ALEXJONES.BIZ

I remember the series like it was yesterday and unfortunately the others as well. Michael Knight, played by David Hasselhoff, was a modern knight who avoided violence whenever possible and generally refrained from using firearms. Although most of his cases were based in California where FLAG was headquartered, he could travel to whatever part of the country trouble arose in; sometimes even crossing borders into Mexico. FLAG also had facilities in Las Vegas and Chicago. The organization also owned an 18-wheeler that served as a mobile office and also offered technical support for KITT.

I loved this series. I don’t believe I missed an episode. The car was the draw for me. Sometimes the story line was boring but the car scenes made up for it. I never really knew much about the shows/movies that spawned from the series.

The two part episode “Mouth of the Snake” in 1984 served as a backdoor pilot for a short lived series entitled Code of Vengeance, revolving around Vietnam vet David Dalton. The Knight Rider episode featured David exhibiting great gymnastics, but when Code of Vengeance aired, Dalton was an ordinary-skilled drifter. It soon fell off the schedules after only five episodes.

Knight Rider 2000, has Devon Miles killed, with KITT being given a new sporty red body (provided by the Pontiac Banshee IV concept car) as the Knight 4000. It did not sell. The Banshee was/is a horrible looking car. It has no style at all.

Knight Rider 2010, a 1994 movie very loosely based on the show. In this case, a Classic 1969 Ford Mustang replaces the legendary Pontiac Trans Am. I’ll have to look this one up and see if it is available.

In 1997, Team Knight Rider was introduced as a spinoff. Set sometime in the near future, the show featured a fleet of intelligent vehicles. Michael Knight returned at the end of the final episode of the first season, though not played by Hasselhoff. This was a cliffhanger intended to be explained in the next season. However, the show did not catch on and the second season was not commissioned. Team Knight Rider ran for 22 episodes. I liked this series and was sad to see it go.

On September 26, 2007, NBC announced that it was creating a two-hour backdoor pilot to air later that season. In the new version, Justin Bruening stars as the estranged son of Michael Knight, Mike Traceur. Deanna Russo plays Traceur’s one-time girlfriend and love interest, Sarah Graiman. Bruce Davison co-stars as her father, physicist Charles Graiman, the original designer of KITT (Knight Industries Two Thousand). Wayne Kasserman co-stars as Mike’s roommate and friend. David Hasselhoff also had a cameo as Michael Knight. KITT is portrayed as a black 550 HP Ford Shelby GT 500 KR Mustang. Awesome looking car. I even like the Attack version.

NBC aired the show on February 17, 2008. Val Kilmer was the voice for the new KITT (Knight Industries Three Thousand) Mustang (the part had been recorded by Will Arnett, but he was asked to withdraw by General Motors because of Arnett’s prior agreements with GM on advertising.), and Sydney Tamiia Poitier,the youngest daughter of Sidney Poitier, plays FBI agent Carrie Rivai.

So after receiving good enough ratings, NBC announced that Knight Rider will return as a weekly series beginning in the fall of 2008. The show is set to air Wednesdays at 8:00PM/7:00PM CT. Looking forward to it.