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Alfred Hitchcock has influenced many famous directors, like M. Night Shymalan and Martin Scorsese, and their movies. The result is that many of these films inspired by Hitchcock’s work are known as “Hitchcockian.” Hitchcock’s nickname “The Master of Suspense” reflects how his visual storytelling within his films builds up tension. He is renowned for his use of cinematography to manipulate perspective, which creates a sense of fear and uncertainty for anyone watching his films.
Inspiration from Hitchcock isn’t just isolated to movies alone, as TV directors are embracing his style of filmmaking and bringing it to TV. Many TV shows, which have taken inspiration from Hitchcock’s style and themes, are in the horror, sci-fi, mystery, and thriller genres, or even a blend of all three genres. From Severance to Ripley, these TV shows are inspired by Alfred Hitchcock’s cinematic storytelling.
10 ‘Yellowjackets’
Created by Ashley Lyle and Bart Nickerson
Yellowjackets stars a large ensemble cast, and features the acting talents of Melanie Lynskey, Sophie Nélisse, Tawny Cypress, Jasmin Savoy Brown, Ella Purnell, Christina Ricci, Samantha Hanratty, Juliette Lewis, Sophie Thatcher, Lauren Ambrose, and Liv Hewson. Hitchcock’s films often put normal people in very unpredictable situations, and this is what happens in Yellowjackets. After a plane crash, teenage girls, who are all on the same high school soccer team, and their coaches are trapped in the wilderness, and they are pushed to their limits, which results in them doing anything to survive the tragic circumstances that they have found themselves in.
The show jumps back and forth between 1996 and 2021, which adds to the show’s suspense. It is a haunting look at how the plane crash and their nineteen months in the wilderness impacted the survivors psychologically as adults. Yellowjackets is known by fans for its dark humor, which, believe it or not, is something which Hitchcock included in his films, as a stark contrast to the show’s psychological drama and horror.
Yellowjackets
- Release Date
- November 14, 2021
- Creator
- Ashley Lyle, Bart Nickerson
- Main Genre
- Drama
- Seasons
- 2
- Network
- Showtime
- Streaming Service(s)
- Paramount+
9 ‘Night Gallery’
Created by Rod Serling
Night Gallery, which ran for three seasons, is the follow-up to The Twilight Zone. While The Twilight Zone focused on science fiction, this anthology series is all about the supernatural and horror. The host and creator of Night Gallery is Rod Serling, who is also known for being the creator of The Twilight Zone. Each episode of Night Gallery focuses on the stories behind three eerie paintings from the Night Gallery’s vast collection.
Focusing widely on the macabre, Rod Sterling’s visual storytelling in Night Gallery echoes that of Hitchcock’s. The use of sound paired with anxiety-inducing visuals, like in the episodes, “A Question of Fear” and “The Cemetery,” an element which Hitchock was known for, elevates horror elements within Sterling’s writing. The result are hair-raising moments which scare viewers and make them remember their fear over a particular episode, even decades after they have watched Night Gallery.
Night Gallery
- Release Date
- November 8, 1969
- Cast
- Rod Serling , Joanna Pettet , Gary Collins , Susan Strasberg
- Main Genre
- Horror
- Seasons
- 3
8 ‘Servant’
Created by Tony Basgallop and M. Night Shyamalan
Servant, created by Tony Basgallop and executive produced by M. Night Shyamalan, is a psychological horror TV series about the Turner family who hire a nanny, Leanne, for their son, Jericho. After getting hired by the family, Leanne finds out Jericho is deceased and Dorothy, the mother, believes her reborn doll is really Jericho. The series stars Lauren Ambrose (Dorothy Turner), Toby Kebbell (Sean Turner), Nell Tiger Free (Leanne Grayson) and Rupert Grint (Julian Pearce). M. Night Shyamalan has said that a big influence of his is Alfred Hitchcock, and he pays homage to Hitchcock with his approach to storytelling in Servant.
To make the supernatural elements of Servant shine, M. Night Shyamalan follows Hitchcock’s formula for cinematography. The cinematography of Servant is full of close-ups and long-range perspective shots to create anxiety and tension. Probably the most iconic and nauseating close-up shots in Servant are the visuals around food. In the episode, “Jericho,” the imagery of rotting meat is juxtapositioned with the state of Jericho’s body. The gross food imagery doesn’t stop there, as there are plenty of opportunities to see Sean’s culinary “masterpieces,” like lobster ice cream.
Servant
- Release Date
- November 28, 2019
- Creator
- Tony Basgallop
- Main Genre
- Horror
- Seasons
- 4
7 Black Mirror
Created by Charlie Brooker
Black Mirror, an anthology series created by Charlie Brooker, draws inspiration from both Night Gallery and Twilight Zone. The series so far has six seasons, with a seventh season coming in 2025. Fans love Black Mirror for its thought-provoking storytelling, stellar production, and great casting. Like Twilight Zone, many episodes of Black Mirror feature well-known actors.
Each episode is a different story with themes centered on how the media and technology impact society. The stories span a variety of genres, from science fiction to horror. What makes Black Mirror very Hitchcockian is in the show’s ability to create thrilling stories which put characters in uneasy situations. Each episode, no matter who the writer or director is, features surprising twists and turns, which keep fans on the edge of their seats.
Black Mirror
- Release Date
- December 4, 2011
- Main Genre
- Sci-Fi
- Seasons
- 6
- Studio
- Netflix
6 Castle Rock
Created by Dustin Thomason and Sam Shaw
Castle Rock, created by Dustin Thomason and Sam Shaw, takes place in Stephen King’s fictional city of Castle Rock, Maine, where the events in a few of his novels occur, such as Cujo and Needful Things. The first season is about Henry Deaver (André Holland), a death row attorney, who returns to Castle Rock to be the lawyer to an inmate, known as “The Kid.” The second season pivots towards a different storyline. Annie Wilkes, who is a character from King’s book titled, Misery, crashes her car near Castle Rock. She and her daughter, Joy, then have to stay in town for a while and decide to rent from Ace Merrill, another major Stephen King character.
Alfred Hitchcock has been cited as an inspiration for Stephen King’s writing, so it isn’t a surprise that Hitchcock’s influences would appear in a TV show based on King’s books. Castle Rock pays homage to Alfred Hitchcock with its focus on keeping its characters within a single location. Since the characters within Castle Rock mostly stay within the town, this creates restlessness between characters. The secrets and mysteries within the town of Castle Rock create a sense of suspension throughout both storylines in the TV series.
Castle Rock
- Release Date
- July 25, 2018
- Main Genre
- Horror
- Seasons
- 2
5 ‘The Twilight Zone’
Created by Rod Serling
The Twilight Zone was created by Rod Serling. The series first launched in 1959, and it eventually became a franchise, with four series in total. The latest series in The Twilight Zone ran from 2019 until 2020, and it was narrated by Jordan Peele. The series has influenced a lot of TV and movies in pop culture, including the recent anthology series, Black Mirror, and lead to the coin of the term, “twilight zone.” Each episode of this anthology series centers around a different story and characters.
The Twilight Zone, later on shortened to just Twilight Zone, is the most beloved anthology series to ever air on television. Alfred Hitchcock’s influence can be seen in how the TV series approaches its endings. Hitchock was known for pulling epic plot twists. The endings are often surprising and unpredictable, like in the case of “Eye of the Beholder,” “Time Enough At Last,” and “An Occurrence at Owl Creek Bridge.” The shocking twists in the vain of Hitchcock’s work are what Twilight Zone fans love the most about the beloved anthology series.
The Twilight Zone (1959)
- Release Date
- October 2, 1959
- Creator
- Rod Serling
- Cast
- Rod Serling , Jack Klugman , Burgess Meredith , John Anderson
- Main Genre
- Sci-Fi
- Seasons
- 5
WATCH ON PRIME
4 ‘You’
Developed by Greg Berlanti and Sera Gamble
Based on the series of novels by Caroline Kepnes, You, a psychological thriller developed by Greg Berlanti and Sera Gamble, stars Penn Badgley as Joe Goldberg, a bookstore manager who becomes obsessed with a young aspiring writer, Guinevere Beck (Elizabeth Lail). Joe is violent, and doesn’t want anyone (or anything) to get in his way as he pursues a relationship with Beck, even if that means he has to kill them. And that is just the show’s first season, as it gets even more complicated in the other seasons, as Joe goes on the run with a new identity.
It is hard not to think of Joe from You without thinking of Norman Bates from Hitchcock’s 1960 horror film, Psycho. Both Bates and Goldberg are serial killers. The cinematography in You is sometimes from the perspective of Joe, especially as he is narrating a particular scene, such as his observations of Beck when he first met her. A lot of the shots in You are close and tight, which creates suspense and gives viewers insight into Joe’s thoughts.
You (2018)
- Release Date
- September 9, 2018
- Creator
- Greg Berlanti, Sera Gamble
- Main Genre
- Drama
- Seasons
- 5
WATCH ON NETFLIX
3 ‘Severance’
Created by Dan Erickson
Severance, directed by Ben Stiller and Aoife McArdle, is one of the best thrillers on television with its exceptional writing and acting performances. This dystopian TV series, starring Adam Scott, Zach Cherry, Britt Lower, Tramell Tillman, John Turturro, and Patricia Arquette, follows a group of employees at Lumon Industries, who have had their minds “severed” so that their work and home lives are completely separate. Mark, Dylan, Helly, and Irving begin to learn that everything is not what it seems at Lumon.
Severance’s surprising twists and turns are reminiscent of the plots of Alfred Hitchcock’s films. The series makes use of the “Hitchcock Zoom,” which closes in on the subject while still moving away from it, creating a flattening effect on the background during scenes where the employees of Lumon Industries, like Mark, go into the elevator and transition into their work lives. Besides Jessica Lee Gagné and Matt Mitchell’s Hitchcock-inspired cinematography, there’s also a thematic element in Severance which often reoccurs in Hitchcock’s films, and that is the blurring of guilt and innocence. It is hard to tell which characters are innocent (and which ones aren’t). The only people who know are the audience, as the director shares the secrets that the characters might not know with them. In Severance, there is a blur between who is “good” and ‘bad,” and certain secrets are hinted at the audience, like the identity of Mark’s wife.
Severance
- Release Date
- February 18, 2022
- Creator
- Dan Erickson
- Main Genre
- Drama
- Seasons
- 2
2 ‘Ripley’
Created by Steven Zaillian
Ripley, written and directed by Steven Zaillian, is a limited noir series, which is beautifully shot in black-and-white, on Netflix, and it is based on the novel, The Talented Mr. Ripley, by Patricia Highsmith. The show stars Andrew Scott as Tom Ripley, Dakota Fanning as Marge Sherwood, and Johnny Flynn as Dickie Greenleaf. Mr. Greenleaf, a wealthy man, mistakes con-man Tom Ripley for a friend of his son, Dickie, Tom is paid to go to Italy by Mr. Greenleaf, who wants Dickie to come home. When Tom meets Dickie and his girlfriend, Marge, he becomes very interested in Dickie’s lavish lifestyle.
In a few of Hitchcock’s films, such as Rope and Vertigo, there is the idea of the “perfect murder,” where the murderers try their best to not leave any clues behind. This is a common plot device in Alfred Hitchcock’s movies. The murders in Ripley are set up in this way. Tom Ripley takes on Dickie’s identity and begins to live off of his money. He is a master of disguise and is able to throw off the police.
Ripley
- Release Date
- April 4, 2024
- Main Genre
- Crime
- Seasons
- 1
- Creator(s)
- Steven Zaillian , Patricia Highsmith
- Writers
- Steven Zaillian
- Streaming Service(s)
- Netflix
- Directors
- Steven Zaillian
- Showrunner
- Steven Zaillian
1 ‘Fargo’
Created by Noah Hawley
The Fargo movie, directed by the Coen Brothers, is definitely a masterpiece in Hitchcockian cinematography, and the TV series, which has its cinematography done by Dana Gonzales, also carries this distinction as well. The Fargo TV series, created by Noah Hawley, is an anthology series, which ran between 2014 and 2024. Each season has a different cast of characters and storylines, but the setting in Minnesota and North Dakota mostly stays the same. The stories are centered around crimes committed in the Midwest.
Fargo makes use of the range of Hitchcock’s filmmaking style, from intriguing close-ups to twisting pans during moments of suspense. But, it isn’t just the cinematography that makes Fargo one of the best Alfred Hitchcock-inspired TV shows; it is the way the murders in the show are carried out. Just like in Hitchcock’s movies, the murders are dramatic and surprising. About 63% of people in Hitchcock’s movies die, and Fargo doesn’t hesitate to kill off characters in shocking ways, such as dying in a car crash caused by fish raining from the sky, in addition, to shootouts.
Fargo
- Release Date
- April 15, 2014
- Main Genre
- Crime
- Seasons
- 5
- Studio
- FX
