"The Night Stalker remake" remake/revival?

[Guest Laurent.]

I hope that a few of you got The Night Stalker (2005 version)'s dvd. Even though the series failed to gain momentum and a decent fan following during it's short run, I think it could have been a perfect mixture of Millennium and X-Files.

The unaired episode are really great, especially the last one! And considering that the next one was written by Darin Morgan... God this show could have been huge. I don't know if a lot of you took the time to listen to the commentary on the dvd, but Spotnitz talks a lot about what he had in mind for the mythology of the show and let's just say it would have taken a really Millenniumistic turn by the end of the first season.

I know that the Sci-FI channel have been airing the show from time to time and I really hope they continue so that it can gather a decent audience and maybe then could it be revived?

I know that the chances of that happening are close to zero, but maybe as direct-to-dvd movies, or Sci-Fi could buy the rights to the show and recast it (because there would be quite a significant loss in the budget compared to abc).

Would be glad to hear your thoughts on that... because if I'm the only one interested than the show is really dead.

[HighPlainsDrifter]

I also believe the show was gaining momentum after the The Source/Sea episodes. Its too bad we werent able to see what Spotnitz had in mind regarding its mythos. I really liked his ideas that Kolchak himself was evil because he was marked. Sc-fi bought rights to air and we will see the show many times over.

I always believed ABC was the wrong channel for this series to be shown on. They had way too much restrictions for the series. Plus Night Stalker was certain death being put up against CSI. Wish they would of aired it on F/X or even HBO.

In my archives somewhere i have Spotnitz commenting on if there was renewed intrest in the show he might redo the series. There was always speculation that Sci-Fi could help make Night Stalker one of their original series.

[Guest ZeusFaber]

I bought and enjoyed the DVD set too. The show got some bad press in certain circles, but after watching and judging it for myself I found them to be all unfounded and rooted in the usual blind objection to remakes.

Some strong episodes on show here, and while all may not have been perfect, few shows hit their peaks in the first season right off the bat, and I would very much liked to have seen where this could have gone.

The two unproduced scripts are a nice inclusion on the DVD, and it's particularly nice to see another piece of work form Darin Morgan. His teleplay for "The M Word" is amusing, and I have no doubt that it would come across even funnier on screen. Reminds me alot of "Somehow, Satan Got Behind Me" in places.

Anyone interested in more commentaries can download two extra podcasts from Frank Spotnitz and additional personnel from https://www.scifi.com/nightstalker/podcast

However, in terms of the show being brought back, people really need to get used to the idea that cancelled shows are truly that -- cancelled. It just doesn't happen, for so many reasons. I still can't believe that some people still even hold out hope for Millennium coming back. Once something is cancelled, it's the end of the road, and best not to cling to false expectations.

[Guest Laurent.]

Once something is cancelled, it's the end of the road, and best not to cling to false expectations.

I partly agree, of course that is true for most of the show but some have defied your logic and came back from the dead. The Griffins came back because of huge dvd sells, Firefly got a movie because of the fans' demands, I even heard that there has been at some point some talk about a Lone Gunmen movie because the show grabbed a lot of attention after 9/11. Sadly, the chances for Millennium are next to nil. But shows like X-Files still have a chance for revival.

Now when it comes to The Night Stalker, the only things that barely gives it a chance it's that its demise is so recent, but I honestly think that if nothing happens before Sci-Fi stops airing the show than there won't be any hope left.

I just wanted to start the discussion because after seeing the dvds I couldn't believed it was cancelled. "What's the Frequency Kolchak?" is by far the best stand-alone episode I have seen in a long time... I would give almost anything to see an episode of this series each week. Now I almost never watch tv (except for Lost) because the general quality of the show is so low. Abc shouldn't have expected big audience number that fast for such an intelligent show, it takes time to grow on the audience.. even though I thought it had enough "popcorn" elements to make it appealing to almost anyone (the hotel-shooting sequence in "The Sea" is amazing for a tv-show)!

[HighPlainsDrifter]

anyone here think The Source/The Sea had a smiliar creepy feeling of the 1970's original The Fog?

[Guest ZeusFaber]

I partly agree, of course that is true for most of the show but some have defied your logic and came back from the dead. The Griffins came back because of huge dvd sells, Firefly got a movie because of the fans' demands

Family Guy is a one in a million exception, and it's very different because it's annimated and not live-action -- no sets to save, technical crew to retain, etc etc. And Serenity doesn't count because it's a movie spin off, not bringing it back onto TV after cancellation.

I even heard that there has been at some point some talk about a Lone Gunmen movie because the show grabbed a lot of attention after 9/11.

No chance.

But shows like X-Files still have a chance for revival.

Again, not going to happen. The X-Files wasn't cancelled, it aired its series finale and wrapped up its story by coming to an end. It will never go back into production as a TV show, and indeed it has no need to. Movies, whether they happen or not, are an entirely different ball game.

after seeing the dvds I couldn't believed it was cancelled. "What's the Frequency Kolchak?" is by far the best stand-alone episode I have seen in a long time... even though I thought it had enough "popcorn" elements to make it appealing to almost anyone (the hotel-shooting sequence in "The Sea" is amazing for a tv-show)!

I agree, but we all know that the best shows sometimes get the lowest Nielsen ratings, and the most awful of reality TV trash gets the highest Nielsen ratings. Also bear in mind that the show was cancelled before both "The Sea" and "What's the Frequency Kolchak?" aired. Such is life.

[Blackoil]

Would be glad to hear your thoughts on that... because if I'm the only one interested than the show is really dead.

No, you are not the only one interested. :) I'm happy to see there's a thread where we all can discuss this great and underrated TV-series. By the way, Night Stalker is aired on Russian television now, they aired 5 episodes already and there are 5 episodes left.

I liked all Spotnitz's episodes (especially that fantastic two-parter "The Source"/"The Sea," and a really scary "Into Night"), I liked "The Five People You Meet In Hell" and "Malum" but I have to say Vince Gilligan's "What's The Frequency, Kolchak?" was absolutely outstanding, it was one the best TV-hours, and it's such a shame the episode was never aired on ABC.

Darin Morgan's "The M Word" was one of the most interesting and amusing scripts I ever read. It was so hilarious and kind of absurd. One of his best scripts. It's a shame it never was filmed. I read some Spotnitz's interviews and I think he said that the show was cancelled on the same day Darin Morgan finished his script. It was a letdown.

By the way, maybe we should discuss some aspects of the mythology? Well, yeah, I know - it's kind of hard to talk about something that doesn't exist but I think it will be cool to think about the possibilities. :)

[Guest Laurent.]

By the way, maybe we should discuss some aspects of the mythology? Well, yeah, I know - it's kind of hard to talk about something that doesn't exist but I think it will be cool to think about the possibilities. :)

At least Spotnitz gave away most of the two first seasons. I love the fact that it would have transformed into a Millenniumistic good vs evil battle. I wonder how he would have incorporated more "apocalyptic-literature evil-minions" (sorry, couldn't find the right word) like the Four Horsemen and the Cerberus without turning the series into "Kolchak the vampire slayer". It seems pretty hard to keep that fine line between between realistic fantasy and unbelievable b.s. . I must say they did a great job with the Cerberus and the Horsemen.

What other kind of creature do you think he could have brought in for "evil" and for "good" without letting the show lose it's realism?

[Guest ZeusFaber]

Interesting thoughts. I also agree that mythic, metaphorical figures were incorporated very well, retaining a real world believability. I particularly enjoyed the way they transformed the "horsemen" into bikers, very clever. Makes me think of all the ways they "modernised" Shakespeare in Baz Luhrman's William Shakespeare's Romeo + Juliet.

I think there are lots of other possibilities for both "Good" figures as well as "Evil" figures to be incorporated into the show.