Given the restricted format of Hitchcock's television work as director – seventeen 25-minute episodes for his long-running series Alfred Hitchcock Presents; three 50-minute episodes for other series – a different cross-section of themes and motifs from his films is only to be expected. The most frequently recurring motif in the Alfred Hitchcock Presents episodes is corpse disposal, with the plot corollary of a character seeking to avoid blame for murder in a variety of ingenious ways. This motif is actually referred to in a feature film, The Gazebo (George Marshall, 1959). Taken from a play by Alec Coppel – the co-writer of Vertigo, who also wrote on occasions for Alfred Hitchcock Presents – the plot involves a television writer, Elliott Nash (Glenn Ford), who finds himself with the body of a blackmailer to bury (in the foundations of the gazebo) and no shovel. At this point, Hitchcock phones to enquire about the progress of a script Elliott is writing for him, and so Elliott asks his advice – pretending that it is the script rather than an actual corpse that he needs help with. We do not actually hear Hitchcock speak, but his suggestion – use the shovel from the fireplace – solves the hero's problem. Towards the end of the film, the corpse is disinterred and deposited back in the house, prompting Elliott's wife Nell (Debbie Reynolds) to ask him: ‘Couldn't you call Hitchcock again?’

To correct a common misapprehension: this is not a Hitchcock cameo. We do not see or hear the director, and so this figure in the plot is in effect a fictitious character ‘Alfred Hitchcock’ who is based on the real-life director. Nevertheless, Coppel's use of the familiar Hitchcock persona is a nice tribute. When the gazebo is erected over the body, Elliott toasts Hitchcock and comments that he is sure that the director would have approved.

In some cases, a particular television episode is in effect built around one of the key motifs. It is these episodes, and a few others where a given motif is otherwise prominent which are considered here. The episodes are in motif order; all are from Alfred Hitchcock Presents.