Other shows, such as "Route 66", had employed the same anthology-like premise of wanderers finding adventure in each new place they came to. "The Fugitive", however, answered two questions that had bedeviled many similar series – first, why the protagonist never settled down anywhere, and second, why the protagonist tried to solve these problems himself instead of calling in the police. Casting a doctor as the protagonist also provided the series a wider "range of entry" into local stories, as Kimble's medical knowledge would allow him alone to recognize essential elements of the episode (e.g., subtle medical symptoms or an abused medicine), and the commonplace doctor's ethic (e.g., to provide aid in emergencies) would naturally lead him into dangerous situations.