{"id":2128931,"date":"2025-11-01T14:37:18","date_gmt":"2025-11-01T14:37:18","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/?p=2128931"},"modified":"2025-11-01T14:37:18","modified_gmt":"2025-11-01T14:37:18","slug":"the-forgotten-70s-horror-franchise-that-inspired-the-x-files","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/the-forgotten-70s-horror-franchise-that-inspired-the-x-files\/","title":{"rendered":"The Forgotten &#8217;70s Horror Franchise That Inspired The X-Files"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><\/p>\n<div data-article-body=\"true\">\n<p class=\"mb-4 text-lg md:leading-8 break-words\">Chris Carter&#8217;s &#8220;The X-Files&#8221; is widely regarded as one of the <a rel=\"nofollow\" target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/www.slashfilm.com\/647330\/the-best-horror-tv-shows-of-all-time\/\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\" data-ylk=\"slk:best horror shows of all time;elm:context_link;itc:0;sec:content-canvas\" class=\"link \">best horror shows of all time<\/a>, and one could argue that it changed the landscape of television forever. Combining monster-of-the-week scenarios with overarching plots, the spooky sci-fi series provided the template for shows like &#8220;Buffy the Vampire Slayer,&#8221; &#8220;Angel,&#8221; and &#8220;Supernatural&#8221; to tell their own tales of monsters and mayhem. Mulder (David Duchovny) and Scully (Gillian Anderson) are arguably the most famous paranormal investigators in pop culture history \u2014 but they wouldn&#8217;t exist without Carl Kolchak (Darren McGavin).<\/p>\n<p class=\"mb-4 text-lg md:leading-8 break-words\">This brings us to the &#8220;Kolchak&#8221; saga, a forgotten &#8217;70s horror franchise that paved the way for supernatural procedural yarns on the small-screen. Based on Jeff Rice&#8217;s novel &#8220;The Night Stalker,&#8221; the franchise chronicles the adventures of the eponymous reporter as he investigates mysteries of the supernatural variety, bringing him into contact with vampires, immortal serial killers, androids, headless motorcyclists, and other creatures of the night.<\/p>\n<p class=\"mb-4 text-lg md:leading-8 break-words\">&#8220;Kolchak&#8221; debuted in 1972 with &#8220;The Night Stalker,&#8221; a TV movie that broke records for ABC at the time of its release. This was followed by 1973&#8217;s &#8220;The Night Strangler&#8221; and the short-lived &#8220;Kolchak: The Night Stalker&#8221; television series, which premiered in 1974. The &#8220;Kolchak&#8221; IP has since been resurrected courtesy of reboots, comic books, and other spin-off media, but it isn&#8217;t exactly mainstream. That said, it was a key influence on Carter when he was creating &#8220;The X-Files&#8221; \u2014 and he doesn&#8217;t even deny it.<\/p>\n<p class=\"mb-4 text-lg md:leading-8 break-words\">Read more: <a rel=\"nofollow\" target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/www.slashfilm.com\/1939289\/buffy-the-vampire-slayer-cast-actors-now\/?zsource=yahoo\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\" data-ylk=\"slk:Buffy The Vampire Slayer Cast: Where The Actors Are Now;elm:context_link;itc:0;sec:content-canvas\" class=\"link \">Buffy The Vampire Slayer Cast: Where The Actors Are Now<\/a><\/p>\n<h2 class=\"mb-4 text-xl font-bold md:text-2xl\">The X-Files pays homage to Kolchak<\/h2>\n<figure class=\"relative mb-4\">\n<div class=\"relative\"><button aria-label=\"View larger image\" class=\"group absolute bottom-3 right-3 size-10 md:size-[50px] lg:inset-0 lg:size-full lg:bg-transparent\" data-ylk=\"elm:expand;itc:1;sec:image-lightbox;slk:lightbox-open;\"><span class=\"absolute bottom-0 right-0 rounded-full bg-white p-3 opacity-100 shadow-elevation-3 transition-opacity duration-300 group-hover:block group-hover:opacity-100 md:p-[17px] lg:bottom-6 lg:right-6 lg:bg-white\/90 lg:p-5 lg:opacity-0 lg:shadow-none\"><svg viewbox=\"0 0 22 22\" aria-hidden=\"true\" class=\"size-4 lg:size-6\" width=\"22\" height=\"22\"><path d=\"M12.372.92c0-.506.41-.916.915-.916L21 0l-.004 7.712a.917.917 0 0 1-1.832 0V3.183l-6.827 6.828-1.349-1.348 6.828-6.828h-4.529a.915.915 0 0 1-.915-.915M1.835 17.816l6.828-6.828 1.349 1.349-6.829 6.827h4.529a.915.915 0 0 1 0 1.831L0 21l.004-7.713a.916.916 0 0 1 1.831 0z\"\/><\/svg><\/span><\/button><dialog aria-label=\"Modal Dialog\" aria-modal=\"true\" class=\"fixed inset-0 z-4 size-full max-h-none max-w-none bg-white hidden\"\/><\/div><figcaption class=\"relative text-sm mt-1 pr-2.5\">\n<p>Carl Kolchak sitting in a car on Kolchak: The Night Stalker &#8211; ABC<\/p>\n<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p class=\"mb-4 text-lg md:leading-8 break-words\">While <a rel=\"nofollow\" target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/www.slashfilm.com\/1770650\/the-x-files-episode-the-twilight-zone-inspiration\/\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\" data-ylk=\"slk:shows like &quot;The Twilight Zone&quot; were a clear influence on &quot;The X Files,&quot;;elm:context_link;itc:0;sec:content-canvas\" class=\"link \">shows like &#8220;The Twilight Zone&#8221; were a clear influence on &#8220;The X Files,&#8221;<\/a> the &#8220;Kolchak&#8221; franchise left its mark on Chris Carter \u2014 similar to the vampire villain leaving bite wounds on people&#8217;s necks in the &#8220;Night Stalker&#8221; TV movie. In a 1997 interview with Rolling Stone (via <a rel=\"nofollow\" target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/www.eatthecorn.com\/itw\/1997\/02\/20\/rolling-stone-3\/\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\" data-ylk=\"slk:Eat the Corn;elm:context_link;itc:0;sec:content-canvas\" class=\"link \">Eat the Corn<\/a>), the &#8220;X-Files&#8221; creator outright claimed that the one-season wonder &#8220;Kolchak&#8221; show was his chief pop culture inspiration, allowing him to create a hit supernatural procedural that aligned with the times in the &#8217;90s. In his own words:<\/p>\n<blockquote class=\"mb-4 border-l-2 pl-5 italic text-tertiary\">\n<div class=\"\">\n<p class=\"mb-4 text-lg md:leading-8 break-words\">&#8220;The show that inspired &#8216;The X-Files&#8217; was called &#8216;Kolchak: The Night Stalker.&#8217; He was a reporter who investigated a monster of the week. But what was nice for me is that in the 20 years between &#8216;Kolchak&#8217; and &#8216;The X-Files,&#8217; a lot happened in science and technology. And those things \u2014 which, you know, became the foundation for &#8216;The X-Files&#8217; \u2014 they didn&#8217;t really have at the time.&#8221;<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/blockquote>\n<p class=\"mb-4 text-lg md:leading-8 break-words\">What&#8217;s more, Carter paid homage to &#8220;Kolchak&#8221; by naming a recurring &#8220;X-Files&#8221; character after <a rel=\"nofollow\" target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/www.slashfilm.com\/813916\/richard-matheson-the-influential-science-fiction-writer-youve-never-heard-of\/\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\" data-ylk=\"slk:Richard Matheson, the best science fiction storyteller you've never heard of;elm:context_link;itc:0;sec:content-canvas\" class=\"link \">Richard Matheson, the best science fiction storyteller you&#8217;ve never heard of<\/a>, as well as the writer who\u00a0penned the teleplays for the &#8220;Kolchak&#8221; movies. In the show, Matheson is a politician played by actor Raymond J. Barry (who also plays Arlo on &#8220;Justified&#8221;). Elsewhere, Carter tapped Carl Kolchak himself, Darren McGavin, to play retired FBI agent Arthur Dales in two episodes of &#8220;The X-Files,&#8221; bringing everything full circle.<\/p>\n<p class=\"mb-4 text-lg md:leading-8 break-words\">If you&#8217;re looking for the easiest way to keep up with all the major movie and TV news, why not <a rel=\"nofollow\" target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/subscribe.slashfilm.com\/newsletter-syndicated\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\" data-ylk=\"slk:sign up to our free newsletter;elm:context_link;itc:0;sec:content-canvas\" class=\"link \">sign up to our free newsletter<\/a>? You can also <a rel=\"nofollow\" target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/www.google.com\/preferences\/source?q=slashfilm.com\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\" data-ylk=\"slk:add us as a preferred search source;elm:context_link;itc:0;sec:content-canvas\" class=\"link \">add us as a preferred search source<\/a> on Google.<\/p>\n<p class=\"mb-4 text-lg md:leading-8 break-words\">Read the <a rel=\"nofollow\" target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/www.slashfilm.com\/2013360\/the-kolchak-70s-horror-franchise-inspired-the-x-files\/?zsource=yahoo\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\" data-ylk=\"slk:original article on SlashFilm;elm:context_link;itc:0;sec:content-canvas\" class=\"link \">original article on SlashFilm<\/a>.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<p><em> \u2018 The preceding article may include information circulated by third parties \u2019 <\/em><\/p>\n<p><em> \u2018 Some details of this article were extracted from the following source www.yahoo.com \u2019 <\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Chris Carter&#8217;s &#8220;The X-Files&#8221; is widely regarded as one of the best horror shows of all time, and one could argue that it changed the landscape of television forever. Combining monster-of-the-week scenarios with overarching plots, the spooky sci-fi series provided the template for shows like &#8220;Buffy the Vampire Slayer,&#8221; &#8220;Angel,&#8221; and &#8220;Supernatural&#8221; to tell their [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":2128932,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"om_disable_all_campaigns":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"jnews-multi-image_gallery":[],"jnews_single_post":[],"jnews_primary_category":[],"jnews_social_meta":[],"footnotes":""},"categories":[25172],"tags":[404672,404674,404673,369778,404675,390736],"class_list":["post-2128931","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-entertainment","tag-carl-kolchak","tag-chris-carter","tag-darren-mcgavin","tag-david-duchovny","tag-the-night-stalker","tag-the-x-files"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/The-Forgotten-70s-Horror-Franchise-That-Inspired-The-X-Files.jpeg","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2128931","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2128931"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2128931\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2128933,"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2128931\/revisions\/2128933"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/2128932"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2128931"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2128931"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2128931"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}