Night Stalker - Episode Guide

Night Stalker
(9/2005 - 11/2005)

Airs: Canceled, 9pm/8pm (c), Thursdays (ABC)

DVD releases:

The Complete Series (5/30/2006) [Buy It]

Premise:

There are things in the dark, things adults deny but children are right to fear...

When a pregnant woman is snatched from her home, the shocked citizens of L.A. believe it's an act of domestic violence. But crime reporter Carl Kolchak suspects that the truth is far more complicated. That's because 18 months ago, Kolchak's wife was killed in a bizarre fashion and he has been the FBI's #1 suspect ever since.

Kolchak's determination to find out the truth behind his wife's mysterious murder has led him to investigate other crimes that seem to have some kind of supernatural component. But he's trying to piece together a puzzle that keeps changing its shape. Who or what is committing these crimes? How are they all related? And why do some victims end up with a strange red mark on their hands in the shape of a snake? With sidekick Perri Reed, a sexy if skeptical fellow reporter in tow, Kolchak will go to any lengths to answer these questions. But when he does discover the truth – will anyone believe him? (Description giving by ABC.)

Official Website: Night Stalker

News: (11/15/05) - According to Variety, ABC has canceled Night Stalker. The episode that would have aired this week will be replaced by a two-hour edition of Primetime Live. Six episodes have aired, while three more episodes are in the can, including the original pilot. The series' ratings last week, opposite CSI and The Apprentice, dipped to just under 4 million viewers.

(09/30/05) - TV Guide Online recently posted, "How Cult-Fave Night Stalker Was Revived", which covers the behind the scenes step-by-step process from proposal to creation. Just click on the link and you'll find a link to it on the right.

(07/29/05) - Stuart Townsend (Queen of the Damned, The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen) recently spoke to SCI FI Wire, at the Television Critics Association press tour in Beverly Hills, Calif., about the mythology behind the new show. "Frank's been very evasive," Townsend said. "He explained the concept minimally. And that really excited me, and I wanted to know more, but in a way I want to respect that he's still formulating in his mind."

"We talk about character, and I can use his experience as a journalist as well," Townsend said. "But it's not like a movie where you go, 'That's your script, here's your character.' This will be the first time where every week my character will grow, and I'll learn more about the character as I go along and I'm kind of excited about that."

"I hope he's written that he can be quite ruthless when necessary, because I like that," he said. "I want him to have an edge. Every week I hope that sometimes you'll really like Kolchak and sometimes you're not sure about him. And I like that ambiguity in a protagonist. As Frank said, I don't think you've seen that much in TV. And I look forward to maybe being the bad guy or the good guy and kind of osculating between them."

(07/19/05) - Frank Spotnitz, executive producer of The Night Stalker, told Zap2it.com that his take is to make the central character younger, sexier and more conflicted.

"What the show's really about is good and evil," Spotnitz told the site. "In this show, evil really does have supernatural forces at its command. Good does not. Good has to operate through human beings. So that is interesting to me."

"I'm not a religious person, but I do a lot of reading of religious stuff. I do think, whether you're a person of faith or not, it does seem like evil is so much more powerful than good. I believe, if there is a God, God expects good to operate through men and women, that goodness in the world exists through the goodness of what people do. ... Good people have to live by a code. They have conscience and mercy and all those things that get in the way when you're trying to destroy evil. That's what this show is ultimately about. It's interesting, because you don't know if Kolchak really is what he says he is."

(06/28/05) - Gabrielle Union recently had an interview with Zap2it.

"My character is the Scully, if you will," Union explains. "I don't believe and I offer a bit more of the comic relief, where Stuart's character is very dark and brooding so I am more the light, yeah, and if you will, I'm the lighter part of the drama."

"We shot the whole thing on HD, so it kind of has that feel like 'Collateral,'" says Union. "It's real moody and dark and then here's my character, sort of bringing the light. But I didn't want to watch [the original] because it would sort of take me out of bringing it into 2005, because my character didn't exist."

(05/25/05) - The first two Night Stalker promos will air during Saturday's encore of Lost on ABC. Night Stalker will also air promos during the Indy 500 on Sunday on ABC.

(05/16/05) - According to Variety, Frank Spotnitz, best known as one of the writers for The X-Files, is developing a new version of, Kolchak: The Night Stalker, the classic 1970s supernatural TV series for ABC. The original series was about a hardboiled journalist, Carl Kolchak, and his investigations into freakish occurrences. Veteran The X-Files helmer Dan Sackheim will direct the upcoming pilot. Mark Snow, former composer for The X-Files and current composer for Smallville, has been announced as the composer for Night Stalker. It's currenty unknown how closely the new Night Stalker will mirror the format and mood of the original.

According to The Hollywood Reporter, Stuart Townsend (Queen of the Damned, The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen) will star as the new Kolchak. Gabrielle Union will star as Kolchak's colleague, Perri Reed, at the paper who partners with him in his pursuit of supernatural phenomena. Eric Jungman (Not Another Teen Movie), has been cast as a skeptical photographer.

Cast:

Stuart Townsend as Carl Kolchak
Gabrielle Union as Perri Reed
Eric Jungmann as Jain McManus
Cotter Smith as Anthony Vincenzo

Crew:

Jeffrey Grant Rice - Creator
Frank Spotnitz - Developer, Executive Producer
Daniel Sackheim - Executive Producer

Episode List

Episode # Prod # Original
Air Date Episode Title

Season One

1. 1-1 101 29-Sep-2005 Pilot

2. 1-2 103 06-Oct-2005 The Five People You Meet in Hell

3. 1-3 104 13-Oct-2005 Three

4. 1-4 105 20-Oct-2005 Burning Man

5. 1-5 27-Oct-2005 Malum

6. 1-6 10-Nov-2005 The Source (1)

7. 1-7 Unaired The Sea (2)

8. 1-8 Unaired Into Night

9. 1-9 Unaired Timeless

10. 1-10 Unaired What's the Frequency, Kolchak?

11. 1-11 Unaired

12. 1-12 Unaired

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Episode #		Prod #	Original Air Date	Episode Title


Season One
1.	1-1	101	29-Sep-2005	Pilot
2.	1-2	103	06-Oct-2005	The Five People You Meet in Hell
3.	1-3	104	13-Oct-2005	Three
4.	1-4	105	20-Oct-2005	Burning Man
5.	1-5		27-Oct-2005	Malum
6.	1-6		10-Nov-2005	The Source (1)
7.	1-7		Unaired	The Sea (2)
8.	1-8		Unaired	Into Night
9.	1-9		Unaired	Timeless
10.	1-10		Unaired	What's the Frequency, Kolchak?
11.	1-11		Unaired
12.	1-12		Unaired