I have to admit. I don't watch a lot of television. So when ABC announced they were redoing the Night Stalker I totally missed it. So I happened to be wandering over to the ABC website (in search of information on another show "Dancing with C List Celebs"), I noticed the ad for the upcoming show. I naturally clicked on it and read about it. I was a huge fan of the original and totally dug Darrin McGavin. Why? He is a classic proto geek. He dressed poorly even for the early seventies. He wore his hat long after wearing hats was out of style. He carried around a really sweet portable tape recorder which looking back on it was probably more expensive than his car. I really wanted that tape recorder. He believed odd things and suffered through a horrible boss (Tony Vincenzo) and worked in a third tier wire service based out of Chicago.
The newer version has a strong "24" influence based on the rough video clips on the ABC web site. Only one scene begins to capture the flavor of the original, the third clipped where Carl Kolchak is discussing the case with the sexy skeptic. Covering his walls are notes and photographs of the case. Only in that scene do you get a sense of that the Carl Kolchak can become obsessed by strange things. Instead of a actor like Darren McGavin, they have cast Stuart Townsend (you remember him as Dorian Gray in League of Extraordinary Gentleman and the Vamprie Lestat in Queen of the Damned). So we get a young, good looking Carl Kolchak. The question is whether or not Townsend can act through his attractivenews and protray his true geekiness. David Duchovny was able to do so in X-Files. Based on the clips I have seen thus far I would say no. The scenes are far too brightly light. (Remember X-Files guys even daylight didn't seem too bright on that show.) When showing the other worldly on television, darken things. It somehow makes it more believable. Additionally the night stalker was a solo guy. It was just Carl. For this show it looks like they are going with the team approach. There's the sexy skeptic (another reporter), and her camera guy and of course Vincenzo is no longer an over weight Italian guy but a good looking older thin editor. What's wrong with casting real looking people in shows? With reality TV you think people would be used to it by now.
I will probably TIVO the damn show. I hope it doesn't suck. Otherwise it may go into the memory hole that Highlander 2 went too.
