The Alfred Hitchcock Hour (1 Viewer)

[Raider Nation]

MeTV has been running these episodes lately. Really enjoying watching them. Hitchcock was a freakin genius. Most of us have seen his movies, but I had never taken the time to absorb the TV show until now.

Watched an episode last night where a guy gets a phone call from a man who said he was coming over to kill him. I was glued to the TV for the remaining hour. The shows are dated a bit, of course, but still thrilling. Quite a testament to Hitchcock, considering the episodes were produced between 1962 and 1965.

 

[fantasycurse42]

Did the man come over to kill him?

 

[Andy Dufresne]

Maybe I'll do that one as a project after I finish with the Twilight Zone.

 

[Raider Nation]

Did the man come over to kill him?

Maybe.

 

[Godsbrother]

This was a great show. Hitchcock's involvement was mainly as a host, doing the opening and closing scenes though he did direct a few episodes.

 

[Raider Nation]

Maybe I'll do that one as a project after I finish with the Twilight Zone.

On a related topic, I have been disappointed by Rod Serling's "Night Gallery" show, also currently airing on MeTV. Every episode is just way too ..... out there.

 

[Raider Nation]

This was a great show. Hitchcock's involvement was mainly as a host, doing the opening and closing scenes though he did direct a few episodes.

He detested commercials.

 

[Godsbrother]

Maybe I'll do that one as a project after I finish with the Twilight Zone.

On a related topic, I have been disappointed by Rod Serling's "Night Gallery" show, also currently airing on MeTV. Every episode is just way too ..... out there.

This was due mainly to the show's producer Jack Laird. After Twilight Zone, Serling did not want the day-to-day responsibilities of a TV show. When the pilot was sold as a series and Laird was selected as producer he was initially relieved but later came to regret that decision.

Laird and Serling did not have the same vision for the show. In particular Serling hated the comedy vignettes that Laird inserted in between longer stories. Laird was also rejecting an alarming number of Serling's scripts in favor of others. Serling had assumed that since he was the creator and host of the show that he would have at least some input but that was not the case.

Serling even attempted to have his name dropped from the title of the show "Rod Serling's Night Gallery" but that request was ignored as well. By the time the show entered it's last season Laird was not returning Serling's phone calls.

Despite all of that, Night Gallery still has some excellent episodes. One word of caution when watching the syndicated versions: the shows are horribly edited. To really appreciate the show you need to watch the unedited versions.

 

[Raider Nation]

This one was on last night. Best one I've seen yet. Well worth it if you have 43 minutes to kill.

 

[Encyclopedia Brown]

On a related topic, I have been disappointed by Rod Serling's "Night Gallery" show, also currently airing on MeTV. Every episode is just way too ..... out there.

I don't recall much of this series. I am now watching an episode with Bill Bixby post-"Courtship of Eddie's Father" and pre-"Hulk". Not exactly a great episode.

 

[SaintsInDome2006]

The most amazing thing about these and Twilight Zone was that there was a time when it was considered a duty if network tv to provide hight quality, intelligent content that would actually raise the intellectual public content in America. Startling and sad that we have lost that ideal and did so long ago. A lot of great programming maybe most of it from the 50s was not retained either.

 

[wikkidpissah]

The most amazing thing about these and Twilight Zone was that there was a time when it was considered a duty if network tv to provide hight quality, intelligent content that would actually raise the intellectual public content in America. Startling and sad that we have lost that ideal and did so long ago. A lot of great programming maybe most of it from the 50s was not retained either.

With Studio One, Playhouse 90, GE Theater and many others, for a few years more plays were being written for TV than for the stage. The Sterling/Hitchcock tradition grew out of that and made for the best television produced until the Beeb & HBO picked the concept back up 20 yrs later. I was just old enough to want to understand back then, but a lot of it went over my head.

But its a mess for me now, too. A lifelong insomniac, i sleep with the TV on and have trained myself to fall asleep to either B&W or historical programming, much of which i have recorded for that purpose. For a while in recent years, it was perfect - after Stewart/Colbert/@midnightorwhatever, i'd switch over to the Untouchables on MeTV and drop off to hardbitten dramas i didnt care about cuz they all ended the same. Since ME got rid of Eliot Ness, i have to wait til Hitchcock. Problem is, i get really invested but its so late and im so old now i never make it all the way through, so I have seen the 1st half of 100 AHP stories and know the end/twist to none of them.

 

[KarmaPolice]

Just ordered some of these through the library.

Was The Outer Limits as quality as this and Twilight Zone?

 

[wikkidpissah]

Just ordered some of these through the library.

Was The Outer Limits as quality as this and Twilight Zone?

nowhere near - occasionally good but way hokey. check for yourself midnight-2am sun nite/mon morn on ThisTV

 

[Leroy Hoard]

Just ordered some of these through the library.

Was The Outer Limits as quality as this and Twilight Zone?

nowhere near - occasionally good but way hokey. check for yourself midnight-2am sun nite/mon morn on ThisTV

Sort of a pre-star trek with some of the same weird looking aliens and sets. Mostly fun for spotting those and some of the guest actors who would later become more famous.

 

[saintfool]

This one was on last night. Best one I've seen yet. Well worth it if you have 43 minutes to kill.

there was a pretty slick one that i remember with Bob Newhart. he plays a guy that is married to a shrew of a wife and decides to get out of the situation. as someone that adores Bob, it's a real treat to see him play a creep.

 

[KarmaPolice]

Just ordered some of these through the library.

Was The Outer Limits as quality as this and Twilight Zone?

nowhere near - occasionally good but way hokey. check for yourself midnight-2am sun nite/mon morn on ThisTV

that is what i thought. Will have to look and see if i have that channel.

 

[Raider Nation]

A lifelong insomniac, i sleep with the TV on and have trained myself to fall asleep to either B&W or historical programming, much of which i have recorded for that purpose.

Yes! Same here. I don't know what is so soothing about those old shows, but they are just about the only way I can get to sleep.

 

[Raider Nation]

On a related topic, I have been disappointed by Rod Serling's "Night Gallery" show, also currently airing on MeTV. Every episode is just way too ..... out there.

I don't recall much of this series. I am now watching an episode with Bill Bixby post-"Courtship of Eddie's Father" and pre-"Hulk". Not exactly a great episode.

It's really a terrible program. I've been watching it for almost a year and have seen maybe two good episodes. Shame on MeTV for running them before the A.H. Hour and Thriller.

 

[Godsbrother]

On a related topic, I have been disappointed by Rod Serling's "Night Gallery" show, also currently airing on MeTV. Every episode is just way too ..... out there.

I don't recall much of this series. I am now watching an episode with Bill Bixby post-"Courtship of Eddie's Father" and pre-"Hulk". Not exactly a great episode.

It's really a terrible program. I've been watching it for almost a year and have seen maybe two good episodes. Shame on MeTV for running them before the A.H. Hour and Thriller.

Again you should watch the unedited versions on the DVDs before you make a judgement. There are a decent number of exceptional episodes but because they were not of uniformed length they were horribly edited when they went into syndication.

There are some real turkey episodes too though.

 

[Leroy Hoard]

On a related topic, I have been disappointed by Rod Serling's "Night Gallery" show, also currently airing on MeTV. Every episode is just way too ..... out there.

I don't recall much of this series. I am now watching an episode with Bill Bixby post-"Courtship of Eddie's Father" and pre-"Hulk". Not exactly a great episode.

It's really a terrible program. I've been watching it for almost a year and have seen maybe two good episodes. Shame on MeTV for running them before the A.H. Hour and Thriller.

Again you should watch the unedited versions on the DVDs before you make a judgement. There are a decent number of exceptional episodes but because they were not of uniformed length they were horribly edited when they went into syndication.

There are some real turkey episodes too though.

Great points here. Sometimes we forget how many more ads & promos are stuffed into the currently shown programs than back when these were first shown. Chopping even a few minutes out of a short story can make it almost unwatchable.