Kolchak: The Night Stalker is the story of Carl Kolchak, an investigative reporter for the Independent News Service in Chicago. Kolchak has a first-rate knack for seeking out the truth, no matter how unlikely it might be. More often than not, the truth proves to be positively bizarre: Vampires, Indian spirits, werewolves, vengeful Greek goddesses, robots, reptiles and even space aliens often turn out to be the culprits he uncovers.
Before Kolchak: The Night Stalker started its brief but cult-spawning single-season run, it debuted as a pair of made-for-television movies starring veteran Hollywood actor-producer Darren McGavin.
The first movie, The Night Stalker, was the brainchild of legendary Twilight Zone scribe and author Richard Matheson, who co-wrote the teleplay with Kolchak series creator Jeff Rice. This first TV movie, directed by John Llewellyn Moxey, premiered on January 11, 1972, and was the most highly-rated TV movie up to its time.
Not surprisingly, a sequel telefilm followed just one year later. The Night Strangler was also penned by Matheson; McGavin and his Night Stalker co-star Simon Oakland reprised their starring roles. The Night Strangler, directed by Dan Curtis, premiered with strong numbers on January 16, 1973, and paved the way for the creation of the weekly series.
How times have changed. Though network and cable television have grown bolder and gorier in the three-plus decades since The Night Stalker's heyday, the series continues to be hailed as a seminal influence by such modern entertainment masters as Chris Carter, creator of The X-Files. Carter has often acknowledged the influence of Kolchak on The X-Files, and paid homage to that legacy by casting Darren McGavin in a two-time guest role as retired FBI Special Agent Arthur Dales — the first agent assigned to what later became the bureau's X-Files office.
