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Darren McGavin and the ''monsters of the week'' formula that inspired other series
With a new monster every week, there was no telling who... or what Kolchak would run into next!
Kolchak: The Night Stalker follows the unusually spooky story of Carl Kolchak, a dynamic and slightly wacky crime reporter who did more solving crime than reporting on it.
The Night Stalker was only Darren McGavin's fifth series, but by the time the show premiered in 1974, McGavin was already a common household name with a whole bunch of fame.
Kolchak: The Night Stalker was the result of two successful made-for-TV movies: The Night Stalker (1972) and The Night Strangler (1973). The Night Stalker (1972) was a vampire tale held together by production suspense techniques and McGavin's outrageous characterization.
The Night Stalker became the top-rated made-for-TV movie of its time with over 54% of television audiences watching it.
In a 1974 interview with The Pittsburgh Press, McGavin said Kolchak and his many other characters shared one common trait: A "colorful" personality. Even then, McGavin said "colorful" was a bit of an understatement for Kolchak.
The Carl Kolchak we met onscreen in the '70s was an old-fashioned newspaper man from the era of Ben Hecht, and was someone who would go to great lengths in order to get a big story.
But according to McGavin, the original script concept of Kolchak: The Night Stalker was much different.
"When I first read the script for Night Stalker, he was a Las Vegas reporter wearing Bermuda shorts and a Hawaiian t-shirt," McGavin said. "He was sort of a swinger."
McGavin gave Kolchak an added dimension of warmth, understanding and love which could be seen onscreen. It seemed as though every time McGavin touched a new series, the ratings skyrocketed.
"My Kolchak is what I call a 'fumpher'... disheveled but not dirty; out of style but not dressed in bad taste," McGavin said. "He just hasn't bought any clothes since 1955, so he wears a seersucker suit, a straw hat, white bucks and a button-down shirt. He's a man of his time, and I love him."
Each episode of Kolchak: The Night Stalker started with an old newsroom format, but ends in Kolchak chasing down everything from zombies to vampires who have committed crimes.
This format was termed "Monster of the Week." This formula explored many different types of horror while using a relatively low budget, and was a great way to build suspense for future episodes.
The "Monster of the Week" formula was also important for creating future shows such as The X-Files (1993), Supernatural (2005), Buffy the Vampire Slayer (1997) and The Dresden Files (2007).
"We can make it fun," McGavin said in a 1974 interview with The Sacramento Bee. "As for the horror side, we're not going to show much. You're not going to see much of the monster, but you'll see what he's done and the fear he creates in others."
Mrs. McGavin, Kathie Browne, appeared in various series and films throughout her career which included: Gunsmoke, The Twilight Zone, The Outer Limits and Perry Mason. She also turned up in Kolchak: The Night Stalker a few times.
"Haven't you known a few vampires in Beverly Hills?" Browne asked. "Darren is John Wayne chasing a different monster each week."
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