Darren McGavin would later that year begin his series Kolchak: The Night Stalker (1974) (following the success of two earlier solid TV movie pilots), one of the first episodes of which was also titled "The Ripper." McGavin's real-life wife Kathie Browne works with him here, rivaling her appearance as his police brass foil in the final "Kolchak" episode "The Sentry," capping off the show's single season. Also appearing here are John Fiedler who in "Kolchak" would play one of McGavin's main sources Gordy the morgue attendant, as well as Barry Atwater who in the original TV movie The Night Stalker (1972) had played the story's main antagonist, vampire Janos Skorzeny, arguably the title role before "The Night Stalker" came to define McGavin's Carl Kolchak character himself.