I’ve always been a fan of Anthology Series. Of course some of the better ones aired back in the 50’s and 60’s. “The Twilight Zone”, “One Step Beyond”, and of course… “Alfred Hitchcock Presents.” Who could possibly have been better than the director of “Psycho”, “Vertigo” and numerous other great films to introduce TV audiences to half hour mystery thrillers? The series originally aired back in 1955 and lasted an amazing 7 seasons, yielding 286 episodes. And for the most part the quality of those episodes rarely wavered. I wasn’t even born when the show premiered, but you can bet (thanks to my parents) I watched it when I was old enough to ‘get it.’ It was my favorite series, right after “The Twilight Zone”, for more reasons than just because the stories were so good. I loved watching the way Hitchcock would act as host. The familiar music (Musical March of a Marionette) would start up, and you’d see Hitchcock’s shadow profile walk into and merge with his trademark logo.

Then when he’s addressing the audience about the evenings episode, he’d start with a drawn out, “Good Eeeevening,” and describe what we were about to see. What made these opening so much fun was the fact that Hitchcock had such a great sense of humor about everything. You’d think this well respected director would be so serious, and then he would show up sitting in a giant jack-in-the-box… if the episode called for it.

The series was re-invented in 1985, but while it delivered a couple of good episodes, most of them were simply ok. Most of the time they were no more than the same stories used in the original series, just re-done and updated. They would utilize the old footage of Hitchcock’s introductions to introduce the episode. It didn’t last long, mostly because at the time Anthology series’ just didn’t so that well. The same fate befell the underrated “Amazing Stories” and “New Twilight Zone.”

But getting back to the original series, it was so well-received and popular that it attracted some of the A-list actors of the era. It wasn’t unusual to catch the likes of Charles Bronson, Claude Rains, Lorne Greene, Vera Mile, John Forsythe, Darren McGavin, Gene Barry or Peter Lawford. Each of the episodes offered up stories with a strong twist ending, though not like “The Twilight Zone.” These were grounded more in reality. For example, in the very first episode Ralph Meeker plays a man who comes home to find his wife has been attacked. Instead of going to the police, he opts to get revenge and takes her out in the car to see if they can spot the guy. Then after she sees and identifies the man who attacked her, the husband follows and kills the man. But then on their way home, she makes a comment that chills him to the bone (I won’t give away the spoiler here, but suffice to say it’s a doozy). These are the kinds of stories you’ll find… stories of mistaken identity and comeuppance.

Universal is at the top of my list this month for releasing yet another box set of the episodes, this time from the third season. I started watching them as soon as it came in and needless to say I still have a way to go. But I can say that the DVD set is marvelous in that it delivers the episodes in all their uncut glory. The only downside is that due to the age of the materials, some episodes look and better than others. There is a lot of grain present, and occasionally you have to turn the volume up to catch everything. But this is not consistent through the set. That said, all of the episodes I have seen so far are more than watchable, so the nitpick is a slight one.

“Alfred Hitchcock Presents” was a terrific series that has really aged well. The stories are as entertaining and relevant today as they were 50 years ago.

Episodes:
The Glass Eye
The Mail Order Prophet
The Perfect Crime
Heart of Gold
Silent Witness
Reward to Finder
Enough Rope For Two
Last Request
The Young One
The Diplomatic Corpse
The Deadly
Miss Paisley's Cat
Night of the Execution
The Percentage
Together
Sylvia
The Motive
Miss Bracegirdle Does Her Duty
The Equalizer
On the Nose
Guest for Breakfast
The Return of the Hero
The Right Kind of House
The Foghorn
Flight to the East
Bull in a China Shop
Disappearing Trick
Lamb to the Slaughter
Fatal Figures
Death Sentence
The Festive Season
Listen, Listen…!
Post Mortem
The Crocodile Case
Dip in the Pool
The Safe Place
The Canary Sedan
The Impromptu Murder
Little White Frock

Extras: None
Specifications: Full Screen, B&W
Studio: Warner Brothers
Release Date: 10/9/2007
Region 1
MPAA Rating: Not Rated
Website

We'll give Alfred Hitchcock Presents: Season 3 a B.