R.I.P Kolchak, too.

[Tom]

Darren Mcgavin died this week, too.
Loved him as Kolchak-fighting monsters every week, and in the Christmas Story.
That "leg" lamp was hilarious.

They computer-inserted him as Kolchak into a scene in the pilot for the current Nightstalker series last fall.

[Tom]

http://www.tvcrazy.net/tvclassics/news/nightstalker.htm

[Overlay]

No disrespect to Darren McGavin, but the most blatant example I can recall of networks trying to cash in on an established name were after Telly Savalas had made a hit out of "Kojak", and the new fall lineup included shows named "Kolchak" and "Kodiak". (I don't mean this as a criticism of the shows themselves, since I never watched any of them.) (When it comes to prime-time network television, I've been an equal-opportunity ignorer for about the past twenty-five years. If there weren't cable and sports, I wouldn't watch TV at all.)

[46zilzal]

interesting role: When McGavin played a heavy in the movie (opposite Robert Redford) in THE NATURAL, he received, strangley, no screen credit for his name. Maybe he gave the money to charity or something.

[Wiley]

No disrespect to Darren McGavin, but the most blatant example I can recall of networks trying to cash in on an established name were after Telly Savalas had made a hit out of "Kojak", and the new fall lineup included shows named "Kolchak" and "Kodiak".
Agree on the copycat name approach of the networks but I have to disagree on the quality of the shows in question. The Nightstalker, though short lived, was an inovative show for it's time and I loved it as a teenager. Just read the show was a big influence to one of the main writers of the X-files.

Kojak, though popular, was similar to every other cop/crime drama of the time just fill in the blank: Mannix, The Streets of San Francisco, Barnaby Jones, Cannon or any Quinn Martin production!

The two made for TV movies I read came out in 72/73 as the Night Stalker then the Night Strangler but you are correct in the fall of '74 the name of the show was highlighted as Kolchak: The Night Stalker. Kojak came out in the fall of '73. 'Who loves ya baby'

[kenwoodallpromos]

Darren McGavin play the dad in "Red Ryder" which is still shown near Christmas time.
As Kolchak McGavin played the luckiest man on TV with the monsters and the monster of a boss!

[ponyplayer]

I thought he was the greatest as the father in Christmas Story...

[JustRalph]

kolchak (night stalker) was a great show. I loved it. I liked that mustang he used to drive...........too............

His boss...........wasn't that Simon Oakland? He was a great TV guy too.....