Thu 23 Sep 2010
A TV Series Review by Walker Martin: THRILLER (1960-1962).
Posted by Steve under Reviews , TV mysteries[11] Comments
by Walker Martin
We all remember the golden age of fantasy, SF, and horror television. Anthology series such as Twilight Zone, Outer Limits, Night Gallery, Alfred Hitchcock Presents, One Step Beyond. One of the very best was Thriller, hosted by Boris Karloff and lasting 67 hourly episodes during 1960-1962.
I was just a teenager at the time but I still remember skipping dates and not watching Phillies baseball, just in order to not miss the show. A few years ago I managed to track down a bootleg set of all the episodes on DVD, and I relived the joy of watching this great black and white spooky series.
Somehow I had forgotten just how bland and mediocre some of the crime and mystery episodes were. All I had remembered were the great horror stories like “Pigeons from Hell,” “The Grim Reaper,” “The Cheaters,” “The Hungry Glass,” and others.
After watching a dozen or so of the early crime episodes I was beginning to think that my memory was playing tricks on me and that the horror shows were from some other show.
Then I got smart and started skipping around and watching the episodes out of order, especially paying attention to the eighteen episodes adapted from Weird Tales, that great pulp of the supernatural. Yes, you read right, I said eighteen of the stories are from Weird Tales!
After watching these eighteen shows and other horror adaptations from various sources, I was able to even enjoy some of the crime and mystery plots, though in my opinion they could not begin to compare with the horror episodes.
Frankly, I never figured the entire series would see an official DVD release but I am glad to say that I was mistaken. Image Entertainment recently released a box set containing all 67 shows and included such extras as over two dozen audio commentaries, mainly on the horror episodes, isolated music scores, episode promos, an so on.
Since I had viewed all 67 shows just a few years ago, my intent initially was to only watch the horror stories again, and listen to the commentaries. But fate stepped in and I stumbled across an announcement that Pete Enfantino and John Scoleri would be hosting a discussion on Thriller by way of a blog.
Comments are welcome and each day a different show is covered, starting from the first and continuing to the 67th and last one. There are also breaks for interviews and topics like “The Girls of Thriller”. Each show is rated by a system of “Karloffs” from zero to 4 Karloffs.
I am happy to say that this discussion has become part of my daily viewing. Each day I watch an episode and then look at the blog to read about what Pete and John have to say.
They are only on the 17th episode as I write this, and now would be a good time to dive in and join the fun. Especially since the horror episodes are starting to be discussed and you can skip some of the bland, more mundane crime shows. Or you can watch them also and then read what they have to say, and what they say is always done with wit and humor.
The discussion takes place at www.athrilleraday.blogspot.com and gets my highest recommendation. It’s a lot of fun talking about the old Thriller shows, and comments are encouraged.
By the way, the Thriller box set has a list price of $150 but is heavily discounted at the online stores. For instance I paid only $97 from Amazon. Even though I already had a bootleg set, I consider this “official” release money well spent.
September 23rd, 2010 at 8:31 pm
I saw some of these on sci-fi a decade ago and was impressed with the horror tales. On the whole the crime and suspense ones seemed dull (a version of Margaret Millar’s Rose’s Last Summer was much inferior to the book), but there was one, called “The Storm” I think that was very good.
I was not sure whether I wanted to spend $100 for this set, but come Halloween will probably break down and get it.
September 23rd, 2010 at 10:39 pm
Curt, at first the $100 price seems expensive but not when you realize what you are getting. 67 hourly episodes comes to like $1.50 each and that’s not even counting the commentaries, some of which are of great interest. You are getting alot for your money and if you watch one each night, it will keep you amused(or scared) for 2 or 3 months. And it’s alot of fun following along with the Thriller a Day blog.
September 23rd, 2010 at 10:59 pm
As I recall there was some controversy when “The Hungry Glass” supposedly drove a child who had watched it to hysterics, though that may have been publicity. I was only ten at the time so the details are little fuzzy.
The only other televised tale to have that impact on me was TWILIGHT ZONE’s “Little Girl Lost” — which come to think of it had a similar theme.
Though having seen “Glass” recently, you do think twice looking in a mirror right after viewing it.
At least two episodes are based on Cornell Woolrich stories, with a nice adaptation of “Papa Benjamin” with John Ireland and “The Guillotine” with Robert Middleton.
And my favorite episode other than the Robert E. Howard “Pigeons From Hell” — Robert Bloch’s “Yours Truly, Jack the Ripper,” with John Williams and Donald Woods. “You can call me Jack …”
At least one episode was a pilot, “The Crime Haters” based on the John Creasey (as Gordon Ashe) Patrick Dawlish novel with the action moved to the states and Dawlish an American or Canadian.
True some of the mystery and crime episodes were pedestrian, but there are a handful of classics too and good performances by many familiar faces. “Pigeons From Hell,” “The Hungry Glass,” “Papa Benjamin,” and “Yours Truly, Jack the Ripper,” are worth the price alone.
September 24th, 2010 at 12:54 am
There was one with Boris Karloff and Dick York (you know, Darren #1 😉 ), based I believe on the August Derleth horror story Colonel Markesan, that was spectacularly horrific, I thought, for early-60s television.
As a kid in the mid to late 1970s and early 1980s I recall Twilight Zones and Night Gallerys and even Alfred Hitchcocks were still big stuff for genre-loving youngsters. And I loved Boris Karloff from the Frankenstein films and that Italian horror trilogy from the 1960s (I forget the name). However, I had honestly never heard of Thriller until it popped up on the sci-fi channel ten years ago.
I was surprised how tense some of the horror episodes were and recorded what I could on VCR (remember VCRs). There was also another good one, The Grim Reaper, with the great ham Shatner and “Lovey” from Gilligan’s Island as I recollect. It was reminiscent of M. R. James’ horror masterpiece The Mezzotint.
I love the old genre anthology television. I gather a lot of you here watched these shows when they first came out, which must have been fun. But I can attest that even in the 1970s and 1980s there were some of us who loved these shows in reruns and thought they were a lot better that most of the current stuff (Happy Days and Mork and Mindy-blah!).
September 24th, 2010 at 5:01 pm
“what they say is always done with wit and humor. ”
well, I don’t know about that…
September 24th, 2010 at 9:13 pm
Peter
When you’ve known Walker as long as I have, close to 40 years now, you’ll know he’s never wrong.
Trust me on this.
— Steve
September 25th, 2010 at 12:44 am
Curt
Shatner also features in “The Hungry Glass” along with Donna Douglas (Ellie Mae from THE BEVERLY HILLBILLIES).
I think Karloff appeared in two episodes (other than as host), but again would have to check.
THRILLER had a reputation for it’s intensity even compared to TZ and HITCHCOCK and even THE OUTER LIMITS which did some fairly intense episodes, and was a good deal darker than any of those.
I can’t recall exactly how many they did adapt, but I think Robert Bloch held the record for the most stories adapted.
One of the crime episodes they did particularly well was Fred Brown’s novel KNOCK 3,2,1 with Warren Oates in a key role.
I think Dick York appeared twice (like Shatner) over the series run.
September 25th, 2010 at 6:16 am
KNOCK 3,1,2 was one of the better crime episodes and in addition to the great Warren Oates, Beverly Garland starred as the girl in peril. I always liked Garland and picked her as one of my favorite “girls of THRILLER”.
One of the reasons that the crime episodes have received such heavy criticism is because with Boris Karloff as host and the title name of THRILLER, then many viewers expected more of a emphasis on horror and the supernatural. However the early episodes did not pick up on this need and kept showing mundane crime plots. Once the horror started with “The Cheaters” and “The Hungry Glass”, then it began to dawn on the producers that maybe the thrust of show, especially with the sinister host Boris Karloff, should be toward the supernatural.
For new viewers buying the box set, I recommend that they start out of sequence with some of the horror episodes, and then circle back and watch the crime shows. Otherwise, if they start from the very beginning, they will be surprised and disappointed as to how the early shows concentrate on just crime and exclude the horror elements.
April 28th, 2011 at 9:34 pm
The first season of Thriller is now available to stream on netflix!
I didn’t know about the show until last month, but I am quickly becoming addicted. Great show!
It must have been amazing having twilight zone and thriller on the air at the same time.
May 12th, 2012 at 1:27 am
Last week, it occurred to me to look up Thriller on Netflix, and I just watched “Pigeons From Hell” and “The Grim Reaper.” Along with watching other discs in the series, I’m gonna have to watch the aforementioned disc again. I forgot to look at the photo galleries and listen to the stand-alone Jerry Goldsmith music before mailing the disc back! LOL At any rate, I look forward. I’ve always kind of admired this type of show but never have written these kinds of stories.
September 7th, 2017 at 8:20 am
I’ve watched a lot of Thriller since it’s one of the shows on my TV station. I can’t say I ever liked it much. It did get nominated for the Hugo, though.