ABC Gave a Fading Hit One More Season. 59 Years Ago, the Decision Paid Off in a Way Few Expected
‘The Fugitive’ finale smashed TV records and proved that walking away too soon can be costly.
EXPERT OPINION BY MARC BERMAN, FOUNDER AND EDITOR-IN-CHIEF, PROGRAMMING INSIDER
On August 29, 1967, more than 78 million viewers tuned in to watch a television ending.
They wanted to know whether Dr. Richard Kimble, the wrongly convicted physician played by David Janssen on ABC’s The Fugitive, would finally catch the One-Armed Man responsible for his wife’s murder.
They got their answer.
The two-part finale, “The Judgment,” attracted 25.7 million households and a 72 percent share of the television audience, making it the most-watched episode of a regularly scheduled television series up to that point. The record stood until CBS’ Dallas resolved the “Who Shot J.R.?” mystery in 1980.
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The more interesting story isn’t the finale’s enormous
But the more interesting story isn’t the finale’s enormous audience. It’s what happened before it.
The Fugitive was not at its ratings peak when it began, and it certainly wasn’t when it ended.
When the series premiered in 1963, it wasn’t an instant ratings phenomenon. By its third season, it had fallen from No. 5 to No. 34. Under normal circumstances, that kind of decline might have spelled the end.
Source: www.inc.com
