A major "fan boy" if ever there were one, Dawidziak has put together a new edition of his Night Stalking: A 20th Anniversary Kolchak Companion with more information. The book is an entertaining look at the history of the character, portrayed by Darren McGavin, and the two telefilms and TV series that he starred in. Like most fans, Dawidziak could be accused of overstatement and slavish devotion to Kolchak, but on the other hand, in a section when he looks at opinions of the TV show and well-known people who represent both positive and negative sides, he admits that the one-season series Kolchak: The Night Stalker was not all it could have been. (The naysayers towards the show include Stephen King and Darren McGavin himself!) Dawidziak also looks at the trials and tribulations of Jeff Rice, who wrote the original novel that became The Night Stalker and was treated abysmally by Hollywood and even by his own agents. The book could have used a more eagle-eyed copy editor but it has loads of photographs. There are chapters on the two telefilms and synopses and critiques of all of the twenty TV episodes. The book was published before the short-lived 2005 reboot of the series which cast Stuart Townsend as Kolchak.
Verdict: Fun read for Night Stalker fans. ***.
Need to get this book. The Night Stalker was one of my favorite shows, the first one my parents would let me stay late up to see ( was it on at 10 pm?) I was so disappointed when it was cancelled —but as you note, maybe they ran out of good plot lines and monsters. Loved Darren McGavin!
ReplyDelete- Chris
Yes, McGavin was great. Y'know I saw the two telefilms featuring Kolchak but for some reason I never saw an episode of the series until I bought the DVD collection a few years ago. You would think it would have been something I would watch, but maybe it was on against something I liked better.
ReplyDelete