The Case Of An Alfred Hitchcock Hour Episode Mistaken For The Twilight Zone
As memorable as title cards for television shows go, the opening of "Alfred Hitchcock Presents" stuck with people for many reasons. Charles Gounod's "Funeral March of a Marionette" blaring the background, director Alfred Hitchcock himself would dole out introductions, right after his silhouette briefly appeared on the screen. As the show was structured as an anthology of macabre stories directed by a bunch of established and emerging talents, Hitchcock would offer a teaser right before every episode, touching upon the kind of horrors that were going to play out on the small screen. "Alfred Hitchcock Presents" premiered on CBS in the year 1955 — a time when television had not achieved the boom it would in the later years — but the show endured, thanks to Hitchcock's gravitas and the quality of the half-hour tales that were presented.
In 1959, writer Rod Serling sowed the seeds for his anthology series, "The Twilight Zone," which expanded upon the vignettes of horror by incorporating stories tinted with absurdism, suspense, black comedy, and dystopian narratives. While Serling and Hitchcock's shows were intrinsically different in tone and treatment, it was fairly easy to mistake one show's episode for the other, as both had undergone the anthology treatment and told stories of dynamic variety. Hitchcock's series obviously predated Serling's, and helmed ideas that served as inspiration for countless creatives down the line — however, the overlap of the two shows lies in their explosive popularity, and how they both carved a niche in the genre in a way that is solid and timeless.
Keeping this in mind, it is not surprising that one of the episodes from "The Alfred Hitchcock Hour" — a continuation of Hitchcock's parent anthology series, that ran from 1962 to 1965 — was mistaken for a "Twilight Zone" episode. How and why did this mix-up happen?
The Jar
Let us explore a little story about Charlie Hill, who buys a strange jar and takes it home. Although the jar emanates an ominous aura, Charlie does not part with it, as he thinks it has granted him respect among his peers. His wife, Thedy, is terrified of the jar, and her paranoia escalates when people from afar throng to their house to view the curio. Everyone perceives something different in the jar, unable to make out its contents, which enhances its mystery as the episode progresses. After an enraged Thedy breaks the jar, Charlie murders her, and reinstalls the jar for everyone to see: this time, everyone perceives Thedy's decapitated head inside the seemingly-cursed curio.
Such a twisty, spine-chilling tale can easily be considered a part of "The Twilight Zone," as several entries in that series have been equally, if not more macabre in their treatment of standard themes in horror. However, the above entry, titled "The Jar", is actually an episode of the second season of "The Alfred Hitchcock Hour," which aired in 1964. The reason why "The Jar" is often mistaken for a Serling special is that Hitchcock's anthology focused more on subtlety than gruesome twists, hinging its horror on absurd scenarios such as the ones in "The Case of Mr. Pelham" and "Lamb to the Slaughter." Norman Lloyd's "The Jar" broke the mold of a Hitchcock special in many ways, as it gradually built up an aura of suspenseful mysticism only to subvert expectations and unleash a monstrous act. In the end, the contents of the jar are immaterial, as Charlie's actions add an irredeemable layer of evil to what the jar might have represented.
Mix-up aside, both Serling's and Hitchcock's shows brim with unique gems worth revisiting to good measure.