Darren McGavin's portrayal of Kolchak won him a guest appearance on another supernatural show

McGavin had left his mark on television.

NBC/Universal

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.

Watch Kolchak: The Night Stalker on MeTV!

Saturdays at 12 AM

*available in most MeTV markets
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12 Comments

BradBeall 16 days ago
Imagine if MeTV began showing The X-Files... being as that show was on for just as long (perhaps longer?) than M*A*S*H, they could even go back to only showing 2 episodes per day... just sayin'.
SteveO 17 days ago
Was 10 yrs old when the Night Stalker was on.
Scared the crap out of me and gave me scary dreams sometimes.
Watch when I can now.
Love those old shows !
Titustwolife 17 days ago
He'll always be The Old Man from A Christmas Story to me
boomerdragon61 18 days ago
Darren McGavin was one of THE best character actors ever. He could be heroic, villainous, paternal, sentimental, clueless, clever, hilarious, or just about any type of personality required by the role he played. I still appreciate all his performances.
Runeshaper 18 days ago
That was super cool of Spotnitz to bring McGavin into the X-Files.
Mark Runeshaper 17 days ago
Spotnitz was also the guy behind the Night Stalker reboot that starred Stuart Townsend.
cperrynaples Mark 17 days ago
Yep, he even got McGavin to "appear" in the pilot with CGI! Horrible show which didn't even last as long as the original!
Runeshaper Mark 17 days ago
That's cool!
Runeshaper cperrynaples 17 days ago
Interesting. Thanks for sharing!
JohninND 19 days ago
I thought that was a very nice tip of the hat to "Kolchak" from "The X-Files", since it did owe it a bit. Although for my money the best TV sci-fi show was the original "The Outer Limits", which broke all sorts of ground and was way ahead of its time, in my opinion.
SteveO JohninND 17 days ago
Have started watching TOL and do enjoy it.
LOVE Twilight Zone, but it's run for hours on Pluto TV and wanted a change!
McGillahooala 19 days ago
Kolchak is a great show. I had never heard of it until it started on MeTV. I watched every episode.
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