Top 7 Kolchak: The Night Stalker Episodes
Kolchak Best Episodes, Episode Guide, Why Was It Canceled, Watch Episodes Free Online
ABOUT KOLCHAK: THE NIGHT STALKER
Best-known to younger TV viewers as one of the inspirations for the X-Files, the short-lived horror TV series Kolchak: The Night Stalker starred Darren McGavin as wise-cracking reporter Carl Kolchak. Always dressed in his seersucker suit and straw boater hat, Kolchak was like something out of a 1940’s newspaper film.
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Somehow he continually stumbled across outrageous news stories that inevitably involved horrific supernatural or paranormal beings like vampires, werewolves and aliens. Unfortunately, his editor never ran his stories—so the public never learned about each close call. However, Kolchak never allowed his lot in life to keep him from seeking out the truth—at whatever cost.
The origins of Kolchak: The Night Stalker began in an unpublished novel by Jeff Rice titled The Kolchak Papers, written around 1970. The story, which featured a fast-talking newsman hunting a modern-day vampire, was adapted by horror legend Richard Matheson (I Am Legend) into the 1972 TV movie The Night Stalker. The inspired casting for the movie included Darren McGavin as the crusading smart alec, and Simon Oakland as his short-tempered, but remarkably patient editor.
The blockbuster success of the TV movie inevitably led to the sequel The Night Strangler (1973), followed by the short-lived, cult classic television series. Over the course of 20 episodes, Kolchak faced a zombie, a haunted suit of killer armor, a headless motorcycle gang member, a werewolf, and more.
KOLCHAK: THE NIGHSTALKER EPISODE GUIDE
Watch Kolchak: The Night Stalker Episodes Free Online (NBC)
Episode 1: “The Ripper” (Broadcast: September 13, 1974)—Kolchak finds a strong resemblance between the murders of several Chicago women and killings by Jack the Ripper in the 1800s. Watch FREE: https://www.nbc.com/kolchak-the-night-stalker/video/the-ripper/3980757
Episode 2: “Zombie” (Broadcast: September 20, 1974)—Kolchak once saw the “enforcer” who is now killing gang members in a numbers-racket war lying dead in the morgue. Watch FREE: https://www.nbc.com/kolchak-the-night-stalker/video/the-zombie/3980758
Episode 3: “They Have Been, They Are, They Will Be...” (Broadcast: September 27, 1974)—Kolchak suspects extraterrestrial involvement when a series of electronic-equipment thefts is linked to several bizarre murders. Watch FREE: https://www.nbc.com/kolchak-the-night-stalker/video/they-have-been-they-are-they-will-be/3980759
Episode 4: “Vampire” (Broadcast: October 4, 1974)—Kolchak theorizes a vampire is behind a string of deaths from Las Vegas to Los Angeles, in which bodies were left drained of blood. Watch FREE: https://www.nbc.com/kolchak-the-night-stalker/video/the-vampire/3980760
Episode 5: “The Werewolf” (Broadcast: November 1, 1974)—A full moon rising over the final cruise of a luxury liner brings on the mauling deaths of a passenger and three crewmen. Watch FREE: https://www.nbc.com/kolchak-the-night-stalker/video/the-werewolf/3980761
Episode 6: “Firefall” (Broadcast: November 8, 1974)—The fiery deaths of three associates of a symphony conductor bring fatigued Kolchak into a confrontation with a supernatural force. Watch FREE: https://www.nbc.com/kolchak-the-night-stalker/video/firefall/3980762
Episode 7: “The Devil’s Platform” (Broadcast: November 15, 1974)—Kolchak believes a senatorial candidate has sold his soul to the devil, after the man’s campaign opponents begin turning up dead. Watch FREE: https://www.nbc.com/kolchak-the-night-stalker/video/the-devils-platform/3980763
Episode 8: “Bad Medicine” (Broadcast: November 29, 1974)—Kolchak suspects that the deaths of wealthy women, following thefts of their jewelry, are the work of an ancient Indian sorcerer. Watch FREE: https://www.nbc.com/kolchak-the-night-stalker/video/bad-medicine/3980764
Episode 9: “The Spanish Moss Murders” (Broadcast: December 6, 1974)—Kolchak suspects more than mere murder when a swamp moss not native to the Chicago area is found at the sites of several homicides. Watch FREE: https://www.nbc.com/kolchak-the-night-stalker/video/the-spanish-moss-murders/3980765
Episode 10: “The Energy Eater” (Broadcast: December 13, 1974)—Cracking walls and the mysterious deaths of staff and patients plague a newly dedicated lakefront hospital; guest Joyce Jillson. Watch FREE: https://www.nbc.com/kolchak-the-night-stalker/video/the-energy-eater/3980766
Episode 11: “Horror in the Heights” (Broadcast: December 20, 1974)—A trail of strange murders leads Kolchak to an elderly Hindu man who reveals an evil spirit is roaming Chicago. Watch FREE: https://www.nbc.com/kolchak-the-night-stalker/video/horror-in-the-heights/3980767
Episode 12: “Mr. R.I.N.G.” (Broadcast: January 10, 1975)—A military robot learns it is about to be deactivated and acts upon its survival-instinct programming by killing its creator. Watch FREE: https://www.nbc.com/kolchak-the-night-stalker/video/mr-ring/3980768
Episode 13: “Primal Scream” (Broadcast: January 17, 1975)—Kolchak believes a creature regenerated from cells frozen during the Ice Age may be responsible for a modern-day homicide. Watch FREE: https://www.nbc.com/kolchak-the-night-stalker/video/primal-scream/3980769
Episode 14: “The Trevi Collection” (Broadcast: January 24, 1975)—A model in the salon of a ruthless fashion designer convinces Kolchak a witch aims to take over the industry. Watch FREE: https://www.nbc.com/kolchak-the-night-stalker/video/the-trevi-collection/3980770
Episode 15: “Chopper” (Broadcast: January 31, 1975)—Kolchak suspects a headless ghost is wreaking its revenge on the middle-aged members of a 1950s motorcycle gang. Watch FREE: https://www.nbc.com/kolchak-the-night-stalker/video/chopper/3980771
Episode 16: “Demon in Lace” (Broadcast: February 7, 1975)—Horrified looks on the faces of male college students felled by heart attacks lead Kolchak to think a female demon is responsible. Watch FREE: https://www.nbc.com/kolchak-the-night-stalker/video/demon-in-lace/3980772
Episode 17: “Legacy of Terror” (Broadcast: February 14, 1975)—The bizarre murders of four people by a huge, eagle-like being send Kolchak on a hunt for the revived mummy of an Aztec warrior. Watch FREE: https://www.nbc.com/kolchak-the-night-stalker/video/legacy-of-terror/3980773
Episode 18: “The Knightly Murders” (Broadcast: March 7, 1975)—Converting part of a museum into a nightclub bring about the crossbow, lance and mace murders of people working on the project. Watch FREE: https://www.nbc.com/kolchak-the-night-stalker/video/the-knightly-murders/3980774
Episode 19: “The Youth Killer” (Broadcast: March 14, 1975)—Kolchak makes a connection between the disappearance of four young people and the discovery of corpses of four elderly people. Watch FREE: https://www.nbc.com/kolchak-the-night-stalker/video/the-youth-killer/3980775
Episode 20: “Sentry” (Broadcast: March 28, 1975)—Kolchak’s investigation into the inexplicable deaths of workers in an underground archive leads to strange, egg-like rocks unearthed during digging. Watch FREE: https://www.nbc.com/kolchak-the-night-stalker/video/the-sentry/3980776
WHY WAS KOLCHAK: THE NIGHT STALKER CANCELLED?
The series ended when Darren McGavin asked to be released from his contract. He had been disappointed with the scripts and was exhausted from his uncredited producing duties. Three scripts were left unproduced, two of which were adapted into a Kolchak series of comic books in 2003.
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