 Having already thrilled audiences with a good three decades of suspenseful filmmaking, Alfred Hitchcock turned his attentions to television and on October 2, 1955 Alfred Hitchcock Presents premiered to home viewers everywhere.
Containing individual stories concerned mostly with criminal acts and other dastardly goings-on, the show was a guaranteed means of fans getting their fix of Hitchcock’s trademark tension within a 25-minute time span in between sponsor commercials (which Hitch so brilliantly and balefully poked fun at during most of his opening monologues).
The opening sequence of the show itself has been imbedded within the consciousness of popular culture at large. Who can forget the morbidly whimsical sound of Charles Gounod’s Funeral March for a Marionette, as Hitchcock’s shadow slowly fills the lines of his famous caricature?
In 1962 the series adopted a longer 50-minute format and changed its name to the more fitting The Alfred Hitchcock Hour. Though the same creative team from Presents stayed with the Hour series and all of the combined 363 episodes (270 from Presents, 93 from Hour) were produced and shot at Universal Studios in California, The Alfred Hitchcock Hour is typically seen as being a separate entity from its former incarnation.
The show also had massive star power behind it, treasured veterans and rising stars alike appearing in Hitch’s tales of mystery and murder.
Some of the actors involved included Robert Duvall, Charles Bronson, Barbara Steele, Vera Miles, Bette Davis, Vincent Price, Fay Wray, Dick van Dyke, Cloris Leachman, Angie Dickinson, Steve McQueen, Burt Reynolds, Peter Lorre, and even Alfred’s own daughter Patricia. This aspect of the series no doubt contributed to the public’s fascination and constant viewership.
 Although Hitchcock opened and closed each episode, he only actually directed 17 episodes. Two of these episodes, The Case of Mr. Pelham and Lamb to the Slaughter earned the Master of Suspense two Emmy nominations.
But it was director Robert Stevens who took home the award for season three’s first episode The Glass Eye. Hitch didn’t make any cameos in the story segments of the episodes as was his habit for his films… the only time he makes an appearance is as a picture on a magazine’s front cover in Dip in the Pool.
The show’s last episode aired on June 26, 1962… but its legacy was far from over. With consistently high ratings all throughout its original run, AHP soon became one of the most syndicated of the classic television shows, ranking amongst I Love Lucy and The Twilight Zone for its frequent amount of re-runs.
The fact that Time magazine recognized the series in its list of “The 100 Best TV Shows Of All-TIME” and was included in a lineup of U.S. Postal stamps honoring early television pioneers only attests to the show’s staying power and classic status.
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SEASON 1 • EPISODE TITLE |
AIRDATE |
|
Revenge |
Oct. 2, 1955 |
| Premonition
| Oct. 9, 1955 |
| Triggers in Leash
| Oct. 16, 1955 |
| Don’t Come Back Alive
| Oct. 23, 1955 |
| Into Thin Air
| Oct. 30, 1955 |
| Salvage
| Nov. 6, 1955 |
| Breakdown
| Nov. 13, 1955 |
| Our Cook’s a Treasure
| Nov. 20, 1955 |
| The Long Shot
| Nov. 27, 1955 |
| The Case of Mr. Pelham
| Dec. 4, 1955 |
| Guilty Witness
| Dec. 11, 1955 |
| Santa Claus and the Tenth Avenue Kid
| Dec. 18, 1955 |
| The Cheney Vase
| Dec. 25, 1955 |
| A Bullet for Baldwin
| Jan. 1, 1956 |
| The Big Switch
| Jan 8, 1956 |
| You Got to Have Luck
| Jan. 15, 1956 |
| The Older Sister
| Jan. 22, 1956 |
| Shopping for Death
| Jan. 29, 1956 |
| The Derelicts
| Feb. 5, 1956 |
| And So Died Riabouchinska
| Feb. 12, 1956 |
| Safe Conduct
| Feb. 19, 1956 |
| Place of Shadows
| Feb. 29, 1956 |
| Back for Christmas
| Mar. 4, 1956 |
| The Perfect Murder
| Mar. 11, 1956 |
| There Was an Old Woman
| Mar. 18, 1956 |
| Whodunit?
| Mar. 25, 1956 |
| Help Wanted
| Apr. 1, 1956 |
| Portrait of Jocelyn
| Apr. 8, 1956 |
| The Orderly World of Mr. Appleby
| Apr. 15, 1956 |
| Never Again
| Apr. 22, 1956 |
| The Gentleman from America
| Apr. 29, 1956 |
| The Baby Sitter
| May 6, 1956 |
| The Belfry
| May 13, 1956 |
| The Hidden Thing
| May 20, 1956 |
| The Legacy
| May 27, 1956 |
| Mink
| Jun. 3, 1956 |
| Decoy
| Jun. 10, 1956 |
| The Creeper
| Jun. 17, 1956 |
| Momentum
| Jun. 25, 1956 |
|
SEASON 2 • EPISODE TITLE |
AIRDATE |
|
Wet Saturday
| Sep. 30, 1956
|
| Fog Closing In
| Oct. 7, 1956
|
| De Mortuis
| Oct. 14, 1956
|
| Kill with Kindness
| Oct. 21, 1956
|
| None Are So Blind
| Oct. 28, 1956
|
| Toby
| Nov. 4, 1956
|
| Alibi Me
| Nov. 11, 1956
|
| Conversations Over a Corpse
| Nov. 18, 1956
|
| Crack of Doom
| Nov. 25, 1956
|
| Jonathan
| Dec. 2, 1956
|
| The Better Bargain
| Dec. 9, 1956
|
| The Rose Garden
| Dec. 16, 1956
|
| Mr. Blanchard’s Secret
| Dec. 23, 1956
|
| John Brown’s Body
| Dec. 30, 1956
|
| Crackpot
| Jan. 6, 1957
|
| Nightmare in 4-D
| Jan. 13, 1957
|
| My Brother, Richard
| Jan. 20, 1957
|
| The Manacled
| Jan. 27, 1957
|
| A Bottle of Wine
| Feb. 3, 1957
|
| Malice Domestic
| Feb. 10, 1957
|
| Number Twenty-Two
| Feb. 17, 1957
|
| The End of Indian Summer
| Feb. 24, 1957
|
| One for the Road
| Mar. 3, 1957
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| The Cream of the Jest
| Mar. 10, 1957
|
| I Killed the Count, Part I
| Mar. 17, 1957
|
| I Killed the Count, Part II
| Mar. 24, 1957
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| I Killed the Count, Part III
| Mar. 31, 1957
|
| One More Mile to Go
| Apr. 7, 1957
|
| Vicious Circle
| Apr. 14, 1957
|
| The Three Dreams of Mr. Findlater
| Apr. 21, 1957
|
| The Night the World Ended
| Apr. 28, 1957
| | The Hands of Mr. Ottermole
| May 5, 1957
|
| A Man Greatly Beloved
| May 12, 1957
|
| Martha Mason, Movie Star
| May 19, 1957
|
| The West Warlock Time Capsule
| May 26, 1957
|
| Father and Son
| Jun. 2, 1957
|
| The Indestructible Mr. Weems
| Jun. 9, 1957
|
| A Little Sleep
| Jun. 16, 1957
|
| The Dangerous People
| Jun. 23, 1957 |
|
SEASON 3 • EPISODE TITLE |
AIRDATE |
|
The Glass Eye
| Oct. 6, 1957
| | The Mail Order Prophet
| Oct. 13, 1957
| | The Perfect Crime
| Oct. 20, 1957
| | Heart of Gold
| Oct. 27, 1957
| | The Silent Witness
| Nov. 3, 1957
| | Reward to Finder
| Nov. 10, 1957
| | Enough Rope for Two
| Nov. 17, 1957
| | The Last Request
| Nov. 24, 1957
| | The Young One
| Dec. 1, 1957
| | The Diplomatic Corpse
| Dec. 8, 1957
| | The Deadly
| Dec. 15, 1957
| | Miss Paisley’s Cat
| Dec. 22, 1957
| | Night of the Execution
| Dec. 29, 1957
| | The Percentage
| Jan. 5, 1958
| | Together
| Jan. 12, 1958
| | Sylvia
| Jan. 19, 1958
| | The Motive
| Jan. 26, 1958
| | Miss Bracegirdle Does Her Duty
| Feb. 2, 1958
| | The Equalizer
| Feb. 9, 1958
| | On the Nose
| Feb. 16, 1958
| | Guest for Breakfast
| Feb. 23, 1958
| | The Return of the Hero
| Mar. 2, 1958
| | The Right Kind of House
| Mar. 9, 1958
| | The Foghorn
| Mar. 16, 1958
| | Flight to the East
| Mar. 23, 1958
| | Bull in a China Shop
| Mar. 30, 1958
| | Disappearing Trick
| Apr. 6, 1958
| | Lamb to the Slaughter
| Apr. 13, 1958
| | Fatal Figures
| Apr. 20, 1958
| | Death Sentence
| Apr. 27, 1958
| | The Festive Season
| May 4, 1958
| | Listen, Listen…!
| May 11, 1958
| | Post Mortem
| May 18, 1958
| | The Crocodile Case
| May 25, 1958
| | Dip in the Pool
| Jun. 1, 1958
| | The Safe Place
| Jun 8, 1958
| | The Canary Sedan
| Jun. 15, 1958
| | The Impromptu Murder
| Jun. 22, 1958
| | Little White Frock
| Jun. 29, 1958
|
|
SEASON 4 • EPISODE TITLE |
AIRDATE |
|
Poison
| Oct. 5, 1958
| | Don’t Interrupt
| Oct. 12, 1958
| | The Jokester
| Oct. 19, 1958
| | The Crooked Road
| Oct. 26, 1958
| | The $2,000,000 Defense
| Nov. 2, 1958
| | Design for Loving
| Nov. 9, 1958
| | Man with a Problem
| Nov. 16, 1958
| | Safety for the Witness
| Nov. 23, 1958
| | Murder Me Twice
| Dec. 7, 1958
| | Tea Time
| Dec. 14, 1958
| | And the Desert Shall Blossom
| Dec. 21, 1958
| | Mrs. Herman and Mrs. Fenimore
| Dec. 28, 1958
| | Six People, No Music
| Jan. 4, 1959
| | The Morning After
| Jan. 11, 1959
| | A Personal Matter
| Jan. 18, 1959
| | Out There—Darkness
| Jan. 25, 1959
| | Total Loss
| Feb. 1, 1959
| | The Last Dark Step
| Feb. 8, 1959
| | The Morning of the Bride
| Feb. 15, 1959
| | The Diamond Necklace
| Feb. 22, 1959
| | Relative Value
| Mar. 1, 1959
| | The Right Price
| Mar. 8, 1959
| | I’ll Take Care of You
| Mar. 15, 1959
| | The Avon Emeralds
| Mar. 22, 1959
| | The Kind Waitress
| Mar. 29, 1959
| | Cheap Is Cheap
| Apr. 5, 1959
| | The Waxwork
| Apr. 12, 1959
| | The Impossible Dream
| Apr. 19, 1959
| | Banquo’s Chair
| May 3, 1959
| | A Night with the Boys
| May 10, 1959
| | Your Witness
| May 17, 1959
| | Human Interest Story
| May 24, 1959
| | The Dusty Drawer
| May 31, 1959
| | A True Account (Curtains for Me)
| Jun. 7, 1959
| | Touché
| Jun. 14, 1959
| | Invitation to an Accident
| Jun. 21, 1959
|
|
SEASON 5 • EPISODE TITLE |
AIRDATE |
|
Arthur
| Sep. 27, 1959
| | The Crystal Trench
| Oct. 4, 1959
| | Appointment at Eleven
| Oct. 11, 1959
| | Coyote Moon
| Oct. 18, 1959
| | No Pain
| Oct. 25, 1959
| | Anniversary Gift
| Nov. 1, 1959
| | Dry Run
| Nov. 8, 1959
| | The Blessington Method
| Nov. 15, 1959
| | Dead Weight
| Nov. 22, 1959
| | Special Delivery
| Nov. 29, 1959
| | Road Hog
| Dec. 6, 1959
| | Specialty of the House
| Dec. 13, 1959
| | An Occurrence at Owl Creek Bridge
| Dec. 20, 1959
| | Graduating Class
| Dec. 27, 1959
| | Man from the South
| Jan. 3, 1960
| | The Ikon of Elijah
| Jan. 10, 1960
| | The Cure
| Jan. 24, 1960
| | Backward, Turn Backward
| Jan. 31, 1960
| | Not the Running Type
| Feb. 7, 1960
| | The Day of the Bullet
| Feb. 14, 1960
| | Hitch Hike
| Feb. 21, 1960
| | Across the Threshold
| Feb. 28, 1960
| | Craig’s Will
| Mar. 6, 1960
| | Madame Mystery
| Mar. 27, 1960
| | The Little Man Who was There
| Apr. 3, 1960
| | Mother, May I Go Out to Swim?
| Apr. 10, 1960
| | The Cuckoo Clock
| Apr. 17, 1960
| | Forty Detectives Later
| Apr. 24, 1960
| | The Hero
| May 1, 1960
| | Insomnia
| May 8, 1960
| | I Can Take Care of Myself
| May 15, 1960
| | One Grave Too Many
| May 22, 1960
| | Party Line
| May 29, 1960
| | Cell 227
| Jun. 5, 1960
| | The Schartz-Metterklume Method
| Jun. 12, 1960
| | Letter of Credit
| Jun. 19, 1960
| | Escape to Sonoita
| Jun. 26, 1950
| | Hooked
| Sep. 25, 1960
|
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SEASON 6 • EPISODE TITLE |
AIRDATE |
|
Mrs. Bixby and the Colonel’s Coat
| Sep. 27, 1960
| | The Doubtful Doctor
| Oct. 4, 1960
| | Very Moral Theft
| Oct. 11, 1960
| | The Contest for Aaron Gold
| Oct. 18, 1960
| | The Five-Forty-Eight
| Oct. 25, 1960
| | Pen Pal
| Nov. 1, 1960
| | Outlaw in Town
| Nov. 15, 1960
| | O Youth and Beauty!
| Nov. 22, 1960
| | The Money
| Nov. 29, 1960
| | Sybilla
| Dec. 6, 1960
| | The Man with Two Faces
| Dec. 13, 1960
| | The Baby-Blue Expression
| Dec. 20, 1960
| | The Man Who Found the Money
| Dec. 27, 1960
| | The Changing Heart
| Jan. 3, 1961
| | Summer Shade
| Jan. 10, 1961
| | A Crime for Mothers
| Jan. 24, 1961
| | The Last Escape
| Jan. 31, 1961
| | The Greatest Monster of Them All
| Feb. 14, 1961
| | The Landlady
| Feb. 21, 1961
| | The Throwback
| Feb. 28, 1961
| | The Kiss-Off
| Mar. 7, 1961
| | The Horseplayer
| Mar. 14, 1961
| | Incident in a Small Jail
| Mar. 21, 1961
| | A Woman’s Help
| Mar. 28, 1961
| | Museum Piece
| Apr. 4, 1961
| | Coming, Mama
| Apr. 11, 1961
| | Deathmate
| Apr. 18, 1961
| | Gratitude
| Apr. 25, 1961
| | The Pearl Necklace
| May 2, 1961
| | You Can’t Trust a Man
| May 9, 1961
| | The Gloating Place
| May 16, 1961
| | Self Defense
| May 23, 1961
| | A Secret Life
| May 31, 1961
| | Servant Problem
| Jun. 6, 1961
| | Coming Home
| Jun. 13, 1961
| | Final Arrangements
| Jun. 20, 1961
| | Make My Death Bed
| Jun. 27, 1961
| | Ambition
| Jul. 4, 1961
|
|
SEASON 7 • EPISODE TITLE |
AIRDATE |
|
The Hatbox
| Oct. 10, 1961
| | Bang! You’re Dead!
| Oct. 17, 1961
| | Maria
| Oct. 24, 1961
| | Cop for a Day
| Oct. 31, 1961
| | Keep Me Company
| Nov. 7, 1961
| | Beta Delta Gamma
| Nov. 14, 1961
| | You Can’t Be a Little Girl All Your Life
| Nov. 21, 1961
| | The Old Pro
| Nov. 28, 1961
| | I Spy
| Dec. 5, 1961
| | Services Rendered
| Dec. 12, 1961
| | The Right Kind of Medicine
| Dec. 19, 1961
| | A Jury of Her Peers
| Dec. 26, 1961
| | The Silk Petticoat
| Jan. 2, 1962
| | Bad Actor
| Jan. 9, 1962
| | The Door Without a Key
| Jan. 16, 1962
| | The Case of M. J. H.
| Jan. 23, 1962
| | The Faith of Aaron Menefee
| Jan. 30, 1962
| | The Woman Who Wanted to Live
| Feb. 6, 1962
| | Strange Miracle
| Feb. 13, 1962
| | The Test
| Feb. 20, 1962
| | Burglar Proof
| Feb. 27, 1962
| | The Big Score
| Mar. 6, 1962
| | Profit-Sharing Plan
| Mar. 13, 1962
| | Apex
| Mar. 20, 1962
| | The Last Remains
| Mar. 27, 1962
| | Ten O’Clock Tiger
| Apr. 3, 1962
| | Act of Faith
| Apr. 10, 1962
| | The Kerry Blue
| Apr. 17, 1962
| | The Matched Pearl
| Apr. 24, 1962
| | What Frightened You, Fred?
| May 1, 1962
| | Most Likely to Succeed
| May 8, 1962
| | Victim Four
| May 15, 1962
| | The Opportunity
| May 22, 1962
| | The Twelve Hour Caper
| May 29, 1962
| | The Children of Alda Nuova
| Jun. 5, 1962
| | First Class Honeymoon
| Jun. 12, 1962
| | The Big Kick
| Jun. 19, 1962
| | Where Beauty Lies
| Jun. 26, 1962
| | The Sorcerer’s Apprentice
| (Syndication only)
|
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