Trivia / Kolchak: The Night Stalker

• California Doubling: The series was primarily filmed at Universal Studios in Los Angeles, but was set in Chicago. The obviousness of this varies per episode.
• Channel Hop: The TV movies were produced by ABC Circle Films,^note (Its descendant Touchstone Television produced the 2005 revival) the series was produced by Universal Television. Notably without Dan Curtis' involvement.
• Creator Backlash / Disowned Adaptation: During his airing of The Night Stalker, Svengoolie mentioned that Jeff Rice, who wrote the original unpublished book the aforementioned movie was based on, only optioned it for the movie, and wasn't pleased to hear a TV series was being made from it, even trying to sue McGavin over it.
• Follow the Leader: Chris Carter has explicitly named the series as an inspiration in his creating The X-Files. Also, the 2005 revival was overseen by The X-Files writer-producer Frank Spotnitz.
• Playing Against Type: So many examples.
  • Phil Silvers, a comedic actor known as "The King of Chutzpah" aka Sgt. Bilko guest stars in "Horror in the Heights" as a Jewish retiree barely scraping by a living.
  • John Fiedler (best known as the original voice of Piglet) as fast-talking morgue attendant Gordon "Gordie the Ghoul" Spangler.
  • Jim Backus (the original voice of Mr. Magoo) as a motorcycle dealer.
  • Jamie Farr (Corporal/Sergeant Klinger from M*A*S*H) as a high school science teacher in "Primal Scream."
  • Michael Strong, who usually played tough guys, played the cowardly head of a construction company in "The Energy Eater".
  • Jay Robinson, who usually played bad guys, played a fussy professor in "Chopper".
  • Comedic actor and game show host Jan Murray had a serious role as a pimp in "The Vampire".
  • Murray Matheson, who usually played Reasonable Authority Figures and Affably Evil villains, played a stuffy antique dealer in "Horror in the Heights".
  • Dwayne Hickman, known for his roles in sitcoms like The Many Loves of Dobie Gillis, played a cop in "The Youth Killer".
• Recast as a Regular: Before playing Miss Emily, Ruth McDevitt played an elderly fan of Emily's column.
• What Could Have Been:
  • If the series had been renewed for a second season, Kolchak would have dealt with creatures such as Sasquatch, Medusa, the Piasa Bird, a woman transformed into a savage killer as a result of a failed experiment, a demon-possessed young man, medieval executioners that came out of a painting to kill their victims, and a monster wreaking havoc on a film set.
  • Chris Carter tried to get Darren McGavin to appear on The X-Files as Kolchak so as to create a Shared Universe. McGavin declined, opting to appear as the original character Arthur Dales instead.
• You Look Familiar:
  • Ramon Bieri played two cop characters, Captain Baker in "Bad Medicine" and Captain Webster.
  • Richard Kiel played two monsters, the Diablero in "Bad Medicine" and the Pére Malfait in "The Spanish Moss Murders". There were also false rumors that he played the Rakshasha in "Horror in the Heights".
  • Larry Linville, who had played a coroner in The Night Stalker, played a Jerkass cop in "Chopper".
  • Stanley Adams, who played a used car salesman in The Night Stalker, play a bartender in "The Devil's Platform".

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