Kolchak: The Night Stalker (1974–1975)
Trivia
The series was cancelled because Darren McGavin asked to be released from his contract. He became disappointed with the series' scripts and was exhausted from his uncredited producing duties. Three scripts were left unproduced. Two of them were adapted into a "Kolchak" series of comic books in 2003.
Actor Richard Kiel, before he became best known as the killer "Jaws" in the James Bond movies, was cast in two episodes as the monster. He first appeared as the "Diablero" in "Bad Medicine" and later as the swamp monster in "The Spanish Moss Murders."
Episode 1.15, "Chopper", is the first script that Robert Zemeckis (co-writing with frequent collaborator Bob Gale) sold in Hollywood.
Producer Dan Curtis and screenwriter Richard Matheson were both approached by Universal to work on the series. Although they had worked on the original made-for-TV movies, they both turned down the offer (they weren't keen on the "Monster of the Week" formula).
Darren McGavin is often incorrectly considered to be, and listed in many official references guides, as the show's Executive Producer. In fact, he never held the position, although he unofficially assumed many of the duties. This put him at odds with Paul Playdon and then Cy Chermak, the official producers appointed by Universal.
Ruth McDevitt's character is referred to variously throughout the series on-screen by various characters and in the cast lists as Emily Fenwick, Emily Cowels, and Edith Cowels. They eventually settled on the name "Emily Cowles." Her character's occupation also alternates between advice columnist, riddle feature writer, and crossword puzzle editor.
Actress Ruth McDevitt not only plays columnist Miss Emily in the latter episodes (the character is on vacation early on), but she appears as an elderly Peeping Tom in the first episode... who writes a letter to the Miss Emily column.
Darren McGavin and Dan Curtis both died in early 2006 just one month apart from each other.
During the opening credits of each episode, watch for Kolchak to toss his hat at a wall hook, only to miss and his hat falls into the garbage can.
Carl Kolchak's look and clothing was created by the own Darren McGavin.
Kolchak's typewriter is a Royal Model HH, 1952-1957. At some point the "ROYAL" logo was covered up by a piece of paper with "KOLCHAK" written on it.
The series used music from Gil Mellé's score for "The Questor Tapes", a Gene Roddenberry produced TV movie/failed pilot also filmed in 1974 at Universal Studios. The first scene of the movie, where John Vernon enters the Project Questor lab, is the dark second section of the "Kolchak: The Night Stalker" theme, where Kolchak sits down and starts typing.
Although the series is set in Chicago, and multiple exteriors of Kolchak are filmed on location, most of the series was filmed at Universal studios, Hollywood.
The Model 15 Teletype is featured in the fictional INS newsroom. These machines are almost always shown from the back or side.
