Kimble’s Stumbling First Steps

I try to keep a watch out for crime-fiction-related anniversaries, but I missed a big one yesterday. As Terence Towles Canote wrote in A Shroud of Thoughts, “It was sixty years ago that the running began. On September 17, 1963, the classic show The Fugitive debuted on ABC. The show starred David Janssen as Dr. Richard Kimble, who had been wrongfully convicted of his wife’s murder. While he was being shipped to death row, the train carrying him derailed and he managed to escape. Dr. Kimble then went on the run, all the while searching for the one-armed man who had really killed his wife. Pursuing him was Stafford Police Lt. Phillip Gerard, an officer dedicated to the enforcement of the law.”

Over the years, I have read occasional articles about The Fugitive. But I don’t remember learning how difficult it was for creator Roy Huggins to get that hour-long crime drama on the air. Again from Canote:

While Roy Huggins thought the had a great idea in The Fugitive, he initially had trouble interesting anyone in the concept. He showed it to fellow writer Howard Browne, with whom he had worked on such shows as Cheyenne and Maverick. Much to Roy Huggins’s surprise, Howard Browne thought it was a terrible idea for a show. Undeterred, Roy Huggins showed it to his agent … who had nearly the same reaction that Howard Browne had. After he had taken the position at 20th Century Fox, Peter Levathes, then in charge of 20th Century Fox’s television division, asked Roy Huggins for any ideas he had for television shows. He told him his idea for The Fugitive. In the biography Roy Huggins: [Creator of] Maverick, 77 Sunset Strip, and The Rockford Files by Paul Green, Roy Huggins said, “When I finished he sat in stricken silence, staring at me as if I had just turned rancid before his very eyes.”

It was while Roy Huggins was still at 20th Century Fox that he received a call from Burt Nodella, who was the executive in charge of development at the American Broadcasting Company (ABC). The two had become friends when Roy Huggins was still at Warner Bros., whose shows were aired by the network. Burt Nodella asked Roy Huggins to pitch some idea for TV shows for ABC. He then found himself in a Beverly Hills Hotel suite pitching the idea for The Fugitive to eight ABC executives. The ABC executive[s] sat in silence after Roy Huggins finished his presentation, then let him know that they thought it was a bad idea. Fortunately, Leonard Goldenson, the head [and founding president] of ABC, was also present at the meeting. The various executives turned to him to see what he had to say. Mr. Goldenson loved the idea, stating, “You know, Roy, that is the best f***ing idea I have heard for a television series in my life. When do you want to go to work?”

There’s much more to Canote’s post. Enjoy it all here.