A Disturbing "Alfred Hitchcock Presents"

I watched an atypical episode of "Alfred Hitchcock Presents" last week, one that was even more chilling than usual--not because of the actual story, but because of Hitch's postgame remarks. In "Never Again," from the second season, the host gives his customary droll intro to the episode, but his wrap-up is anything but customary.

This episode deals with alcoholism, a subject not nearly as commonplace as it is today, when it's not unusual for the lead in a regular series, let alone one person in a guest shot on an anthology, to suffer from the disease. After promising her husband she won't drink, a woman relapses at a party and blacks out. She tells the story as she wakes up in a hospital bed, still woozy from the night before. As she comes to, she learns...well, something horrible.

The ending is grim, even haunting, as many of the twists in "AHP" are. But usually Hitch comes out, makes a wise-ass remark or two, and reaffirms the fun factor of the show. As gripping as some of stories are, it's hard to be truly chilled after seeing the host's end segments, which frequently poke fun at what we just saw.

Not so in "Never Again." This time, instead of joking around, the Master of Suspense says this (I got the exact quote from TV.com) in a tone probably as sincere as I've ever heard him:

Ladies and gentlemen, may I just for this once, depart from our customary epilogue. Tonight we have brought you a drama based on one of Adela Rogers St. John's most powerful stories with the hope that somewhere, somehow, it will help someone.

This departure from the normal routine reinforces the jarring conclusion of the episode, and while that ending on its own terms might seem a little melodramatic, perhaps incredible to today's audiences, it has stuck with me for a few days because of Hitchcock's closing remarks.

To me, it's a great example of how once you establish a successful formula, you can achieve major impact by diverting from it. TV creators realize this today, but in our postmodern world, a lot of times I think we get a more self-conscious effort to break from the formula, or we get shows that are all about breaking formula--not quite the same thing.