atlasmb Each episode of "Alfred Hitchcock Presents" begins with the unmistakable caricatured profile of Hitchcock himself. He introduces the episode, shows up to introduce commercial breaks and, being the good host, bids his viewers good night at the end of each episode. All of this is done with the pithy, tongue-in-cheek, insinuations for which Hitchcock was noted. He is laughing at us, at the sponsors, and at the world in general, it seems, as if he knows a secret we don't.The series is an anthology of stories and, like "The Twilight Zone", it features stories that are imaginative and cleverly written. Where "The Twilight Zone" features stories of science fiction, "Hitchcock Presents" features stories about criminal intent, psychological aberrations, or just odd views of personalities.It seems that the whole is greater than its parts, because although some episodes--when viewed separately--are not very impressive, as a body of work, the series is impressive, with fine performances and good writing.As a child, I remember that merely hearing the show's theme music (Gounod's "Funeral March of a Marionette") and seeing Hitchcock's profile was enough to suggest the presence of the macabre. His off kilter sense of humor as host of the series, served to tie the individual shows together, despite commercial interruptions. Like a Tony Perkin's smile, he seemed to intimate hidden depths and dark intentions.

rcj5365 Television in the 1950's,was pretty bland by almost any yardstick. During that period,you had the opportunity to see either detective dramas,and family comedies not to mention all of the above. That's not to say that certain series,such as the early Gunsmoke were not daring and edgy in their own way. Or that the early Ozzie and Harriet or the early I Love Lucy did not have its hilarious moments. After all, not matter how good some of the episodes were,either the adventures of a typical suburban family,bringing law and order to the Old West or following the humorous escapades of a zany housewife were not exactly novel concepts in television programming. Even the typical variety show had some flaws in them too,but sometimes was rarely notice.Two series,however did come along to challenge convertion. The Twilight Zone,by the end of the decade,attacked frontally with huge doses of imagination and exotic story lines that often overwhelmed viewers,thereby opening America's living rooms to the expanding world of unthought not to mention unheard of possibilities. It was an original,and it remains to this day a standard classic appreciated by one and all. However,the ground breaking series did not attack frontally. Instead in true fashion,it snuck past the guardians of Good Taste and Morality,otherwise known as the Department of Standards and Practices. This was during the opening of each episode was introduced by a chubby guy with a British accent who could give a brilliant introduction while cracking a few bad jokes and abuse the sponsors. This is what Alfred Hitchcock's half-hour anthology series did."Alfred Hitchcock Presents" made its premiere on CBS-TV on October 2, 1955,and from the opening sequence became an instant hit that stayed on the network for seven seasons(CBS-TV from 1955 to 1960,and later went to NBC-TV for its final two seasons from 1960 until 1962,all in classic black and white). A total of 270 episodes were produced for this half-hour series that was produced by Norman Lloyd and Joan Harrison,under Hitchcock's production company,Shamley Productions for Revue Studios/MCA-TV-Universal. Hitchcock himself was not only a master showman,but he was an original in which each week was for its time slyly revolutionary-to transpose within the comeuppance from the story to Hitchcock's often humorous epilogue. There the audience would learn that the culprit was punished and that justice have once again prevailed,apparently to keep the censors at bay. The storyline might end up on screen with a gruesome murder while only later would the audience be told by Hitchcock that justice had indeed caught up with the suspect of the crime. Maybe that seems like a minor change,but in fact was highly innovative not to mention significant. For now the audience could follow the plot developments,without knowing how the story itself would end,while the deadening element of predictability was transferred to the easily ignored epilogue. For its time,it was truly ground-breaking event in the history of television. And still holds that title today,and it continues to entertain,and remains one of the few television series of long ago to still be.Two episodes,both directed by Hitchcock himself are consider the best out of the entire series: "The Case of Mr. Pelham" with Tom Ewell,and "Lamb to the Slaughter" with Barbara Bel Geddes,were simply brilliant along with "The Glass Eye","Breakdown","Special Delivery",are just to name a few.

Lee Eisenberg I've only seen a few episodes of "Alfred Hitchcock Presents", but just those few identify it as a great show. The opening with his shadow approaching his outline gives a hint of suspense, but when we see the Master of Suspense offering a slight explanation of what's about to happen, there's no turning back.One can see that Hitch - who would have turned 108 yesterday - occasionally used the show to introduce his movies, and did a really clever job with it: one episode featured a woman stealing money (remember in which movie that happened?). Another episode was set on a train (now where did we see a train?) All in all, I would call this the perfect way that any director could get involved in TV, and who else could do it except Sir Alfred Joseph Hitchcock? You just gotta see it to really get a feel for it. But when you do watch it, just be prepared for what sorts of things you're about to see.

dmorse This is a response to the author of the question referring to the episode of Alfred Hitchcock concerning the nurses in the old house...This episode first aired on "The Alfred Hitchcock Hour", February 15, 1965, and was entitled "An Unlocked Window" and starred Dana Wynter as Nurse Stella Crosson, who is hired as a companion to an invalid, and is aided by another nurse Betty Ames; it turns out that Betty Ames is really a man at the end of this frightening episode....for complete information as to story, etc. of this episode refer to the TVTome.com site and look up the Alfred Hitchcock Hour series; I am sure this is the one...I too was scared out of my wits, but was also quite young when I saw it for the first time; it is really quite well-done and deserves re-airing, as I don't think this series is being aired at the present time. For everyone's information, I believe the first season of Alfred Hitchcock Presents will be available some time this year, I believe for the 50th anniversary of the show; I do hope it contains a lot of good extras.