Kolchak: The Night Stalker

I just learned today that Darrin McGavin has passed on. Which is a real pity, because he was such a great actor.

I never met the man, much to my regret, but I am doing a little tribute here, because this is the first place I recall see this fine, talented actor. To this day, his portrayal of Karl Kolchak (I hope I spelled it right) is a favorite of my, and one of my favorite television shows from the 70s.

The show aired on Friday nights for one season. But it was never forgotten by fans, and fortunately the Sci-Fi Channel runs it occasionally.

The show had great writing, was extremely moody, and some really great monsters and scary situations. But the high point of the show each week was McGavin's performance. He played Karl as a guy who'd rather use his brains as opposed to brawn to get the job done. Often when he fought and defeated the monster, it was from what he'd learned earlier in the show, as opposed to just hacking and slashing his way through.

McGavin also had a real nice sense of comic timing that worked well when bantering words with is boss Tony Vinchenzo (Simon Oakland). The two of them together generated some really entertaining chemistry.

My favorite episode of the series was "Horror in the Heights" (aka: The Rakshaka). It had it all -- a great performance by McGavin, a really great monster that you didn't see until the end, and a really, really great shock ending. (No I won't spoil it for you folks who haven't seen it. But I strongly recommended it to anyone who hasn't. It's a real dilly.) Well, Darrin McGavin is gone now. But he leaves behind a nice little legacy. Many of us also remember him as "The Old Man" in that wonderful season film "A Christmas Story." But for me, he will always be, first and foremost, "Karl Kolchak, the Night Stalker."

After the immense success of the made for t.v. movies "The Night Stalker" and "The Night Strangler", A.B.C. decided to finally make the adventures of everyones' favorite monster hunter Carl Kolchak into a weekly series. Unfortunately, it only lasted one season. Too bad though. This had to be one of the smartest series ever written for television. It was definitely a perfect mix of both horror and comedy as it placed the a regular guy like Kolchak in several unbelievable situations. Kolchak would begin by writing on stories on what he would think would be an ordinary murder and wind up finding the killer is either a werewolf or a vampire. Darrin McGavin was perfect in the role and Simon Oakland was great as his editor Vincenzo. Too bad that this show was up against the juggernaut that was the Friday night line up that was over on N.B.C.. In fact the night that it premiered, Friday September 13, 1974, was also the same night that another smartly written show premiered, "The Rockford Files".

A brilliantly entertaining series that ran for a single shining season in the 1970's, "Kolchak: The Night Stalker" concerned a Chicago reporter whose investigations invariably lead him into dangerous encounters with the paranormal.

Starring the incomparable (and irreplaceable) Darren McGavin, this smartly written show has been described by some as being "campy", and while a couple of episodes ("The Youth Killer" and the much more amusing "The Trevi Collection") may have strayed far enough into that territory to qualify as camp, this was actually a series with two distinct parts. Half of the show was a situation comedy (the scenes taking place in the INS office between Kolchak and Vincenzo were particularly amusing), and the other half was a straight-faced thriller that featured some genuinely frightening scenes of horror.

Quite a maverick among television shows of the day, "Kolchak: The Night Stalker" noticeably parted company with established convention regarding what qualifies a character to fill the role of a hero. Common practice dictates that your basic TV good guy will be conventionally handsome, good with his fists and fearless in the sight of danger. Some are rich and reside in fabulously appointed surroundings and often find themselves the focus of unflagging admiration from a cheering section of supporting characters.

Then there's Carl Kolchak. A far sight from the usual male model-type lead, this average-looking guy doesn't work for a big league paper, but instead pounds away at his typewriter in a somewhat rundown news bureau office. He has no family and the only people who seem even remotely close to him are a gray-haired advice columnist and a short-tempered managing editor who's usually bellowing at him to drop his latest crazy story.

Also rare for a TV hero: he doesn't even carry a gun. In fact, when faced with danger, Carl sometimes runs away in stark raving terror.

Furthermore, he's generally reviled by public officials, and after vanquishing something evil from our midst, he never even gets any credit for having risked his neck.

Armed only with a camera, a tape recorder and his wits, Carl Kolchak certainly doesn't sound very formidable. And yet, somehow, this cynical, middle-aged news hound in a seersucker suit and beat-up straw hat is the greatest foe any vampire or blood-thirsty creature of the night ever came up against. Sure, he may not get that Pulitzer prize, but for his uncanny abilities at ridding the world of one monster after another, this unlikely hero surely ranks as one of the most unique and marvelously ironic characters in the history of television.

If you're interested, have reviewed of all 20 episodes, too.

I was just looking over the new series made for ABC TV. Good god. I was just contemplating what a new series would be like, and then I find it...and I guessed right; watered down, fancy boy crud.

The old series of Night Stalker was a zeitgeist, about being a regular guy, trying to find the truth, which was always hidden by authorities. Much like the times, it had a soul that went to the heart of public feelings, while working in the frame genre of horror/suspense. But, instead of writing to connect the public to their inner feelings about society wrapped in entertainment, the new series is about black and white working together, hot and fancy, to find less then archetypal mysteries. Kolchak brought a pulpy sense of reality to light, and portrayed the seedy side of life without being moralistic. It was Columbo of the supernatural. It didn't create fanciful immorality, like the goth culture today, and it didn't put searing political statements all over. It tried to entertain. And it did. Hence the popularity through the years. Anyone, like myself, who saw this in their childhood remembers it today.

The new series is destined to be another watered down bastardization of brilliant TV.

Absolutely at the top of the TV horror tree. Up there with THE TWILIGHT ZONE and THE OUTER LIMITS. Whats happenening these days? "Sabrina, The Teenage Witch", "Buffy?" "Charmed?"...Jeez, give me a break!

Darren McGavin absolutely made this his own - one of the most under-rated actors in history. His verbals with boss Vincenzo (Simon Oakland) were legendary. You KNEW Vincenzo loved him like a brother! Each week a new monster/creature of the night and each week, crucifix, silver bullet or just plain insult, Kolchak had the "beast of the week" under wraps before you could say "Bela Lugosi". You just KNEW it was safe to go outside again.

OK, so it tended towards the "campy" sometimes? sheesh, this was 1974 for God's sakes! This show ruled and if you are unfortunate enough to be less than 40, then bad luck!