I'm rather surprised there isn't already a thread dedicated to this. Share your thoughts and memories of what I consider one of the greatest US TV shows and a clear inspiration for the X Files.
Kolchak: The Night Stalker is an American television series that aired on ABC during the 1974-1975 season. It featured a fictional Chicago newspaper reporter — Carl Kolchak, played by Darren McGavin — who investigates mysterious crimes with unlikely causes, particularly ones law enforcement authorities won't pursue. Often these crimes involve some element of the supernatural or science fiction, such as fantastical creatures.
The series was preceded by two television movies,
The Night Stalker (1972) and
The Night Strangler (1973). While the series only lasted for one season, it remained popular in syndication, and is often credited as the inspiration for the popular television series The X-Files. Following The X-Files' success, the franchise was resurrected in 2005 in the form of a second television series with a new cast and characters, as well as subsequent novels and comic books.
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