Kolchak: The Night Stalker

Kolchak: The Night Stalker
Premiere	pilot movie January 11, 1972 series September 13, 1974
Finale	March 28, 1975
Airs	Sundays at 12 AM on MeTV
Creator	Jeff Rice
Network/Provider	ABC
Style	60-minute sci-fi mystery drama
Company	Francy Productions, Universal Television (series) American Broadcasting Company (movie The Night Stalker), ABC Circle Films (movie The Night Strangler)
Seasons	1
Episodes	20 + 2 movies (List of episodes)
Origin	USA

Before The X-Files, there was Kolchak: The Night Stalker. This show laid the groundwork for the science-fiction-mystery genre. As a special tribute to the show, actor Darren McGavin appeared twice on The X-Files as Special Agent Arthur Dales in the episodes 5x15 - Travelers and 6x13 - Agua Mala.

The show follows the life of a reporter, Carl Kolchak, as he investigates stories of the uncanny and the supernatural. Tony Vincenzo, Kolchak's short-tempered boss at the Independent News Service doesn't lend much credence to the outlandish stories that Kolchak follows. He insists on more conventional stories to put to press.

The character Carl Kolchak originated in an unpublished novel by Jeffrey Grant Rice called The Kolchak Papers, written around 1970. It was adapted into a made-for-TV movie, The Night Stalker, by horror writer Richard Matheson, formerly of The Twilight Zone.

The movie was produced by and aired on ABC and premiered as the ABC Movie of the Week on January 11, 1972, and was the most watched TV movie that year. In the movie, starring McGavin as Kolchak and Simon Oakland as Tony Vincenzo, Kolchak tracks a vampire who goes on a killing spree in Los Angeles. A sequel ABC Movie of the Week entitled The Night Strangler, produced by ABC's TV movie division ABC Circle Films, premiered on January 16, 1973. When Kolchak: The Night Stalker went to series in 1974, ABC farmed out production of the show to Universal Television and Francy Productions. For its first few episodes, it was known simply as The Night Stalker before its name was changed with the airing of the episode "The Werewolf". A reboot titled simply as Night Stalker was produced by Touchstone Television (by then ABC's corporate sister) in 2005.

NBCUniversal Syndication Studios has syndication rights to Kolchak: The Night Stalker due to Universal's ownership of the series, while Disney-ABC Domestic Television is the TV distributor for the two TV movies that preceded it as ABC has ownership of both movies as well as dramatic rights to the Carl Kolchak character.

Cast

Actor	Character
Main Cast
Darren McGavin	Carl Kolchak
Simon Oakland	Tony Vincenzo
Supporting/Recurring Cast
Jack Grinnage	Ron Updyke
Ruth McDevitt	Emily Cowles

TV Movies

Title	Network		Airdate
The Night Stalker	ABC		January 11, 1972
The Night Strangler	ABC		January 16, 1973

Seasons

Season	Premiere	Finale				#
ABC
Season One	September 13, 1974	March 28, 1975				20

In-Depth

• At a Glance: Additional information about the series

DVD Releases

Title			Release			Discs
Made-for-TV Movies  (Region 1)
The Night Stalker/The Night Strangler (Double Feature)			August 24, 2004			2
Complete Series  (Region 1)
Kolchak: The Night Stalker			October 4, 2005			3

External Sites

• Kolchak: The Night Stalker on IMDb

• Darren McGavin and Kathie Browne's Authorized Internet Web Site