Night Stalker (TV series)

Night Stalker is a short-lived American television series that aired on ABC during the fall of 2005. It was a reboot of the cult classic 1970s television film The Night Stalker, which was itself based on the unpublished novel The Kolchak Papers by Jeff Rice.

The series starred Stuart Townsend as Carl Kolchak, a crime reporter investigating unusual and often supernatural crimes in Los Angeles. Unlike the original series' Chicago setting, this iteration placed Kolchak in a more contemporary setting with updated technology and a supporting cast that included Gabrielle Union as Perri Reed, his editor, and Cotter Smith as Tony Vincenzo, the managing editor of the LA Paper.

The 2005 Night Stalker attempted to modernize the concept, focusing on serialized storylines and a more grounded approach to the supernatural elements, while still maintaining the core theme of Kolchak's relentless pursuit of the truth against disbelief and bureaucratic obstruction. Each episode generally revolved around a specific case with paranormal or unexplained phenomena, often involving vampires, demons, or other creatures of legend. However, the series struggled to find an audience and was canceled after only six episodes were aired, with four remaining episodes unaired in the United States. The unaired episodes were eventually broadcast in other countries and are available on home video.