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Darren McGavin's portrayal of Kolchak won him a guest appearance on another supernatural show
McGavin had left his mark on television.
Today, television has no shortage of supernatural creatures. But just a few decades ago, seeing something as simple as a vampire on your screen was a rare thing. However, people who were able to immerse viewers in the mystical through television didn't just win over fans; they also won a front-row seat to supernatural shows of the future.
Though a show like Kolchak: The Night Stalker didn't have a hefty audience at the time of its airing, it has since become a cult classic and still holds a community to this day.
Years after Kolchak: The Night Stalker had aired its last episode, The X-Files premiered on Fox. With its spooky supernatural elements and a vaguely sinister undercurrent, it's no wonder viewers saw a resemblance between the new series and Night Stalker.
The symmetry wasn't just in spirit; it's been said frequently that series creator Chris Carter was heavily influenced by Kolchak: The Night Stalker when he was developing The X-Files. Kolchak series lead Darren McGavin even makes an appearance in a few episodes of The X-Files. McGavin played retired FBI agent Arthur Dales.
"I saw the TV movie when I was eleven years old, and it scared the crap out of me," said X-Files executive producer Frank Spotnitz during an interview with The Tampa Tribune. "I liked The Night Stalker so much that I wrote a recurring role for McGavin on X-Files as an FBI agent who was working on unsolved cases before Scully and Mulder were born."
The casting was a delightful surprise to those who had missed seeing McGavin on their screens, bringing a bit of Kolchak back to us.
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14 Comments
Scared the crap out of me and gave me scary dreams sometimes.
Watch when I can now.
Love those old shows !
LOVE Twilight Zone, but it's run for hours on Pluto TV and wanted a change!
