Alfred Hitchock Presents tv series

Alfred Hitchcock Presents

1955 - United States

The instantly recognisable, deceptively benign visage of arguably the world's greatest director of cinematic suspense, Alfred Hitchcock, side-stepped deftly to the smaller screen of US television and welcomed viewers to a polished series of stories (seventeen of which were directed by Hitchcock himself) dealing in his trademarked obsession with terror, horror, dark humour and sardonically surprising endings. 'Hitch's' wryly deadpan delivery style of introduction, coupled with the series' memorable theme music quickly established themselves as much imitated standards over a decade which saw the show broadcast on two different networks - and later in the never- ending reruns of syndication. Cleverly, in knowingly direct violation of the then accepted television code of ethics; the stories would often appear to end with evil both triumphant and unpunished. 

However, the downbeat resolution would invariably be revealed as misleading, when following the final commercial break, Hitchcock would return to almost gleefully explain what small mistake or random act of chance had finally seen justice prevail. In 1962, the show was expanded to an hour and underwent a title change to The Alfred Hitchcock Hour. The shows were produced by Norman Lloyd, later to appear before the camera as Dr. Daniel Auschlander in St Elsewhere and boasted contributions from such notable authors as Ira Levin, Roald Dahl, Sterling Silliphant and Ray Bradbury. 

In a real life twist worthy of the Master himself, five years after Hitchcock's death, in the fall of 1987, the 'Hitch' achieved a unique, near morbid, distinction: he became the first person in television history to return from the dead to host a new series, when for one season, the NBC network used colorized versions of his original black-and-white introductions to introduce all new half hour episodes of the revived series. The success of this new version led in 1987 an additional year of new episodes being made for the USA Cable Network. 

Published on November 27th, 2018. Humar.

Read Next...

Casablanca TV Series

TV series based on the famous movie.

Also released in 1955

Fury

US & British co-production about a black stallion that no-one has yet been able to tame.

Also released in 1955

Bay City Blues

Pulled from the schedules after just four episodes, Bay City Blues, created by Steve Bochco and starring Sharon Stone, was an ensemble drama which followed a minor league baseball team. The series found new life when aired on ESPN Classic

Also tagged Us Drama Series

Peyton Place

US Soap opera set in the small New England town of Peyton Place, whose quaint charm masks a complicated web of intrigue.

Also tagged Us Drama Series

Eric Barker

Comedy sketch show in which the host poked fun at a number of British institutions

Also released in 1955

Honey West

Described as television's most beautiful private eye

Also tagged Us Drama Series

Douglas Fairbanks Presents

Anthology series made in Britain for commercial television but with the US market in mind.

Also released in 1955

Wyatt Earp TV Series

Consistently good Western Series starring Hugh O'Brian about the famous US Marshal, whose trademark was a pair of "Buntline Special" pistols with extra-long barrels with which he kept the peace.

Also released in 1955