My Kolchak The Night Stalker Report card :

With each episode you keep getting diminishing returns. I always tell everybody, if you buy the complete series on dvd, start with last episode and go to the 1st episode. That way it keeps getting better. Plus with Kolchak, there is no time line. The only problem you'll have is why isn't Mrs. Cowles, Mrs. Cowles anymore?





Spenser with an "S", like the poet.

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A++ List:
The Night Stalker
A+ List:
The Night Strangler
A list:
The Ripper
The Vampire
The Zombie
The Spanish Moss Murders
Horror in the Heights
B list:
The Sentry
Primal Scream
The Trevi Collection
Chopper
C List:
Bad Medicine
They Have Been, etc.
The Devil's Platform
Legacy of Terror
Firefall
Demon in Lace
D list:
Knightly Murders
Mr. R.I.N.G.
F list:
Energy Eater
The Werewolf
The Youth Killer

I use a star rating system of one to five stars. Note that no K: TNS gets five stars from me because every one of them has significant limitations of some kind, even the two TV movies. In that respect, I'm a "hard grader."

A++ List:
The Night Stalker / 4 stars
A+ List:
The Night Strangler / 3 stars
A list:
The Ripper / 3 stars
The Vampire / 4 stars
The Zombie / 3 stars
The Spanish Moss Murders / 4 stars
Horror in the Heights / 3 stars
B list:
The Sentry / 3 stars
Primal Scream / 4 stars
The Trevi Collection / 3 stars
Chopper / 2 stars
C List:
Bad Medicine / 3 stars
They Have Been, etc. / 3 stars
The Devil's Platform / 4 stars
Legacy of Terror / 3 stars
Firefall / 3 stars
Demon in Lace / 3 stars
D list:
Knightly Murders / 3 stars
Mr. R.I.N.G. / 3 stars
F list:
Energy Eater / 3 stars
The Werewolf / 4 stars
The Youth Killer / 2 stars

The Trevi Collection and the Youth Killer and Demon in Lace get the LEAST mentions on here-- so you guys must REALLY hate them the most ?

On the other hand . . . There is not one K: TNS episode I hate, even the two weakest ones in my estimation, "Chopper" and "The Youth Killer." The reason is because any chance to see Darren McGavin in his Carl Kolchak persona is a treat, and depending on how much screen time Simon Oakland has, Tony Vincenzo is an added bonus. Also, the series had a number of fine TV character actors as guest stars, and they can at least enliven the scenes they are in--for instance, Kathleen Freeman does a lot to rescue "The Youth Killer" from pure mediocrity, as does John Fiedler in his recurring role as Gordy the morgue attendant. It may not be enough to rescue the entire episode, but they are welcome stops anyway.

"The Trevi Collection" has an unusual mix of witchcraft, high fashion, and underworld connections, but apart from the eye-rolling climax--although the malevolent mannequins are a chilling idea, and may remind Doctor Who fans of the Autons (or of the Kraftwerk song "Showroom Dummies")--Lara Parker as the main guest star is a dud. However, Carl and Tony have some hilarious byplay here--check the scenes when Carl points out that he's being tailed by the mob, and when they look at the photographs Carl developed from the camera of the informant who gets pushed out of a window to start the story:

Tony: [He's] Not much of a photographer.
Carl: Not much of a skydiver, either.
[Tony gives him a puzzled fisheye.]

Hilarious!

With its spotlight on the succubus, "Demon in Lace" is a decent Exorcist knockoff with a bunch of grin-inducing guest performances including Keenan Wynn, back as police captain "Mad Dog" Siska, and Carolyn Jones as a delightfully officious school administrator. The story is ultimately thin, but the journey isn't bad. What is intriguing, though, is Kolchak's hint of a backstory of having been in a couple of wars. Which wars? Was he a combatant or a correspondent? Both? What horrors could lurk there? I smell a prequel!

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Trump is Putin's bitch.

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