In 1959, TV producer Hubbell Robinson was scouting around for a new series to air on NBC, the network he had once been president of. When he left that position, NBC settled his contract by giving him two hours of prime time to fill. One would be 87^th Precinct , based on the Ed McBain novels. Robinson’s concept for the other was, as he put it, "the Studio One of mystery." He wanted the series, known as Thriller, to be an anthology, with different casts and stories every week that would draw upon the works of writers such as Edgar Allan Poe and Cornell Woolrich.

To help bring this about, Robinson recruited Fletcher Markle, an alumnus of Studio One, as executive producer, and writers Maxwell Shane and James Cavanagh, the latter as story editor. The host was Boris Karloff, who agreed to the project wholeheartedly under the terms that he could perform in the series, as well. Robinson told me, "When I first discussed the idea with David Levy, then vice president in charge of programming for NBC, Boris was my recommendation, with which he was in total agreement. To the best of my recollection, no one else was ever considered."

Once Thriller went on the air in September of 1960, those involved could not seem to reach a consensus on the type of story material the show required. Fletcher Markle informed me, "We put together a wonderful pilot (directed by Arthur Hiller, pre-Love Story), which sold the series in a matter of days. I wrote the intros for Boris initially, but once we were into production on a series basis, a bizarre conflict developed between the then head of the studio and myself. It had to do with quality vs. quantity, an ancient TV battleground, and in this instance, I was happy to lay down my lance."

What the creative personnel couldn’t agree on was whether Thriller would be a horror or suspense program, or a combination of both. Within weeks of the premiere, reports appeared in Variety saying that Allstate, one of the sponsors, found some of the content objectionable, especially scenes of an axe murder and a strangulation. The company had believed Thriller would rank with such series as Alfred Hitchcock Presents and The Twilight Zone.

Thriller Producer Hubbell Robinson with his new star.

By October, Thriller focused primarily on horror stories. Douglas Benton, who soon became associate producer, explained: "After they ran the first six shows, NBC called Universal and said they were going to cancel because they were getting the same story week after week, and weren’t pleased with production values. Lew Wasserman, who even then was chief executive officer at MCA, looked at all six hours in one running, and the next morning, he had the show taken away from Fletcher Markle, and assigned it to William Frye, who for many years was producer of the filmed segments of the General Electric Theater."

Before Frye assumed Markle’s duties, some criticism of the show fell on its host. A TV Guide article a few months later said "some people" believed Karloff was a poor host and seemed ill-suited for the job, as opposed to Alfred Hitchcock, who hosted his own show. This reaction appears to have been unjustified. William Frye told me, "Boris was always considered a first-rate host and, when after two years the series was discontinued, we received thousands of letters asking why, and praising Boris." Hubbell Robinson concurred: "The network thought Mr. Karloff was an ideal and excellent host." He added (responding to the article’s statement that "most impartial observers agreed Karloff is not ideally suited to the role"), "I never heard anybody make any remark of that sort whatsoever. He enjoyed it and I would say he was one of the show’s great strengths."

Frye was a personal friend of the Karloffs, and once he took over Thriller improved. Noted mystery and fantasy writers Charles Beaumont, Robert Bloch, and Cornell Woolrich contributed scripts, and among the directors were Paul Henreid, Ida Lupino, and Ray Milland.

Boris Karloff with a list of early Thriller titles including a couple that were never used. Perhaps they were replaced by more horrific stories.

Douglas Benton remembers, "I was amazed at how much energy Karloff had. He had a tremendous sense of humor, and was very happy that Bill had been put on the show, and we had already begun to work out a new format. He was very enthusiastic about this. He watched the show on the air and we got criticism. Some. Not as much as you’d think, because he seemed to like everything we did, and was very desirous of doing as many of the stories as he could himsel