ambimom I was in college when this first aired and I remembered this series as being "important" and exciting to watch. When I saw it was scheduled on Cozi TV, I couldn't wait to see it again. Yikes, what a disappointment. Despite the charms of Gazzara, who was always better than the material he got to perform, re-watching this series is embarrassing. I feel sad for Gazzara who was a fine actor stuck in this drivel. I hope he made a bundle though he probably didn't because it didn't have much syndication, if any. Most of the people in these episodes are long dead anyway.The scripts are generally awful, bordering on being sexist, somewhat racist at times, and downright preposterous. Yet, 40 years ago these plots seemed perfectly plausible.Cozi hasn't yet rerun episodes of the "romance" Paul Bryan had with Claudine Longet (then married to Andy Williams). My sisters and I were completely enthralled when those first aired. They'll probably make me laugh out loud today.Someone here has remarked on the poor production values and cheesy sets. True, but Star Trek first ran during the same period and had sets even cheesier, yet the writing was typically thought-provoking and reality-based, which is why it became a classic despite the overwrought acting of its star, William Shatner.Cheesy sets and poor production values aside, Gazzara was 20 times the actor Shatner was. Shatner rested on good writing and is a TV icon. Gazzara rested on preposterous plot lines and was largely ignored except by us baby boomers who remember him.

Billsbarandgrill I just saw my first (and hope not the last) Run For Your Life show. I'm a bit of a fugitive in my life, too, running from myself most of the time. I liked the Fugitive series almost too much, even writing three stories on the character and theme. I liked the Incredible Hulk and the A-Team, two other shows with a 'running' and hiding theme. All the main characters in these shows are pursued by a man (or by death, as in RFYL) who represents a strong authority, and who wants to destroy the characters in some way. What's stronger than death? An element of blame in these stories exists, too, where the innocent (a dying man, or criminally innocent men) face certain death & daily disruptions of their lives because of the authority figure (a metaphor for a strong government?). Watching the disruptions these characters must experience is a lot like watching our own times. We're innocents, under the strong authority of Others, running, hiding, trying to live out our lives decently, but always being chased into corners (try balking the tax man!).

Cheyenne-Bodie The great writer/producer Roy Huggins created and produced "Run For Your Life". Roy Huggins had already developed "Cheyenne", "Maverick", "Colt 45" and "77 Sunset Strip" while he was at Warners Brothers. Huggins also created "The Fugitive", but sold the idea to ABC because he was planning to go back to college to get his Ph.D. in Political Theory. (Huggins was fed up with TV after a bad experience as head of TV production at 20th Century Fox around 1960-61.) Huggins Ph.D. plans fell through, and he wound up a producer at Universal."The Fugitive" with David Janssen premiered in 1963, in which year Huggins was producing (without credit) "Kraft Suspense Theater", a fine anthology series. David Janssen had worked for Huggins on "Conflict", "Adventures in Paradise" and "Follow the Sun". It must have hurt Huggins to see how successful Janssen's portrayal of Dr. Richard Kimble was for competitor producer Quinn Martin, who ABC had assigned the property to.One episode of "Kraft Suspense Theater" featured Herschel Bernardi as a small town attorney dying of leukemia who is defending Dean Stockwell on a murder charge. This may have given Huggins the idea for "Run For Your Life". Huggins may have also been influenced by a "Naked City" episode where David Janssen played an advertising executive dying of cancer who tries to get Adam Flint (Paul Burke) to take over his firm. (Huggins' hero is named Paul Bryan which is pretty close to Paul Burke.) And Huggins had earlier worked on a Warner Brothers pilot about Doc Holliday, who would have been played by Adam West. Doc Holiday was a man who knew he was dying and chose to live his last days adventurously and recklessly. And finally the movie "DOA" might have provided some inspiration."Run For Your Life" was Huggins sly rip-off of "The Fugitive", his own creation. Paul Bryan is a 35-year old attorney (and former assistant district attorney) with political ambitions. He is a Stanford graduate who lives in San Francisco. He was a jet pilot during the Korean War. Bryan is living his life planning for the future when he suddenly learns that he has only one or two years to live. (He won't feel ill till near the end.) Bryan tells his doctor he plans "to squeeze 30-years of living into one or two." Paul Bryan's idea of "living" is sky diving, competitive skin diving, race car driving, and chasing fascinating women. He is constantly looking for ways to make time feel fuller. Paul Bryan is always willing to help out his fellow man as he hedonistically travels around the world. He even does a little reluctant free lance spying for a friend in U.S. intelligence. And Bryan's lawyer background sometimes becomes central. Paul Bryan refuses to tell anyone he is dying, since he doesn't want to see the look of pity in their eyes.Elia Kazan had once said that Ben Gazzara was one of the three finest American actors alive. Kazan didn't say who the other two were. One must have been Brando. Maybe the third was George C. Scott. Kazan said this when Gazzara was in his early glory days on Broadway ("Cat on a Hot Tin Roof", "A Hatful of Rain", "End as a Man"). Gazzara's film career got off to a great start with "The Strange One" and "Anatomy of a Murder" but petered out quickly. Years later when Gazzara was doing "Run For Your Life", an interviewer asked Gazzara if he thought Kazan would still say he was one of the country's three finest actors. Gazzara said no one would.In 1963 Gazzara had starred as a cop in the ambitious but failed series "Arrest and Trial" (which later inspired "Law and Order").Ben Gazzara's performance in "Run For Your Life" as existential romantic hero Paul Bryan was superb. He gave the character a depth, compassion, and a restrained sadness that probably weren't in the writing. Gazzara made Paul Bryan an extremely strong, inner directed, thoughtful character. His desire to reach out and grab life seemed admirable, even if I doubt many people would react that way in his situation.Gazzara was twice nominated for an Emmy, but lost each time to Bill Cosby of "I Spy". The show was also nominated twice as best drama series.Gazzara had major battles with producers Roy Huggins and Jo Swerling, Jr. over the quality of the show. But the result was the series seemed to get better.This "rip-off" of "The Fugitive" was even better executed than the original in many ways, and each episode wasn't tied to a somewhat tedious formula.Roy Huggins and Ben Gazzara were both in top form here. This was my favorite show when it was on.

Ben Burgraff (cariart) "Run for Your Life" was one of those shows that Johnny Carson loved to joke about, back in the sixties; with the premise that a wealthy 30-ish lawyer had a fatal disease with only one or two years left to live, when the show entered it's third season, did this mean the specialists were quacks, or that the hero's globe-trotting adventures invoke some 'miracle cure'? The joking aside, the series' novel premise gave star Ben Gazzara an opportunity to display his well-respected dramatic skills (he'd created the role of Brick in "Cat on a Hot Tin Roof" on Broadway, and, with Peter Falk, would make a major impact in John Cassavetes' innovative films of the sixties and seventies), and turn the routine plots into often engrossing character studies.There could never be a truly 'happy' end to any episode; even when 'Paul Bryan' resolved the issues raised in a show, he could never enjoy the 'fruits' of his endeavors, or even promise to return to the people whose lives he'd changed. If he fell in love (which, naturally, happened), he had to either deny it, or pass the reciprocated love to someone else (unless the girl herself died), so 'bittersweet' was the best term to describe the show, a quality similar to "The Fugitive", as well. As NBC required 'action' in their series, "Run for Your Life" had Bryan often "in harm's way", and each time he was treated by a doctor or hospital, there was the added tension of whether his exertions might accelerate his disease. Gazzara's Bryan was not trying to commit suicide, but was trying to live his remaining time to the fullest, so his anguish when facing risks had a very 'real' basis, and gave Gazzara some of his best series' moments.Despite the 'backlot' feel of the 'international' locales (the show never went on location), and the casting of the same actors who appeared in many other Universal-produced series of the period, veteran producer Roy Huggins tried to keep each episode fresh and original, through the use of stock footage, music, and clever editing."Run for Your Life" was not a 'great' series, but was unconventional for it's time, and, as a showcase for Ben Gazzara, was definitely worth watching.