Lizzie Borden Society Forum

Abc has redone the great tv series Night Stalker (the old one had Darren McGavin). It is on TV tomorrow night. It looks good!!


http://abc.go.com/primetime/nightstalker/

It was once my all time favorite TV show. I hope they don't lose the humor in this one.

Cool site!

Darren McGavin was my favorite TV actor of all time!

I loved the Night Stalker

k

i didn't even know about this. i'm going to watch it tonight. i was also a fan of the original. i heard there was a recent marathon of these episodes, i guess on scifi, but i missed it. i would buy the DVDs if they would put them out. i do have the original night stalker movie on video. like The Legend, it was exceptionally good for TV.

Actually... the entire McGavin "Night Stalker" series is out on dvd, or will be in a bit more than a week.
http://video.barnesandnoble.com/search/ ... rm=0&itm=2

They've also got the original movies on a "double feature" dvd.
http://video.barnesandnoble.com/search/ ... rm=0&itm=1

Stef gifted me with the original video tapes over time- I have several, over the last 10 years.

I was at work until 11PM. Did anyone see it? How was the first episode? Did it have any of the charm of the original?

I watched it but I'm not familiar with the original -- so can't tell you how they differ. But was no humor in this one, so no -- I don't think the word "charm" would apply here. Although Darren McGavin is digitized into one of the newsroom scenes as a bit of an homage, I guess. (It was a really fast cut -- if you blinked, you missed it.)

It held my attention.... I'll watch it again. It deals with a sort of supernatural mystery built around the murder of Kolchak's wife. Was that the premise of the old one?

Stef: You didn't miss a thing. The new hero is no McGavin, and the new show is a poor imitation of the original Nightstalker. I missed CSI to watch it - live and learn.

I didn't think much of Night Stalker either...haven't decided if I'll watch it again, but I certainly understand why Stuart Townsend was fired from The Lord of the Rings triology. He isn't very charisimatic.

This from Darren McGavin's authorized website:

http://www.darrenmcgavin.net/

Updated August 2, 2005

For those of you who had the unfortunate luck to read an article posted on the Sci Fi Wire July 29th, you received a rude shock by reading the fact "the late" Darren McGavin was "digitally inserted into the season premiere" of the "updated" NIGHT STALKER series. I have no idea why the author wrote that as there is no truth to the fact Darren has passed on. Although he has been in ill health for years, he is very much alive and still enjoys hearing from his fans. (The Sci Fi Wire has subsequently changed the article but for those who read it earlier, please be assured.) K/G.

I did catch the digital image, and it didn't strike me as an homage. I felt like they were exploiting the Night Stalker that some of us know and love. (I guess this would apply to putting a Lizzie McGuffin in a Pink Pather movie, even though I suggested it. It doesn't play that well when you actually see it.) Guess it's time for TVLand to bring back the original.

diana: Since you're unfamiliar with the original, a peek at this page will give you a small taste:

http://www.darrenmcgavin.net/Scripts.htm

If you search on that page for "The Spanish Moss Murders" there you'll find a wee nip of the old show in all its glory - humor and all! (Tony Vincenzo was portrayed by the late Simon Oakland.)

Thank you very much, Doug!

Now I see what everyone is meaning. The humor is very evident in the 'Spanish Moss' script excerpt.

Without that light touch -- the new version becomes a whole different animal. It comes off as a kind of clone of either 'Lost' or 'Invasion'.

And I agree the new lead has nowhere near the charisma of Darren McGavin -- yet, to my mind, few actors do -- McGavin is a very watchable actor.

I saw somewhere that another reason the original series may have been so good was the involvement of writer/consultant David Chase (who later went on to do 'The Rockford Files' and 'The Sopranos'.) Sorry, I can't remember where I read that.

Not sure what your original source was either, diana; however, the "Kolchak: The Night Stalker" listing on http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0153740/ does list David Chase and credit him with 8 episodes.

i was disappointed.

but i'm glad to see the original series is coming out on dvd. i'll buy that.

Well! We all found out we are a Darren McGavin fan club, and loved the old Night Stalker show. Who woulda thunk?

Well, I gave the new Night Stalker a second chance last night. Boy, was I sorry. This program rots!

I understand the new series was cancelled after the first half of a two-part story!

Having now watched both the original tv movies and the complete original series, I would say that Darren McGavin and Simon Oakland have a lot to do with the success of the series. The plots were pretty repetitive (Kolchak's efforts are routinely sabotaged by stupid bureaucrats [of which I have just corrected an absurd misspelling I wouldn't have thought myself capable], but, except in the last episode, he always succeeds in destroying the monster(s), usually getting himself in deep doodoo in the process and never getting credit) and some of the special effects were pretty laughable, to say the least. (The crocodile-like monster in the last episode is obviously a man in a costume.) It was kind of fun, but seeing it once was enough for me.

Just removed a superfluous preposition from my comment about correcting a misspelling!