The Hitchhiker, aka Deadly Nightmares (anthology TV series)

[OceanBlue]

Have asked about this anthology series before in the UK & Ireland sub-forum a few months ago, The Hitchhiker (aka Deadly Nightmares).

I nearly went and purchased one of the volumes released on DVD by Warner Brothers in the UK (selected episodes). Think there were two different actors who starred as the Hitchhiker character. Nicholas Campbell bookended the first three episodes, with Page Fletcher replacing him for the remainder of the series.

Just double-checking, but was the series originally shot on film?

[bilbofett]

Originally Posted by OceanBlue

Have asked about this anthology series before in the UK & Ireland sub-forum a few months ago, The Hitchhiker (aka Deadly Nightmares).

I nearly went and purchased one of the volumes released on DVD by Warner Brothers in the UK (selected episodes). Think there were two different actors who starred as the Hitchhiker character. Nicholas Campbell bookended the first three episodes, with Page Fletcher replacing him for the remainder of the series.

Just double-checking, but was the series originally shot on film?

yes

[OceanBlue]

Originally Posted by bilbofett

yes

Thank you for taking the time to answer this question.

[OceanBlue]

Did The Hitchhiker have a lot of copyrighted music in it, and was the show edited on video?

[AnamorphicWidescreen]

Glad I discovered this thread. Not having access to cable TV back in the day, I wasn't even aware of The Hitchhiker adult mystery/thriller/horror anthology TV series when it was originally broadcast in the '80's - early '90's. However, I've been going back & revisiting some shows that I completely missed the first time around - and recently finished watching the first Region 1 DVD set (featuring 10 episodes from the show).

Great series! It's definitely more of a mystery/suspense/thriller series, but it does have some horror (and at times supernatural) elements. The show also has a strong neo-noir aspect that I find both interesting & compelling. I like how each episode is narrated by the nameless "Hitchhiker", who comments on the characters & situations (at the beginning & end of each episode), but has 0 interaction with them - he just observes from the side-lines.

I like that each episode is stand-alone, which helps a lot when watching this on these DVD sets - since these episodes are not shown in the order that they were originally released.

There were 85 episodes in all, but from doing some research I only found three Region 1 DVD sets (with ten episodes each) were released. Additional episodes were released in other Region DVD sets, but there has never been a set that has been released with all of the episodes. I wonder if rights issues have something to do with this, given that the show was initially broadcast on HBO, and later on USA Network?! In any case, I would definitely be onboard for a comprehensive DVD/Blu set with all of the episodes. I'd even settle for a DVD-only release, since the PQ on the DVD set(s) that I've seen (so far) have been decent.

Here's the eerie opening theme (from 1984 - ?!); not sure how long they used this specific theme since I've only seen a handful of episodes so far:

The Hitchhiker 1984 Intro (High Quality) - YouTube

Originally Posted by OceanBlue

Did The Hitchhiker have a lot of copyrighted music in it, and was the show edited on video?

Good question. I did some research on this show, and couldn't find info. regarding the music or how the show was edited/filmed. I will say that IMHO the Region 1 DVD sets have acceptable Picture Quality (PQ), but this is only based on the 10 episodes I've seen (so far). Here's the Wikipedia site. This does have info. on the various home video releases:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Hitchhiker_(TV_series)

[Troy Perkins]

My parents got Sky TV in 94 and I don’t remember it ever being shown then but supposedly Sky did broadcast this at some point in the early 90s?

I’ve got the UK Warmer Bros disc which has 10 random episodes, they are occasionally uploaded in HD onto a certain famous streaming site but seem to get taken down quite quickly. Cost me quite a bit as a rare disc, the Volume 2 UK disc is even rarer and the R1 release is circa £20 so a bit too much.

Easily one of my favourite anthology horror / mystery shows although the great Tales from the Crypt (also by HBO) was even better and more popular in the UK.

[bilbofett]

Originally Posted by Troy Perkins

My parents got Sky TV in 94 and I don’t remember it ever being shown then but supposedly Sky did broadcast this at some point in the early 90s?

I’ve got the UK Warmer Bros disc which has 10 random episodes, they are occasionally uploaded in HD onto a certain famous streaming site but seem to get taken down quite quickly. Cost me quite a bit as a rare disc, the Volume 2 UK disc is even rarer and the R1 release is circa £20 so a bit too much.

Easily one of my favourite anthology horror / mystery shows although the great Tales from the Crypt (also by HBO) was even better and more popular in the UK.

Did the HD look like a legit normal transfer, or like a bad upscale (still technically in SD looking)? Because if there's REAL HD floating around out there somewhere, I'd enjoy the scavenger hunt of trying to locate it!

[Trekkie313]

I have Volume 1 & 2 on DVD, 3 for whatever reason is very uncommon and fetches absurd prices now. I got my copies for $5 each Gabriel Brothers during the early 2010s.


One episode that I think has copyrighted music is W.G.O.D.

[Metalbeast]

Originally Posted by OceanBlue

Did The Hitchhiker have a lot of copyrighted music in it, and was the show edited on video?

The episode Doctor's Orders has a song from Marvin Gaye on the soundtrack.

[WaverBoy]

We really need a complete series set of this show! I totally remember it from back in the day. I have volume 1 of the DVD sets, guess I should probably cave and get the other two volumes as this is probably never gonna get its due.