MIDNIGHT CALLER: CONVERSATIONS WITH THE ASSASSIN {SERIES PREMIERE} (TV)
Summary
The pilot of this series of dramas about Jack Killian, an ex-police officer, who, under the name of Nighthawk, became the host of a late-night radio talk show after he accidently killed his partner.
San Francisco police detective Jack Killian chases down a criminal in Chinatown with the aid of his partner, Rusty Collins. Meanwhile, a prostitute calling herself “Angel” gets into a car with a potential client and kills him with a handgun. During the chase, Jack accidentally shoots Rusty, killing him. Wracked with grief, Jack secludes himself in his apartment for months, unwilling to return to duty as he feels wholly responsible for Rusty’s death. His inability to cope with his grief proves to be intolerable for Tina, his girlfriend, and she leaves him. One night, Jack is visited by Devon King, owner of the KJCM radio station. She asks him to be the host of a late night radio talk show, “Midnight Caller,” meant to inform listeners of how to defend themselves from street crime. He is intrigued and takes her up on her offer.
Devon takes Jack through the KJCM station and introduces him to his new producer, Billy Po. In the daytime, Angel stalks about and spies on a wedding ceremony letting out of a church. Just before his first show, Jack rejects Devon’s script and ad-libs on air, granting himself the moniker of “the Nighthawk.” He takes his first caller and recognizes the voice as belonging to a small-time criminal, taking the opportunity to inform the police department about it. Angel takes aside another man and shoots him in his car. Jack takes a number of callers on his first night, some with rather unusual requests. One caller confronts him about Rusty’s death, making Jack highly uncomfortable. Angel listens intently to the entire program and finds herself fascinated with Jack, becoming a regular listener.
Midnight Caller is on for a few weeks, and Jack begins to settle in to his new job. He gains a sizeable listenership and becomes something of a celebrity around San Francisco. Angel starts becoming obsessed with Jack and follows him around. One night, Angel calls in to the show and makes cryptic comments about their “odyssey” together, alluding to her string of murders. She abruptly hangs up after making a comment about her and Jack being united in “holy wedlock,” piquing Jack’s curiosity. The next day he talks to his former boss, Lieutenant Zymak, about the call, and he tells him that the department is currently dealing with a string of unsolved murders, possibly the work of a serial killer. All of the victims were men shot in their cars, and they have been unable to get any substantial evidence identifying the killer. Jack presents him with a list of dates for the killings, supplied to him by Angel on the show. He offers to help the police solve the case in an unofficial capacity.
The next night, Jack gets another caller on the show claiming to be an amateur detective, who is also interested in the murders perpetrated by Angel and who urges Jack to do work on the case himself. The caller turns out to be Lieutenant Zymak disguising his voice; they have set this up to raise awareness about Angel’s activities, and possibly to get her to call in and surrender. Jack returns home after the show to find that Angel has left a voice message for him, letting him know that she’s seen through his ruse and is “very disappointed” with him; she makes a vague threat before hanging up. The next night, Angel calls in to the show again from a nightclub, claiming that she’s “restless.” Jack tries to figure out where the call is coming from, but fails. Angel hangs up and shoots another victim dead before calling Jack back. The police scramble to put a trace on her call, and it is revealed that she is calling from within the radio station itself, from Devon’s office.
Angel ambushes Devon in her office and fires several shots above her head before walking away. The next day, Lieutenant Zymak and the police come in to investigate the incident, and Jack offers his assistance. Devon feels as though Jack has unfairly put her life in danger in order to capture Angel, and Jack decides that he can no longer host his radio program and quits. However, Devon convinces him that he’s done a great deal of good for his callers, and that quitting would be cowardly. She tries to convince him to stay. At home, Jack receives another call from Angel, who instructs him to bring a ring she put in his mailbox to a certain address. Once there, Jack speaks to her again over a payphone before she invites him to speak to her in person in an apartment building, insisting that he wear the wedding ring. He enters the building, wandering through a room filled with mannequins in various items of bridal attire. Finally he confronts Angel, dressed in a wedding gown complete with bouquet. She attempts to shoot him but he shoots her first, sending her plummeting out of a window to the ground. He inspects her gun, finding that it is unloaded, much to his surprise. Commercials deleted.
Details
- NETWORK: NBC
- DATE: October 25, 1988 10:00 PM
- RUNNING TIME: 0:48:34
- COLOR/B&W: Color
- CATALOG ID: B:47072
- GENRE: Drama, police/private detective
- SUBJECT HEADING: Drama, police/private detective
- SERIES RUN: NBC - TV series, 1988-1991
- COMMERCIALS: N/A
CREDITS
- Robert Singer … Executive Producer
- Robert Butler … Executive Producer
- Thomas Carter … Supervising Producer, Director
- Richard DiLello … Producer, Writer
- Brad Fiedel … Music by
- Gary Cole … Cast, Jack Killian
- Wendy Kilbourne … Cast, Devon King
- Arthur Taxier … Cast, Lt. Carl Zymak
- Dennis Dun … Cast, Billy Po
- Jenny Wright … Cast, Angel
- Kay Lenz … Cast, Tina
- Frank Papia … Cast, Rusty Collins
- John Eggold … Cast, Bozo
- Catherine Keats … Cast, Flo
- Annette Rodriguez … Cast, Maid
- Marque Gritta … Cast, The John
- David Cramer … Cast, Wire Tap Specialist
- Robert E. Lee … Cast, The Second John