Hellen I like the storyline of this show,it attract me so much

Majorthebys Charming and brutal

Zlatica One of the worst ways to make a cult movie is to set out to make a cult movie.

Philippa All of these films share one commonality, that being a kind of emotional center that humanizes a cast of monsters.

Joxerlives Saw this in the 90s when it was repeated on late night BBC2 and recently bought the boxset out of sheer curiosity. Didn't disappoint, a thoroughly entertaining and in many ways groundbreaking.Really is Darren McGavin's show, he breathes such life and likability into the in many ways morally reprehensible Kolchak, the sleazy, loner, workaholic reporter who works his way through life bribing and tricking the gullible to get the story. He is heroic but at the same time you get the idea if he was around these days he'd be tapping Hugh Grant's phone. His closest friend seems to be his editor but even they're constantly rowing, their relationship one of the highlights of the show. It's interesting to see the bygone era of print journalism with rolls of quarters for payphones, stories being put out on 'the wire' and journalists researching with books and banging away on typewriters, not to mention the brutal, trigger-happy and corrupt Chicago police of the 70s. Love his car too, a classic Mustang convertible complete with police scanner whilst his outfit is a weird mixture of the formal and down at heel.Some good guest stars, Erik Estrada, Phil Silvers in what must be one of his last roles, Tom Skerrit. You can see the inspiration for Altered States here and the robotic company named the Tyrell corporation. Where the series falls down is its' lack of decent villains, once you get to Helen of Troy they're really scraping the barrel whilst The Sentry is blatantly a guy with a cardboard crocodile head mask. The series treatment of women, inevitably belittled and/or killed is also a little hard to take.

jefffisher65-708-541158 Kolchak:the Night Stalker is my favorite "fantstic genre" type of TV series of them all. Undoubtedly, it is somewhat dated by modern standards, but it did originally run in the mid-1970s, folks. What the program lacked in quality make-up was more than made-up for by the sheer creepiness of it all! And the fact that Kolchak, the marvelous Darren McCavin, rip, was a past-50 something ordinary mortal who quite often became terrified almost out of his mind by these creatures made him the more endearing, I think.As most here know, the two previous TV-films, THE NIGHT STALKER(1972), and THE NIGHT STRANGLER(1973) led to the series itself. The original TV-film was the highest-rated TV movie for several years, in fact. And the series was an ancestor of both BUFFY and THE X-FILES as noted.I was nine when K:TNS began its one-season run on ABC, and caught many of them either on their first-airings, or in the summer-rerun phase(the network did cut some scenes for the prime time repeats for those jaded enough by today's product to think Kolchak wasn't creepy!) When CBS began to run the series on the "CBS Late NIGHT" schedule in 1979, I was thrilled. In those days, short-run TV series were not often played in syndication. The program gained a large cult following which continues today as CBS ran the program into the early 1980s on its late-night schedule, late Friday, I believe.Can't add a whole lot to the wonderful love/hate relationship between McGavin and Simon Oakland's Tony Vincenzo, other than it added a good deal to the series' charm. To answer some here, Carl did turn in routine-type reporting articles along the way(although they sometimes tended to get INS sued as Tony wasn't slow to point out!). For the record, there was an actual INS at one time - it's mentioned once in the classic 1954 film "Them!", for example.My favorite episodes are probably again, "Horror in the Heights," The Vampire," "The Spainish Moss Murders," and "Demon in Lace," in no particular order. I would have to say the final five minutes or so of "Zombie" are almost beyond endurance! It's hard to pick a true favorite, "The Ripper" was excellent as well, I must say, even "Choper" was quite good if one forgives the poor-quality headless motorcycle rider.There were to have been at least three more episodes, possibly four has the series not ended its season slightly ahead of the usual length for TV programs in the 1970s. Fan-magazines of the 1990s like "it couldn't happen here" (which I contributed to some) ran material on those un-produced programs - I have wondered if both "The Norliss Tapes, and "Curse of the Black Widow," two more 1970s Dan Curtis supernatural-detective type TV films weren't also meant originally for "TNS.For the fans interested the most, "Fangoria" # 3 in 1979 ran a nice episode guide, and article on TNS, although with some mistakes in the piece. The mid-1970s Marvel satire comic "Arrgh!" ran a nifty"Kolchak" parody in issue # 4 which also featured Kolchak on the cover. Another fanzine type publication was "The Kolchak Chronicle" out of Texas as well. The TV films were published as paperbacks by Jeff Rice from Pocket Books around the same time the TV series began, and other items are out there for those who wish to search for them, i.e., comics, other novels, even model kits.

jpm4444 My mom and I were very much into horror films. As a little kid I loved being scared and Kolchak: the Night Stalker was more than happy to oblige me. The creators of X-files constantly gave credit to this series as being their foundation. They even wanted the Kolchak character to be a part of the series. The stories are smart and fun and keep you thinking. A handful of the stories are a little campy like the Sentry which uses a walking reptile like creature, but for most of the stories they deal with evil entities based on the supernatural, folklore, and legends. I love the Tony Vincenzo character; Carls' angry and often yelling editor in chief who is always fighting, but also always supporting Kolchak. From the actors to the great music, this series is a must have for any true horror fan. If you are looking for a slasher series, then this isn't it. For a fun, smart, and often scary and interesting ride, it doesn't get any better than the Night Stalker. I have the DVD series and I watch it often.

beachaml19 I'd love to give Kolchak a higher rating but the show quickly went from scary/suspenseful to silly. ABC's fault. They moved the show to Friday nights at 8:00 p.m., then known as the "family hour". Never should have been on Fridays in the first place. I was a sophomore in high school and loved the early episodes! It was first up against Police Woman on NBC. ABC had huge problems with Friday nights. Bad season for them overall until Barney Miller, Baretta, and SWAT debuted in January of '75. Kolchak should have been a hit. Darren McGavin begged to get out of his contract to end the show. Too bad the writing wasn't up to Richard Matheson's in the original TV movies. Still, McGavin made Kolchak his own, as actors can do. Jackie Gleason as Ralph Kramden and Caroll O'Connor as Archie Bunker come to mind. That INS set with the manual typewriters and clacking teletypes seems quaint and ancient today, yet that was part of the appeal. They were very lucky to have Simon Oakland reprise "Vincenzo" from the TV films.