The Night Stalker

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verdantheart

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here's the writeup from zap2it:

There are things in the dark; adults deny them, but children are right to fear. When a pregnant woman is kidnapped from her home, the city of Los Angeles believes it's an act of domestic violence. But crime reporter Carl Kolchak suspects that the truth is far more complicated. That's because 18 months ago, Kolchak's wife was killed in a bizarre fashion -- and he has been the FBI's No. 1 suspect ever since. Kolchak's determination to find the truth behind his wife's mysterious murder has led him to investigate other crimes that seem to have some kind of supernatural component. But he's trying to piece together a puzzle that keeps changing shape. Who or what is committing these crimes? How are they all related? And why do some victims end up with a strange red mark on their hands in the shape of a snake? With sidekick Perri Reed (a sexy if skeptical fellow reporter) in tow, Kolchak will go to any lengths to answer these questions. Will anyone believe him once he discovers the truth?

Current Cast:
Stuart Townsend as Carl Kolchak
Gabrielle Union as Perri Reed
Eric Jungmann as Jain McManus
Cotter Smith as Tony Vincenzo

zap2it article:
Evil Takes the Upper Hand on 'The Night Stalker'
(Thursday, July 14 09:00 PM)
By Kate O'Hare

LOS ANGELES (Zap2it.com) Those old enough to remember the original 1970s "The Night Stalker" -- two TV movies, "The Night Stalker" and "The Night Strangler," followed by a short-lived series called "Kolchak: The Night Stalker" -- know that hard-luck reporter Carl Kolchak (Darren McGavin) chased all manner of supernatural evil, usually just failing to get the big story (or if he did, no one wanted to publish it).

When Frank Spotnitz ("The X-Files") took on the task of bringing "The Night Stalker" into the 21st century -- an irony, since "X" creator Chris Carter cited the show as an influence -- he knew that just chasing monsters wasn't enough. In an era of terrorist attacks and a 24-hour-news cycle that runs on child abductions and serial killers, the bar for evil had been set a lot higher.

So in his version of "The Night Stalker," coming to ABC this fall, Spotnitz made his Kolchak younger and more sexy, casting Irish heartthrob Stuart Townsend, as well as darker and more troubled.

Kolchak's wife was the victim, so he says, of supernatural evil (the FBI is more inclined to suspect Kolchak himself), and now he's obsessed with discovering how his personal tragedy fits into a larger picture of mayhem and destruction. And what's up with those jagged red marks on the wrists of Kolchak and many of the victims?

"What does that mark mean?" Spotnitz says. "You're meant to think all kinds of things. Obviously, I want people to ask questions. What the show's really about is good and evil. In this show, evil really does have supernatural forces at its command. Good does not. Good has to operate through human beings. That is so interesting to me.

"I'm not a religious person, but I do a lot of reading of religious stuff. I do think, whether you're a person of faith or not, it does seem like evil is so much more powerful than good. I believe, if there is a God, God expects good to operate through men and women, that goodness in the world exists through the goodness of what people do."

Of course, unlike good, evil doesn't have to play by the rules. "Exactly," Spotnitz says. "Good people have to live by a code. They have conscience and mercy and all those things that get in the way when you're trying to destroy evil. That's what this show is ultimately about.

"It's interesting, because you don't know if Kolchak really is what he says he is."

Asked if he believes in evil incarnate, Spotnitz says, "I do think there is such a thing as evil -- whether it's supernatural or not, I don't know. But I do think there are certain things that people do that can only be characterized as monstrous.

"This is not original to me, but the whole idea that there are monsters is comforting, because some things people do are so monstrous, you would rather they came from monsters."
 
the promo's on ABC make it look interesting, and I will most definitely try it out and see what its all about ... and since it will be on after "Alias" what better way to watch TV ... (y) (y)
 
I am still watching to see what the show has to offer ... and as I said before since it is following "Alias" ... why not give it a chance ... ;)
 
The buzz for this one hasn't been completely positive, but I'm giving it a chance. Here's an article from Sci Fi Wire:

Night Stalker Has Answers

Frank Spotnitz, executive producer of ABC's upcoming Night Stalker, told SCI FI Wire that he had to figure out how the mystery would turn out before ABC made a commitment to pick up the show. "I have all the answers," Spotnitz said in an interview. "I had to write them all down for the network [laughs]. I had to prove that to them before they picked up the series. All the important questions in the show have already been asked in that pilot, and the life of the show—however many years I'm fortunate enough to do this—will be devoted to getting deeper into those questions, rather than raising new ones."

Spotnitz developed Night Stalker for ABC based on the 1970s TV movies and series Kolchak: The Night Stalker, which starred Darren McGavin. Spotnitz saw it as an opportunity to delve back into the strange and bizarre after executive producing The X-Files for several years.

"I think there needs to be a sense of reality when you approach this kind of storytelling, especially on network television," Spotnitz said. "It has to really persuade people who would not be inclined to watch this genre to give it a chance, to suspend their disbelief. So I wanted to ground it in reality as best I could. And one of the things I struggled with was how could it be that Carl Kolchak was a reporter for a newspaper and, first of all, managed to come across these things every week, and second, comes across them, and it doesn't change the world based upon his reporting. Because in the real world if a reporter for the L.A. Times or the New York Times came across a vampire even once, it would be worldwide international news that would change our understanding of the world we live in."

Once he figured out that out, Spotnitz set about working out how to keep his Night Stalker scares as personal as possible. "I love those 'Don't go in that house!' moments, but I like them when I know I would go in that house, too," he said. "I don't like them when it's like, 'Oh, come on. You'd never go in that house.' But I love it when it's, 'Of course you would do that. I would [go], too, if I were in that situation.' That’s what's haunting, and that's what would keep me awake at night after I watched the show."

In an effort to give this haunting new series an equally haunting look, a new type of digital camera is being used for the show. "There actually is a brand new camera for some of the season's pilot, called Genesis by Panavision, that no one had ever used before," he said. "We were the first and I believe Superman, filming in Australia with Bryan Singer, is the second to use it. It's a very exciting time, because it's like the revolution is going on with consumer cameras and digital photography that's happening on the professional side. [The camera is] great, because it picks up very, very low levels of light. So you don't have to have any artificial lighting at all. You can see way off. Like you're filming the city at night, and you can see way down the street. You can see clouds in the night sky, which on film, the sky is just black at night." Night Stalker premieres Sept. 29 in its regular Thursday 9 p.m. ET/PT timeslot.
Sounds like the nets are forcing the producers to do their homework. ^_^
 
Stuart Townsend is hot, and he's got the sexy voice. i also love the photographer guy :smiley:, he makes me laugh. the girl is ok, nothing special there (although i do love gabrielle union as an actress).
 
Stuart Townsend is hot, and he's got the sexy voice. i also love the photographer guy :smiley:, he makes me laugh. the girl is ok, nothing special there (although i do love gabrielle union as an actress).

Stuart is hot :love:

unfortunately the show hasnt done quite what ABC expected ... and it gonna get cancelled soon ... :(

I am so gonna miss watching Stuart and the photographer ... :blush:
 
The official word is in. This series has been canceled (zap2it):

ABC Says Good Night to 'Stalker'
Monday, November 14, 2005
04:04 PM PT

ABC is turning out the lights on its freshman series "Night Stalker," pulling the plug after six episodes that struggled to find audiences up against TV's top-rated series, "CSI."

Show creator Frank Spotnitz ("The X-Files") announced the cancellation on his blog (Biglight.com/blog) Sunday (Nov. 13), and ABC confirmed Monday that the show was being pulled, effective this week. An expanded edition of "Primetime" will fill its 9 p.m. Thursday spot this week, with previously scheduled movies set for the two Thursdays after that.

"While I'm disappointed the series has come to an end, I am enormously grateful for the experience and the opportunity given me by the network and Touchstone Television," Spotnitz writes. After thanking the show's cast and crew, he adds, "It was a blast."

The news doesn't come as a big surprise -- "Night Stalker" was one of many series that have struggled on ABC's Thursday schedule in recent years. In its six weeks on the air it averaged just 5.2 million viewers and also struggled in the key adults 18-49 demographic.

Any show facing CBS' "CSI," which draws 28 million viewers each week, is fighting an uphill battle. But "Night Stalker," an update of the 1970s series that stars Stuart Townsend as ghoul-hunting reporter Carl Kolchak and Gabrielle Union as his skeptical colleague, couldn't break free from the pack behind NBC's "The Apprentice." Last week, it finished in a virtual tie with FOX's "Reunion" and only beat The WB's "Everwood" by a couple hundred thousand viewers.

Nine episodes of "Night Stalker" were filmed. At the moment, ABC has no plans to air the three that haven't been seen yet.
 
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