MovieChat Forums > The Night Stalker (1972) Discussion > Need Help with My Memory - Kolchak, Colu...

Need Help with My Memory - Kolchak, Columbo, McCloud

posted 19 years ago by belacane
8 replies | jump to latest

Am I correct in remembering that these three shows (and possibly one other) were in a sort of rotational thing, each one taking the same time slot on a Friday, on the same network, on different weeks? The recent deaths of McGavin and Weaver have reminded me of this, but I was only 7 or 8 at the time and don't remember well.

Was there a fourth show in this rotation? What was it?

Thanks, anyone!

Ah, the rapier wit of an armless D'Artagnan.

[–] ms2000vette 19 years ago

The Night Stalker was on ABC on Friday nights...Columbo, McCloud, McMillan & Wife, and Hec Ramsey were the 4-show rotation on NBC Sunday night that you are remembering...

[–] pettycomplainer 17 years ago

The term is series wheel. Columbo,McCloud, McMillan(&Wife) were the core spokes, but the fourth position was fairly unstable.

[–] CampoGiro 17 years ago

As I recall, the original Night Stalker movie was a part of ABC's Movie of the Week, which generally aired on Tuesday nights during the late 1960's to the 1970's. This movie brought in some phenomenal TV ratings at that time, back about January of 1972. I think these ratings remain relatively strong until this day. The Night Strangler was the sequel to this movie which came out about the next year. (I didn't like it as well as the original.)

The TV series The Night Stalker was a different animal, albeit with much the same cast, and aired in the 1974 season, if memory serves.

[–] oxblood 16 years ago

"The term is series wheel. Columbo,McCloud, McMillan(&Wife) were the core spokes, but the fourth position was fairly unstable."

Yeah, after a few failed attempts at filling the fourth slot they just used it for pilot that ended up failing. One was called Cutter about a black P.I. and another was Madigan with Richard Widmark.

[–] jdstewart 12 years ago

Was Banacek one of those series in the wheel?

[–] rogerscorpion 10 years ago

There was a 2nd 'series wheel', which included Banacek, Madigan & Cool Million(starring James Farentino).

Carpe Noctem!

[–] tehck 9 years ago

Fascinating. There was another variant that was used in the series "The Name of the Game" which rotated stars and characters under one title. The principals were Tony Franciosa, Gene Barry, and Robert Stack.

The oldest "wheel" series I can remember was composed of Westerns -- Sugarfoot, Cheyenne, and Bronco -- in the late 50s.

Actually, I just looked up Sugarfoot, and the history of this wheel is much, much more complicated than I remember and involves other shows like the far better-known Maverick. But at one point, it did have the rotation above.

[–] doug65oh 9 years ago

The Snoop Sisters was another show on that second Wednesday night wheel.