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Kolchak: The Night Stalker
Kolchak: The Night Stalker premiered on Friday 13 September 1974.
F. Scott Fitzgerald once wrote, "The rich are different than you and me." They sure are. They got more money.
Carl Kolchak (Darren McGavin)
13 September 1974
28 March 1975
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Kolchak: The Night Stalker is an American television series that aired on ABC in 1974. It featured a fictional newspaper reporter – Carl Kolchak, played by Darren McGavin – who investigates mysterious crimes with unlikely causes, particularly ones law enforcement authorities won't pursue. Often these crimes involve some element of the supernatural or science fiction, such as fantastical creatures.
The series was preceded by two television movies, The Night Stalker (1972) and The Night Strangler (1973). The series was short-lived, but is often credited as the inspiration for the popular television series The X-Files. Following The X-Files' success, the franchise was resurrected in 2005 in the form of a second television series with a new cast and characters, as well as subsequent novels and comic books.
The entire series is available in syndication and is occasionally rerun on the Sci-Fi Channel under its original expanded title, Kolchak: The Night Stalker.
Darren McGavin is often incorrectly considered to be, and listed in many official references guides, as the show's Executive Producer. In fact, he never held the position, although he unofficially assumed many of the duties. This put him at odds with Paul Playdon and then Cy Chermak, the official producers appointed by Universal.
Producer Dan Curtis and screenwriter Richard Matheson were both approached by Universal to work on the series. Although they had worked on the original made-for-TV movies, they both turned down the offer.
Actress Ruth McDevitt not only plays columnist Miss Emily in the latter episodes (the character is on vacation early on), but she appears as an elderly Peeping Tom in the first episode... who writes a letter to the Miss Emily column.
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Ruth McDevitt's character is referred to variously throughout the series on-screen by various characters and in the cast lists as Emily Fenwick, Emily Cowels, and Edith Cowels. They eventually settled on the name "Emily Cowles." Her character's occupation also alternates between advice columnist, riddle feature writer, and crossword puzzle editor.
Actor Richard Kiel, before he became best known as the killer "Jaws" in the James Bond movies, was cast in two episodes as the monster. He first appeared as the "Diablero" in episode 8, "Bad Medicine" and later as "Peremalfait", the swamp monster, in episode 9 "The Spanish Moss Murders and as the robot in "R.I.N.G"."
Episode 1.15, "Chopper", is the first script that Robert Zemeckis (co-writing with frequent collaborator Bob Gale) sold in Hollywood.
Carl Kolchak: I promised I'd show up with a haircut, a new hat, and pressed suit... but I lie a lot.
Carl Kolchak: Is there anybody important here? Receptionist: No, just reporters.
Carl Kolchak: There's two things that just can't be rushed - anyone who is paid by the hour, and an office-building elevator.
Carl Kolchak: We all have rats, sir. You should see the one I work for.
Carl Kolchak: You must really enjoy your work. Nurse Eisen: A well-done autopsy is a joy forever.
Carl Kolchak: Son, I've seen more dead bodies than you've had TV dinners.
Carl Kolchak: Captain Leo Winwood and I had a relationship that was long and bloody, like the Crusades, only without the chivalry.
Carl Kolchak: What happened to "I'm okay, you're okay"?
Siska: Well, to tell you the truth, you're not okay. The people in group therapy didn't tell me I was ever going to meet somebody as un-okay as you are.
rl Kolchak: If you want a job done right, you just have to foul it up yourself.
Carl Kolchak: You should meet my boss. He'd turn Buddha into a chain smoker.
Carl Kolchak: Exactly what don't you like about this hat? Tony Vincenzo: What's under it.
Tony Vincenzo: You know, I once thought about entering the priesthood-...
Carl Kolchak: Then the Inquisition ended, and all of the fun went out of it for you.
Tony Vincenzo: I'm tired of it, Kolchak. I'm fed up! I've got a brother-in-law who's got a fourteen-year-old kid he's always bailing out of juvenile hall, but I've got you, and you're worse!
after being drugged by government agents]
Carl Kolchak: I don't know when exactly I was in this office last. Some ways, it seems like I never left. But no, that's not right. For at least a few days I was away, far away, in the hands of men with no faces and no names. They broke me down, broke my story down, telling me how it hadn't happened the way I claimed. At least, that's what I think they did, between injections. Memories fade fast enough without chemical help, but if I don't tell this story now, I don't think I ever will.
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