‘Major bummer. Darren McGavin died on Saturday.
Most people probably know him as the dad in "Christmas Story", the movie where the kid wants the BB gun (and eventually shoots his eye out). But to me, he will always be Karl Kolchak, the gritty, goofy, news reporter who investigated weird deaths in Chicago, only to find there was some supernatural cause behind them (vampires, succubi, ghosts, Greek gods, aliens, a robot, you name it).
I loved that show when I was a kid. There are many scenes that still stick with me (like the monster that appears as someone you trust, and Kolchak says he doesn’t trust anyone, but then in a dark alley the old lady he works with comes up to him, and he shoots her in the belly with the blessed crossbow… wow). Chris Carter says "Night Stalker" inspired him to create "The X-Files", and McGavin later had a guest role on the show.
Yes, I know, I’m a skeptic and a critical thinker and someone who fights the idea of the existence of vampires, ghosts, succubi and what-have-you. But I still have an imagination, and still love to hear stories (the difference is I know when they’re true or not). And when I was a kid I sucked down all that stuff: monster movies, scary TV shows ("The Outer Limits" creeped the hell out of me when I was little) ,and all that. "Night Stalker" was the epitome of those shows, and Kolchak’s character — the surly but lovable anti-hero — was my favorite.
Don Knotts died yesterday as well, and I suppose in popular culture, his name is much bigger (I did love "The Incredible Mr. Limpett" when I was a kid, and he was really funny in "Pleasantville"), but it’s Darren McGavin who had a bigger influence on me. I’m sorry to see him gone, but I’m glad he was around as long as he was.
Update: Geez, Saturday was a bad day. We lost Octavia Butler, science fiction author, too. Also , Henry Morris, the person who is probably most responsible for the modern creationist movement, also died. Like I said when Moon Hoax originator Bill Kaysing died, I’m never happy when someone dies, but everyone has to go sometime, and some people do more bad than good in the world. Morris may have believed in what he was doing, but what he did has caused a vast amount of strife and set parts of the U.S. back a hundred years in science learning.‘
February 26th, 2006 at 11:06 am
crud, my whole day just went into the bin.
February 26th, 2006 at 12:09 pm
You know, sometimes when I get this kind of news, it makes me sad to reflect how I would have liked to get to meet or correspond with Darren or Don or some of the other outstanding actors. Of course, they have their own private lives, too. But still….
February 26th, 2006 at 12:09 pm
C’mon, Ralphie doesn’t shoot his eye out, he shoots his glasses, which break. He had both eyes at the end of the movie. Harry Whittington was equally as lucky.
Perhaps my Dad’s all-time favorite TV lines, that STILL makes him laugh, came from “Night Stalker”: “No, he was garnished with parsley!”
February 26th, 2006 at 12:14 pm
“Yes, I know, I’m a skeptic and a critical thinker and someone who fights the idea of the existence of vampires, ghosts, succubi and what-have-you. But I still have an imagination, and still love to hear stories (the difference is I know when they’re true or not).”
I know the feeling. I still get great joy over playing around with White Wolf’s World of Darkness RPGs, and that’s one of those games where (pre-revamp) one of the major enemies was an evil cabal of scientists. Of course, one of my favorite characters argued that said cabal did not deserve to be called scientists because they pointedly ignored the data slapping them in the face, but that gets into a discussion best left alone.
Post-revamp, I created a game where God was basically Galactus in disguise and Lucifer was actually trying to free the angels from God’s enslavement, so either way I’m having fun.
February 26th, 2006 at 12:14 pm
Oops, mistyped my name.
February 26th, 2006 at 12:27 pm
Kolchak didn’t just do Chicago! One of the more memorable episodes (to me) was the one where he was chasing a killer in Underground Seattle…which was much less cramped, dirty, and empty than the real thing.
February 26th, 2006 at 12:58 pm
Yes, I know, I’m a skeptic and a critical thinker and someone who fights the idea of the existence of vampires, ghosts, succubi and what-have-you. But I still have an imagination, and still love to hear stories (the difference is I know when they’re true or not).
When I was a kid I used to think Jules Verne had a lot of imagination. He did! Now I see what submersibles are like today and Verne seems quaint. Imagination is a useful and entertaining thing…as long as you know where it begins and ends with reality, and apparently that’s not a problem you have.
February 26th, 2006 at 1:33 pm
Believe it or not, I loved Night Stalker when I was a kid, 13000 miles away from Chicago.
February 26th, 2006 at 1:57 pm
“The Old Man” in “Christmas Story” is a legend in my book. (And one of the greatest furnace fighters in all Indiana!)
February 26th, 2006 at 2:38 pm
My brother and I could not wait to tune into “Night Stalker” each week. But I have to say McGavin was even better in “A Christmas Story,” one of my all time fav movies.
PS Your blog is great, as well as your website and book “Bad Astronomy.” I’ve been a fan of yours for a while. Keep up the good work of educating and enlightening us all.
February 26th, 2006 at 3:14 pm
Beware the Rakshasa!
February 26th, 2006 at 6:15 pm
Darren McGavin, may you rest in peace…
Night Stalker was great…the New Night Stalker (if it’s still on) is bad.
Sci Fi Channel does run the old Night Stalker every few weeks or so on Fridays I think.
February 26th, 2006 at 6:43 pm
How about the TV movie, the Night Strangler – also with Darren McGavin. For days after the movie, we (kids) chased each other around the playground trying to strangle each other to death. Who says TV is bad for kids.
February 26th, 2006 at 7:01 pm
Sad to hear about the wonderful and always consistenlty good McGavin had died. I’ll also miss Knotts a lot. “The Reluctant Astronaut” was actually the film that got me interested in the space program. It was also one of the funniest movies I’d ever seen. I’ve never eaten peanut butter around magnetic tape sinse.
February 26th, 2006 at 7:43 pm
Editor (looking at story about vampires): “What am I supposed to do with this?”
Kolchak: (driven beyond endurance) “You might consider PUBLISHING it! It is NEWS!“
February 27th, 2006 at 3:01 am
Hey Phil,
This is the first time I’ve felt compelled to contribute to the Blog, although I read most of them with delight!
I LOVED Night Stalker too as a kid (Yes, we got it here in Australia!) and Kolchak inspired me to become a news photographer, which I still am, 24 years on….! (paging Dr Freud…)
It’s sad to hear the news, but great to know there are still people like us out there with such good taste and reliable memories!
February 27th, 2006 at 3:04 am
Yes, loved Night Stalker and also The Outer Limits (much better than The Twilight Zone IMHO), Soldier was one of my favourites. Back in the 60s I used to play in a group and only managed to watch about one out of three as we were playing most of the time. Bought the first series on DVD last year and have to admit they now look very dated.
I go along with BA, I’m a sceptic (born & educated in the UK so use the “correct” spelling!) too but love stories of the supernatural.
As for knowing the difference between what’s real & what’s not, it’s amazing how many well educated people here in Australia (I emigrated in ’83) believe that c**p about the moon landings never happening. I invariably shut them up by saying something like “Do you really think the Russians wouldn’t have known where those radio signals were coming from and that they wouldn’t have then told the world that the Americans were trying to fool everyone?”
It’s always sad when someone who was part of your past dies, I suppose it just highlights your own mortality. I still miss John Lennon & George Harrison, they were a significant part of my youth.
February 27th, 2006 at 3:43 am
Woah, woah, woah, fighting the idea of succubi? Let’s not get too crazy here. Some myths should, perhaps, be upheld on principle.
February 27th, 2006 at 3:49 am
Further to my previous post, I’m obviously referring to the Japanese RPG version of succubi. Obviously the original myth should be open to sceptical enquiry.
February 27th, 2006 at 6:03 am
Both Darren McGavin and Don Knotts will be sorely missed, having brought much joy and some scares into my life. I’ll never forget the zombie in the back of the hearst scene. Kolchak has to fill its mouth with salt and sew its lips shut as it wakes. In memory of Darren McGavin: http://www.achristmasgory.com/
February 27th, 2006 at 6:26 am
Joe Says:
How about the TV movie, the Night Strangler – also with Darren McGavin.
What amazes me the most about the original movie is NOT that it was one of the best tv movies ever made (it was)…or that it was presented (acting, directing, photography and “scaryness”) so well.
What amazes me the most is that they were able to tell the whole story in only 74 minutes.
Today’s film makers could learn a great deal from this simple little “scary” movie.
February 27th, 2006 at 7:26 am
Interestingly, the only thing that stuck in my mind from the Night Stalker series was an episode where some event (human sacrifice or such) was to occur when Venus was directly overhead at midnight. Even then I knew it was Bad Astronomy!
February 27th, 2006 at 7:40 am
We also lost Andreas Katsulis this week. He played G’Kar on Babylon 5 one of my favorite scifi shows.
February 27th, 2006 at 8:44 am
I loved the Night Stalker! However, I can’t really bare to watch it now. The effects are so cheesy! When I was a kid, I ate it up. I also loved him in “A Christmas Story” and his “Major Award”!!! He has also appeared in many “Alfred Hitchcock Presents” episodes, that I have been watching recently. So, he had quite a long and varied career. He will be missed.
Don Knotts started off strong, but faded down the stretch. Barney Fife, Mr. Limpett, and Mr. Chicken, were all pretty good for their time. Mr. Ferley was most forgettable. However, he will also be missed.
February 27th, 2006 at 9:12 am
I just realized that I “mis-read” what Joe wrote…he was talking about the second movie, I was talking about the first..
DOH!
February 27th, 2006 at 9:26 am
Kolchak? Dead? Dang, who are we vampires supposed to play with now,,,,bummer!!!
Ah, well, as Mohammed is supposed to have said as he lay dying 1400 years ago,,,” Don’t change nothing,,,I’ll be back.”
Darn, that does sound familiar, but then I AM from California,,,
Peace
Gary 7
February 27th, 2006 at 2:19 pm
I’m a big fan of all Sci-Fi as much as I am a fan of real science. I really liked the old Night Stalker with Darren McGavin, but I also liked the new one. In fact, Darren McGavin is in the new one. They digitally inserted him in the first episode in the news room. I have all the episodes recorded & this gave me a chuckle to see him standing there.
I’m sure I’m gonna get ragged on for saying this cuz I’m passionate about real science…..but I like ALL the movies you all hate. I see the screw-ups but take the adventure & fun for what it is….Sorry Phil.
February 28th, 2006 at 2:08 pm
There were TWO “Night Stalker” made-for-TV movies: the first was about Kolchak and the vampire, the second was about him pursuing a seemingly immortal doctor in the ruins of underground Seattle. Then the TV series came. “Night-Stalker’s” influence can indeed be felt all over “X-Files” (same idea in a post-journalism culture–intrepid truth seekers stymied by sinister forces) and Chris Carter’s affection for it is obvious (down to the casting of McGavin as X-Files surrogate father agent Arthur Dales). Let us also stop to remember McGavin’s many other memorable roles, including Candace Bergen’s father on “Murphy Brown” and, as I recall, a tough-as-nails Marine DI whose life and attitudes are challenged (but not ridiculously so) by a young hippie draftee (pre-coked out Jan Michael Vincent) in an early made-for-TV movie “Tribes.”
Character actors like McGavin are the ones we remember long after the Cruises and Jessica Albas are long forgotten!
As for the oh-so-sincere Mr. Morris, let us truly hope that he has been assigned to a very Shavean hell taking a course in evolutionary biology from Darwin, Wallace, Mayr and Gould and being forced to do nothing but REAL research on the subject for eternity!