Takedown!
New Night Stalker Folds
Night Stalker producer Frank Spotnitz posted this on his blog:http://www.biglight.com/blog/2005/11/night-stalker-finis.html
" 'NIGHT STALKER' FINIS
It is with regret that I confirm "Night Stalker" has been canceled. While I'm disappointed the series has come to an end, I am enormously grateful for the experience and the opportunity given me by the network and Touchstone Television. I would like to thank our amazingly talented cast, wonderful crew, killer post-production department, terrific writing staff, producers and partners in crime Daniel Sackheim and John Peter Kousakis, the incredible Jana Fain, and all of you who watched and enjoyed the show. It was a blast."
There IS a God!
Na-na-na-Na
Na-na-na-Na
Hey-Hey-Hey
Goodbye....
Showing posts with label Night Stinker. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Night Stinker. Show all posts
Monday, November 14, 2005
Sunday, October 23, 2005
Time, time time, see what's become of me...
I had intended on a lengthy post; going into some detail on Halloween double-features, as well as a rant on NIGHT STINKER and how Spotnitz and crew chose to exploit the wrong franchise (if they had taken inspiration from THE NORLISS TAPES - Dan Curtis' own failed television pilot featuring a Kolchak-like reporter without Darrin McGavin in the lead - then the current show would probably not suck as hard as it does)... but most of that will have to wait a while.
I may have a job on a lo-budget feature shooting in the area for the next few weeks. Nothing is quite definite - the deal is about 75% there, but nothing's been signed as of yet - but if we come to a meeting of the minds, I'll probably not update for a couple of weeks or so.
In other words, no big changes.
You'll notice that I've added a blogroll on the sidebar - and have added a few more blogs of interest.
A big shout-out to Dennis of Sergio Leone and the Infield Fly Rule - he's finally started to post the results of his summer film quiz and has had some nice things to say about my contributions.
As to those Halloween double features... to kick things off, I offer up the combination of:
Lifeforce (1985) and Dreamcatcher (2003)
They're both fairly light films, to start; they're both a lot of fun and they both were reviled at the time of their release, but have gained cult followings.
More later...
I had intended on a lengthy post; going into some detail on Halloween double-features, as well as a rant on NIGHT STINKER and how Spotnitz and crew chose to exploit the wrong franchise (if they had taken inspiration from THE NORLISS TAPES - Dan Curtis' own failed television pilot featuring a Kolchak-like reporter without Darrin McGavin in the lead - then the current show would probably not suck as hard as it does)... but most of that will have to wait a while.
I may have a job on a lo-budget feature shooting in the area for the next few weeks. Nothing is quite definite - the deal is about 75% there, but nothing's been signed as of yet - but if we come to a meeting of the minds, I'll probably not update for a couple of weeks or so.
In other words, no big changes.
You'll notice that I've added a blogroll on the sidebar - and have added a few more blogs of interest.
A big shout-out to Dennis of Sergio Leone and the Infield Fly Rule - he's finally started to post the results of his summer film quiz and has had some nice things to say about my contributions.
As to those Halloween double features... to kick things off, I offer up the combination of:
Lifeforce (1985) and Dreamcatcher (2003)
They're both fairly light films, to start; they're both a lot of fun and they both were reviled at the time of their release, but have gained cult followings.
More later...
Friday, October 07, 2005
Night Stinker
To: Frank Spotnitz, producer
Re: NIGHT STALKER revival
Mr. Spotnitz:
Saw the second episode of your Night Stalker revival show... I missed the pilot, but did want to at least sample the show. I hate to add to the reams of mail you've gotten denouncing the show - but after seeing "The Five People You Meet In Hell", I have no other choice.
First of all - if you want to make an "X-Files" of your own, why didn't you just pay Chris Carter a fee and come up with a differently titled show? What I saw wasn't even in the spirit of "Night Stalker" - it was literally cobbled together from X-FILES leavings, from concept to scripted lines. If a blind person were listening to the show, they'd think they'd stumbled onto a syndicated rerun. For all the hype this past summer about 'reimaging' NIGHT STALKER, I would have hoped for something better than a show that blatantly uses concepts and character motivations from X-FILES, combined with the dark sensibility of MILLENNIUM, only to emerge as something much lesser than all those shows combined.
The maddening thing is, there appears to be a lot of talent involved (the sight of Darin Morgan's name as a Consulting Producer was welcome), and a lot of effort put into the show.... but the damn thing is BORING. There's no reason to care about these characters - at least no good reason given. And there's no good reason for this show being called NIGHT STALKER other than trying to grab an audience due to name recognition. Perhaps if it had been developed as something to stand on its own feet instead of being propped up by name branding and outright "homaging" of another show.
The one good thing to come of it is that it allowed the release of the original series with Darren McGavin onto DVD format, for the fans of the original series to enjoy and for newer audiences to discover.
I hope that the show lasts long enough to develop its own voice - hopefully one of Darin Morgan's scripts will be brillant enough to cut through the dross of this NIGHT STINKER. Maybe by then, I'll be interested in watching the show on a regular basis. But somehow, I doubt that day will come.
ADDENDUM - 10/10/05
I actually got a response to this as follows:
thank you for your letter i will certainly pass this along to mr. spotnitz. it's such a shame that judgement has been passed based on one episode. sad really. luckily we have been blessed with thousands of letters of support from people who love the show. maybe you'll change your mind at some later point. thanks again for writing.
night stalker staff
Kinda snarky, but only fair, since my mail was kinda snarky also - at least they're polite. And they are answering mail.
To: Frank Spotnitz, producer
Re: NIGHT STALKER revival
Mr. Spotnitz:
Saw the second episode of your Night Stalker revival show... I missed the pilot, but did want to at least sample the show. I hate to add to the reams of mail you've gotten denouncing the show - but after seeing "The Five People You Meet In Hell", I have no other choice.
First of all - if you want to make an "X-Files" of your own, why didn't you just pay Chris Carter a fee and come up with a differently titled show? What I saw wasn't even in the spirit of "Night Stalker" - it was literally cobbled together from X-FILES leavings, from concept to scripted lines. If a blind person were listening to the show, they'd think they'd stumbled onto a syndicated rerun. For all the hype this past summer about 'reimaging' NIGHT STALKER, I would have hoped for something better than a show that blatantly uses concepts and character motivations from X-FILES, combined with the dark sensibility of MILLENNIUM, only to emerge as something much lesser than all those shows combined.
The maddening thing is, there appears to be a lot of talent involved (the sight of Darin Morgan's name as a Consulting Producer was welcome), and a lot of effort put into the show.... but the damn thing is BORING. There's no reason to care about these characters - at least no good reason given. And there's no good reason for this show being called NIGHT STALKER other than trying to grab an audience due to name recognition. Perhaps if it had been developed as something to stand on its own feet instead of being propped up by name branding and outright "homaging" of another show.
The one good thing to come of it is that it allowed the release of the original series with Darren McGavin onto DVD format, for the fans of the original series to enjoy and for newer audiences to discover.
I hope that the show lasts long enough to develop its own voice - hopefully one of Darin Morgan's scripts will be brillant enough to cut through the dross of this NIGHT STINKER. Maybe by then, I'll be interested in watching the show on a regular basis. But somehow, I doubt that day will come.
ADDENDUM - 10/10/05
I actually got a response to this as follows:
thank you for your letter i will certainly pass this along to mr. spotnitz. it's such a shame that judgement has been passed based on one episode. sad really. luckily we have been blessed with thousands of letters of support from people who love the show. maybe you'll change your mind at some later point. thanks again for writing.
night stalker staff
Kinda snarky, but only fair, since my mail was kinda snarky also - at least they're polite. And they are answering mail.
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