# Kolchak: The Night Stalker (1974)

> A hard-bitten Chicago newspaper reporter keeps chasing supernatural murders that the police refuse to investigate.

Canonical page: https://ember.film/tv/4827

## Facts

- Seasons: 1
- Episodes: 20
- Episode runtime: 51 min
- Status: Ended
- Genres: horror, mystery, drama
- Created by: Jeffrey Grant Rice
- Network: ABC
- Cast: Darren McGavin, Simon Oakland, Jack Grinnage, Ruth McDevitt, Robert Easton, Maureen Arthur, Richard Kiel, John Alvin
- TMDB rating: 8.4/10
- IMDb: https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0071003/

## Ember's analysis

- Pacing: brisk
- Intensity: moderate
- Complexity: simple
- Violence: moderate
- Tone: wry, sardonic, creepy, tense, gritty

## What critics say

Critics regard Kolchak: The Night Stalker as an acclaimed, influential monster-of-the-week series whose sharp reporter-driven stories and Darren McGavin's performance left a lasting mark despite its short single season.

## Synopsis

Kolchak: The Night Stalker (1974-1975) is an American television series created by Jeffrey Grant Rice for ABC. Darren McGavin plays Carl Kolchak, a hard-bitten Chicago newspaper reporter whose nose for news keeps leading him toward mysterious deaths with unlikely causes, the kind of cases law enforcement would rather leave alone. Simon Oakland plays Tony Vincenzo, his weary editor who wants a sellable story without the risk, and Jack Grinnage appears as fellow reporter Ron Updyke, while Ruth McDevitt recurs as Edith Cowels. The engine is simple: Kolchak pushes past police dismissals and newsroom skepticism to prove that something inhuman is loose in the city. Each of the twenty episodes is a standalone case of the week, with a single season that was cut short when McGavin left the production. The show carries a wry, sardonic register, mixing newsroom banter with genuine creeping dread and a seventies television atmosphere. Fans of The X-Files and the creature-feature anthology spirit of Night Gallery will find its mix of monster hunting and institutional distrust familiar.

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