K is for : Kolchak, The Night Stalker!!

After The Twilight Zone and before The X-Files, there was a little show about an investigative reporter who stumbled upon all sorts of stories that just couldn't be explained.

It was called Kolchak: The Night Stalker and it was one of the few shows, that scared the bejeebus out of me, that I would watch regularly.

The plot revolved around Carl Kolchak (played by Darrin McGavin), a reporter for the Independent News Service (INS) and how he would manage, each week, to find strange and "unexplainable" cases to report....much to the gastric distress of his editor, Tony Vincenzo. (played by character actor Simon Oakland)

The show started out as books in the early 70s, then made for t.v. movies before being turned into an ongoing series.

Carl Kolchak was on of those "pain in the @$$" reporters....too tenacious for his own good, but never backing down from a good story. Always wearing a crumpled blue suit, a porkpie hat (which I think was even out of style for the early 70s) and never without his trusty tape recorder and camera, Kolchak tracked down everything from vampires, to mummies, to zombies, to evil spirits. Usually it was only Kolchak and, maybe, one other person who ever saw the true nature of the supernatural threat and, almost always, any hard evidence Kolchak collected was destroyed by some freak accident. It was as if the universe wanted him and only him to know what was going on.

Kolchak: The Night Stalker is said to be one of Chris Carter's strongest influences in coming up with The X-Files and that he wanted McGavin to reprise his role as Carl Kolchak on that show, as well. McGavin didn't want to come back as the intrepid INS reporter, but he did appear as retired FBI agent, Arthur Dales...described as the "father" of the X-Files division.

In 2005 ABC tried to reboot the series with Stuart Townsend and Gabrielle Union, but it never took off. I watched a few of those episodes and could see why.

Even though it only lasted about twenty episodes, Kolchak: The Night Stalker remains an influential show as well as an awesome "cult classic".

Honorable Mentions: Knight Rider, Kojak, and Kung Fu

Tune in Monday for love.....exciting and new......

J is for : Jeopardy!!

This....Is.....Jeopardy!  

Created by Merv Griffin (the same guy who created Wheel of Fortune), Jeopardy has been around since 1964 and is seen, as many, as one of the premier "quiz shows" of all times.  At least, I know it's one of my favorites.

It was, originally, aired in a daytime slot on NBC up until 1975. From there it went nightly and syndicated.

The original host was Art Fleming until 1984, then Alex Trebek took over.

For the uninitiated, Jeopardy is a "general knowledge" game where you must answer in the form of a question.

There are six categories that have six questions each. Each question is given a dollar amount. Should you answer the question correctly, you get the amount the question was worth added to your total...

"I'll take Superman for $200.00 please, Alex."

"This is the name Superman was born with."

"What is Clark Kent?"

"Oh, sorry....the answer we were looking for is "What is Kal-El".

If you get the question wrong, the amount is deducted from your score. It's very possible to wind up in the negatives if you aren't careful.

The first round is made up of fairly simple (relatively speaking) questions. Round two is a bit harder and the dollar values of the questions are doubled.

There's also a Daily Double, where you wager some or all of your total on one question. If you get it right, you get the amount you wagered added to your total. If not, it's taken away.








If nothing else, it's a show that not only makes you think, but also measures how quick you can think.

It's been parodied quite a bit. From Weird Al Yankovic's "I Lost On Jeopardy"

 to Saturday Night Live's "Celebrity Jeopardy" (where Darrell Hammond's Sean Connery steals the show).

To wrap it up, there's Final Jeopardy. There the contestants are given a category, they make a wager...some or all of their score so far....and the one who answers correctly and, then, has the most points...wins. It's pretty simple, really,.....IF you know the questions :)

Honorable Mentions: The Jeffersons, Josie and the Pussycats, Jason of Star Command

Tune in tomorrow for a reporter who always seemed to stumble onto all sorts of supernatural mischief.

I is for : I Spy!!

I Spy was a Cold War Era "spy" show starring Robert Culp (before his Greatest American Hero days) as secret agent Kelley Robinson and comedian Bill Cosby as his friend and partner, Alexander "Scotty" Scott. It ran on NBC from 1965 to 1968 and was one of my Grandma's absolute favorite show.

The premise of the show was fairly simple. Tennis pro Kelley Robinson and his "coach" Alexander Scott traveled the world playing tennis.....or so the cover went. In reality, they were spies (hence the show's title) keeping the world safe from nefarious countries and all their schemes. Scott was the "brains" and Robinson was the "muscle", though I can't quite remember them ever mentioning the agency they worked for besides just the Pentagon.

The show was a huge success due, much in part, to the craze of the genre back then and also the James Bond films. Of course a show like this wasn't without it's controversy. I Spy was the first show to feature an African American lead and it was actually banned in some areas of the South. Another part of it's success was the chemistry between Cosby and Culp and their hip banter during even the most dire of circumstances.

Even though the show was only on for three seasons, it racked up it's share of awards*

• First-time actor Bill Cosby won three consecutive Emmy Awards for Outstanding Lead Actor in a Drama Series in 1966, 1967 and 1968. Robert Culp was also nominated in the same category for all three seasons of I Spy.
• Eartha Kitt, who played a drug-addicted cabaret singer in "The Loser" (written by Culp), was nominated in 1966 for an Emmy Award for Outstanding Single Performance by an Actress in a Leading Role in a Drama.
• In 1967 Culp was nominated for an Emmy for Outstanding Writing Achievement in a Drama for his third-season script "Home to Judgment."
• In addition to writing the theme music, Earle Hagen composed an original musical score for many episodes of the series, often flavored with the ethnic music of the Far East, Mexico or the Caribbean. Hagen received Emmy nominations for all three seasons of the show and won for the "Laya" episode in 1968.
• I Spy won as "Best Dramatic Series" at the 1967 Golden Globe Awards for its 1966-1967 season.

(* source: Wikipedia)

As a fan of the "Cold War Era", a show like this was right up my alley. It had hip, suave, agents, beautiful girls and karate chops to the neck. What more could you ask for?? :)

Honorable Mentions: I Dream of Jeanie, In Living Color, It Takes A Thief

Tune in tomorrow where all your answers must be in the form of a question.....

H is for : Highlander!!

He is Duncan MacLeod, the Highlander. Born in 1592 in the Highlands of Scotland, and he is still alive. He is immortal. For four hundred years, he's been a warrior... a lover... a wanderer, constantly facing other Immortals in combat to the death. The winner takes his enemy's head, and with it, his power. I am a Watcher, part of a secret society of men and women who observe and record, but never interfere. We know the truth about Immortals. In the end, there can be only one. May it be Duncan MacLeod, the Highlander.

The above is the intro for the fourth season of a show that I would have sworn would never make it past the first....Highlander: The Series.

To really understand the series, you have to understand the movie it was based on. The original Highlander film starred Christopher Lambert and Sean Connery and put the idea out there that there were men and women, immortals, who could live forever, but only be killed by cutting off their heads. Now, as these immortals went about their business, hiding in the shadows, they were also playing "The Game". "The Game" was the term used for immortals hunting each other, battling to the death and, when one was killed (remember the head cutting off thing?), their energy (or "quickening") would go to the victor to make them stronger. How would immortals be able to tell each other apart from normal folks? Glad you asked. They had an extra sense that would let them know when another immortal was nearby, which was also handy in preventing them from getting taken unawares. The more "quickening" an immortal took, the stronger they became until, as legend told, the few surviving immortals would meet for a final battle and the winner would claim "The Prize"....which, basically, amounted to them becoming like a god.

Some rules that went along with The Game.

• Battles had to be one on one
• You couldn't fight on holy ground. (It was said that the incident at Pompeii was due to two immortals fighting at a church)
• The only weapon allowed was a bladed, melee, weapon.

I have the power! Aye, the quickening that empowers me! I feel everything! I know... I know everything! I am everything!

Highlander: The Series didn't come out until 1992. Starring Adrian Paul, the show chronicled the adventures of Duncan MacLeod, of the Clan MacLeod, an immortal fighting for the forces of good by striving to be the last, surviving immortal and claiming The Prize. He was a kinsman of Connor MacLeod, the lead character from the Highlander movie, who made a guest appearance on the pilot episode as a sort of 'handing off of the torch' to Paul's character. The cast changed up quite a bit. In the first few seasons MacLeod has a mortal girlfriend, Tessa Noel, and a streetwise kid who helps out around their antique store...Richie Ryan.

When I first saw commercials for it, I'll admit, I scoffed. When I started watching the first season, I still scoffed due to it being very formulaic (MacLeod meets immortal...they fight....he wins...rinse, repeat). As the second season came out, though, I started thinking "Hey, this isn't half bad." From there things got very interesting as we were slowly introduced to a group known as The Watchers, who chronicled the lives of immortals and kept tabs on them. The Watchers added a whole new dynamic to the show and was a good part of what kept me tuning in each week.

As with most shows, the final season went a bit off the rails, but it remained interesting as they were still trying different things and keeping the scripts fresh.

In the end....there can be only one!

On a brief side note, I once met Adrian Paul at a convention and, honestly, he was one of the nicest guys you'd ever meet. I expected some 'pretty boy snob', but he was quite the opposite. A very gracious actor who really appreciated the fans.

Honorable Mentions: Hart to Hart, Hogan's Heroes, The Highwayman

Tune in tomorrow for a couple of real cool cats who made a living at The Cold War.

G is for : The Greatest American Hero!

What happens when you mix a school teacher, a gung-ho F.B.I. agent, space aliens, and a super suit that lets its user do almost anything?

Why, you get The Greatest American Hero, of course.

Starring William Katt, Robert Culp, and Connie Selleca, this was another creation by the prolific Stephen J. Cannell, who also brought us The Rockford Files and The A-Team.

The series centered around special education teacher Ralph Hinkley (Katt) who was chosen by aliens, from an unknown planet, to save Earth from itself. We're never told, exactly, where the aliens come from only that their world was destroyed due to environmental hazards. Ralph was given a red suit...complete with cape...and told to by the aliens (usually by them spinning car radio dials and switching stations to string pieces of the audio together into sentences) to help save the planet. The "little green guys" pair him with F.B.I Agent Bill Maxwell (Culp) in order to get some insight as to what global threats are out there.

When we meet him, Ralph is going through a messy divorce but, luckily, his divorce attorney Pam Davidson (Selleca) is there for him and they're "an item". She's the only person Ralph tells of his recent acquisition from the space aliens and she's, initially, not quite sure what to make of the whole situation. She, eventually, comes to grips with it and starts helping the two out on cases as the show progresses.

Ralph's "little red jammies", as Maxwell calls them, lets him do all sorts of amazing things. He can fly, run at super speed, stop bullets, is super strong, turn invisible, find information about someone by holding a belonging of theirs and, basically, whatever the script called for that week. The only thing is, Ralph's not really good at any of this....especially flying and landing......because he lost the suit's instruction manual.

Yep, a suit that allows its wearer to do almost anything comes with an instruction manual. Which Ralph manages to lose....twice. Once, that night in the desert when they give him the suit the first time and another when the aliens make contact again and he asks for a replacement. They also tell him not to lose this one because they only have two. And, to compound the silliness, you have to punch numbers into the suit's instruction manual like a calculator to get it to really work as intended. Seriously? The second time Ralph loses the manual is when he tries it for the first time and shrinks down to the size of an ant. He sets the manual down on a "boulder" before growing back to normal height and the team realizes that boulder was a grain of sand.  Anyway, hilarity ensues as Ralph tries to figure out how to use the suit without blowing his cover, while he and Maxwell put away Cold War Era bad guys....it was the 80s, you know.

Anything Ralph manages to do with the suit, he learns by trial and error. Mainly error.

I think this was one of the few shows, that I know of, where the theme song might have been more popular then the actual show. After it's initial cancellation,they tried to revive the show with a woman taking over the lead role as The Greatest American Heroine. It was never picked up and, if you've ever seen the pilot, you could see why.

 To this day, it's a 'cult classic' in many circles. People are even recreating the series on YouTube as well as
doing comics and still selling GAH merchandise.

Believe it or not.

Tune in tomorrow when we discuss why there can be only one...



Honorable Mentions: Get Smart, Gomer Pyle USMC, Gargoyles

F is for : Fantasy Island!!

Smiles everyone....smiles! My dear guests, I am Mr. Rourke....your host....welcome to Fantasy Island!!

Before I "discovered" girls and going out on Saturday nights, this show was a staple of my Saturday evening, "must see", t.v. viewing along with The Love Boat.

A very interesting show that featured the enigmatic Mr. Rourke, played by the great Ricardo (Khaaaannnnnnnn!!) Montelban and his trusty sidekick, Tattoo (Herve' Vilachez). Each week Tattoo would run up the tower to ring a bell as the seaplane approached shouting, "De Plane, de plane!"

Each week, the mysterious Mr. Rourke would host a different set of guest stars and make their fantasies come true. Many times, though, the guest's fantasies weren't everything they expected. It seemed as if Mr. Rourke (or just "Rourke" to his friends) had some sort of mystical powers that was touched on in quite a few episodes. This element was highlighted more when ABC revived the show in the 90s with Malcom McDowell in the lead.

I think the thing I liked the best about Fantasy Island was that, like some stories about genies and three wishes, the fantasies never seemed to work out like the guests wanted, but did work out for their benefit in the end. There was, usually, some sort of life lesson that Mr. Rourke would try to teach though, for the most part, he always warned that he was forbidden to interfere. Now, whether that was self imposed, or not, we never knew.

Just like The Love Boat, Fantasy Island was a vehicle to showcase numerous guest stars, each week.

Another thing I really enjoyed about this show was the pseudo-supernatural aspect of some of the episodes. You never quite knew just what to think in terms of who, exactly, Mr. Roarke was. Angel, devil, deity?

Who knew?

In the end, though, it was a fun (if not formulaic) show asked one of my favorite questions each week.....

What if?

Honorable Mentions:  Fawlty Towers, The Fall Guy, Firefly

Tune in tomorrow to see what happens when a getting super powers isn't all it's cracked up to be...