Night Stalker
ABC Thursdays, 9/8c

Premiere Date: September 29, 2005

All hail the return of Carl Kolchak. In case you are unfamiliar with the name, let me help. He was the lead character in the 1970s TV series Night Stalker, which focused on a reporter investigating the supernatural. More importantly, the character and the series was the inspiration for the modern-day supernatural television show. Chris Carter has said the show has been a major inspiration for the X-Files. Carter went on to create Millennium, a show that was years ahead of its time and has found an extended audience thanks to strong DVD sales. In today’s CSI-dominated television landscape, Millennium would probably do quite well with viewers while still carving out (no pun intended) that niche viewer base with its tales of the occult and supernatural.

So it’s refreshing that over six years later, a television show has emerged to capture Millennium’s dreadful eloquence and suspense, yet ironic that the show is a recreation of the very same show that originally inspired Chris Carter. That show is, of course, Night Stalker.

ABC has infused Night Stalker with some legitimate star power, as Kolchak is played this time around by Stuart Townsend, unfortunately best known as Charlize Theron’s beau. But he’s also played Lestat in 2002′s Queen of the Damned, playing second fiddle to a posthumous Aaliyah. He was Dorian Gray in the box office bust The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen. And he was famously, initially, mistakenly, and unfortunately cast as Aragorn in The Lord of the Rings, only to be released after four days of shooting. He’s been able to show a venomous and evil side in his roles, but this time he’s on the other side of the fence as a solemn and calculated investigator who must live with the death of his wife and the accusations of those around him. His main purpose in life is to now find out who, or what, is the real killer of his wife, and with each fact he uncovers he delves deeper into the unknown. Gabrielle Union plays Perri Reed, a competing reporter who brings the more reasonable and factual counterpoint to Kolchak’s beliefs and unorthodox methods.

The pilot episode centers around a series of vicious murders and the pursuit of the “thing” responsible. There isn’t much in the way of grandiose supernatural special effects and imagery (although look for the digital cameo of the original Carl Kolchak, Darren McGavin), but it does successfully create the sense of loneliness of the main character in a couple of ways. Literally, as Kolchak works into the night hours while the rest of the city is entranced in sleep; but also figuratively as his investigations into the supernatural and the knowledge he uncovers further alienates him from the rest of the world. It’s a somber backdrop to be sure – most of the pilot takes place in the dead of night or under overcast skies, and the music is strikingly understated – but this sense of dread doesn’t overpower, it merely adds to the overall atmosphere and suspense.

Millennium fans should feel right at home with Night Stalker, as Kolchak mimics Frank Black’s melancholy and weathered demeanor, and his actions remind me of Frank’s late night research, sitting in his basement surrounded by gruesome photographs of death, dismemberment and disembowelment. Night Stalker is inherently more slick due to its shift from gloomy Seattle to the wonder of L.A., but the mystery and creepiness remain, and the effective use of location take it out of the city lights when necessary.

The interaction between the two leads works in the pilot episode, much in the same way as Mulder and Scully, and obviously it sets the stage for the two characters to change throughout the course of the season. And it’s so important that the characters are likeable in such a somber backdrop, as it gives the viewer an anchor of humanity, something that most other supernatural television shows lack (and ultimately fail because of this).

During the end montage, a series of flash cut murders and crimes are shown bordering the inhumane and explainable, with Kolchak’s narration clinging to hope while accepting the reality his life has become. It’s a fittingly creepy end to the pilot but an effective beginning to what should be one of the best new series of the fall.

Please Note: Night Stalker is facing some stiff competition this fall (CSI – CBS; The Apprentice – NBC; Reunion – FOX; Everwood – WB). ABC has enough confidence in the series to put it front and center on the most high-profile television night of the week, but looking at the other shows in its timeslot, it seemingly already has one foot in the grave (no pun intended). For everyone who loves shows like this, let’s start a grassroots campaign to a) actually watch the show; and b) to support it when ABC tries to pull it from the lineup. Maybe a change in timeslot would be good.