This Was the Species that Was

Yesterday's post brought a real treat, recently ordered from an Amazon merchant: the complete TV run of Kolchak: The Night Stalker from the 1970s (original feature-length TV movies "The Night Stalker" and "The Night Strangler" not included). Watched the first two episodes before bed, and was not disappointed; it wasn't just a little kid's taste for horror that made me like this show when it was first run (I was 9)... It's really good! Chris Carter has often cited Kolchak as an inspiration or starting point for The X-Files, and you can see the narrative thread across the decades (encompassing Buffy as well): interpersonal relationships and office politics (in the case of Buffy, "office" politics) are played for laughs, contrasting with the pursuit of whatever monster they're facing that week. Kolchak is pretty well written, and Darren McGavin absolutely made the title role—gruff, put-upon, insouciant, on occasion slippery or craven... and always a smartass. Yay for 33-year-old TV!