The Night Stalker stars Darren McGavin as Carl Kolchak, a reporter for the fictional International News Service in Chicago. Kolchak’s trademarks are his witty sarcasm and his clothing: white suit, straw hat, white sneakers, and the ever-present camera slung over the shoulder. Carl lives by his scanner and covers the police beat for his stories. Miraculously, he continually encounters other-worldly criminals, ranging from monsters to aliens to supernatural forces. Of course, no one of import believes his stories or theories. His boss, Tony Vincenzo, is constantly driven beyond the point of mere frustration with Kolchak’s latest outlandish discovery. Carl is known by all of the Chicago police brass who thwart him in every way they can, while the dogged Kolchak horns in, undeterred. On the occasions when his theories are shown to be correct, the police deny everything. And Kolchak always finds, by one means or another, that his only evidence no longer exists. We have just his memories of the events, as narrated into his tape recorder.
Why he always has these strange encounters goes unexplained. Many critics roll their eyes at this endless parade of monsters as if this fictional show has to make sense in our real world. It seems to bother many people that one man could stumble upon every mythical creature imaginable while snooping for the latest scoop. While I concede that this can get old when done week after week, I also must emphasize that this is a fun piece of fiction that combines suspense and comedy in a way that is difficult to pull off consistently. Why question a working formula? Granted, television ratings were low, but in a bad time slot with only one season from which to build an audience, this is an unfair criterion. As it stands, this show gets very mixed reviews, with most people falling solidly on either end of the spectrum. Though it sometime failed and does appear dated, I fall on the positive side, hence this page of dedication.
Below is a brief background of the Kolchak character from book to movie to TV series. For an in-depth look at the Night Stalker story, including the history and politics, I strongly suggest you purchase the book, The Night Stalker Companion by Mark Dawidziak. It is pretty thorough in its scope and a fun read, as well.
Background:
The Kolchak character was created by author Jeff Rice and introduced in his 1970 novel, The Kolchak Papers. Before getting this rightfully sold, ABC (through agents, attorneys, etc.) had already negotiated a deal with writer Richard Matheson to adapt this interesting story into a teleplay for the ABC network. [For all the dirty details, see Dawidziak’s book.] Ultimately, all worked out for everybody involved. ABC got a huge hit, we got a fabulous piece of entertainment, and Rice got to see his story brought to life on the small screen. I can only imagine how rewarding it would be to see your creation on the tube AND have it be such a grand success.
This fabulous success was the January 11, 1972 ABC movie entitled The Night Stalker. At the time, this unique piece of horror took everybody by surprise and became the most watched television movie in history, eclipsing the previous hit docudrama Brian’s Song. Darren McGavin was cast in the leading role. And the choice was a perfect one, as he brought the character to life so much so that it is almost unimaginable to have anyone else ever tackle the role. The immense popularity of the film led to a sequel the following January, The Night Strangler. While not quite the success of its predecessor it was still a very popular movie. With this new formula, it didn’t take long for the idea of a regular television series to be born. Although writer Matheson and producer Dan Curtis would not agree to participate, the network pushed ahead with its plan. With McGavin as Kolchak and a great supporting cast, the show was off and running in the fall of 1974. The series was aired Fridays at 10 and ran only one season – 20 episodes in all – before poor ratings and a disgruntled McGavin brought the show to a hasty close. Some say rightfully so, I say sadly so. Granted, it was a mixture of gourmet and garbage, but I really wish they’d have had a second season to iron things out and possibly find a wider audience among adults.
We still have the Columbia House videos and occasional SciFi airings to enjoy. For my personal reviews and ratings of the episodes, please see my Episodes page.
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