Genre Anthology television series presented by famed thriller director Alfred Hitchcock. The original run was from 1955 to 1962 (half-hour episodes) and 1963 to 1965 (hour-long episodes, as The Alfred Hitchcock Hour), totalling over 200 episodes (of which fewer than two dozen were directed by Hitchcock himself).Each episode was a self-contained mystery/thriller story, with Hitchcock appearing before and after to make introductory and closing remarks. Writers who either wrote episodes or had stories adapted for the series include Ambrose Bierce, Ray Bradbury, Robert Bloch, Roald Dahl, Avram Davidson, Evan Hunter, Don Marquis, Richard Matheson, A.A. Milne, Ellis Peters, Dorothy L. Sayers and Cornell Woolrich.Notably for the time, Hitchcock would openly mock the concept of commercials (as opposed to the actual products themselves) in his remarks with statements such as "Join us next week as we present another fine selection of exciting and informative commercials. Oh, and if there's time, we'll also try to squeeze in a story between them."A Revival, The New Alfred Hitchcock Presents, ran from 1985 to 1989; it featured new stories (and some newly-filmed remakes of old episodes) introduced by recycled (and colorized) footage of Hitchcock.
Alfred Hitchcock Presents and The Alfred Hitchcock Hour provide examples of:
And I Must Scream: In "The Long Silence" a woman is paralyzed, unable to speak.
Exactly What It Says on the Tin: Subverted. In the episode "Bull in a China Shop", Hitchcock apologizes for the fact that the story features neither a bull nor a china shop.
Game Show Appearance: In the host segment teaser for "The Crooked Road", Hitch is placed in The $64,000 Question's sound proof booth and told to identify "What the following person just ate, drank, smoked, used or drove." Hitch pauses, then says, "Ah yes...the answer is..." and the shot fades out to the commercial.
Rearrange the Song: The show featured several versions of "Funeral March..." throughout its run.
Magic 8 Ball: Possibly not magic, but a giant 8 Ball is Hitch's prop of choice in the intro to "The Money". At the end he walks behind it.
The Magic Poker Equation: In "Crack Of Doom" the hero, betting with borrowed money wins the big pot...but was only able to bluff sucessfully because he misread his Jack hold card as a Queen and really thought he had the winning hand.
Moral Guardians: If an episode ended with the killer still at large, Hitchcock was obliged to claim in his closing remarks that of course they were brought to justice soon afterward.
As an example for the most famous episode "Lamb to the Slaughter", the woman tries to kill her second husband using the same method, but is caught when she fails to note the freezer had been unplugged and the meat is as soft as jelly.
Mythology Gag: One of the '80s revival episodes was called "South By Southwest", featuring an actor who gets into trouble while auditioning for a remake of Hitch's classic North by Northwest.
In "Cheap Is Cheap", Dennis Day plays an extremely cheap man looking for an inexpensive way to kill his spendthrift wife. At one point, after blanching at a hitman's price of $500 to do the job, the hitman suggests Day do the job himself. When Day says he couldn't, the hitman mentions having seen "a story the other night about a woman who offed her husband with a leg of lamb".
Our Mermaids Are Different: While fishing during the intro of "The Last Escape", Hitch catches a Mermaid. Unfortunatly by the third break she is gone.
Hitchcock: I suppose you're wondering what happenend to my catch. The Game Warden insisted I through her back in, because her measurements didn't meet requirements. In order to keep them, they must measure at least 36-22-15, and of course it is quite difficult to know where to take the last measurement.
Product Placement: At the end of "None Are So Blind" as the Theme Music starts up and the camera starts to turn away from him, Hitchcock says "Just a moment....if you would prefer your stories without my comments, might I suggest this new magazine", as he holds up a copy of his Alfred Hitchcock Magazine.
Puppet Permutation: Hitch's wrapup to the episode "And So Died Riabouchinska"
Hitchcock: Tonight's story reminds me of my days in Vaudeville. I did an act called "Dr Speewack and His Puppets". I never did care for Dr Speewack... he always thought he was so much better than the rest of us.
Very Special Episode: A couple of these were done for "The Alfred Hitchcock Hour", addressing social concerns within the series' format. They were "Hangover" (dealing with alcoholism) and "Memo from Purgatory" (dealing with teen gang violence). In both cases, Hitchcock refrained from his usual humorous comments.
William Telling: Hitchcock uses the trope to introduce the story "Father and Son".
Hitchcock (after shooting an arrow off stage): Oh, dear me, my eyes aren't what they used to be. I even missed the boy, that time.
Zeerust: For the most part averted. Unlike competing shows The Twilight Zone and The Outer Limits, Alfred Hitchcock did not want science fiction or fantasy episodes. However one episode - "The Blessington Method" - takes place on July 13th 1980, and looks about like what someone from the 50s/60s would imagine that far-off date to be like, including an average lifespan that's increased to 125, Grace being started "Our Father, who art in Space....", and just a faint hint of Raygun Gothic. At least they didn't have the characters wear Space Clothes.
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