by Sam Juliano
Last fall I penned a formal review of Boris Karloff’s Thriller, an early 60’s anthology series, that achieved it’s greatest exposure and success in syndication. The show ran for two seasons (1960-61) and 67 hour-long episodes were produced, airing on NBC at the same time the popular Alfred Hitchcock Presents was being seen on the same station on a different day and time slot. Purportedly, Hitchcock exerted his enormous clout at the station and demanded Thriller’s cancellation, as he secretly saw it as competition for his own show, and was rather envious of the horror show’s increasing popularity. While producer William Frye, who was responsible for the upsurge in the ratings after a very slow beginning, where mystery rather than horror was stressed, was respected by network executives, he couldn’t compete with Hitchcock. Hence, the show’s legacy are two seasons of black and white shows that are marked by gothic atmospherics, German expressionism, and in some instances some of the most horrifying set pieces ever seen on network television. Two of the shows, “Pigeons From Hell” and “The Incredible Doktor Markeson” are horrific masterpieces that far eclipse anything shown before or since. Several others, like The Cheaters, The Weird Tailor, The Grim Reaper, Well of Doom, The Devil’s Ticket, Waxworks, The Premature Burial, La Strega and The Hungry Glass are superlative shows that stand up to the best of both The Twilight Zone and The Outer Limits, as well as Hitchcock’s show. “Lighter” episodes like Masquerade and A Good Imagination were also quality presentations marked by fine acting and engaging screenplays. Some of the earliest episodes (before the show found it’s footing) were awkward and rather poorly executed, but once the reigns were turned over to Frye, the show took flight. No less a horror authority than Stephen King himself has called Thriller “the best show of its kind ever to run on network television.” (more…)
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