This ABC primetime series—20 one-hour episodes broadcast during the 1974-75 season—was spawned by the surprise success of the exceptionally well-made 1972 made-for-TV movie, The Night Stalker. Irrepressible newspaper reporter Carl Kolchak (played by Darren McGavin) investigates crimes that turn out to be the work of supernatural agencies. His perpetually dyspeptic editor, Tony Vincenzo (Simon Oakland), always disagrees with Kolchak's theories, always threatens to fire him at some point during an investigation, and always eats crow when the inhuman (or should we say unhuman) culprits are revealed and destroyed. Over the course of the series, Kolchak—always clad in seersucker suit and porkpie hat, winter or summer—meets up with ghouls, zombies, vampires, werewolves, ghosts, succubi, and even aliens (who knew the Windy City was such a hotbed of paranormal phenomena?). The stories were wild from the beginning, and became wilder as the season progressed; still, these shows are campy fun, and feature guest stars including Jim Backus, Scatman Crothers, Sharon Farrell, Dick Van Patten, Jamie Farr, Larry Linville, and Cathy Lee Crosby. Sporting a fine DVD transfer, but no extras, this is recommended for larger TV-on-DVD collections. (E. Hulse)
Kolchak: The Night Stalker
[Blu-ray Review—Oct. 27, 2021—Kino Lorber, 4 discs, 1,020 min., not rated, Blu-ray: $99.95—Making its debut on Blu-ray, Kolchak: The Night Stalker (1974-75) looks reasonably good and features extras including 21 audio commentaries (for all 20 episodes), an interview with David Chase (creator of The Sopranos and co-writer of eight Kolchak episodes), an interview with Dana Gould (creator of Stan Against Evil), and a booklet with an essay by Mark Dawidziak, author of The Night Stalker Companion and the Kolchak novel Grave Secrets. Bottom line: this cult classic TV series makes a welcome debut on Blu-ray.]