Night Stalker Discussion – “The Five People You Meet In Hell”
The updated Kolchak continues. The first wasn’t bad,
but wasn’t great. I’ll keep an eye on this and see
how long I follow it.
2 replies on “Night Stalker Discussion – “The Five People You Meet In Hell””
Night Stalker, Episode #2
Aside from the name “Carl Kolchak” this show is nothing like the old Darren McGavin series, which I loved as a kid. I remember it was paired up on Friday nights with “The Six Million Dollar Man,” and in those days it was kid Heaven.
The pilot episode was okay, but nothing special — the best part was seeing Darren McGavin digitally put into a scene. The second episode, “The Five People You Meet in Hell,” was more like it. It was spooky, very much in the old ”Kolchak, the Night Stalker“ mold. If given a chance, I think this show will take off, though the ratings competition with CSI is murder. A move to Friday, McGavin’s old haunt, might be in order.
The actor picked to play Kolchak is way too young to be the grizzled reporter, and that is unfortunate. If they were going to re-do the series they should have been true to the original idea, though it would be hard to find another actor who nailed the role like McGavin did. Also, Kochalk was without a doubt a loner, and NEVER would have had a partner. Another problem is a distinct lack of humor that in my opinion was a great part of the old show.
One way to make a connection with old fans would have been to simply keep the original theme music, which was great. Remember, the original Night Stalker movies were connected to producer Dan Curtis of “Dark Shadows” fame, not to mention some of the best, eeriest music in television history.
Still, all in all, I am hooked. I’ll look forward to next week and future episodes, and hope that ABC gives this series a chance.
Friday Night – Bad
Think SciFi channel. Any genre show will not do well on Fridays.
Night Stalker, Episode #2
Aside from the name “Carl Kolchak” this show is nothing like the old Darren McGavin series, which I loved as a kid. I remember it was paired up on Friday nights with “The Six Million Dollar Man,” and in those days it was kid Heaven.
The pilot episode was okay, but nothing special — the best part was seeing Darren McGavin digitally put into a scene. The second episode, “The Five People You Meet in Hell,” was more like it. It was spooky, very much in the old ”Kolchak, the Night Stalker“ mold. If given a chance, I think this show will take off, though the ratings competition with CSI is murder. A move to Friday, McGavin’s old haunt, might be in order.
The actor picked to play Kolchak is way too young to be the grizzled reporter, and that is unfortunate. If they were going to re-do the series they should have been true to the original idea, though it would be hard to find another actor who nailed the role like McGavin did. Also, Kochalk was without a doubt a loner, and NEVER would have had a partner. Another problem is a distinct lack of humor that in my opinion was a great part of the old show.
One way to make a connection with old fans would have been to simply keep the original theme music, which was great. Remember, the original Night Stalker movies were connected to producer Dan Curtis of “Dark Shadows” fame, not to mention some of the best, eeriest music in television history.
Still, all in all, I am hooked. I’ll look forward to next week and future episodes, and hope that ABC gives this series a chance.
Friday Night – Bad
Think SciFi channel. Any genre show will not do well on Fridays.