Monday, December 25, 2017

Episode 11: Three (2005)

Chris Stachiw and Mike White return to the 2005 version of Night Stalker.

Written by Adam Sussman and directed by Daniel Sackheim , "Three" is the third episode of the 2005 Night Stalker reboot.

The episode introduces series semi-regular Alex Nyby who's played by Eugene Byrd. This episode of The Kolchak Tapes features an interview with Mr. Byrd about his role in Night Stalker as well as Bones and more.

Links
Buy Night Stalker (2005) series via Amazon Streaming
Visit The Kolchak Tapes Facebook page
Subscribe to The Kolchak Tapes on iTunes

Listen/Download Now:


Monday, November 13, 2017

Episode 10: The Werewolf (1974)

In the fifth episode of Kolchak: The Night Stalker, Carl squared off with a ragged werewolf (Eric Braeden). Written by Paul Playdon and David Chase, the teleplay was cut down from 70 pages, leaving something that didn't quite hold together, despite Allen Baron's deft direction.

Listen/Download Now:


Links:
Buy Kolchak: The Night Stalker series on DVD
Visit The Kolchak Tapes Facebook page
Subscribe to The Kolchak Tapes on iTunes

Music:
Music by Bob Cobert and John Walker

Watch:

Wednesday, September 27, 2017

Episode 9: The Vampire (1974)

Chris Stachiw and Mike White discuss the fourth episode of "The Night Stalker" which returns to the show's roots. A victim of Janos Skorzeny has survived and moves from Las Vegas to Los Angeles. It's up to Kolchak to ditch his assignment and put an end to her reign of terror.

This episode of The Kolchak Tapes features an interview with producer Cy Chermak, author of The Show Runner: An Insider's Guide to Successful TV Production.

Links:
Buy The Show Runner: An Insider's Guide to Successful TV Production by Cy Chermak
Buy Kolchak: The Night Stalker series on DVD
Read the It Couldn't Happen Here discussion of "The Zombie"
Visit The Kolchak Tapes Facebook page
Subscribe to The Kolchak Tapes on iTunes

Listen/Download Now:


Watch:

Tuesday, August 29, 2017

Episode 8: The Five People You Meet in Hell (2005)

Chris Stachiw and Mike White return to the 2005 version of Night Stalker wherein Carl Kolchak (Stuart Townsend) goes toe-to-toe with cult leader Damon Caylor (Tony Curran).

The episode was written by Thomas Schnauz (Better Call Saul) and directed by Rob Bowman (Reign of Fire).

Links
Buy Night Stalker (2005) series via Amazon Streaming
Visit The Kolchak Tapes Facebook page
Subscribe to The Kolchak Tapes on iTunes
Read more about The Five People You Meet in Hell
Read FRIGHT ‘NIGHT’ RIGHT – REMAKE OF ‘70S ‘KOLCHAK’ BETTER THAN ORIGINAL

Listen/Download Now:


Watch:


Monday, July 31, 2017

Episode 7: They Have Been, They Are, They Will Be... (1974)

Reporter Carl Kolchak's fifth reported encounter with the supernatural, They Have Been, They Are, They Will Be..., was broadcast the night of September 27, 1974.

Chris Stachiw and Mike White discuss the third episode of The Night Stalker (AKA Kolchak: The Night Stalker). Written by and directed by Allen Baron.

Also known as "U.F.O.", this episode find Carl Kolchak (Darren McGavin) attempting to catch the first game of the world series (Chicago Cubs vs. The Boston Red Sox) while an alien causes mischief in the Windy City. Both Ron Updyke (Jack Grinnage) and Monique Marmelstein (Carol Ann Susi) return for this episode.

Listen/Download Now:


Links:
Buy Kolchak: The Night Stalker series on DVD
Read the It Couldn't Happen Here discussion of "They Have Been, They Are, They Will Be..."
Visit The Kolchak Tapes Facebook page
Subscribe to The Kolchak Tapes on iTunes

Music:
Music by Bob Cobert and John Walker

Watch:

Wednesday, June 21, 2017

Episode 6: The Zombie

On the second episode of Kolchak: The Night Stalker, Carl Kolchak squared off against the Italian and African-American mob of Chicago as well as the titular zombie.

Written by and , the episode was directed by Alexander Grasshoff (The Jailbreakers).

The episode introduces us to Carol Ann Susi as Monique Marmelstein, the niece of INS's publisher.

Links:
Buy Kolchak: The Night Stalker series on DVD
Read the It Couldn't Happen Here discussion of "The Zombie"
Visit The Kolchak Tapes Facebook page
Subscribe to The Kolchak Tapes on iTunes
Listen to the Projection Booth episode on I'm Gonna Git You Sucka

Music:
Music by Gil Milles & John Walker

Listen/Download Now:


Watch:

Wednesday, June 7, 2017

Episode 5: Pilot (Night Stalker 2005)

Chris Stachiw and Mike White jump ahead in the timeline to discuss the pilot episode of Night Stalker which stars Stuart Townsend as Carl Kolchak, a reporter in Los Angeles who lost his wife in an attack by werewolves. He joins Perri Reed (Gabrielle Union) and Jain McManus (Eric Jungmann) on the hunt for creatures of the night who have stolen a little girl.

Chris and Mike talk with series creator and X-Files veteran Frank Spotnitz about the original intentions for the series and how it changed before even going in front of the cameras.

Links
Buy Night Stalker (2005) series via Amazon Streaming
Buy Everything I Need to Know I Learned in the Twilight Zone: A Fifth-Dimension Guide to Life by Mark Dawidziak
Visit Frank Spotnitz's Big Light Productions
Visit The Kolchak Tapes Facebook page
Subscribe to The Kolchak Tapes on iTunes

Listen/Download Now:


Watch:


Wednesday, April 26, 2017

Episode 4: The Ripper

Reporter Carl Kolchak's third reported encounter with the supernatural, The Ripper, was broadcast the night of September 13, 1974.

Chris Stachiw and Mike White discuss the first episode of The Night Stalker (AKA Kolchak: The Night Stalker). Written by and directed by Allen Baron (Blast of Silence).

The episode pits Carl Kolchak (Darren McGavin) against Jack the Ripper who has come to Chicago to slaughter sex workers (and Carl's fellow reporter Jane Plumm (Beatrice Colen). The episode introduces us to Carl's co-worker Ron Updyke (Jack Grinnage) and the actress Ruth McDevitt who will return in later episodes.

Special Guest: Mark Dawidziak, author of The Night Stalker: A 25th Anniversary Tribute.

Links:
Buy Kolchak: The Night Stalker series on DVD
Buy Everything I Need to Know I Learned in the Twilight Zone: A Fifth-Dimension Guide to Life by Mark Dawidziak
Read the It Couldn't Happen Here discussion of "The Ripper"
Visit The Kolchak Tapes Facebook page
Subscribe to The Kolchak Tapes on iTunes

Music:
Music by Gil Milles

Listen/Download Now:


Watch:

Sunday, March 26, 2017

Episode 3: The Norliss Tapes / The Night Killers (1973)

On the third episode of The Kolchak Tapes, Chris and Mike are joined by guest co-host Amanda Reyes to talk about The Norliss Tapes (1973). Aired on NBC on February 21, 1973, the film stars Roy Thinnes as David Norliss, a writer trying to solve a supernatural mystery.

Written by , the film was directed by Dan Curtis who had helmed The Night Strangler and produced The Night Stalker. We discuss the similarities and differences between Norliss and Kolchak. We also look at The Night Killers, the third (unfilmed) Kolchak TV movie. Co-written by Richard Matheson and William F. Nolan, the script would have had Kolchak going to Hawaii to investigate the sudden death of the state's Lieutenant Governor.

Special Guests: Jeff Thompson, author of The Television Horrors of Dan Curtis: Dark Shadows, The Night Stalker and Other Productions, 1966-2006 and author William F. Nolan discuses his work on The Norliss Tapes, The Night Killers, The Intruder and more.


Listen/Download Now:



Watch:


Monday, February 20, 2017

Episode 2: The Night Strangler

Reporter Carl Kolchak's second reported encounter with the supernatural, The Night Strangler, was broadcast on the night of January 16, 1973.

Chris Stachiw and Mike White discuss The Night Stalker and the character of Carl Kolchak (Darren McGavin). Written by (and later adapted for a novel by Kolchak creator Jeff Rice), the made-for-TV movie was directed by Dan Curtis (Dark Shadows).

Special Guest: Amanda Reyes, editor of Are You In The House Alone?: A TV Movie Compendium 1964-1999.

Links:
Buy The Night Strangler on DVD
Listen to the Made for TV Mayhem podcast
Visit The Kolchak Tapes Facebook page
Subscribe to The Kolchak Tapes on iTunes

Music:
Music by John Walker, Robert Cobert, Gil Milles

Listen/Download Now:


Watch:


Monday, January 16, 2017

Episode 1: The Night Stalker



Kicking off a new podcast series, The Kolchak Tapes, Kulture Shock's Chris Stachiw and The Projection Booth's Mike White discuss The Night Stalker and the character of Carl Kolchak (Darren McGavin).

Reporter Carl Kolchak's first reported encounter with the supernatural, The Night Stalker, was broadcast on January 11, 1972 to jaw-dropping ratings.

Based on a book by Jeff Rice and adapted by (I Am Legend), the made-for-TV movie was produced by Dan Curtis (Dark Shadows) and directed by John Llewellyn Moxey.

Special Guest: Professor Mark Dawidziak, author of The Night Stalker: A 25th Anniversary Tribute.

Links:
Buy The Kolchak Papers by Jeff Rice
Buy The Night Stalker / The Night Strangler on DVD
Visit Mark Dawidziak's blog
Buy Mark Dawidziak's Everything I Need to Know I Learned in the Twilight Zone: A Fifth-Dimension Guide to Life
Visit The Kolchak Tapes Facebook page
Subscribe to The Kolchak Tapes on iTunes

Music:
Music by John Walker, Robert Cobert, Gil Milles

Listen/Download Now:


Watch: