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.
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......
19 comments:
That was such a fun show! I watched the original all the time. I can see how it influenced Carter and the X-Files.
I never watched that show but I remember my dad never missed Kojak.
I don't remember that show. I was thinking Kojak, like Susan. It's rare shows get a reboot, not surprised the remake didn't work.
Never saw that one but it does sound quite entertaining!
I haven't even heard of this! Too bad it didn't take off!
I've never heard of the Night Stalker - perhaps it's not been in the UK?
I loved The Twilight Zone and The X-Files.
This seems like a great blog and A-Z.
I remember Kolchak - maybe that's why I loved the X-Files so much.
On a boat?
And, yeah, I need to finish my re-watch of Kolchak.
I don't know how I missed Kolchak, but I did see the other three, all of them, and loved especially Kung Fu... Wonder if Kolchak was an influence for Josh Wheden at all...
I've not heard of Kolchak either but I am going to seek it out now.
What made me really laugh was the use of "Beejebus" I thought it was only me and my sis who said that. I nearly squealed, ha ha ha...
Happy A-Z'ing :)
http://thewayofwytch.wordpress.com/
My favorite show totally. I thought it lasted longer than that though.
So many reboots have not turned out well. One network tried to reboot The Bionic Woman a few years ago. Nope. A successful reboot... Hawaii Five-O. That is the only one that comes to mind right now.
I've never seen this show, but I do know it was an influence on The X-files. I LOVED Knight Rider. Don't remember much about it, but I was obsessed with KITT as a kid.
Yep, this show was HUGE in our household. I'm also a crazy X-Files fan. Never made the connection before.
I never saw this show. Thanks for edumacating me :D
I do love the X-Files, though. :)
I remember watching Kolchack and thinking it was the scariest show around. Until now, the only person I know who'd remembered it was my husband (who also remembered the movie).
Liked the other shows, too, especially Kung Fu.
I've never heard of it. But then I wasn't overly brave. I remember Night Gallery would come on after Twilight Zone and it would freak me out. I hated that show.
Darrin McGavin made that show! Perfect role for him.
Good one Mark! This show had a really creepy feel that made you believe these things were happening at night. Back then reporters were like amateur detectives.
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