1967: 'Fugitive' Richard Kimble Stops Running
August 29, 2020
| By TV WW
On this day in 1967, Richard Kimble stopped running.
For four seasons, the ABC drama series The Fugitive followed Dr. Richard Kimble (David Janssen) as he searched for the man who killed his wife. Falsely accused of the murder himself and unable to prove his innocence, Kimble got a lucky break when the train that was transporting him to death row crashed, and he escaped.
Audiences were captivated by the saga of the innocent man who criss-crossed the country searching for the killer while evading police — most notably Barry Morse's relentless detective Lieutenant Philip Gerard.
The two-part finale ended with Kimble's exoneration while narrator William Conrad delivered the final line: "Tuesday, August 29th: The day the running stopped." (Except in markets where the show was pre-empted by regional baseball games. In those cities, the second episode was bumped to the following week, and the show ended with the words: "Tuesday, September 5: The day the running stopped.")