Midnight Caller

By Wikipedia

Midnight Caller was a dramatic NBC television series which ran from 1988 until 1991.

Midnight Caller was one of the first television series to address the dramatic possibilities of the then-growing phenomenon of talk radio. It starred Gary Cole as Jack Killian, a former San Francisco police detective who had quit the force after accidentally shooting his partner to death in a confrontation with armed criminals. After lapsing into alcoholism, Killian received an offer from Devon King (Wendy Kilbourne), the beautiful and wealthy owner-operator of KJCM-FM, to become "The Nighthawk", host of an overnight talk show.

Naturally Killian's adventures took him frequently back into the realm of police work, where several of his former colleagues were less than happy to see him again. He faced a myriad of problems, both personal and professional, and was at various points required to come to grips with the nature of his relationship with both his absentee father and his troubled siblings.

What he never seemed to come to grips with, however, was his relationship, or lack of one, with Devon; there seemed to be a lot of unconsummated sexual tension between the pair, especially early in the show's run; Devon eventually became pregnant in a relationship with another man and sold the station (Miss Kilbourne was undergoing a simultaneous real-life pregnancy.) The show never seemed to recover from her absence; despite hard-hitting topical episodes dealing with AIDS, capital punishment, and child abuse, among other topics, it lost audience and was soon cancelled.

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"The best network television drama ever. Absolutely superb writing, acting and direction. NBC killed it by changing time slots and confusing the audience. Each episode could have been a movie if it were two hours." --Sportsdog

"I loved Midnight Caller. It was one of the few outstanding shows aired during this period. It helps that Gary Cole was such a babe...still is! The fact that he was a flawed character, that every problem was not solved by Dr. Huxtable in a half hour, and his constant stuggle to do the right thing made this one of my favorite shows." --Hah424

"My faourite two episodes of this series were: The one where Jack helps a old friend who is hooked on drugs, I thought this episode was execellent in the way that it dealt with these sensitive issues. My other favourite was called 'Blues For Mr Charlie' in which Jack is accused of inciting a black man's death, when corner store owner Charlie Dreksell shoots an innocent man dead after listening to Jack's show. This was my all time favourite series of the Awesome80s, an I love anything that has Gary Cole in it anyway. I'm a big fan." --Cat

"My favourite episode of Midnight Caller was one aired a year after the earthquake in San Francisco. The story begins with Jack continuing to have nightmares a year after the quake, so he does a program for everyone who remembered that day. Flashbacks show what he and the others were doing during the quake, what small stories of courage and heartbreak passed through the radio station and its community that day. As always, this show takes the unique vantage point of looking back to the day of the quake, not actually being there. I loved Midnight Caller for not always taking the safe way out, and because it allowed Jack Killian to be a flawed and very human man, rather than some kind of macho supercop turned radio god:) This is one series I'd pay good money for on DVD, Gary Cole couldn't have been more perfect as Jack Killian." --Arcayne

"as a dj myself(MARC. L. JAY. ) I found the show very surreal but enjoyable in an ironic state of mind gary cole was simply awesome I say bring it back with tobert downey jnr as jack killian. MARC. " --ZARIKAN