Rudolph Borchert

He grew up in the heyday of radio detective fiction in the 1930s, so it's not surprising that Rudolph Borchert went on to pen some of TV's best. Making his debut on the '70s thriller series "Kolchak: The Night Stalker," Borchert wrote five episodes before its premature cancellation. Not to be confused with "Kojak," a contemporaneous police procedural, "Kolchak" featured the exploits of a reporter on the trail of bizarre and inexplicable crimes. The show predated the more popular "The X-Files" by several decades, and is said to have provided inspiration to creator Chris Carter. Borchert's next major contribution was to the Los Angeles P.I. drama "The Rockford Files," where he served as a writer from 1975 to 1980. Five of his episodes made it to air, including the finale, "Deadlock in Parma." As of 1978, he was also contributing material to the freewheeling bike cop series, "CHiPs," which featured his work until its penultimate season. In the '80s, Borchert wrote for both the sci-fi tinged comedy "The Greatest American Hero" and the William Shatner detective number "T.J. Hooker." Between 1984 and 1985, Borchert's writing appeared regularly on the spy series "Scarecrow and Mrs. King," on which he also served as an executive story consultant.