The Hitchhiker (TV series)

The Hitchhiker (also known as Deadly Nightmares in the United Kingdom and Le Voyageur in France)^[1] is a mystery horror anthology television series. It aired from 1983 to 1987 on HBO, and First Choice and NTV in Canada. The series moved to the USA Network from 1989 to 1991.

The Hitchhiker
Title screen
Genre	Anthology Horror Mystery
Starring	Page Fletcher Nicholas Campbell
Composers	Paul Hoffert Shuki Levy Michel Rubini Haim Saban
Country of origin	United States Canada France
Original language	English
No. of seasons	6
No. of episodes	85
Production
Executive producers	Lewis Chesler Riff Markowitz Richard Rothstein Jeremy Lipp Jacques Methe David Perlmutter
Running time	30 minutes (approx.)
Production company	Chester/ Perlmutter/ Markowitz Productions
Original release
Network	HBO (1983–1987) First Choice (1983–1987) USA Network (1989–1991) La Cinq (1989–1991)
Release	November 23, 1983 (1983-11-23) – February 22, 1991 (1991-02-22)

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 and 46 first runs on USA).

Production

The series was a United States/Canada/France co-production. It was filmed in Vancouver and Toronto, Ontario, Canada and Paris, France. The show was produced by Corazon Productions (Season 1 for a total of three episodes), Quintina Productions (Seasons 2-4 for a total of 36 episodes), and La Cinq, Atlantique & Quintina Productions (Seasons 5-6 for a total of 46 episodes).

The Hitchhiker was created by Lewis Chesler and Riff Markowitz, later joined by Richard Rothstein. The pilot episode consisted of three stories. Richard Rothstein wrote two and Jeph Loeb and Matt Weissman wrote the third.

Paul Hoffert created the theme music for the show.^[2]

Episodes

Series overview

Season	Episodes		Originally released
			First released	Last released	Network
1	3		November 23, 1983 (1983-11-23)	December 14, 1983 (1983-12-14)	HBO
2	10		November 13, 1984 (1984-11-13)	April 9, 1985 (1985-04-09)
3	13		September 15, 1985 (1985-09-15)	April 22, 1986 (1986-04-22)
4	13		February 17, 1987 (1987-02-17)	May 12, 1987 (1987-05-12)
5	26		May 22, 1989 (1989-05-22)	December 16, 1989 (1989-12-16)	USA Network
6	20		September 21, 1990 (1990-09-21)	February 22, 1991 (1991-02-22)

Season 1 (1983)

No. overall	No. in season	Title	Directed by	Written by	Original release date
1	1	"Shattered Vows"	Ivan Nagy	Lewis Chesler	November 23, 1983 (1983-11-23)
2	2	"When Morning Comes"	Ivan Nagy	Lewis Chesler	November 30, 1983 (1983-11-30)
3	3	"Split Decision"	Ivan Nagy	Lewis Chesler	December 14, 1983 (1983-12-14)

Season 2 (1984–85)

No. overall	No. in season	Title	Directed by	Written by	Original release date
4	1	"Lovesounds"	David Wickes	Jeph Loeb & Matthew Weisman	November 13, 1984 (1984-11-13)
5	2	"Remembering Melody"	Christopher Leitch	Teleplay by : Alvin Sapinsley Based on a short story by : George R. R. Martin	November 27, 1984 (1984-11-27)
6	3	"Face to Face"	David Wickes	Story by : Richard Rothstein Teleplay by : Robert J. Avrech	December 4, 1984 (1984-12-04)
7	4	"And If We Dream"	Mai Zetterling	Story by : Richard Rothstein Teleplay by : Leora Barish	January 15, 1985 (1985-01-15)
8	5	"Petty Thieves"	Christopher Leitch	Story by : Richard Rothstein Teleplay by : William Darrid	January 29, 1985 (1985-01-29)
9	6	"Videodate"	Richard Rothstein	Richard Rothstein	February 16, 1985 (1985-02-16)
10	7	"A Time for Rifles"	David Wickes	Story by : H.A. DeRose Written by : Stanford Whitmore	March 2, 1985 (1985-03-02)
11	8	"Man at the Window"	Christopher Leitch	Michael Janover	March 12, 1985 (1985-03-12)
12	9	"Hired Help"	Mai Zetterling	Story by : Gail Glaze Written by : Stanford Whitmore	March 26, 1985 (1985-03-26)
13	10	"Murderous Feelings"	Mai Zetterling	Charles Israel	April 9, 1985 (1985-04-09)

Season 3 (1985–86)

No. overall	No. in season	Title	Directed by	Written by	Original release date
14	1	"Nightshift"	Phillip Noyce	Story by : April Campbell Jones & Bruce Jones Teleplay by : William Darrid	September 15, 1985 (1985-09-15)
15	2	"Out of the Night"	Brian Grant	Story by : Richard Rothstein Teleplay by : Marjorie David	October 29, 1985 (1985-10-29)
16	3	"The Killer"	Carl Schenkel	Story by : Richard Rothstein & Christopher Leitch Teleplay by : April Campbell Jones & Bruce Jones	November 12, 1985 (1985-11-12)
17	4	"W.G.O.D"	Mike Hodges	Story by : Richard Rothstein Teleplay by : Thomas Baum	November 26, 1985 (1985-11-26)
18	5	"Man's Best Friend"	Philip Noyce	Story by : April Campbell Jones & Bruce Jones Teleplay by : Nevin Schreiner	December 10, 1985 (1985-12-10)
19	6	"Ghostwriter"	Carl Schenkel	Thomas Baum	January 7, 1986 (1986-01-07)
20	7	"O.D. Feelin'"	Richard Rothstein	Richard Rothstein & Christopher Leitch	January 28, 1986 (1986-01-28)
21	8	"Dead Man's Curve"	Roger Vadim	Story by : Christopher Leitch Teleplay by : John Harrison	February 11, 1986 (1986-02-11)
22	9	"The Curse"	Phillip Noyce	Story by : Richard Rothstein & Christopher Leitch Teleplay by : Thomas Baum	February 25, 1986 (1986-02-25)
23	10	"True Believer"	Carl Schenkel	William Kelly	March 11, 1986 (1986-03-11)
24	11	"Last Scene"	Paul Verhoeven	Story by : Richard Rothstein Teleplay by : Robert J. Avrech	March 25, 1986 (1986-03-25)
25	12	"Man of Her Dreams"	Phillip Noyce	Story by : April Campbell & Bruce Jones Teleplay by : Gary Ross	April 8, 1986 (1986-04-08)
26	13	"One Last Prayer"	Brian Grant	Story by : April Campbell & Bruce Jones Teleplay by : Leora Barish & Henry Bean	April 22, 1986 (1986-04-22)

Season 4 (1987)

No. overall	No. in season	Title	Directed by	Written by	Original release date
27	1	"Perfect Order"	Daniel Vigne	Marjorie David	February 17, 1987 (1987-02-17)
28	2	"Minuteman"	Chris Thomson	Thomas Baum	February 24, 1987 (1987-02-24)
29	3	"Dead Heat"	Kees Van Oostrum	Story by : William Rontog Teleplay by : Maurice Noel	March 3, 1987 (1987-03-03)
30	4	"Why Are You Here?"	Chris Thomson	Story by : Christopher Leitch Teleplay by : Christopher Leitch & L. M. Kit Carson	March 10, 1987 (1987-03-10)
31	5	"Homebodies"	Carl Schenkel	Story by : Christopher Leitch & Richard Rothstein Teleplay by : Christopher Leitch	March 17, 1987 (1987-03-17)
32	6	"Doctor's Orders"	Reynaldo Villalobos	Thomas Baum	March 24, 1987 (1987-03-24)
33	7	"The Legendary Billy B."	Chris Thomson	Story by : Marjorie David Teleplay by : L. M. Kit Carson	March 31, 1987 (1987-03-31)
34	8	"In the Name of Love"	John Laing	Story by : Richard Rothstein, Christopher Leitch & Jeremy Lipp Teleplay by : Jeremy Lipp	April 7, 1987 (1987-04-07)
35	9	"Made for Each Other"	Thomas Baum	Thomas Baum	April 14, 1987 (1987-04-14)
36	10	"Joker"	Colin Bucksey	Story by : James Padrino Teleplay by : William Gray & Robert Reneau	April 21, 1987 (1987-04-21)
37	11	"Best Shot"	John Kent Harrison	John Kent Harrison	April 28, 1987 (1987-04-28)
38	12	"Secret Ingredient"	Colin Bucksey	Gail Glaze	May 5, 1987 (1987-05-05)
39	13	"Cabin Fever"	Clyde Monroe	Story by : April Campbell, Bruce Jones & David Latt Teleplay by : April Campbell, Bruce Jones & Jon Boorstin	May 12, 1987 (1987-05-12)

Season 5 (1989)

1. "The Martyr" (1989-04-22)
2. "In Living Color" (1989-04-29)
3. "Dark Wishes" (1989-07-01)
4. "Garter Belt" (1989-07-07)
5. "Shadow Puppets" (1989-07-08)
6. "Renaissance" (1989-07-14)
7. "The Miracle of Alice Ames" (1989-07-15)
8. "Code Liz" (1989-07-21)
9. "Her Finest Hour" (1989-07-22)
10. "Together Forever" (1989-07-28)
11. "Phantom Zone" (1989-08-04)
12. "Spinning Wheel" (1989-08-05)
13. "Square Deal" (1989-08-11)
14. "Part of Me" (1989-08-12)
15. "Fashion Exchange" (1989-08-18)
16. "Hootch" (1989-09-16)
17. "Coach" (1989-09-30)
18. "The Verdict" (1989-11-04)
19. "Hit and Run" (1989-11-10)
20. "Studio 3X" (1989-11-11)
21. "Striptease" (1989-11-17)
22. "The Cruelest Cut" (1989-11-18)
23. "The Dying Generation" (1989-11-24)
24. "My Enemy" (1989-11-25)
25. "Power Play" (1989-12-09)
26. "Pawns" (1989-12-16)

Season 6 (1990–91)

1. "Fading Away" (1990-09-21)
2. "Tough Guys Don't Whine" (1990-09-28)
3. "Riding the Nightmare" (1990-10-05)
4. "Strate Shooter" (1990-10-12)
5. "Hard Rhyme" (1990-10-19)
6. "Toxic Shock" (1990-10-26)
7. "New Dawn" (1990-11-02)
8. "A Function of Control" (1990-11-09)
9. "Trust Me" (1990-11-16)
10. "Windows" (1990-11-23)
11. "Working Girl" (1990-11-30)
12. "White Slaves" (1990-12-07)
13. "Tourist Trap" (1990-12-14)
14. "Homecoming" (1991-01-11)
15. "Living a Lie" (1991-01-18)
16. "Made in Paris" (1991-01-25)
17. "A Whole New You" (1991-02-01)
18. "Offspring" (1991-02-08)
19. "Secrets" (1991-02-15)
20. "New Blood" (1991-02-22)

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):

• Kirstie Alley: Angelica in "Out of the Night" (1985), Jane L. in "The Legendary Billy B." (1987)
• Susan Anspach: Claudia in "Dead Man's Curve" (1986)
• Sandra Bernhard: Rat in "O.D. Feelin" (1986)
• Rachel Blanchard: Karen O'Neill in "Riding the Nightmare" (1990)
• Karen Black: Kay in "Hired Help" (1985)
• Susan Blakely: Melody in "Remembering Melody" (1984)
• Timothy Bottoms: Peter in "Joker" (1987)
• Melissa Brennan: Denise in "Homebodies" (1987)
• Gary Busey: Reverend Nolan Powers in "W.G.O.D." (1985)
• Robert Carradine: Frank in "Garter Belt" (1989)
• Christopher Collet: Jimmy in "Homebodies" (1987)
• Bud Cort: Wax in "Made for Each Other" (1987)
• Peter Coyote: Alex in "Last Scene" (1985)
• Willem Dafoe: Jeffrey Hunt in "Ghostwriter" (1985)
• Joe Dallesandro: Julien in "Fashion Exchange" (1988)
• Michael Des Barres: The Wise Man in "O.D. Feelin" (1986)
• Brad Dourif: Billy B. in "The Legendary Billy B." (1987)
• Louise Fletcher: Mother Birch in "Offspring" (1991)
• Zach Galligan: Dick Raskin in "Toxic Shock" (1990)
• John Glover: Miles Duchet in "Striptease" (1989)
• Elliott Gould: Augie Benson in "A Whole New You" (1990)
• Erin Gray: Leslie in "Together Forever" (1989)
• Bruce Greenwood: Jeff Boder in "Shattered Vows" (1983)
• Antony Hamilton: Jim Buckley in "Man of Her Dreams" (1986)
• Lisa Hartman Black: Cheryl in "Her Finest Hour" (1989)
• Jill Hennessy: Marla Cross in "Striptease" (1989), Elisabeth in "Pawns" (1989)
• C. Thomas Howell: Gerald Brumner in "White Slaves" (1990)
• Helen Hunt: Donette in "Why are You Here?" (1987)
• Lauren Hutton: Tess O'Neill in "Riding the Nightmare" (1987)
• Claude Jade: Monique in "Windows" (1990)
• Margot Kidder: Janie in "Nightshift" (1986)
• Klaus Kinski: Kurt Hoffmann in "Love Sounds" (1985)
• Lorenzo Lamas: Tom Astor in "Trust Me" (1990)
• Audrey Landers: Priscilla Packard in "Split Decision" (1983)
• Judy Landers: Frances Packard in "Split Decision" (1983)
• Kelly Lynch: Theresa/Melissa in "Joker" (1987)
• Michael Madsen: John Hampton in "The Man at the Window" (1985)
• Virginia Madsen: Christina in "Perfect Order" (1987)
• David Marshall Grant: Jake in "Windows" (1990)
• Darren McGavin: Old Man in "Nightshift" (1986)
• Belinda Montgomery: Carla Magnuson in "The Man at the Window" (1985)
• Carrie-Anne Moss: Lookalike in "My Enemy" (1989)
• Ornella Muti: Sister Teresa in "True Believer" (1987)
• Franco Nero: Dr. Peter Milne in "Murderous Feelings" (1985)
• Jerry Orbach: Cameron in "Cabin Fever" (1987)
• Geraldine Page: Lynette in "W.G.O.D." (1985)
• Joe Pantoliano: Brother Charles in "The Miracle of Alice Ames" (1988)
• Bill Paxton: Trout in "Made for Each Other" (1987)
• James Remar: Ron in "Homebodies" (1987)
• August Schellenberg: Bob Ames in "When Morning Comes" (1983)
• Michael Schoeffling: Lance in "Dead Man's Curve" (1986)
• Jenny Seagrove: Meg in "Killer" (1985)
• Gene Simmons: Mr. Big in "O.D. Feelin" (1986)
• Tom Skerritt: Detective in "True Believer" (1985)
• Alexandra Stewart: Jackie Winslow in "Shattered Vows" (1983)
• Alan Thicke: Mickey Black in "Tough Guys Don't Whine" (1990)
• Shannon Tweed: Barbara in "Videodate" (1984), Dr. Rita de Roy in "Doctor's Orders" (1987)
• Robert Vaughn: Dr. Christopher Hamilton in "Face to Face" (1984)
• Fred Ward: Luther Redman in "Dead Heat" (1987)
• Alberta Watson: Jill Friedlander in "Remembering Melody" (1984)
• Bruce Weitz: Ray in "Hit and Run" (1989)
• Vincent Grass: Police Officer in "White Slaves", "Part of Me" and "The Miracle of Alice Ames" (1989)
• Olivier Rabourdin: Denis LeBreaux in "A Whole New You" (1991)

Syndication

In 1995, The Hitchhiker entered syndication. To make the HBO episodes suitable for US broadcast television, edits were made, both for content (to remove nudity/gore/adult language) and for running time, to get them down to the standard 22-minute length needed to insert commercials. Reruns in foreign markets, such as Canada and Europe, often still contained the nudity/language/gore.

After 1983, (but prior to the 1995 syndication), the first three episodes had footage edited and/or re-shot to replace Nicholas Campbell with Page Fletcher, in order to preserve continuity during reruns. The Hitchhiker was syndicated by Rysher Entertainment (since absorbed by CBS Television Distribution) up until 2000.

Home media

Lorimar Home Video released four VHS volumes of HBO episodes to the rental market in 1987 (a trade ad for the first two volumes confirms those were also released on Beta format). Volume 1 contained "W.G.O.D", "The Curse" and "Hired Help". Volume 2 consisted of "Nightshift", "Dead Man's Curve" and "Perfect Order". The third volume had "Ghostwriter", "And If We Dream" and "True Believer". The final Lorimar tape had "Videodate", "Man's Best Friend" and "Face to Face". These four volumes were also issued on laserdisc the following year.

Budget label Goodtimes Home Video also released a single VHS volume containing three of the USA Network episodes in 1989. That tape contained "Her Finest Hour", "In Living Color" and "My Enemy".

HBO Home Video released a three-volume set on DVD between 2004–2006, featuring various episodes from the series. The two-disc, three-volume sets contain a selection of 30 episodes, most from the HBO-produced episodes but also including some that were made for the USA Network.^[3][4][5]

In Australia, Volumes 1 and 2 were issued together in a single set, but instead of 20 episodes, the Australian set consists of only 17, leaving out "The Legendary Billy B.", "A Whole New You" and "Dead Heat".

In the United Kingdom, only the first HBO volume was released. This particular release contained nine episodes instead of 10. As with the Australian set, "The Legendary Billy B." is omitted from this release.

In Canada, Koch Entertainment released Canadian seasons 1 and 3 (which correspond to US Seasons 1-3 and 5, respectively) on DVD in 2004.^[6][7] On October 18, 2005, Koch released The Complete Fourth Season (which corresponds to US Season 6).^[8] According to Koch, the reason Canadian Season 2 (US Season 4) was not released was due to them not being able to find out who owned the Canadian distribution rights to those particular episodes.

Alliance Home Entertainment released The Hitchhiker: The Complete Collection on DVD in Canada on October 11, 2011.^[9] Despite being labeled as "The Complete Collection", the set actually combines the three previously-released, incomplete HBO Home Video compilation volumes into one set.

Between the three HBO volumes and the Canadian season sets, all episodes of the show were released on home video except for "Minuteman" and "Doctor's Orders" (both of which came from US Season 4).

As of 2025, The Hitchhiker is not available on HBO's streaming service, Max.

Awards and nominations

Year	Award	Result	Category	Recipient
1987	CableACE Awards	Nominated	Actress in a Dramatic Series	Jenny Seagrove (For episode "Killer")
			Actress in a Dramatic Series	Kirstie Alley (For episode "Out of the Night")
			Actor in a Dramatic Series	Michael O'Keefe (For episode "Man's Best Friend")
		Won	Actor in a Dramatic Series	Gary Busey (For episode "WGOD")
1999	Gemini Award	Nominated	Best Sound in a Dramatic Program or Series	Tim Archer, W. Michael Beard, Rick Ellis, Thomas Hidderley, and Anthony Lancett