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| The Mad Doctor |
Today on The MonsterGrrls’
Thir13een For Halloween, we are
discussing Thriller. No, not the Michael Jackson album (although we know you drag it out
around this time of year for Halloween parties), but instead, the
greatest horror anthology show you never saw. Created for NBC
Television by Hubbell Robinson and hosted by Boris Karloff, Thriller
debuted in 1960 and ran for two seasons during a peak period for
anthology shows.
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| Thriller title card |
Beginning
initially as a crime and suspense series in the mold of Alfred
Hitchcock Presents, Thriller
hit its stride in horror with its sixth episode, “The Purple Room,”
featuring Rip Torn as the inheritor of a house and property with a
condition: he must spend the night there and live in the house for a
year, or his cousins (Richard Anderson and Patricia Barry) will
inherit the property. And of course, the house has a little problem
with ghosts...
The
success of “The Purple Room” made the producers realize that
audiences had more taste for gothic and supernatural horror than
run-of-the-mill crime stories, and Thriller soon filled its plate
with spook tales. Many of these were based on works by authors who
were giants in the genre, including Edgar Allan Poe, Cornell
Woolrich, Robert Bloch (who
contributed a number of teleplays), Robert E. Howard (the episode
“Pigeons From Hell” became the first televised adaptation of
Howard’s story), August Derleth, and Twilight Zone
alumni Richard Matheson and Charles Beaumont. Its distinguished
roster of “major players” included Leslie Nielsen, William
Shatner (who starred to great effect in "The Hungry Glass" and "The Grim Reaper"), Mary Tyler Moore, Henry Daniell (a woefully underrated actor
in the vein of Price and Karloff himself), Richard Chamberlain,
Elisha Cook, Russell Johnson and Natalie Schafer (both of who would
later be marooned on Gilligan’s Island),
Marlo Thomas, Robert Vaughn, Marion Ross (who went on to Happy
Days), George Kennedy, Cloris
Leachman, Dick York and Elizabeth Montgomery (who went on to star in
Bewitched), Tom Poston
(Newhart) and Richard
Carlson.
Filmed in black and white, Thriller made the most of that medium: Alfred Hitchcock had already proved, both with the movie Psycho and his own series, that black-and-white film emphasized the gloomy settings, shadowy dread and horror of these stories better than color ever could. Thriller quickly became a must-see program during the 1960’s.
Filmed in black and white, Thriller made the most of that medium: Alfred Hitchcock had already proved, both with the movie Psycho and his own series, that black-and-white film emphasized the gloomy settings, shadowy dread and horror of these stories better than color ever could. Thriller quickly became a must-see program during the 1960’s.
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| Our distinguished host |
Karloff,
who enjoyed his status as a horror star and had no problems moving
into a small-screen medium, was the perfect host for Thriller.
With his rich, sonorous voice
and deadpan delivery, Karloff inserted himself into the beginning of
each episode, introducing its title and “major players” and then
would intone, “As sure as my name is Boris Karloff, this is a
thriller!” Karloff
also acted in five episodes of the series, perhaps his most morbid
appearance being the title character in “The Incredible Doktor Markesan,” an August Derleth story about a mad doctor who has
turned most of his rivals into zombies. Karloff also displayed a
talent for black humor, and frequently appeared to enjoy his
introductions, drawing the viewer into each episode. Though Thriller
had made itself on horror stories, it still mixed some
non-supernatural mystery tales into its oeuvre, and even created some
humorous episodes such as “Masquerade” (based on a Robert Bloch
tale, a honeymooning couple (Tom Poston and Elizabeth Montgomery) is
temporarily detained at a “hotel” run by a group of deranged
characters (among them John Carradine (!)) who may or may not be
vampires).
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| The comic |
Gold
Key Comics published a comic-book version of Thriller,
which went on to last until the very end of 1979; after Thriller
itself went off the air, the series title was changed to Boris
Karloff Tales Of Mystery. Some of these
comics were republished in an archive series by Dark Horse Comics,
beginning in 2009.
Though
ratings for Thriller
were still strong after the second season, complaints were raised
about the violence and morbid tone of the series, and the producers
battled constantly to keep the dark tone they were striving for.
Thriller’s final
death blow came when Alfred Hitchcock, who had just signed a deal
with NBC to have a one-hour version of Alfred Hitchcock
Presents, demanded that Thriller
be canceled so there would be no
confusion (or competition) with his show. NBC bowed to the clout of
Hitchcock, and Thriller
was cancelled after 2 seasons and 67 episodes.
However,
no less a horror luminary than Stephen King declared Thriller
to be “the best horror series ever put on TV” in his 1981
cultural overview of the genre, Danse Macabre.
Thriller was never
forgotten by those who had seen it, and its cult following eventually
paved the way for a 14-disc DVD release of the entire series in 2010,
containing all 67 uncut episodes with new commentary tracks and
separate music tracks. Cable channel MeTV also added the show to its
broadcast lineup, and episodes can also be found on YouTube. Most
likely, Thriller will
continue to be discovered and rediscovered by new and old horror fans
in perpetuity.
Be
sure to return soon for the next installment of The
MonsterGrrls’ Thir13en For Halloween.
Next time around, you may just get goosebumps…
MAD DOCTOR’S
NOTE: For an extra Halloween treat, click the links throughout the
post to see the episodes we mentioned on YouTube.
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