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It is definitely well worth watching. But you need to understand it is very different from the original. It does not try to be a remake (thank god, how dull that would be), but it is a re-imaging of the franchise. So don't assume that what is true about the original will be true about this. It does seem to be heavily influenced by X Files in some ways. Younger lead actor, a female costar, ongoing story arcs (at least they were planned), and one of hte main guys from the X Files was involved in making this, so yeah the influences will be there. Great production values, great stories, great acting--the DVD set goes pretty cheap on ebay. I REALLY enjoyed pretty much every episode. It is a real shame that this series didn't last longer. But it was competing with Supernatural (which I also love, but view as the inferior of the two).

I think it could very easily have been a re-imagining--it is just very strikingly different. The title character is considerably younger in the new series--15 to 20 years younger than the 1970's Kolchak. How do we know what Kolchak was like when he was much younger? The Darren McGavin Kolchack WAS young at one point--he was not born in his 40's. People can change drastically over such an expanse of time, and both series are set in different eras (1970s vs. 2000s) as well. Times have changed a lot. There are some basic similarities between both Kolchak's--both are journalists, both maintain a steadfast belief in the existence of the supernatural, both try to conquer supernatural foes, both have to deal with a lack of support from the police more or less, etc. etc. I personally feel those similarities are enough--any more would invite too much comparison to the original.

Personally I feel that if you remake a television series, you MUST change things drastically. Otherwise, people will try too hard to compare it to the original, and worse yet--it will be too predictable--people will assume t hey know everything about the characters. I think if you remake a film, it is usually a good idea to have it be very true to the original in many respects, but with a tv series, I feel the opposite is true.

That said, I agree that the series would have done much better if it hadn't tried to be the Night Stalker. The reason why is I don't think the original is well known enough among younger people, who may have been hesitant to court a remake of some old 1970s show they know virtually nothing about from their parents' generation. A similar supernatural series with no back history and baggage (Supernatural) would be more appealing--especially since it is is done in the typical adolescent/teenybooper vein of every series on the WB/CW. The Night Stalker re-imagining was not adolescent enough, and it was too adult, but yet...not adult enough and ORIGINAL enough for actual adults (seemed more like a rehash of the X Files).

Calling it a re-imagining may be a bit of revisionist history--I don't know if it was ever promoted that way initially. I only ever saw it on DVD. But having seen it, I feel that is what it is. They definitely reworked and changed a lot of htings.

I also wanted to add this...

As a kid in the 1990s I only ever saw the episode of Kolchak that featured Lara Parker as a witch. I was not really the slightest bit impressed with that episode, and never bothered to watch it again. As an adult in the 2000s, I watched the whole series on DVD, and was EXTREMELY impressed. It is definitely one of my top favorite series.

I also really enjoyed the new Night Stalker a lot. They kind of have their own distinct flavor and feel--despite the similarities, they felt like entirely different shows. That said, there were some episodes in the new series that were outstanding and ranked up their with some of the best ones of the original series. Maybe they were not great in the same way, but still...I don't think the new series is to be dismissed. It has some great stuff in it.

I can understand why people who grew up on it in the 70s and watched it in syndication probably several times might feel about change, but I say...give it a chance and don't try to compare it to the original. I am glad they don't try to have Kolchak like Darren McGavin...he was amazing, one of a kind--it would be sad to see someone up there trying to impersonate him.