Kolchak: The Night Stalker: The Complete Series (1974-1975) from Kino

[GODHOOD]

Yeah I remember watching its original run on TV, such a great show. The female vampire, the zombie and the headless motorcycle guy are some of my favorites.

[Traveler]

Originally Posted by robtadrian

It also aired on the CBS Late Movie on Friday nights. The one with the mannequins was the one that had me hiding behind the couch!

I remember watching them during it's original run as well as when it was on CBS on those Friday nights....I was often the last one awake at that time during those airings and at 1:05 am, shutting the light off and heading for bed after Kolchak was the stuff of childhood horrors. Good Times!

[GrouchoFan]

HOLY SH!T!! Never thought that this would come to pass. First, BUCK ROGERS, and now KOLCHAK?!? Did someone sell their soul to the devil? I'm going to keep an eye out for dogs with pentagram collars.

Thank you, Kino. Please don't screw it up. Pending favorable reviews of the finished product, will definitely upgrade my DVD set.

I remember trying to watch the series every Friday night, but usually being too scared to actually make it through most of them. Watching it as an adult, it's really Darren McGavin who makes the show so rewatchable. The monsters of the week run out of steam by the end (and I think that's why it was a one-season wonder), but McGavin really brings the goods consistently.

[JohnBeas]

I bought the first VHS release when it was by subscription/mail-order. I've resisted the DVD set for years hoping for a blu-ray release - I'm definitely in!

[Nosferatu31]

I never did see the tv series but i do own both films released by Kino and enjoy them both. I'm sure this will be a safe blind buy.

[The Spectre]

I could never figure out why CBS reran the show as only "The Night Stalker" in the opening credits instead of "Kolchak: The Night Stalker".
They only used to do that with shows that were still on the air to avoid confusion with the new episodes like when they changed "Happy Days" to "Happy Days Again" and "Laverne & Shirley" to "Laverne & Shirley & Company" and "Emergency!" to "Emergency One".
Kolchak in it's original run on ABC had been off the air since 1975, so there was no need to change the title for syndication.

[Mose Harper]

Originally Posted by Traveler

I remember watching them during it's original run as well as when it was on CBS on those Friday nights....I was often the last one awake at that time during those airings and at 1:05 am, shutting the light off and heading for bed after Kolchak was the stuff of childhood horrors. Good Times!

I've been obsessed with this show ever since, as a seven year old, I saw the new fall season promos for ABC over the summer touting it.
The one on youtube isn't the same one I remember seeing, because I vividly remember the shots that hooked me right off the bat were the decayed corpses sitting around a spider-webbed banquet table (which I'd find out a few years later was taken from the second feature).

As a monsterkid, I was absolutely bananas for the show. I was crushed when they didn't renew it.

By the time the CBS Late Movie reran it over the spring and summer of 1979, that gulf since the last time I'd seen it represented 1/3 of my life.
Pre VCR time, it was a huge deal finally being able to see it again- though some of the eps I remembered as leaving a huge imapct on my psyche (the mummy in Legacy Of Terror and the succubus in Demon In Lace) were frustratingly skipped over.
It would be almost another twenty years before I got to see them again when Columbia House released the whole series on two eps per VHS tape.

I suspect the original DVD release (and the re-packaged one that is still available ) were taken from those same SD masters.

Can't wait to see this remastered.

[klauswhereareyou]

This is awesome news. Now if we can just get Night Gallery

[Mr. Kopfrkingl]

For those interested (and own a region-free B-r player) Australia released the Ghost Story/Circle of Fear series on Blu-ray just recently.

[Cruel Angel]

Originally Posted by Mr. Kopfrkingl

For those interested (and own a region-free B-r player) Australia released the Ghost Story/Circle of Fear series on Blu-ray just recently.

Oooo, another one for the wishlist!

[CharlesForbin]

Originally Posted by iamnoone

Yep, it was 8pm Friday nights EST for its entire 20-episode run. Thus it aired at 7pm if you were in Central Time, as I was.

After it was canceled, it was replaced by The Howard Cosell Show.

Not quite. It started at 10 p.m. (Eastern/Pacific) in the fall but moved to 8 in the winter.

[Wtdk]

Originally Posted by Katatonia

Easily one of the best TV shows from the 70's! Thanks once again Kino!

Well, I wouldn’t go that far. The series had some really good episodes and some really bad ones. McGavin was great in anything he did though.

[Wtdk]

Originally Posted by CharlesForbin

Not quite. It started at 10 p.m. (Eastern/Pacific) in the fall but moved to 8 in the winter.

Yeah it was death zone for shows that might appeal to kids & youth. Like Star Trek, a Friday night berth was a bad thing but Saturday was even worse.

[Wtdk]

Originally Posted by klauswhereareyou

This is awesome news. Now if we can just get Night Gallery

One can hope.

[Bobbyjoe766]

This has been on my wish list for a long time now.

Probably a long shot, but I hope the deleted “Wax Museum” scene from The Ripper has been found - a very long shot.

[Jompa]

Nice. It should look good and grainy

[Ernest Rister]

Originally Posted by Wtdk

Well, I wouldn’t go that far. The series had some really good episodes and some really bad ones. McGavin was great in anything he did though.

Depressing useless trivia...McGavin and Don Knotts were great character actors...both did good work in Disney's No Deposit No Return and Hot Lead and Cold Feet....and both died the same day.

[yellowcakeuf6]

Originally Posted by Wtdk

Well, I wouldn’t go that far. The series had some really good episodes and some really bad ones. McGavin was great in anything he did though.

I remember my older brother saying it was the same show every week but with a different monster. I just rolled my eyes and continued to enjoy it.

[CharlesForbin]

Originally Posted by Wtdk

Well, I wouldn’t go that far. The series had some really good episodes and some really bad ones. McGavin was great in anything he did though.

Yeah, about 1/3 good, 1/3 okay and 1/3 stinkers, like the one with Erik Estrada.

[CharlesForbin]

Originally Posted by Wtdk

Yeah it was death zone for shows that might appeal to kids & youth. Like Star Trek, a Friday night berth was a bad thing but Saturday was even worse.

Not really true. In the early 70s, ABC's lineup did pretty well with kids and youth. Brady Bunch, Partridge Family, Odd Couple and Love, American Style are still fondly remembered by that generation of late Boomers and early Gen X. Six Million Dollar Man had an early season on Friday night. And later, ABC got a pretty good 15-year run from its TGIF lineups.