Thriller (U.S. TV series)

Thriller
Genre	Anthology
Created by	Hubbell Robinson
Directed by	John Brahm Jules Bricken Herschel Daugherty Paul Henreid Douglas Heyes Arthur Hiller Mitchell Leisen Ida Lupino Gerald Mayer John Newland Ted Post
Presented by	Boris Karloff
Starring	Various
Theme music composer	Pete Rugolo
Composer(s)	Jerry Goldsmith Stanley Wilson Pete Rugolo
Country of origin	United States
Original language(s)	English
No. of seasons	2
No. of episodes	67
Production
Executive producer(s)	Hubbell Robinson
Producer(s)	William Frye Fletcher Markle Maxwell Shane
Running time	49 min. (Season 1) 50 min. (Season 2)
Production company(s)	Hubbell Robinson Productions Revue Studios
Distributor	Revue Studios (original) NBCUniversal Television Distribution (current)
Release
Original network	NBC
Picture format	Black and white 4:3
Audio format	Mono
Original release	September 13, 1960 – April 30, 1962

Thriller (also known as Boris Karloff's Thriller) is an American anthology television series that aired during the 1960–61 and 1961–62 seasons on NBC. The show featured host Boris Karloff introducing a mix of macabre horror tales and suspense thrillers.^[1] Reruns currently (October 2016) air occasionally on the Decades television network.

Overview

Thriller was created by Hubbell Robinson for MCA's Revue Studios. It was produced by Fletcher Markle, William Frye, and Maxwell Shane. Among the many writers for the series were Robert Hardy Andrews, and Robert Bloch, who adapted a number of his own stories, notably "The Weird Tailor."

In addition to serving as the host of the series, Karloff starred in five episodes: "The Prediction," "The Premature Burial," "The Last of the Sommervilles," "Dialogues With Death," and "The Incredible Doctor Markesan."

Other actors included Leslie Nielsen in the show's first episode "The Twisted Image, William Shatner in two episodes, "The Hungry Glass" and "The Grim Reaper," Constance Ford in two episodes, Mary Tyler Moore in two episodes and Edward Andrews in three episodes. Child actress Beverly Washburn appeared in "Parasite Mansion"; Joan Tompkins appeared in "The Cheaters" and "Mr. George." Elizabeth Montgomery, Tom Poston, and John Carradine in "Masquerade." Carradine also starred in "The Remarkable Mrs. Hawk," co-starring Bruce Dern and Jo Van Fleet; Ed Nelson starred in four episodes: "The Fatal Impulse," "The Cheaters," "A Good Imagination," and "Dialogues With Death."

Other performers included: Rip Torn. George Grizzard, Natalie Trundy, Bethel Leslie, Patricia Medina, Patricia Barry, Richard Anderson, Richard Chamberlain, Elisha Cook, Conrad Nagel, Larry Pennell, Russell Johnson, Diana Millay, Philip Carey, Kathleen Crowley, Susan Oliver, Rodolfo Hoyos, Jr., J. Pat O'Malley, Henry Daniell, Robert Vaughn, Marlo Thomas, John Ireland, Jeanette Nolan, Virginia Gregg, Hazel Scott, Lloyd Bochner, Scott Marlowe, Judson Pratt, Olive Sturgess, Mary Astor, Marion Ross, MacDonald Carey, Natalie Schafer, Phyllis Thaxter, Estelle Winwood, Antoinette Bower, Jane Greer, Dick York, Jocelyn Brando, Richard Carlson, William Windom, George Kennedy, Cloris Leachman, Monte Markham, Patricia Breslin and Edward Binns.

Episodes

Due to a number of TV stations that pre-emptied Thriller in favor of local programs, Thriller only ran for two seasons starting September 1960.

Season 1: 1960–1961

The show premiered on September 13, 1960 with the episode "The Twisted Image."

Season 2: 1961–1962

The second season of Thriller started on September 18, 1961 with the episode "What Beckoning Ghost?" and had 30 episodes in the season.

DVD release

On August 31, 2010, Image Entertainment released Thriller: The Complete Series on DVD in Region 1 for the first time. The 14-disc set contains all 67 episodes, remastered and uncut, with new commentary tracks and more.^[2]

Reception

In a brief review of its premiere, Time called it the "hour-long bloodmobile...unpromising".^[3]

In Danse Macabre, Stephen King's 1981 history and critique of horror fiction, King suggests that Thriller was the best series of its kind up to that point.^[4]

In a review of the anthology's 2010 DVD release, Hollywood Reporter said "Not all the episodes work, and the transfers can be a bit grainy. But when they do — the strong shadows living in the black and white, the awesomely overwrought score by composers Jerry Goldsmith and Morton Stevens (if only they had music like that again), the storytelling not using gore and cheap scares as crutches — the results are genuinely goosebump-inducing."^[5]

Musical score and soundtrack

The Original Music of Thriller
Soundtrack album by Pete Rugolo and His Orchestra
Released	1961
Recorded	February 23 & 24, 1961 United Recording Studios, Hollywood, CA
Genre	Jazz
Label	Time 52034/S 2034
Producer	Bob Shad
Pete Rugolo chronology
10 Trombones Like 2 Pianos (1960) The Original Music of Thriller (1961) Ten Trumpets and 2 Guitars (1960)

Each episode of the first season featured a specially composed score with the main theme and majority of writing by Pete Rugolo with additional compositions by Jerry Goldsmith and Morton Stevens. In 1961 The Original Music of Thriller, composed, arranged and conducted by Rugolo was released on Bob Shad's Time label.^[6]

Track listing

All compositions by Pete Rugolo

1. "Theme from "Thriller"" - 1:33
2. "The Hungry Glass" - 4:14
3. "Voodoo Man" - 2:55
4. "The Guilty Men" - 3:06
5. "Girl With a Secret" - 2:24
6. "The Purple Room" - 2:40
7. "Twisted Image" - 1:47
8. "Rose's Last Summer" - 2:42
9. "Worse Than Murder" - 2:04
10. "Child's Play" - 2:13
11. "Finger of Fear" - 3:31
12. "The Man in the Middle" - 2:55

Personnel

• Pete Rugolo - arranger, conductor
• Frank Beach, Don Fagerquist, Ollie Mitchell, Uan Rasey - trumpet
• Milt Bernhart, Dick Nash, Frank Rosolino - trombone
• George Roberts - bass trombone
• James Decker, Vince DeRosa, Richard Perissi - French horn
• Gene Cipriano, Bob Cooper, Norman Herzberg, Harry Klee Ronnie Lang, Bud Shank - piccolo, flute, bass flute, bass clarinet, alto saxophone, baritone saxophone, bassoon
• Red Callender - tuba
• Laurindo Almeida, Robert Bain - guitar
• Red Mitchell, Joe Mondragon - bass
• Caesar Giovannini, Jimmy Rowles - piano
• Jack Cookerly - organ
• Dorothy Remsen - harp
• Larry Bunker, Frank Flynn, Milt Holland, Louis Singer, Alvin Stoller - percussion, vibraphone, marimba, xylophone, timpani, congas, bongos, snare drum, bells, chimes, gong, triangle, temple blocks, jawbone, gourd, timbales, maracas
• Herman Clebanoff, Sam Freed, Benny Gill, Mort Herbert, Anatol Kaminsky, Nathan Kaproff, Lou Klass, Marvin Limonick, William Miller, Alexander Murray, Erno Neufeld, Irma Neumann, Jack Pepper, Lou Raderman, Ambrose Russo, Leon Trebacz - violin
• Justin Di Tullio, Armand Kaproff, Raphael Kramer, Edgar Lustgarten, Marie Manahan, Joseph Saxon, Harold Schneier, Eleanor Slatkin - cello

Award nominations

Books

Gold Key Comics published a comic book version of Thriller, changing the title to Boris Karloff Tales of Mystery after the series ended; the series lasted until the 1980s, long after not only the end of Thriller but also the death of Karloff himself. Dark Horse Comics published an archive reprint of the series beginning in 2009.^[7]

McFarland & Company published Alan Warren's This Is a Thriller! - An Episode Guide in 1996, an exhaustive account of the history of the show. Here it was revealed that it was Alfred Hitchcock more than anyone else who was responsible for the demise of the series, after he came aboard on NBC with an expanded one-hour version of his previous Alfred Hitchcock Presents.^[8]

References

External links

• Thriller at the Internet Movie Database
• Thriller at TV.com
• A Thriller a Day Peter Enfantino and John Scoleri review each and every episode of Boris Karloff's Thriller
• Thriller guide Summary of each episode.
• Thriller at CVTA
• The Return of Andrew Bentley Public domain episode at the Internet Archive