Debuting
in its weekly series format on September 13th, 1974, Kolchak: The Night
Stalker, is marking its golden jubilee today at 50 years old. While
the series only lasted a single season, it has since gained cult status,
being cited by the likes of X-Files creator, Chris Carter, as a
principal inspiration for his own iconic cult franchise.
Originating
as a pair of wildly successful made for TV movies, The Night Stalker
(1972), and The Night Strangler (1973), the series' first incarnation
was actually in the form of an unpublished novel written by Jeff Rice
called, The Kolchak Papers. Initially, the main protagonist was a Las
Vegas newspaper reporter named Carl Kolchak, who tracks down and defeats
a serial killer who turns out to be the vampire Janos Skorzeny. The
novel gave Kolchak's birth name is "Karel", although he uses the
anglicized version "Carl".
ABC
approached Rice with an offer to option The Kolchak Papers, which was
adapted by Richard Matheson into the television movie. The Night
Stalker, first aired on January 11, 1972. It garnered the highest
ratings of any television movie at that time (33.2 rating — 54 share).
Matheson received a 1973 Edgar Award from the Mystery Writers of America
for Best TV Feature or Miniseries Teleplay.
Following
the success of the TV movie and its sequel, the novel was published in
1973 by Pocket Books as a mass-market paperback original, titled The
Night Stalker, with a photo of star Darren McGavin on the cover in order
to tie it to the film. With the success of the movies, ABC negotiated
with Matheson and McGavin to create a series, with the later given
unofficial executive producer status. However, neither ABC nor
Universal had obtained novel author Jeff Rice's permission for the
series, and he sued the studio. The suit was resolved shortly before the
series aired, and Rice received an on-screen credit as series creator.
Also of note in the production
of the series was David Chase, creator of The Sopranos, who worked on
the series as a story editor, his first regular staff position in
Hollywood. Though Chase is credited on eight episodes as story editor,
he also helped rewrite the remaining 12. McGavin and others attribute
much of the show's quirky humour to his creative input.
As
the series evolved, it became a unique supernatural crime drama, with
Kolchak's rumpled, gruff persona constantly at odds with his
stressed-out publisher and disparaging co-workers. As he dealt with a
wide variety of unusual phenomenon and creatures each week, it seemed
like nothing he ever wrote got published due to the fantastical nature
of his stories. It's a wonder he was able to retain any employment at
all, given his incredible and unbelievable subject matter.
His
personal life also seemed to be a total disaster, with hardly anything
resembling a friend or romantic relationship ever taking any prominence
in the series. Yet his isolation from the rest of humanity seemed to be
perfectly appropriate for his idiosyncratic obsession with the bizarre
and the unnatural. It's not at all surprising he'd be something of a
loner, especially given the fact he only seemed to possess a single
suite of clothes. He did have a pretty nice little Mustang for a car
though. Still, he's the kinda guy who'd probably have fallen in with
QAnon weirdos if he were around today.
As
a kid, the series had an instant appeal for me. I remember being on
the edge of my seat on numerous occasions as Kolchak narrowly escaped
one bizarre predicament after another. The series was usually quite
good at conjuring up dramatic tension when it came to putting him in
tight squeezes. It's no wonder those who grew up with the show never
forgot it.
During its initial
run, the series was undermined by poor time slots, frequent changes in
scheduling and irregular schedules, with hiatuses between clumps of
episodes, and some episodes never even airing until the show was in
syndication years later. Daren McGavin also had issues with his role
within the series, becoming embittered by his lack of credit as
executive producer, as well as a lack of financial compensation for his
contributions in that role as well. With the lacklustre ratings for the
series thrown on top of this, he declined to continue with the series
and ABC pulled the show after one season.
Yet
the show's impact would see it return in various incarnations and
repackaging attempts, gaining a strong cult following when it was aired
in late night. It has subsequently only grown in stature as its impact
has become more pronounced in popular culture. As previously mentioned,
The X-Files owes a huge debt to the series in terms of inspiration,
with Chris Carter frequently integrating sly references into his series.
He even planned to have McGavin reprise his Kolchak character for an
episode, though McGavin refused to return for the role, albeit he did
eventually agree to play the character of an FBI agent who had been an
early investigator of the so-called "X-Files" department. Carter also
incorporated a character in the X-Files revival in 2016 who wore
Kolchak's trademark rumpled white suit and straw hat.
An
attempt to reboot the series was made in 2005 by ABC, who still had
rights to the Character, but low ratings saw the series vanish quickly.
I've never seen any of those episodes, and didn't even know that it
existed until I started research for this retrospective piece. In May
2012, Disney announced a film adaptation was in the works with Johnny
Depp starring and producing, and Edgar Wright directing, but there
doesn't seem to be much momentum on that lately, so who knows if its
still in the works. It's the kind of property that could certainly be
successful in a re-imagined version, if it had the right people behind
it, with the proper backing, but for now, the original series is still
floating around out there, currently streaming on AppleTV+, for those
looking to discover its charms.
