The Kolchak: The Night Stalker is an American television series that aired on ABC during the 1974–1975 season. The series was preceded by the two television movies, The Night Strangler (1972) The main character originated in an unpublished novel written by Jeff Rice. The X-Files producer Frank Spotnitz resurrected the series in 2005, inspired by that success, with a new cast and characters, as well as subsequent novels and comic books.