Alfred Hitchcock Presents
Insomnia
TV Flash files “Insomnia” as hour 183 of 268 in the TV Flash guide — Alfred Hitchcock Presents (1955–1962) on CBS/NBC, season 5, episode 30, aired 1960-05-08, 30 min.
From the desk
How this hour is filed
This leaf is S05E30: listed hour 183 of 268 in the Alfred Hitchcock Presents guide, hour 30 of 38 in season 5. It aired 1960-05-08 (30 min). The listed hour before it is “The Hero” (S05E29). Next is “I Can Take Care of Myself” (S05E31).
Catalog log
Broadcast listing — not a TV Flash recap.
Charles Cavender is having a terrible case of insomnia. He visits a psychologist Doctor Tedaldi for help. He tells the doctor that his his wife died in a fire. He also adds that her brother Fletcher blames him for her death. The doctor suggests that he and his brother-in-law should try to resolve their differences. He meets Fletcher but they get into an argument. There is a fight and Fletcher is killed. Cavender then returns home and is finally able to get some rest. He goes to sleep and a fire breaks out. His sleep is so deep that the fire does not wake him up and he dies.
Viewer FAQ
Where does Insomnia sit in the Alfred Hitchcock Presents guide?
S05E30 is listed hour 183 of 268 — hour 30 of 38 in season 5, season 5 episode 30.
When did Alfred Hitchcock Presents S05E30 air?
Insomnia aired 1960-05-08 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…