KOLCHAK THE NIGHT STALKER: AN APPRECIATION
With the recent release of THE KOLCHAK COMPANION: FIFTY YEARS OF NIGHT STALKING, Mark Dawidziak’s essential updated tome on one of my favorite television shows of all time, I thought I’d share my unending appreciation for this short-lived series that seemed to be specifically made for a young, monster-obsessed Shawn Sheridan…
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Friday, September 13th, 1974.
I was ten years old. My mom, who always supported my interests in dark/weird/creepy things, told me there was some new TV show airing tonight, about… monsters. “Really!?” I said. “I wanna see it!”
And that I did. By the end of the first episode of KOLCHAK THE NIGHT STALKER, after watching a slightly bumbling, in-over-his-head, but doggedly determined reporter named Carl Kolchak do battle with a very scary modern incarnation of Jack The Ripper, I was hooked. The following episodes would feature equally menacing brushes with monsters and ghouls of every kind, including vampires, werewolves, zombies, witches, mummies, and more.
ABC’s KOLCHAK TV series never performed particularly well in the ratings, and only lasted one season. 20 episodes. But for a Monster Kid like myself, raised on a steady diet of Famous Monsters Of Filmland magazine, Aurora monster model kits, comic books, and TV horror hosts, those 20 episodes were like a gift from the monster-gods every Friday night.
On the Monster Party podcast my co-hosts and I have expressed our love and obsession for Kolchak many times. I suppose there are a number of factors that contribute to this; having an acute interest in horror movies and monsters obviously, being at just the right malleable age, and being attuned to the more strange and mysterious nooks and crannies of pop culture.
Then there was the brilliant Darren McGavin as Kolchak. At the time the show aired, I wasn’t aware of his acting work in other shows or movies. So to me, McGavin WAS Kolchak, 100%. Much like Peter Falk as COLUMBO, McGavin had a presence and personality that was so charismatic that he commanded every moment he was on the screen. Donned in that seersucker suit, straw hat, and sneakers, he made the character of Carl wholly his own.
And because of the structure of the series, which presented Carl starting and ending every episode talking into his cassette recorder as he chronicled each terrifying encounter with the supernatural, what I was watching may as well have been real-life newscasts. It was that dynamic and authentic to me as a ten-year-old kid.
It wasn’t until years later, after the weekly series had ended, that I was able to see where it all sprang from; the two superb, ratings-smashing TV-movies, THE NIGHT STALKER and THE NIGHT STRANGLER. They were edgier, bleaker, and Kolchak’s contentious run-ins with police and authority figures were more grounded and played less for humor than the subsequent weekly show. And loner Carl even had a love interest in the first film, in the form of fetching Carol Lynley!
But the TV series was how I was first introduced to the captivating night-world of Kolchak. And even though not every episode was a home run, and the monsters occasionally a let-down (I’m looking at you, dinosaur-man from THE SENTRY!), no faults or shortcomings of the show have ever diluted the impact it has had on me.
I grew up watching lots of late-night television, seeking out any and every horror/monster or sci-fi themed movie in the TV Guide. Because of this, as I’ve mentioned, I was exposed to many local TV horror hosts. I lived on the East Coast in the 1970s, so my after-hours cathode ray companions to scary flicks were Chilly Billy, Uncle Ted, and The Creep. (Look ‘em up, folks!)
And now that I think about it, Carl Kolchak, in his own way, filled the role of a horror host. But not a host who merely presented monster tales for me to experience – he actually interacted and battled with monsters! Every week!
In both TV movies and every episode of Kolchak’s escapades, he was the ONLY one who knew (or accepted) what was really going on. Hey, wake up, people -- there are real monsters lurking around in Las Vegas, Seattle, Chicago, and Los Angeles!! Carl knew it, and he did what needed to be done, completely on his own. He was the hapless, unsung hero who risked his life to vanquish evil, and never got thanked for it.
So, I’m going on record now to do just that: THANK YOU, CARL KOLCHAK! Thanks for all the monster-loving joy and scary thrills that continue to make this now grown up Monster Kid a very happy fella!
Sincerely,
Shawn Sheridan
(INS reporter at heart)
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ITEM: Mark Dawidziak’s new book, THE KOLCHAK COMPANION: FIFTY YEARS OF NIGHT STALKING, can be purchased on Amazon. It’s the ultimate and final-say resource/tribute/celebration of all things Night Stalker. Grab it!
https://www.amazon.com/dp/1948986981
Now, enjoy some Kolchak pics!
