Alfred Hitchcock Presents 247610 224752276 2008-07-10T07:33:45Z 67.180.130.61 /* Episodes */ {{Infobox Television | show_name = Alfred Hitchcock Presents | image = [[image:Alfred-Hitchcock-Presents-Title.jpg|200px]] | caption = Screen shot of opening sequence of ''Alfred Hitchcock Presents'' | genre = [[Drama]] / [[mystery fiction|Mystery]] / [[Melodrama]] | creator = [[Alfred Hitchcock]] | director = | theme_music_composer = [[Charles Gounod]] | opentheme = ''Funeral March of a Marionette'' | endtheme = ''Funeral March of a Marionette'' | composer = | country = {{USA}} | language = [[English language|English]] | num_seasons = 10 | num_episodes = 363 | list_episodes = List of Alfred Hitchcock Presents episodes | executive_producer = | producer = | asst_producer = | editor = | location = | camera = | runtime = 30 minutes (seasons 1-7)<br>60 minutes (seasons 8-10) | network = [[CBS]] (1955-1964)<br>[[NBC]] (1964-1965) | picture_format = [[Black-and-white]] | audio_format = [[Monaural]] sound | first_aired = [[October 2]], [[1955 in television|1955]] | last_aired = [[May 10]], [[1965 in television|1965]] | related = ''[[The New Alfred Hitchcock Presents]]'' | website = | imdb_id = 0047708 | tv_com_id = 238 }} '''''Alfred Hitchcock Presents''''' is an [[anthology]] [[television]] series hosted by [[Alfred Hitchcock]]. The series featured both [[mystery fiction|mysteries]] and [[melodrama]]s. By the premiere of the show on [[October 2]], [[1955]], Hitchcock had been directing films for over three decades. ''[[Time (magazine)|Time]]'' names it one of "The 100 Best TV Shows of All-TIME".<ref>[http://www.time.com/time/specials/2007/article/0,28804,1651341_1659188_1651398,00.html The 100 Best TV Shows of All-TIME]</ref> ==History== ''Alfred Hitchcock Presents'' is well known for its [[title sequence]]. The camera fades in on a simple line-drawing caricature of Hitchcock's rotund profile. As the program's theme music, [[Charles Gounod]]'s ''Funeral March of a Marionette'', plays, Hitchcock himself appears in silhouette from the right edge of the screen, and then walks to center screen to eclipse the caricature. The camera then pans to a scene in which Hitchcock provides a humorous introduction to the episode. He often begins by saying "Good evening."<ref>[http://www.tvguide.com/tvshows/alfred-hitchcock-presents/100020 TV Guide]</ref> The drawing was the work of Hitchcock himself.<ref name="mysterynet">[http://www.mysterynet.com/hitchcock/ahp.shtml Alfred Hitchcock Presents TV Show]</ref> He began his career in the 1920's as an illustrator for [[silent film|silent movie]] [[intertitle]] cards. The sequence has been parodied countless times in films and on television. The caricature and ''Funeral March of a Marionette'' music have become indelibly associated with Hitchcock in popular culture. Hitchcock appears again after the title sequence and drolly introduces the story from a mostly-empty studio or from the set of the current episode. At least two versions of the opening were shot for every episode. A version intended for the American audience would often spoof a recent popular commercial or poke fun at the sponsor, leading into the commercial.<ref name="mysterynet"/> An alternative version for European audiences would instead include jokes at the expense of Americans in general.<ref name="imdb">[http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0047708/trivia IMDB trivia]</ref> For later seasons, opening remarks were also filmed with Hitchcock speaking in [[French language|French]] and [[German language|German]] for the show's international presentations, reflecting his real-life fluency in both languages.<ref name="imdb"/> Hitchcock would close the show in much the same way as it was opened, but now to tie up loose ends rather than joke. He told ''[[TV Guide]]'' that his reassurances that the criminal had been apprehended were "a necessary gesture to morality..." Originally 30 minutes per episode, in 1962 the show was extended to a full hour and retitled '''''The Alfred Hitchcock Hour'''''.<ref>[http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0055657/ ''The Alfred Hitchcock Hour''] at [[IMDB]]</ref> Hitchcock himself only directed 17 of the 270 filmed episodes of ''Alfred Hitchcock Presents''<ref name="imdb"/> and only one of the hour-long episodes, "I Saw the Whole Thing" with [[John Forsythe]]. The last new episode aired on [[June 26]], [[1965]], but the series continued to be popular in [[television syndication|syndication]] for decades. The first season was released on DVD in 2005, the second season in 2006, and the third in October 2007; it is also available on the [[iTunes]] Music Store and on [[NBC]]'s website. It is still regularly rerun on The Book Channel. == 1985 revival == {{main article|The New Alfred Hitchcock Presents}} In 1985, the [[National Broadcasting Company]] aired a new TV-movie based upon the series, combining newly-filmed stories with [[Film colorization|colorized]] footage of Hitchcock from the original series introducing each segment. The movie was a huge [[Nielsen Ratings|ratings]] success, and sparked a brief revival of the [[anthology series]] genre that included [[The New Twilight Zone|a new version]] of ''[[The Twilight Zone (1959 TV series)|The Twilight Zone]]'' amongst others. ''[[The New Alfred Hitchcock Presents]]'' series debuted in the fall of 1985 and retained the same format as the movie - newly filmed stories (a mixture of original works and updated remakes of original series episodes) with colorized introductions by Hitchcock. The new series lasted only two seasons before NBC cancelled it, but it was then produced for two more years by [[USA Network]] (which is now co-owned with NBC under [[NBC Universal]]). == Guest stars & other actors == {{main|List of Alfred Hitchcock Presents guest stars}} A large number of notable actors appeared on the series, including [[Ed Asner]], [[Mary Astor]], [[Gene Barry]], [[Charles Bronson]], [[John Cassavetes]], [[Joseph Cotten]], [[Robert Culp]], [[Bette Davis]], [[Angie Dickinson]], [[Robert Duvall]], [[Peter Falk]], [[John Forsythe]], [[Anne Francis]], [[Cedric Hardwicke]], [[Carolyn Jones]], [[Brian Keith]], [[Jack Klugman]], [[Peter Lawford]], [[Cloris Leachman]], [[Peter Lorre]], [[E. G. Marshall]], [[Walter Matthau]], [[Darren McGavin]], [[Steve McQueen]], [[Vera Miles]], [[Vic Morrow]], [[Vincent Price]], [[Robert Redford]], [[Burt Reynolds]], [[William Shatner]], [[Jessica Tandy]], [[Dick Van Dyke]], [[Dennis Weaver]], [[Joanne Woodward]], and [[Fay Wray]]. Actors appearing in the most number of episodes include [[Patricia Hitchcock]] (Alfred Hitchcock's daughter), [[Dick York]], [[Robert Horton]], [[John Williams (actor)|John Williams]], [[Robert H. Harris]], [[Claude Rains]], [[Barbara Baxley]], [[Ray Teal]], [[Percy Helton]], [[Mildred Dunnock]], and [[Alan Napier]]. ==Episodes == <!-- do not rename section without fixed section reference in lists --> :''See [[List of Alfred Hitchcock Presents episodes]] and [[List of The Alfred Hitchcock Hour episodes]] for more details.'' ''Alfred Hitchcock Presents'', 30 minutes long, aired weekly at 9:30 on CBS on Sunday nights from 1955 to 1960, and then at 8:30 on NBC on Tuesday nights from 1960 to 1962.<ref>[http://www.tv.com/alfred-hitchcock-presents/show/238/summary.html Alfred Hitchcock Presents] at [[TV.com]]</ref> It was followed by ''The Alfred Hitchcock Hour'', which lasted for three seasons, September 1962 to June 1965, adding another 93 episodes to the 270 already produced for ''Alfred Hitchcock Presents''. Two episodes, both directed by Hitchcock himself, were nominated for [[Emmy Award]]s: "The Case of Mr. Pelham" (1955) with [[Tom Ewell]] and "Lamb to the Slaughter" (1958) with [[Barbara Bel Geddes]]. The third season opener "The Glass Eye" (1957) won an [[Emmy Award]] for director [[Robert Stevens]]. An episode of ''The Alfred Hitchcock Hour'' titled "An Unlocked Window" (1965) earned an [[Edgar Award]] for writer [[James Bridges]] in 1966. One 1961 episode ("The Sorcerer's Apprentice") was not initially broadcast by NBC because the [[Federal Communications Commission|FCC]] felt that the ending was too gruesome. The plot has a magician's assistant performing a "sawing a woman in half" trick, not knowing it's a gimmick, and he cuts the unconscious woman in half. The episode has since been shown in syndication. ==DVD releases== [[Universal Studios Home Entertainment]] has released the first three seasons of ''Alfred Hitchcock Presents'' on DVD in [[DVD_region_code#Region_codes_and_countries|Region 1]]. {| class="wikitable" !Name !Ep# !Region 1 !Region 2 |- | Season One | align="center"|39 | [[October 4]] [[2005]] | [[November 21]] [[2005]] |- | Season Two | align="center"|39 | [[October 17]] [[2006]] | [[March 26]] [[2007]] |- | Season Three | align="center"|39 | [[October 9]] [[2007]] | [[April 14]] [[2008]] |} ==References== {{reflist}} ==Further reading== * Martin, Jr. Grams: ''The Alfred Hitchcock Presents Companion''. OTR Pub, 2001, (Paperback: ISBN 0970331010) ==External links== *[http://hitchcockpresentsdvd.com/ Hitchcock Presents DVD Official Universal Studios Site] *{{imdb title|id=0047708|title=Alfred Hitchcock Presents}} ' [[Category:1950s American television series]] [[Category:1960s American television series]] [[Category:1955 television series debuts]] [[Category:1965 television series endings]] [[Category:Anthology television series]] [[Category:Crime television series]] [[Category:CBS network shows]] [[Category:NBC network shows]] [[Category:Television series by NBC Universal Television]] [[Category:Edgar Award winning works]] [[de:Alfred Hitchcock Presents]] [[fr:Alfred Hitchcock présente (série télévisée, 1955)]] [[it:Alfred Hitchcock presenta]] [[he:אלפרד היצ'קוק מגיש]] [[nl:Alfred Hitchcock Presents]] [[sv:Alfred Hitchcock presenterar]]