# The Alfred Hitchcock Hour season 8
Season 8 of *Alfred Hitchcock Presents*, broadcast under the new title *The Alfred Hitchcock Hour*, was the first season of the anthology series in its expanded one-hour format, airing 32 episodes on CBS from September 20, 1962 to May 24, 1963.[1](https://www.innermind.com/myguides/guides/ahh.htm)
| Key fact | Detail |
|---|---|
| Series position | Eighth season of *Alfred Hitchcock Presents* and first season of *The Alfred Hitchcock Hour*; series episodes 269–300[2](https://www.fernsehserien.de/alfred-hitchcock-praesentiert/episodenguide) |
| Episode count | 32 episodes, all one-hour format[3](https://talkingpulp.wordpress.com/2020/02/16/tv-review-alfred-hitchcock-presents-1955-1965/) |
| Episode length | 50 minutes of program per episode, after commercial time, up from about 25 minutes in seasons 1–7[3](https://talkingpulp.wordpress.com/2020/02/16/tv-review-alfred-hitchcock-presents-1955-1965/) • [4](https://www.starburstmagazine.com/reviews/alfred-hitchcock-hour-review/) |
| Hitchcock as director | He directed one episode of the season, "I Saw the Whole Thing" (October 11, 1962), the only hour-long episode he ever directed and his final television directing work[5](https://www.cinema.ucla.edu/events/good-evening-alfred-hitchcock-on-television-01-20-24/) |
| Production company | Shamley Productions, with producer Joan Harrison; Hitchcock served as host and executive producer[5](https://www.cinema.ucla.edu/events/good-evening-alfred-hitchcock-on-television-01-20-24/) |
## The change to an hour
The retitle marked a format change rather than a new show. The half-hour *Alfred Hitchcock Presents* had a running time of about 22 and a half minutes per episode once three advertisements were counted; from 1962 the program ran at 50 minutes per episode under the *Hour* name.[3](https://talkingpulp.wordpress.com/2020/02/16/tv-review-alfred-hitchcock-presents-1955-1965/) • [6](https://eprints.soton.ac.uk/467756/1/Alfred_Hitchcock_Presents_Psycho_Final_copy_with_copyright.pdf) Hitchcock himself explained the change bluntly in a newspaper interview that year: the hour would "endure for sixty minutes each week, instead of thirty," allowing him and his collaborators "to tell full dramatic stories in natural narrative style, whereas the half-hour show permitted only short tales that led to a 'twist' ending."[7](https://digital-library.cloudnet.com.kh/storage/media_files/Qqon8bvr2vQDJ1xtZawWiihFEuGareipjAP55bWi.pdf)
The longer format changed the storytelling. Commentators have noted that the crime-based stories could unfold at a more natural pace while still allowing the sting-in-the-tail ending associated with *Presents*, and that the series kept the hour format for its final three seasons where *The Twilight Zone*, which also tried an hour, reverted after one.[4](https://www.starburstmagazine.com/reviews/alfred-hitchcock-hour-review/) • [8](https://blueprintreview.co.uk/2026/02/hitchcock-the-tv-films-ranked/) Opinion among viewers was divided as to whether the longer runtimes improved the depth of storytelling or increased padding.[8](https://blueprintreview.co.uk/2026/02/hitchcock-the-tv-films-ranked/)
## Production
The season was produced by Hitchcock's Shamley Productions, with the day-to-day running in the hands of his long-time collaborators, writer-producer [Joan Harrison](https://www.edgepedia.org/joan-harrison) and actor-producer-director [Norman Lloyd](https://www.edgepedia.org/norman-lloyd).[5](https://www.cinema.ucla.edu/events/good-evening-alfred-hitchcock-on-television-01-20-24/) Hitchcock appeared on camera only as host, opening each episode with his droll "good evening" and closing with a short skit that reassured the audience the villain had been caught when an ending was ambiguous.[5](https://www.cinema.ucla.edu/events/good-evening-alfred-hitchcock-on-television-01-20-24/) • [4](https://www.starburstmagazine.com/reviews/alfred-hitchcock-hour-review/) The signature opening, the line-drawing caricature and Charles Gounod's "Funeral March of a Marionette," carried over from *Presents*.[9](https://interviews.televisionacademy.com/shows/alfred-hitchcock-presents-aka-the-alfred-hitchcock-hour)
## Episodes
**"I Saw the Whole Thing."** The season's fourth episode, broadcast October 11, 1962, was the only hour-long installment Hitchcock directed of his eponymous series and the final work he would helm for television.[5](https://www.cinema.ucla.edu/events/good-evening-alfred-hitchcock-on-television-01-20-24/) [John Forsythe](https://www.edgepedia.org/john-forsythe) starred as a writer identified by several eyewitnesses as responsible for a hit-and-run vehicular homicide, in a Rashomon-structured (same event retold from conflicting viewpoints) drama that revisited the wrongful-persecution fears of Hitchcock's 1956 feature *The Wrong Man*.[5](https://www.cinema.ucla.edu/events/good-evening-alfred-hitchcock-on-television-01-20-24/) The teleplay was written by Henry Slesar from a story by Henry Cecil, a novelist whose work had earlier supplied the Boulting Brothers comedy *Brothers in Law*; the episode ran 50 minutes.[5](https://www.cinema.ucla.edu/events/good-evening-alfred-hitchcock-on-television-01-20-24/) • [8](https://blueprintreview.co.uk/2026/02/hitchcock-the-tv-films-ranked/) A retrospective ranking placed it among Hitchcock's TV films, noting that its static courtroom style gave Hitchcock little room for visual innovation but allowed character sketches and neatly plotted scenes.[8](https://blueprintreview.co.uk/2026/02/hitchcock-the-tv-films-ranked/)
The season closed with "Death of a Cop" on May 24, 1963, the 32nd episode.[1](https://www.innermind.com/myguides/guides/ahh.htm) Other first-season *Hour* episodes later cited by viewers include "Hangover" (December 6, 1962) and "The Lonely Hours" (March 8, 1963).[1](https://www.innermind.com/myguides/guides/ahh.htm)
## Reception and afterlife
On IMDb, where the season is listed as season 1 of *The Alfred Hitchcock Hour*, user ratings for the season's episodes range from 6.7 to 7.6 out of 10, with the premiere "A Piece of the Action" at 7.5 and "Captive Audience" at 7.6.[10](https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0055657/ratings/) • [11](https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0055657/episodes/) The series as a whole holds an IMDb rating of 8.5/10 from about 5,900 users.[10](https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0055657/ratings/)
The numbering of this season depends on which title is used. Episode guides that treat *The Alfred Hitchcock Hour* as a separate series call these episodes season 1, episodes 1–32, while guides that continue the *Alfred Hitchcock Presents* numbering call them season 8, episodes 269–300.[1](https://www.innermind.com/myguides/guides/ahh.htm) The hour format continued for two further seasons, seasons 9 and 10 of the combined series, with roughly 32 episodes per year, until the final episode aired in 1965.[3](https://talkingpulp.wordpress.com/2020/02/16/tv-review-alfred-hitchcock-presents-1955-1965/)
## References
1. [The Alfred Hitchcock Hour Episode List, Inner Mind (compiled by Loren Heisey)](https://www.innermind.com/myguides/guides/ahh.htm)
2. [Alfred Hitchcock präsentiert Episodenguide, fernsehserien.de](https://www.fernsehserien.de/alfred-hitchcock-praesentiert/episodenguide)
3. [TV Review: Alfred Hitchcock Presents (1955–1965), Talking Pulp](https://talkingpulp.wordpress.com/2020/02/16/tv-review-alfred-hitchcock-presents-1955-1965/)
4. [The Alfred Hitchcock Hour – The Complete Collection, Starburst Magazine](https://www.starburstmagazine.com/reviews/alfred-hitchcock-hour-review/)
5. ["Good Evening": Alfred Hitchcock on Television, UCLA Film & Television Archive](https://www.cinema.ucla.edu/events/good-evening-alfred-hitchcock-on-television-01-20-24/)
6. [Alfred Hitchcock Presents 'Psycho', University of Southampton eprints](https://eprints.soton.ac.uk/467756/1/Alfred_Hitchcock_Presents_Psycho_Final_copy_with_copyright.pdf)
7. [The Science of Alfred Hitchcock](https://digital-library.cloudnet.com.kh/storage/media_files/Qqon8bvr2vQDJ1xtZawWiihFEuGareipjAP55bWi.pdf)
8. [Hitchcock: The TV Films Ranked, Blueprint: Review](https://blueprintreview.co.uk/2026/02/hitchcock-the-tv-films-ranked/)
9. [Alfred Hitchcock Presents aka The Alfred Hitchcock Hour, Television Academy Interviews](https://interviews.televisionacademy.com/shows/alfred-hitchcock-presents-aka-the-alfred-hitchcock-hour)
10. [The Alfred Hitchcock Hour (TV Series 1962–1965) – Ratings, IMDb](https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0055657/ratings/)
11. [The Alfred Hitchcock Hour (TV Series 1962–1965) – Episode list, IMDb](https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0055657/episodes/)
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*Topic: Encyclopedia › Arts and culture › Screen and stage › Film and television › Seasons, episodes, and installments › Screen seasons › American scripted drama series seasons*
*Initially written Sep 17, 2026 · Reviewed: Oct 25, 2026 · Edited: Oct 11, 2026; Oct 15, 2026; Oct 25, 2026 · Last review: Oct 25, 2026*
*Copyright 2026 EdgeChat AI, a subsidiary of Biostate AI.*
License: Edgepedia Community License 1.0, https://www.edgepedia.org/edgepedia/license