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Death on Television: The Best of Henry Slesar's Alfred Hitchcock Stories (Mystery Makers)

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Attention Alfred Hitchcock Presents fans: Death on Television, edited by Francis M. Nevins, Jr. and Martin Harry Greenberg in 1989, is a great companion to the reruns of the late 50s and early 60s TV mystery anthology series. This is a collection of short stories by Henry Slesar that were produced on the Hitchcock show. Mr. Slesar is one of the most prolific TV writers ever. He was involved in more than 40 of the AHP shows, writing both stories and teleplays. In his introduction to this book, he states that Hitchcock is usually referred to as the Master of Suspense but Mr. Slesar renames him as the Master of Irony. The stories in this book all have the signature ironic twist endings for which Alfred Hitchcock TV is famous. His stories often show the frailties of the human condition and relationships. "The Test" and "A Woman's Help" show that blood is thicker than water and apparently morality. In "The Final Vow" a young nun is tested and in "The Second Verdict" a young lawyer has gotten a guilty man acquitted. In both of these stories, help comes from unlikely sources, hardened criminals. It is fun to read the stories in this book and follow along with the show. For aspiring writers, this book can be a primer showing how the written word is brought to the small screen. Stories also include "Cop For a Day" which starred Walter Matthau and "Starring the Defense" which starred Richard Basehart when produced. Another book that I recommend is Hitchcock in Prime Time, also edited by Martin Harry Greenberg, which is a similar book that collects more of original stories that were later produced on Hitchcock's TV shows. They are written by various authors and include comments by the authors about how they felt about the teleproduction of their stories.