Collectibles & Merchandise on TVcrazy.net

Rating: - Seers and Suckers...
Like many people who also wrote reviews, I wish I could give this DVD set 5 stars. Kolchak: The Night Stalker itself warrants 4, with one star being deducted for sometimes predictable writing and underwhelming production value (though maybe not for its age). However, that's a small price to pay for a show that exuded such charm, even if the presentation is so bad it deserves to be docked another.

Yes, the transfer is bad. Yes, there are no special features. Yes, it's hard to see sometimes (The Ripper especially). Nothing new here. But I saw this show in syndication back in high school (I'm 26) and fell in love with its campy, dated vibe. The poor image quality, in a queer way, added to its mystique. Yes, the FX can be bad and the image grainy, but there's a distinct vintage aesthetic here that drew me in, and it's no worse than I remember on TV so it wasn't a shock, just a disappointment that so little effort was taken to clean it up.

One of the things that stands out most about K:TNS is its somewhat timeless motif. There's a mixture of '40's noir, ageless fable, '50's paranoia, '60's/'70's psychidelics, and innocent fascination with the supernatural--pessimistic optimism at its finest. Kolchak often has fast-paced banter with harried editor, Tony Vincenzo, fellow columnist Ron "Uptight" Updyke, and a slew of informants, passersby, experts, witnesses and whoever is playing the "law" that week. Mad Dog and the Vegas officer in "The Vampire" stand out. Kolchak's rare moments of compassion or anything that doesn't involve himself and his obsessive quests are usually shared with the elderly Miss Emily, drawing out snapshots of his humanity. And therein lies one of the few flaws:

Kolchak is pretty much an Aspie. His borderline OCD can cease to be charming and start to be a turnoff if you've ever known anyone like him in real life. But aside from that little personal hangup, he's pretty awesome. They want you to laugh at Ron Updyke but on more than one occasion I found myself feeling bad for him. Not that he's that likeable of a character to begin with though. Despite his personality defects, Kolchak has moments where he reveals himself to be a fairly conservative person simply out for the truth, someone who is willing to be a seer for the truth and a sucker for its consequences.

The "police officer of the week" characters are pretty stock and standard and only slightly less varied than the "monster of the week". Still, they get a pass for always providing entertaining exchanges with Kolchak, especially in "The Knightly Murders". And who could neglect to mention two of the greatest characters of all: Kolchak's straw hat and seersucker suit?

Sometimes the editing suffers and you miss seeing a particular murder or something isn't framed right, though studio censorship played a large role in that at the time of filming. Every now and then the sound is subpar, but a lot of this may be attributed to mid-70's technology and/or Universal's apathetic transfer.

And that's pretty much it for the negatives. Just about everything else here is really enjoyable. Yes, this show was a precursor to The X-Files. But it's more than that, better than that. Take all the lighthearted fun and camp of every X-Files episode and distill it, you might get half a season's worth of material. But each episode of Kolchak is concentrated charm.

The joy of K:TNS was that it rarely took itself THAT seriously. It was out to have fun, which makes it imminently more watchable. One of the things I found refreshing was the legitimacy it gave the supernatural. In an age that idolizes science's dogma too much (to the point of being a real downer), it's nice to see a show hang on to the what-if's, if for nothing else than a jolt and a laugh. The air of mystery is never threatened. You can count on aliens really being aliens, vampires really being vampires, and Satanic senators from Chicago with aspirations for the White House really being in league with the Prince of Darkness. The en vogue atheism of today is absent in this time capsule show, and that's a blessing. Yes, it did devolve into a "monster the week" cavalcade, but with only 20 episodes there wasn't too much time to devote to an overarcing plot. Maybe this formula was doomed to be short-lived? How many monsters can you conjure, season after season? Sadly, we'll never know.

Take this show for what it was: a lighthearted romp through mystery, noir and urban legend, a witty collection of mostly well made episodes whose somewhat stock characters and trappings rarely grow tiresome. It would be nice if this was rereleased with behind the scenes footage, interviews, commentaries, TV spots, and bios on the show and cast but, alas, there are no such ammenities offered.

If you're a fan of the show or you want to witness original programming that's good for repeated viewings (I STILL have fun watching these even after years of owning the DVD's), then get Kolchak: The Night Stalker, just don't expect any frills or remarkable restoration. While normally I'd say "go used" as a means of depriving the manufacturer of profits on a poor quality item, the idealist in me says "buy new" to encourage Universal. If sales are good they MIGHT someday rerelease the show in a restored transfer with special features. It'll probably never happen but the only thing that means anything in these scenarios is $$$.

For all its technical flaws and dated showmanship, this box set contains 20 episodes of vintage camp, fantasy charm, and a refreshingly lighthearted take on the supernatural minus the pretentious scientific skepticism that we've seen in shows of this genre for so long. And if anyone knows what kind of cassette tape recorder he used, let me know. I'm always on the hunt for reliable vintage electronics.

Television Show Collectibles

Movie Searches