darren mcgavin dies

Darren McGavin has passed away. Kolchak: The Night Stalker was one of my absolute favorite TV shows growing up - too bad it only lasted one season. I can't believe I was only 10 years old when it had its run in '74.

That show had everything going for it - an unlikely and sarcastic hero, bizarre paranormal plots, a Chicago setting (even though I doubt any footage was actually filmed there), the humorous voiceovers, and some good noirish dialogue such as this exchange between Kolchak and his boss Tony Vincenzo, who was not Kolchak's biggest fan, to say the least:

Carl Kolchak: Exactly what don't you like about this hat?
Tony Vincenzo: What's under it.

I remember when McGavin appeared on an episode of the X-Files, a show which obviously owed a bit of gratitude to the pioneering Night Stalker series, and he seemed to have aged quite a bit, almost to the extent that he was unrecognizable to me. Still, he managed to keep on going to the age of 83. Goodbye, Mr. McGavin!