Kolchak: The Night Stalker (1974)

Written by drystyx on April 2, 2023

This could have been a witty show instead of a depressing one that borders too much on Hitler worship. Kolchak is an obnoxious reporter and terrible role model. He does anything for a story. Trouble is, the writing for the series seems to always degenerate into some Nazi ideology where all the murder victims are women with dark hair and dark eyes. It's impossible not to notice this worship of Hitler's genocide program. You feel like you're watching the reels of Nazis taking beautiful brunettes out to be executed. That's the weakest part of the series, and it's impossible not to notice. It appears either the writer or director was jilted by too many brunettes in his life and couldn't get over it. Simon Oakland almost salvages this series with his matter of fact character who has the sanity that Darren McGavin's Kolchak totally lacks. But it isn't enough to save the poor writing.