Do The Critics Like ABC

I am – Hercules!!

Supernatural thriller, from writer-director Frank Spotnitz (“The X-Files”) about a journalist named Carl Kolchak who believes his wife’s murder is tied to forces of the uncanny. It’s loosely based on one of the most beloved (if short-lived) TV series of my tortured youth. It stars Stuart Townsend (“League of Extraordinary Gentlemen”) as Carl Kolchak, Cotter Smith (“X2”) as Tony Vincenzo and Gabrielle Union (“Bring It On”) as pretty Perri Reed. Miss Emily, it would seem, has not yet been cast.

ABC airs it in a timeslot I wouldn’t give a monkey on a rock: Thursdays at 9 p.m., opposite the WB’s “Everwood,” CBS’ “CSI,” NBC’s “The Apprentice,” Fox’s “Reunion” and the UPN sitcoms “Cuts” and “Love Inc.”

The ending of the pilot was reshot, so I can’t comment on what’ll be seen tonight. But the pilot I saw could have used a good dose of the indignant wit I associate with the Darren McGavin Kolchak.

USA Today gives it one and a half (out of four) stars and says:

… a third-rate rip-off of a superior series. … the series it's ripping off is The X-Files. … you might have expected them to come up with something better than this humorless, pallid, badly cast copy. In their efforts to blend a new show out of two old ideas, they seem to have forgotten that all series, even ones that traffic in the occult, run on character, and the character they've created is deeply uninteresting. The reason the original Night Stalker lingers in fans' memories has nothing to do with the monsters and all to do with Darren McGavin's Kolchak. McGavin created a humorous, completely unglamorous hero, a middle-aged, rumpled, wisecracking, down-on-his-luck reporter who was struggling to restore his career. True, the character worked better in the movies than he did in the series. But that's no good reason to replace him with his polar opposite: a young, good-looking, dour guy-on-the-rise played with a humorless thud by Stuart Townsend. …

The San Franciso Chronicle says:

… Anyone who remembers the old "Night Stalker" television show of the 1970s must have been foaming at the mouth when ABC announced that it was remaking the series with Frank Spotnitz, former executive producer of "The X-Files," in charge. Even Spotnitz no laughs. At least "The X-Files" had sense of humor. Worse, in this "Night Stalker," Kolchak isn't some rumpled reporter like Darren McGavin. He's a GQ-worthy crime reporter …

The Seattle Post-Intelligencer says:

… "Night Stalker" remains a problematic update. In fact, it looks a lot less like "Kolchak" than like a cup of weakly brewed "X-Files" - minus the spice and clever humor. Oh, and an even more important quality is missing. Shows about strange bumps in the night, demons and killers should be, well, scary. A few moments that make your hair stand on end are a requirement, don't you think? But the best "Night Stalker" does is raise eyebrows and grant a few "ooh" moments. Like tonight's digitally inserted image of the Kolchak from the original series. Ooh. … You can't help dabbing a nostalgic tear at the realization that Kolchak and Reed ain't Mulder and Scully. It isn't unreasonable to hold "Night Stalker" up to that more recently deceased series rather than the old one; Spotnitz was an executive producer on "The X-Files" for eight years. One wishes he took more of what he learned there and applied it here. …

Newsday says:

… One of the most memorable newspaper reporters in TV history was Carl Kolchak, played with campy bravado by actor Darren McGavin in the early '70s. In the original TV movie (that later launched a series), McGavin was a perfect match for the potboiler script by Richard Matheson ("The Twilight Zone"), steeped in Runyon-esque twang and Serling-esque horror. When not chasing leads in bizarre Las Vegas murders, Kolchak was given to sardonic asides, most often directed at his blustery editor (the equally memorable Simon Oakland). A reporter "socially fits somewhere between a hooker and a bartender," he mused, "but stands with Galileo because he knows the world is round - not that that does much good because his editor knows the world is flat...." … Based on the first two episodes, this [new “Night Stalker”] is a ghost best left moldering in the grave. … what is missing here is heart, drama, and - most inexcusably - horror. …

Variety says:

An inventive show with not particularly likable characters, "Night Stalker" appears bound for cult status but there's an audience looking for a crusty but likeable Kolchak. …

The Hollywood Reporter says:

… If … the new series is judged on how well it scares and entertains and not on how carefully it is cloned, it is both a success and unique among the shows on the fall menu.… Will "Night Stalker" be mainly about who killed Kolchak's wife? Fortunately, no. A subsequent episode sent for review indicates the series will broaden its horizons, flesh out Kolchak's personality and let Perri come into her own, all encouraging signs. Spotnitz, who wrote the script, and director Dan Sackheim understand that, when it comes to suspense and terror, less onscreen violence is more. That, and the smart use of jump cuts and interesting angles, make this a dependable source of entertaining fright as well as a logical companion for "Alias" on Thursday nights.

TV Guide says:

… This Kolchak is younger and sexier than the rumpled crusader played by Darrin McGavin (whose image is digitally inserted into the pilot), but also so dire he comes off like a more depressed version of X-Files’ Mulder. The last act of the pilot is being reshot, but what we’ve seen leaves us cold, not chilled …