Kolchak: The Night Stalker was an instant classic for fans of the macabre. This is a love letter to the short lived brilliance of the television show. A show that started out with a TV movie, and then another, the series itself would ultimately choke to death with its reliance on a Monster of the Week format.
In the good old days of Saturday night horror films and schlocky presenters, Kolchak was king.
For a while.
Humble beginnings
Taken from an unpublished book written by Jeff Rice, the television movie aired on ABC. It was a instant hit. The vampire tale , the first movie aired in 1972. 1973 saw the second movie on ABC and it too was a “hit.”
In between the second movie and the series, that aired in 1974, the novel was published. Rice, it is said, was used for the concept and the characters he created and then was pushed aside and forgotten. Once ABC had the source for their The Night Stalker screenplay, the author was tossed like a used tissue.
Regardless of TV moguls killing the golden goose, Rice’s name became synonymous with his creation. It would take time, but fans of the show soon flocked to their local bookstores to read the novel.
It could have been written for Him
McGavin, one feels, could have been the man Rice envisioned to play the gutsy and, more often than not, pushy journo. Of course McGavin cut his teeth playing Mike Hammer in a series that lasted two seasons and 78 episodes. The actor, of course, had chops for days. He managed to impress in The X-Files, proving that he could hold his own against the younger actors on the show.
I have been a fan since I watched the first TV movie where Carl has to fight everybody to tell the truth about a vampire killing for blood. The second movie convinced me that the two offering had been written exclusively for McGavin.
The first episode of the new series: The Night Stalker Jack the Ripper was almost as impressive as the first two cases covered by Kolchak. The scene in the closet, where Carl hides behind the curtain both scares and amuses. At 47:22 the ripper comes into the room and Kolchak hides.
This one episode epitomizes just how suited to this role McGavin was. *Side note: for fans like me who loved this old series despite its schlocky demise, it is streaming on Peacock.*
Monster of the week
It did not take long for the show to lose its shine. Like any rose plucked and not nourished, the tales began to fall apart. All sorts of creatures and monsters of the week were trotted out for Kolchak to cover. Fighting the same old battles and never losing his thirst for the story.
From a mummy to a werewolf and even, heaven help us, a supernatural headless motorcyclist murdering innocents, the series soon ran out of anything remotely resembling originality. Kolchak however managed to keep pushing to have his stories printed in the paper.
The trailer
This one minute trailer shows brilliantly just how great this could have been. Sadly, Darren McGavin would move on and do other shows. Nothing, apart from the 1999 The X Files episode, would bring the actor back to horror.
Although he did appear in the other Chris Carter ’90s offering Millennium a show that really was more science fiction than horror.
Watch this short trailer and then, if you feel the need, head over to Peacock and either bask in the nostalgia or become a new fan. It will be worth the journey. After watching the series you may well want to write your own love letter. Just don’t feel too disappointed about the latter part of the series.
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