7.2 /10 1 Votes
7.5/10 TV Country of origin U.S.A.CanadaFrance No. of seasons 6 | 6.9/10 IMDb Original language(s) English First episode date 1983 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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Starring Page FletcherNicholas Campbell Composer(s) Shuki LevyMichel RubiniHaim Saban Original network Cast Page Fletcher, Nicholas Campbell, Lisa Blount, Susan Anspach | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
The Hitchhiker is a mystery Anthology series that aired from 1983 to 1987 on HBO and First Choice in Canada. The series later moved to the USA Network from 1989 to 1991.
Contents
The series is known as Deadly Nightmares in the UK and as Le Voyageur in France.
Synopsis
Each episode is introduced and concluded by a mysterious wanderer known only as "The Hitchhiker," and explores the foibles of humanity and its dark spirit. The title character was played by Nicholas Campbell from 1983-1984 (3 episodes), and Page Fletcher from 1984-1991 (82 episodes). There were a total of 85 episodes over six seasons (39 first runs on HBO & 46 first runs on USA).
Cast
Like the much earlier Twilight Zone series, with which it had a lot of other commonalities, The Hitchhiker served as starting point for many actors, some of whom would go on to gain greater recognition elsewhere. Notable cast members (in alphabetical order):
Syndication and DVD releases
In 1996, The Hitchhiker entered syndication and was re-edited (to remove the violence and/or nudity/sexuality that were featured on the HBO runs). The first three episodes had some footage edited and/or re-shot to replace Nicholas Campbell with Page Fletcher, in order to preserve continuity during the syndication runs. The Hitchhiker was syndicated by Rysher Entertainment (since absorbed by CBS Television Distribution) up until 2000.
HBO Home Video released a 3 volume set on DVD between 2004–2006, featuring various episodes from the series. The 2-disc sets contain a selection of episodes, most from the HBO-produced episodes but also including some that were made for the USA Network. These releases were discontinued and are now out of print, but can still be found at some retailers as discounted/liquidated stock.
In Canada, Koch Entertainment (now known as Entertainment One) released Canadian seasons 1 and 3 (which correspond to US Seasons 1-3 and 5, respectively) on DVD in 2004. These releases were discontinued and are now out of print. Canadian Season 2 (US Season 4) was not released due to an ownership/rights situation.
Alliance Home Entertainment released The Hitchhiker: The Complete Collection on DVD in Canada for the very first time on October 11, 2011. The release does not contain all episodes of the series as the title indicates, it only features 30 episodes from various seasons.