Kolchak: The Night Stalker – They Have Been, They Are, They Will Be…

September 27, 1974 Season 1 Episode 3

If you want to see where we are…HERE is a list of the episodes.

I’m really liking this series. It’s a shame it only lasted 1 season, but I can see why. It was so different for the time. 

This episode isn’t as cut and dry as the others so far. Unlike the zombie, vampire, or werewolf stories that had clear monster traditions, here the writers took a sharp turn into sci-fi, giving us a story about mysterious cattle mutilations, vanishing zoo animals, and an unseen extraterrestrial presence wandering through Chicago. I have said before how this show influenced the X-Files, none more than this episode. 

The episode begins with odd reports: animals in the zoo are vanishing, bones are found curiously stripped clean, and a trail of strange electromagnetic interference follows the incidents. Naturally, Carl Kolchak, with his nose for weird stories, senses a huge story. His digging leads him to discover that the culprit may not be human at all. 

As always, Kolchak’s determined spirit and undeterred methods make for the typical conflict with authorities, but in this one, that conflict is much more subdued and believable as the police bosses are as much in the dark as he, and prone to benefit from what Kolchak learns on his own. 

Written by Dennis Clark and directed by Allen Baron, the episode was praised for its eerie, almost minimalist approach. The producers intentionally avoided showing the alien much, knowing that the limited 1970s TV budget would probably betray the effect.  In other words, they didn’t make the same mistake that Star Trek would make at times. The choice worked in their favor; what we don’t see is far scarier.

A funny subplot, as the hometown Cubs are battling the Boston Red Sox in the World Series (both would have to wait decades to end their respective droughts). Darren McGavin later cited this as one of his favorite episodes because it strayed from the usual monster formula and went for something more mysterious and unsettling.

The COMPLETE EPISODE

https://m.ok.ru/video/3288132749931

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Author: Badfinger (Max)

Power Pop fan, Baseball, Beatles, Alternative music, old movies, and tv show fan. Also anything to do with pop culture in the 60s and 70s... I'm also a songwriter, bass and guitar player. Not the slightest bit interested in politics at all.

35 thoughts on “Kolchak: The Night Stalker – They Have Been, They Are, They Will Be…”

      4. I remember liking Baretta, even if the guy who played him later turned out to be a real creep (forgot his name.) And I slightly remember “Jed Clampett” playing Barnaby 🙂 Hey, I just watched a cute little mini-series that is sickeningly wholesome, called, “Mayberry Man.” It’s low budget, happened upon it by chance searching library database. I think you’d like it for the details about the old show.

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  4. Pingback: Kolchak: The Night Stalker – They Have Been, They Are, They Will Be… – MobsterTiger

  7. Just finished watching it. Notes: I like that police captain. Funny to see Vince VanPatten. Zoo worker forensics woman is another character actor I remember. I wonder if there really is a Mathmatico language? You are right, it has x-files written all over it.

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    2. I’ll check it out this weekend. Lisa do you enjoy seeing the same character crew of actors turning up in oldies TV? Some must have made a decent living doing roles like ‘snooty maitre de,’ ‘cynical talkative cabbie,’ ‘second doctor’, ‘red shirted short lived Star Trek crewman’ etc etc.

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      1. Ob, yes, I do. For someone who watches as much TV as I do, they begin to feel like family (Farenheit 451 reference.) My dad knew all actors and would say them like a litany as we watched on his black & white TV. I agree, it was probably steady income for them. So many beloved ones. lol on your categories 🙂

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  8. My eldest daughter loved ‘The X Files’ though I was more a fan of the original ‘Quantum Leap.’ All good fun though. I must admit the look of the X Files as far as props etc was pretty high IMO.

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    2. Ob, my mom was a fan of Quantum Leap. I remember Dean Stockwell (remember Dean’s dad, Guy?) from his days as a child actor and some old horror movies. I saw maybe a season of X Files, but I need to watch all of them just out of curiosity.

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      1. I don’t recall Guy offhand but I’ll look him up. There are many from my early watching of TV that I recall seeing in more and more old stuff that I’m watching nowadays. Ah, nostalgia.

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