Kolchak: The Night Stalker

[DARTH SABER]

If I recall correctly, Kolchak's first TV movie was written by Richard Matheson (of I Am Legend fame).

you are correct. Matheson is one of my favorite authers. Also wrote a bulk of the Twilight Zone episodes.
You should check out his collection of short stories.

 

[CB2001]

you are correct. Matheson is one of my favorite authers. Also wrote a bulk of the Twilight Zone episodes.
You should check out his collection of short stories.

I agree, he is an awesome writer. It's a shame he retired after Duel (I mean, granted, he realized that a lot of his stories were about an ordinary man against extraordinary odds, but there's a lot of other stories he still could have told with that same theme). I've actually got two of his story collections (namely the one that came with I Am Legend, and one called Duel and Other Suspense Stories by Richard Matheson). I've actually read I Am Legend (well before the Will Smith movie came out), Steel, Duel (primarily because I own the Spielberg movie and wanted to see how close it was to the short), Trepass (honestly, this one would make a pretty interesting feature film), Little Girl Lost and a couple of others from those collections. I started the novel Somewhere in Time (aka Bid Time Return), but never got around to finishing it. Honestly, after reading I Am Legend, I can see where Stephen King got his influence for 'Salem's Lot (as King stated that Matheson was a primarily influence in his writing).

Honestly, I look more to Matheson as a writer to be influenced by than I do Stephen King (though I've had people compare my stuff with Stephen King's work, no matter what genre or style I choose to write in), especially since I think he has a better sense of normalcy when it comes to character's lives prior to the extraordinary situations kicking into high gear (or in the case of I Am Legend, well after the start of the vampire apocalypse).

 

[Apollo]

Matheson is a effing Genius!

So, so, SO many great storys!!

 

[Laspector]

One of my biggest childhood bouts of terror relates to this show. I was still a kid and for some reason it was just me and my father at home. We had just watched the episode where the dinosaur(?) lived under the sports stadium--or something like that....really scared me...Just as the episode was over the power went out. I remember my Dad going outside to look at the fusebox or something and after a while he did not come back. I went outside and yelled for him but got no reply. We lived waaaay out in the country back then with no neighbors anywhere near. I remember running down the road in my pajamas crying and screaming for my Daddy!!....I just knew that dino monster was chasing me down that dark road....Scared the living hell out of me!!

 

[Psmith]

Excellent story my friend...in a macabre, slightly terrible way.

I have, as I mentioned a couple posts up, been watching through the shows again and I have noticed something about Kolchak's hat.

If you poke around a bit and do some reading, you will see mention of the fact that Darren wore a couple or perhaps even a few different hats throughout the show. This makes it sound like they went through several different hats, sort of ...chronologically.

However, I have noticed that there seem to be two main-ish hats that keep popping up all throughout the shows run. There is what I will call the hero hat and the back up hat.

The hero hat is the one that we generally see Darren wearing in all of the close ups and acting scenes. By which I mean most of the show.

The back up hat is seen in "connecting" scenes or whatever you might call them. Such as when he is driving, or running to or from a building to his car or similar. This hat seems flimsier, a bit more beat up and a slightly lighter color if my eyes do not deceive me.

I wonder why they used this hat for all of those types of scenes, but the main hat for everything else.