I felt nostalgic as I recently viewed the entire Kolchak the Night Stalker series of 1974. It starred the much regretted Darren McGavin as Carl Kolchak, a journalist for a Chicago newspaper called the INS (Independent News Service). Darren’s brilliant talent for acting made this too short-lived TV series one of the best of its kind. The two movies made before the series contributed also to the popularity of the show.
In each episode, we follow Kolchak on one of is assignment where mysterious and fantastic events are just too much for the police to handle. Using his open mind and his uncanny instinct for finding clues no one dares to believe possible, Kolchak puts slowly the puzzles together to unmask the non-human criminals.
I dare to say, the show was cancelled without truly getting the respect it deserved. It really influenced a lot of people and changed the TV shows we watch today. It’s no wonder Chris Carter conceived the X-Files with the same spirit, he himself admitted to be a big fan as a kid. The show also had special guesses like Tom Skerrit, Julie Adams and Kathie Browne (McGavin real life wife). Robert Zemeckis (Back to the Future, Forrest Gump) also co-wrote one of the episodes.
I won’t comment too much the special effect. After all, the show was made in 1974. No computer imagery was affordable at that time or much used for that matter. The monsters shown on the set are pretty B-movie looking due to the low budget. And it still put a smile on my face when I see the crocodile-man. But no matter how strange or funny these monsters were, Kolchak’s serious and scared attitude remained very convincing. 
After 20 episodes, the series was cancelled due to poor rating. McGavin also tired from the long hours of shooting was glad to move on to other projects and Kolchak was forgotten for a while. His character never got the chance to open itself to us. His personal life remained a mystery more profoundly buried than the monsters he fought. We never saw his apartment, his interest besides baseball (like Mulder in the X-Files). He had no relationship with anybody that we know of except with his colleagues (in the TV show) and no girlfriend. The last episode was presenting a certain female police Lieutenant to whom he could have been interested in (which was played by his real wife), if there would have been a second season. But it all stopped there. Darren McGavin would reappear on two occasions on the X-Files as Arthur Dales, but his third appearance was cancelled due to health problems and another actor was cast to play his brother instead.
Frank Spotnitz (of the X-Files again) did try to revive the show in 2006, calling it simply Night Stalker and starring Stuart Townsend as Kolchak. Unfortunately, after poor rating, ABC condemned the show after only 6 episodes broadcasted. However, the series is now available on DVD and provides us with 10 episodes (four never aired before). The story is darker and the conspiracy theory that made the X-Files so popular just doesn’t seem to interest the auditors anymore. What made the first Kolchak so attractable was his clumsy way of dealing with people and things. The most dangerous situations always attracted the worst blunders. That was the edge of the show. The Carl Kolchak in the new Night Stalker doesn’t have that in him. Something got lost along the way, something unforgettable.I hope they’ll try again to make a TV show again in the future or at least makes some sort of come back. Even if it’s in the comic book form, I’ll take it! It would be ashamed if we were to lose this classic forever.
I dedicated this blog to Darren McGavin born William Lyle Richardson (1922-2006).
