Take a series with fine character actors playing quirky, interesting roles, inject it with an equal mix of horror and humor, and you have the original 1974 "Night Stalker" series. Exclude everything that made the original show a cult classic, and you have the flaccid, boring "X Files" clone that was the 2005 reboot.
In the original series, Carl Kolchak was a dumpy, cynical middle-aged man whose determination to uncover the facts got him into trouble and often made for hilariously awkward situations. In the new series, Kolchak is young, handsome, steely-eyed, and morose. It ruins the character, transforming Kolchak into something as vapid and generic as a male fashion model.
In the original series, Kolchak and his editor, Tony Vincenzo, were each about 50 years old and maintained an antagonistic friendship based on mutual (if grudging) respect. In the new show, Vincenzo was twice Kolchak's age, which recast their relationship as master and apprentice. That doesn't work any better than Kolchak as Brooding Millennial.
In the original series, Kolchak worked alone. In the reboot, he had two partners, neither of whom was any more interesting a character than Carl himself.
In the original series, Kolchak's foils included a vampire, a werewolf, a zombie, an invisible space alien, a headless biker, a swamp monster, and even the original Jack the Ripper. Some of the monsters were silly-looking, but that somehow added to the show's appeal. In the reboot, Kolchak's foils are frequently human or just amorphous. And like the show it emulates, there's a big, bad conspiracy going on. God forbid a 21st-century horror series not have an ongoing storyline!
Thankfully, this pathetic drivel went off the air after a mere six episodes (ten were produced). The original series made it to 20.
In the original series, Carl Kolchak was a dumpy, cynical middle-aged man whose determination to uncover the facts got him into trouble and often made for hilariously awkward situations. In the new series, Kolchak is young, handsome, steely-eyed, and morose. It ruins the character, transforming Kolchak into something as vapid and generic as a male fashion model.
In the original series, Kolchak and his editor, Tony Vincenzo, were each about 50 years old and maintained an antagonistic friendship based on mutual (if grudging) respect. In the new show, Vincenzo was twice Kolchak's age, which recast their relationship as master and apprentice. That doesn't work any better than Kolchak as Brooding Millennial.
In the original series, Kolchak worked alone. In the reboot, he had two partners, neither of whom was any more interesting a character than Carl himself.
In the original series, Kolchak's foils included a vampire, a werewolf, a zombie, an invisible space alien, a headless biker, a swamp monster, and even the original Jack the Ripper. Some of the monsters were silly-looking, but that somehow added to the show's appeal. In the reboot, Kolchak's foils are frequently human or just amorphous. And like the show it emulates, there's a big, bad conspiracy going on. God forbid a 21st-century horror series not have an ongoing storyline!
Thankfully, this pathetic drivel went off the air after a mere six episodes (ten were produced). The original series made it to 20.