haired girl (or guy) of your choice, and may your mailbox be filled with perfume-scented, heart-shaped cards.

Speaking of hearts, fill yours with joy by calling 259-4012 for this week's Croon-a-Tune quiz.

And be My Funny Valentine.

Closing Credits: Recently-released Senate documents catalogued for the first time the range of shows and money earned in a propaganda-for-commercial-credit swap by networks and cable outfits with the White House drug office for inserting anti-drug messages into programming.

Note this one: VH1's "Behind the Music" -- featuring all those rock stars who now get high on life -- got a $903,656 commercial credit through 15 original airings and 304 reruns between May '98 and January '99.

Given the drug references on "Behind the Music," VH1 could scoop up some nice pocket change.

Then buy AOL-Time Warner.

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