Jack Killian (Gary Cole) was an ex-cop in San Francisco who quit the police force after accidentally shooting and killing his patrol partner while pursuing a crook. Jack was exonerated but chose to leave the force anyway.
He was approached by beautiful local radio station owner Devon King (Wendy Kilbourne) and accepted a job as a late-night talkback host on KJCM (98.3 FM) to help people who are worried about street crime.
There – using the broadcast nickname of ‘Nighthawk’ on a show called “Midnight Caller”, airing from midnight to 3.00 am – he found himself in contact with all manner of shady people who called him up and left him intriguing cases to solve, which he either passed on to his policeman friend Carl Zymak (Arthur Taxier), or to newspaper contact Deacon Bridges (Mykelti Williamson).
Ever the humanitarian, Jack would frequently get personally involved with the plight of those who called his show, often in great personal danger.
The phone-ins also covered intense moral issues. One first-season episode (“After It Happened”) generated controversy because of its AIDS-related storyline.
According to AIDS activists, an early draft of the script called for a woman to shoot the bisexual man who had infected her and others. The ending was modified before the show aired.
For the sequel, televised during the second season, the show’s producers invited some of the protesting groups
to advise them on the script.
Jack Killian proved to be a thoughtful but straight-talking host if a touch too moody and flip outside the studio. On the other side of the glass was studio engineer Billy Po (Dennis Dun).
Jack lived at 928 Fargo Street (Apartment 3C). Carmen’s Bar was his favourite watering hole. Devon lived at 3546 North Weatherly.
KCJM was located at 9009 Howard Street on the 38th floor.
At the beginning of the 1990 – 1991 season, Devon was seen to be pregnant. Stockbroker Richard Clark (Christopher Lawford) was revealed to be the father – although it had been rumoured by Jack’s nemesis – Becca Nicholson (Eugenie Ross-Leming), a gossip columnist for the San Francisco Dispatch – that Jack was the father.
Devon and Richard married and moved to Tahiti, with Devon selling the radio station to Foster Castleman (Don Meredith) of Aradella Inc. Foster’s “talent lady” Nicky Molloy (Lisa Eilbacher) was given the responsibility of running KJCM.
When Devon had her baby (at Saint Francis Memorial Hospital), she and Richard named him Jack.
Jack ‘Nighthawk’ Killian
Gary Cole Devon King
Wendy Kilbourne Billy Po
Dennis Dun Lt. Carl Zymak
Arthur Taxier Deacon Bridges
Mykelti Williamson Nicky Molloy
Lisa Eilbacher Richard Clark
Christopher Lawford Becca Nicholson
Eugenie Ross-Leming Foster Castleman
Don Meredith
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The phone-ins also covered intense moral issues. One first-season episode (“After It Happened”) generated controversy because of its AIDS-related storyline.
