Season nine of The Alfred Hitchcock Hour (formerly the half-hour Alfred Hitchcock Presents) represented the first season without an episode directed by series host Alfred Hitchcock, who was otherwise occupied with his upcoming theatrical feature, Marnie. Thus, instead of the traditional Hitch-directed opener, the ninth season got under way with "A Home Away from Home" -- which, even without the direct input of The Master, turned out be one of the series' most terrifying efforts. In fact, several of this season's episodes rank as among the finest and most frightening ever seen on any TV anthology. Examples include "The Jar, a chilling Ray Bradbury fable featuring a astonishingly sinister performance by comic actor Pat Buttram, a superb minimalist musical score by Bernard Herrmann, and the knowing direction of longtime Hitchcock associate Norman Lloyd; "Final Escape," a grimly claustrophobic morality tale, and an unusual assignment for director William Witney, hitherto a specialist in fast-action Westerns; and "The Evil of Adelaide Winters," highlighted by the subtly macabre performance of Kim Hunter and the direction of Laslo Benedek (The Wild One). Other episodes included "The Magic Shop," adapted by fantasy specialist John Collier from the H.G. Wells short story, and marking the return to the series of director Robert Stevens after several years' absence; "Nothing Ever Happens in Linvale," a typically low-key "perfect murder" yarn by Richard Levinson and William Link (Columbo); "The Sign of Satan," a felicitous collaboration between horror star Christopher Lee and author Robert Bloch (Psycho); and "Body in the Barn," featuring the indomitable Lillian Gish as a meddling gossip who manages to trap a killer by sacrificing her own life. Finally, season nine offers one of the series' funniest episodes, "How to Get Rid of Your Wife," distinguished by the one-time-only teaming of comedian Bob Newhart and former child star Jane Withers. Seen on Friday evenings at 10 p.m., The Alfred Hitchcock Hour performed better in the ratings than its chief competition, The Jack Paar Program, but in general the hour-long anthology format was tired and played out by 1964. Still, Hitchcock enjoyed enough of a following to prompt NBC -- which had dropped the series back in 1962 -- to pick up Alfred Hitchcock Hour for a tenth season, moving the property to a more advantageous Monday-night slot. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi