Alfred Hitchcock Presents
Mr. Blanchard's Secret
TV Flash files “Mr. Blanchard's Secret” as hour 52 of 268 in the TV Flash guide — Alfred Hitchcock Presents (1955–1962) on CBS/NBC, season 2, episode 13, aired 1956-12-23, 30 min.
From the desk
How this hour is filed
This leaf is S02E13: listed hour 52 of 268 in the Alfred Hitchcock Presents guide, hour 13 of 39 in season 2. It aired 1956-12-23 (30 min). The listed hour before it is “The Rose Garden” (S02E12). Next is “John Brown's Body” (S02E14).
Catalog log
Broadcast listing — not a TV Flash recap.
Babs Fenton has a hyperactive imagination. She believes her new neighbor Charles Blanchard has killed his wife. That theory is quickly put to rest, however, as Mrs. Blanchard shows up at Fenton's door and introduces herself. That night, Fenton sees Mr. Blanchard carrying something from the house, and is again convinced that he has murdered his wife. Fenton is proven wrong again when Mrs. Blanchard shows up at her door. Mrs. Blanchard says her husband has taken a few belongings and left because of a fight. She then leaves. Babs then notices that a lighter is missing and comes up with a theory that Mrs. Blanchard is a kleptomaniac. Later, this theory proves wrong as well as Mrs. Blanchard announces a reconciliation with her husband. She also returns the lighter, saying her husband fixed it.
Viewer FAQ
Where does Mr. Blanchard's Secret sit in the Alfred Hitchcock Presents guide?
S02E13 is listed hour 52 of 268 — hour 13 of 39 in season 2, season 2 episode 13.
When did Alfred Hitchcock Presents S02E13 air?
Mr. Blanchard's Secret aired 1956-12-23 and is listed at 30 minutes.
Where should I start?
Start with Hitch's hosted half-hours rather than assuming he directed the lot. Sample the dry intros and the snap endings; the silhouette is the franchise.
In the series
Why this series still plays
Alfred Hitchcock Presents made the director himself the franchise: silhouette, dry intro, murder with a wink, and closings that sometimes 'corrected' crime to soothe censors. Watch it in 2026 as branded anthology swagger — Joan Harrison's engine, Hitch's persona, and twist endings as moral architecture you can still hum.
Calendar first: CBS, October 2, 1955. Then a later NBC window. Original half-hour run through 1962 — **268 episodes, seven seasons** — before the expansion as *The Alfred Hitchcock Hour* (1962–1965). That is not nostalgia cosplay. That is a branded anthology with a host who was the franchise, a silhouette you could hum, and a weekly drop of murder with a wink. Rex can keep the three-network hymn. This was already a logo, a window, and a closing card that sometimes reversed the crime to soothe Standards & Practices.
Filed against
- Alfred Hitchcock as Host
Alfred Hitchcock made himself the franchise on Alfred Hitchcock Presents — silhouette, dry intro, murder with a wink, closings that sometimes “corrected” crime to soothe censors. Branded anthology swagger, Joan Harrison’s engine, twist…