Kolchak: The Night Stalker

William Lyle Richardson (May 7, 1922 - February 25, 2006), who adopted the name Darren McGavin, was an American actor best known for playing the title role in the television horror series Kolchak: The Night Stalker, and also his portrayal in the movie A Christmas Story of the grumpy father given to bursts of profanity that he never realizes his sons overhear. He also appeared as the tough-talking, funny detective in the TV series Mike Hammer.

The first of his two best-known roles came in 1972, in the supernatural-themed TV movie The Night Stalker (1972). With McGavin playing a reporter who discovers the activities of a modern-day vampire on the loose in Las Vegas, the film became the highest-rated made-for-TV movie in history; and when the sequel The Night Strangler (1973) also was a strong success, a subsequent television series Kolchak: The Night Stalker (1974) was begun. In the series, McGavin played Carl Kolchak, an investigative reporter for a Chicago-based news service who regularly stumbles upon the supernatural or occult basis for a seemingly mundane crime; although his involvement routinely assisted in the dispelment of the otherwordly adversary, his evidence in the case was always destroyed or seized, usually by a public official or major social figure who sought to cover up the incident. He would write his ensuing stories in a sensational, tabloid style which advised readers that the true story was being withheld from them.

In 1983, he had his second signature role as "The Old Man," the narrator's father, in the classic Christmas movie A Christmas Story. Opposite Melinda Dillon as the narrator's mother, he portrayed an ornery, irascible working-class father, in an unnamed Indiana town in the 1940s, who was endearing in spite of his being comically oblivious to his own use of profanity and completely unable to recognize his unfortunate taste for kitsch. Blissfully unaware of his family's embarrassment by his behavior, he took pride in his self-assessed ability to fix anything in record time, and carried on a tireless campaign against his neighbor's rampaging bloodhounds. Although the film was a box office failure, grossing under $20 million, subsequent television airings led to a huge surge in its popularity; by the early 2000s, the cable station Turner Network Television had begun airing the film repeatedly in a continuous 24-hour loop just prior to Christmas.
Bio by www.wikipedia.org

Simon Oakland (28 August 1915 - 29 August 1983) was an actor of stage, screen, and television. Oakland began his performing arts career as a musician (he was a violinist, a vocation he would enjoy his entire career as an actor). He began his acting career in the late 1940s. He enjoyed a series of Broadway hits, including Light Up the Sky, The Shrike and Inherit the Wind, and theater was one of his lasting passions.

Oakland made his film debut as the "tough, but compassionate" journalist who speaks up for Susan Hayward's Barbara Grahame in I Want to Live! in 1958. Oakland would wind up playing this type often over the course of career.

He went on to play a long series of tough guy types, usually on the right side of the law (or in positions of authority), most notably in Psycho, West Side Story, and as the cantankerous Antonio Vincenzo (Kolchak's boss) in the science fiction television series Kolchak: The Night Stalker. A gifted actor, he often accepted roles that were inferior to his acting ability and often played on type rather than talent. He was highly respected by his co-workers as an actor; he died of cancer, one day after his 68th birthday.
Bio by: www.wikipedia.org

You'll notice that I've not yet mentioned the new attempt at cashing in on a cult icon. ABC's 2005 failed attempt at making a cultural icon better, The Night Stalker starred Stuart Townsend and Gabrielle Union. Why was this a horrible show?
I mean, they tried paying homage as often as they could with Darren McGavin as Kolchak digitaly inserted in the background of one scene. Townsend's car in the series had the plates "197DMG2", which, I am told, is the year 1972 (the year of the first movie's release) with the initials DMG (Darren McGavin) inside it. There is even a scene with Kolchak's hat in the pilot episode, but Townsend never wears it. The show was chopped after only three episodes, but was bought by SciFi Channel, who aired the remaining three episodes as well.

This new attempt was just too dark and not enough camp. If you want to make the series new, then make the main character the quirky but tough son or nephew of Carl Kolchak, throw in an editor that enjoys yelling with an office of great and funny characters, and have him fighting the forces of campy evil and having nobody believe him when he writes about it.

"Wait!" you say, "That sounds pretty much like the original series." All I have to do here is remind you to read the subtitle of this article.