Darren McGavin

A Christmas Story

Bob Clark

Melinda Dillon, Darren McGavin

The comic mishaps and adventures of a young boy named Ralph, trying to convince his parents, teachers, and Santa that a Red Ryder B.B. gun really is the perfect Christmas gift for the 1940s.

Kolchak: Demon and the Mummy

Don Weis, Don MacDougall

Darren McGavin, Simon Oakland

The second of two Kolchak: The Night Stalker compilation TV films. It combines two episodes of the Kolchak TV series, Demon In Lace (about a succubus who murders young men to maintain her immortality) and Legacy of Terror (about an Aztec cult that seeks to resurrect their god by murdering physically perfect people) and adds new narration by Darren McGavin.

The Outsider

Michael Ritchie

Darren McGavin, Sean Garrison

Darren McGavin is David Ross, a private investigator playing a game of follow the money. A simple case of embezzling turns bad quickly when bodies start dropping and the savvy P.I. is the primary suspect in an attractive woman's death. This NBC TV movie served as a pilot for the later series.

Mastergate

Michael Engler

Tim Reid, Marcia Strassman

A "play on words" about a fictional political scandal concerning covert arms deals and double-dealing government operatives, satirizing the Watergate hearings of 1972-1973.

Banyon

Robert Day

Robert Forster, Darren McGavin

Miles C. Banyon is a private investigator in 1930s Los Angeles. In this TV movie—which served as the pilot episode for the short-lived TV show—Banyon's new client, a young woman, is found dead in his office...shot with his own gun.

Crackle of Death

Alexander Grasshoff, Don Weis

Darren McGavin, Simon Oakland

The first of two Kolchak: The Night Stalker compilation TV films. It combines two episodes of the Kolchak TV series, Firefall (about the ghost of an arsonist that tries to take over a renowned conductor's body as his doppelgänger) and The Energy Eater (about a Native American bear-spirit haunting a newly built hospital) and adds new narration by Darren McGavin.

Law and Order

Marvin J. Chomsky

Darren McGavin, Keir Dullea

Story follows three generations of a family in the New York City Police Department.

Disneyland '59

Hamilton Luske, Marshall Diskin

Eddie Albert, Danny Alguire

Walt Disney and Art Linkletter co-host a live celebration of Disneyland's 1959 expansion that consisted of the debuts of Matterhorn Bobsleds, the Disneyland-Alweg Monorail, and the Submarine Voyage, a project so massive that it was called "The Second Opening of Disneyland". Highlights include a mammoth, star-studded parade and the official launching of the Disneyland submarines by U.S. Navy officers. Among the guests are then-Vice-President Richard Nixon and family, Clint Eastwood, and Meredith Willson, who leads the Disneyland band in his own "76 Trombones." Sponsored by Kodak, the commercial spokespersons include Ozzie and Harriet Nelson.

Say Goodbye, Maggie Cole

Jud Taylor

Susan Hayward, Darren McGavin

Maggie Cole is a research scientist who, after the sudden death of her husband, takes a position as an on-call doctor in an inner-city clinic. There, she must fight a battle on two fronts: against the medical conditions endangering her patients and against sexism toward a female doctor.

The Natural

Barry Levinson

Robert Redford, Robert Duvall

An unknown middle-aged batter named Roy Hobbs with a mysterious past appears out of nowhere to take a losing 1930s baseball team to the top of the league.

African Gold

David Millin

Darren McGavin, Maria Perschy

The sky lights up and the desert comes alive on this desperate search for hidden millions.

The Night Stalker

John Llewellyn Moxey

Darren McGavin, Carol Lynley

Wisecracking reporter Carl Kolchak investigates a string of murders in Las Vegas and suspects the culprit is a vampire. His editor thinks he's crazy and the police think he's a nuisance, so Kolchak takes matters into his own hands.

The Man with the Golden Arm

Otto Preminger

Frank Sinatra, Eleanor Parker

A junkie must face his true self to kick his drug addiction.

Tribes

Joseph Sargent

Darren McGavin, Earl Holliman

A Marine Corps drill instructor who is disgusted by the fact that the Corps now accepts draftees finds himself pitted against a hippie who has been drafted but refuses to accept the military's way of doing things.

Christmas Unwrapped: The History of Christmas

Harry Smith, James Stewart

Christmas abounds with traditions, from neighborhood carolers to lovingly decorated trees, but from where did all these rituals emerge? This enlightening program looks at the origins of the Western world's most popular Christmas traditions -- from the significance of December 25th and its relationship to winter solstice to the enchanting legend of Santa Claus and Prince Albert's 1841 unveiling of the Christmas tree.

The Night Strangler

Dan Curtis

Darren McGavin, Jo Ann Pflug

After being run out of Las Vegas, reporter Carl Kolchak heads for Seattle and another reporting job with the local paper. It's not long before he is on the trail of another string of bizarre murders. It seems that every 21 years, for the past century, a killer kills a certain number of people, drains them of their blood and then disappears into the night. Kolchak is on his trail, but can he stop him?