Kolchak: The Night Stalker (1 Viewer)

Just read over at DVD Drive-In that Universal will be releasing all 20 episodes of Kolchak: The Night Stalker this October.

Can anyone confirm this? If this is true, I bet it's because the new Night Stalker series is premiering this fall.

Awesome news! (assuming it's true)

There's also a Kolchak thread here:

http://www.hometheaterforum.com/htfo...hlight=Kolchak

Robert,

This is a pervasive (and probably reliable) rumor that has been going around since early this year. Among other places, I heard this reported on Sci-Fi Channel's website several months back, so I would say it's very likely true, although no release date has been set as far as I know.

I'm sure the release is meant to correlate with the new NS series.

i'm breathlessly waiting for Universal to formally announce this. DVDDrive-in is usually correct, but i'll feel alittle more comfortable when Gord has the official word up on his site- and even better once i have it in my hands.


months ago, when word first broke, the 'targeted' street date was 10/4. i don't think thats still going to hold as its looking to be a big release day for Universal in other areas with the Alfred Hithcock material among others.

as a little kid (7 yrs old) when the series premiered, i still vividly remember the commercials trumpeting this new fall show- which included scenes taken from the Night Strangler movie of Kolchak walking thru the cobwebed dining room admist the mummefied corpses. being a huge monster fan, i saw that and could not wait for this show to air- but on premier night we had to go to my aunts wedding party, so it wasn't until 1979, when CBS late nite began re-airing the show, that i was able to catch the ripper ep.
nowadays, i find myself rolling my eyes aplenty at some of the woefully contrived bits of business, and its formula aspect really doesn't make it compelling viewing in and of itself for me anymore- but it is still a big nostalgia kick, when i'm in the right mood- and to have a compact, affordable , quality set of the entire 20 episodes is a 30 yr dream come true.

one of the most anticipated releases ever for me on this format.

I figured with the new Night Stalker series premiering this fall, we'd finally get one of my last holy grails on DVD.
Too bad the early word on the new Night Stalker pilot (which has started to proliferate online) is not so good. OH well, even if it sucks, without it, I doubt we would have seen the original series on DVD, so all's well that ends well.

Ah, to hear Gil Melle's distinctive opening theme again......I'll buy it!

TVShowsonDVD.com has an (unofficial) announcement up today confirming the date as 10/4/05.

Man oh man. I've been waiting for this set since I got a DVD player.

So many great episodes: Jack the Ripper, the female Vampire, the Zombie, the Bayou monster. There were some duds,too, but the good ones were great.

I would argue that Karl Kolchak was one the greatest TV characters of the 70s. He had a cool car, his boss was always screaming at him ... man I loved that show.

Oh yeah, I just LOVE that theme! I'll be buying this one.

well, we knew it was coming, but it appears today it was officially announced.
10/04-
packaging will be 3 slim packs in a slipcase, with at least one of the discs loose and scratched
msrp is a surprising $29.98 for what will surely be over 15 hours of content.
in fact, i won't be surprised to see that get changed.

i just hope this set doesn't have 'issues' due to the low price. extras are, of course not expected at all, but i hope the PQ is up to snuff

no box art yet

Paul, we have a small shot of the box art:
http://www.tvshowsondvd.com/newsitem.cfm?NewsID=3877

Gord

Gord, that link is to the American Gothic cover

Well, don't I look dumb?

Sorry....too many things on the go right now. BTW - Universal contacted me to let me know the price of the set is $39.98.

Gord

I'll be backing up my set as soon as I get it, there isn't one Universal TV sets I've bought that have'nt given me problems

Yeah Universal doesn't seem to have its act together with sets released on double-sided discs. Most of the double-sided discs I've gotten from them have either frozen up at some point, skipped, or pixelated. I don't know how many Abbott and Costello Vols 1-3 movie sets I bought and had to send back until I finally got a set that played every movie without locking up. Let's hope either Universal has corrected the errors on their discs at the pressing plant, or we luck out and get Kolchak sets that play perfectly from start to finish. I'm really looking forward to this set.

Yeah, what Carlos said. I just bought the McCloud, McMillan & Wife, and Columbo sets and batted 1 for 3. My fear is that some people don't consider it too big a deal and never take the sets back. There is no doubt in my mind that is a very widespread problem and Universal either doesn't realize it or just doesn't care. I never had these kind of problems until Universal went DVD-18 on my arse.

universal just posted the cover art



can't say i'm fond of the red and green tones (or the menu screen for that matter- if i were the producer of the set, i would have chosen a shot of the empty, darkened office for the main menu to set the mood better).
but in this case, i'm not really complaining.
just give me a set with the complete 20 episodes, no edits, and no authoring problems and i'll be more than happy at the end of the day.

I remember this show terrifying me as a kid. I also remember watching Sanford and Son afterwards to give me happy thoughts before going to bed. Some of the episodes I remember:

-Headless motorcycle guy
-Sewer creature that could imitate voices.
-an episode that dealt with witchcraft. I recall in the beginning of the episode,a woman getting into the shower and the shower door locking by itself and the hot water knob turning by itself scalding the victim inside.
- wasn't there another vampire episode where Kolcak takes gasoline sets fire around the vampire's house?

I rented the Night Stalker movie not too long ago and my 8 year old daughter loved it.

I never saw it, but I bought the double feature to test the waters, and I loved it. I'm in like Flynn.