The Incredible Mr. Limpet (1964) featured Knotts as a Henry Limpet, a milquetoast human who turns into a fish and helps the US Navy during the Second World War. While not a brilliant film, it did cleverly combine animation and live action. My favourite Don Knott's film remains The Ghost and Mr. Chicken (1966). He plays Luthor Beggs, a jittery typesetter at the local paper who dreams of being an ace reporter. He's offered the chance to write a story about a haunted house and ends up solving a 20-year old murder case. The film was competently directed by Alan Rafkin and features an above-average score by Vic Mizzy, best known for creating the theme music for TV's The Addams Family. I just loved The Ghost and Mr. Chicken. It was funny and silly, with a few scenes that truly scared the bejeezus out of me. And I’ve had that organ solo – if you’ve seen the film you know what I’m talking about - stuck in my head for 30 years. Knotts had a way of epitomizing a kind of goofy excitability that kids like me could relate to. It's also refreshing to remember a time when family films didn't need fart jokes to be entertaining. 
Darren McGavin died last Saturday a few months short of his 84th birthday. I first discovered McGavin in a short-lived, but hugely influential mystery series called Kolchak: The Night Stalker. McGavin played Carl Kolchak, an irascible reporter with a penchant for stumbling onto monsters, ghosts and vampires. In a career that lasted 50 years, McGavin played a lot of characters, but Carl Kolchak was my favourite. Despite the improbability of events that plagued him, and the unwillingness of the police and his associates to ever give him a break, Kolchak never gave up. He was hard to love at times, but impossible not to root for. I’d like to think there’s a little bit of the spirit of Luthor Beggs and Carl Kolchak in me.
