This TV show originally aired from 1982-86. I have the first three of four seasons (1982, 1983, and 1984); the last (4th) season sucked. I was in Paris when this was originally on TV, so I only caught it on DVD ages later, when I purchased the first three seasons on DVD and read Knight Rider Legacy, by Joe Huth and Richie Levine, a thick guide to the series – practically everything you’d ever want to know about it.
Premise. Michael Long (Larry Anderson), an undercover LAPD cop working a case in Las Vegas, is brutally shot and left to die. He is rescued, brought back from the brink of death, and given a new face, name, and identity as the adopted son of a wealthy philanthropist, Wilton Knight, whose natural son Garthe had disappeared long ago into a life of crime. His new assignment: work for the Foundation of Law and Government, a mysterious (pre-BlackWater) private company which handles sensitive missions – somewhat of a more pretentious and fancier version of The A-Team, plus KITT and minus Mr. T.
Highly and improbably modified 1982 Trans Am, aka Knight Industries Two Thousand, better known as KITT. With its shiny black finish and asymmetric hood bulge, KITT bears a close resemblence to my own 1992 Formula. KITT has a tan interior with t-tops, the decklid spoiler, and standard 15x7” wheels, whereas my own has a black interior, no t-tops, a ’91-92-only aero wing spoiler, and the stock 16x8” Deep Dish High Tech Turbo wheels. I could never stand KITT’s fake computerized dashboard and bizarre steering wheel, or the Cylon-inspired red strobe light “scanner” in the front bumper. I have to laugh at the “KITT kits” available for turning a Firebird into a KITT replica, as I never liked what they did with KITT. While I’ve heard many ’77-81 S/E Trans Am owners give the movie “Smokey and the Bandit” credit for inspiring their “Bandit T/A” purchases, the show had no role in my purchase, or even the decision to have the blue-green exterior repainted black. It was only after I’d had the car for a few years that I even bothered to start watching the show on DVD.
For some reason they never explain what engine KITT has. Stock Trans Ams from that year would have no better than a 165 HP 5.0L V8 with TBI, which was the engine in the show “hero” cars; the stunt (jump) cars had hotter engines.
In addition to being jet black and bad-ass, KITT has various clever functions:
A. “Molecular bonded shell”, a fancy way of saying the car is bulletproof.
B. A self-aware computer, voiced by William Daniels, which can drive the car itself (particularly useful if Knight is asleep or incapacitated) and do all sorts of complicated computations. It also taps into databases and acts as a de facto Internet years before Al Gore invented it. KITT can talk, of course, so he can crack jokes with Michael and complain about how stupid humans are, or how he needs synthetic oil.
C. Turbo boost, which jets the car forward at 300 mph (!!!), in a fashion similar to the jumpers on the Mach 5 (Speed Racer).
Knight Industries has a huge black trailer which they use as a remote garage to fix KITT out on the highway – mainly minor repairs and upgrades, nothing like body work (no lift or frame machine). Bonnie and Devon are usually to be found on the trailer when Michael drives KITT into it.
William Daniels’ voice, as KITT, is somewhat dandified, like Higgins from “Magnum P.I.” Is KITT gay? Well, he shows no preference for other male cars, show tunes, or Liza Minelli. No one will confuse KITT with Hulk Hogan or Steve Austin (Stone Cold or Lee Majors). Some of his dialogue is a bit goofy and stupid, but that applies to most of the writing on the show. Daniels and Hasselhoff worked separately and only met each other in person at Christmas parties.
The TV writers can’t resist “evil twin” episodes, so there was an evil version of KITT, called KARR, who looks the same and has similar capabilities. Naturally KITT beats KARR.
Major cast and characters:
Michael Knight (David Hasselhoff). Arguably, KITT is the star of the show, but Hasselhoff comes a close second. He’s tall, handsome, rugged, and articulate. He usually wears sport jackets and turtlenecks. While there is no sex on the show, Knight is frequently put into positions of romantic entanglement with various female characters – with the conspicuous exceptions of Bonnie & April.
Don Johnson was also considered for the role, but Hasselhoff had immediately latched on to the concept and became obsessed with securing the role – which he did. Although Hasselhoff has been on “Baywatch” for several seasons, had a bizarre career as a German singing star, and more recently was a judge on “America’s Got Talent”, I still think of him as Michael Knight. From what I hear, he gives this show credit for establishing his career and even has the “Knight Rider” theme song as the ringtone on his cell phone.
As with KARR, they brought Garthe Knight in for an episode, also played by Hasselhoff but with a beard so they could be distinguished on screen. And Michael beats Garthe, as you can imagine (no threesome with Bonnie, sorry).
Bonnie (Patricia McPherson). The team’s female mechanic gets along fine with KITT and keeps him running smoothly; she even installs upgrades periodically. She’s attractive and gets along with Knight; they tease and kid each other mercilessly, but despite obvious mutual attraction the relationship remained platonic. During the second season Bonnie as replaced by April (Rebecca Holden), who while attractive was a bit too glamorous for the role – and was still platonic with Knight. Recall my 80’s blog where I slammed most of the TV from that era as being wholesome and dull – especially after the more adventurous 60s and 70s. I suppose we can blame Reagan for Bonnie’s frustration.
Devon Miles (Edward Mulhare). I knew I had seen him before – “The Ghost and Mrs. Muir”. Devon is the boss, so to speak, and gives Michael and KITT their assignments. In one episode Devon himself is arrested and jailed in some small town – trumped up bullshit speeding charges, of course – and contrives a breakout using his experience breaking out of German POW camps during WWII. Devon knows how stuffy to be without being full of himself; he brings some charm and sophistication to a show which would otherwise be simply “cool black talking car and handsome secret agent”.
Foundation for Law And Government (FLAG). The early 80s were a time when local law enforcement was corrupt and incompetent, and the FBI and CIA nonexistent. People with problems had no one to turn to, except the mysterious Foundation for Law and Government, with its immense worldwide staff of…three humans and a talking Trans Am. If the A-Team were too stupid and brutal for your needs – and their GMC van didn’t talk! – FLAG would get the job done.
As I said, I’ve now seen three seasons worth of episodes. The writing is well below “Cheers”, “M*A*S*H”, or even “Two and a Half Men” in quality. Some of the Michael-KITT banter is embarrassingly insipid. The plots are unoriginal and constantly recycled, and oddly similar to “The A-Team” and countless other late 70s and early 80s drama/action shows. Although Michael gets a fair amount of off-screen action (the female characters, of course, are conveniently gone afterwards), Michael and Bonnie never hook up and Bonnie displays little or no jealousy (damn it, no threesome with April, either). But I still like watching that black car race down the streets and highways of California.
Remake. I caught the pilot of the remake when it came out, and zoned out almost immediately. KITT as a Mustang? I don’t care if a stock Mustang Cobra will spank an ’82 Trans Am, this makes as much sense as the Bandit driving a Challenger, or the Dukes driving a Neon (the Corporal Lee?). Moreover, “KITT” could transform into an F-150, a Crown Vic, or even a Flex – sounds like the full 2009 Ford line! Give me a break. As soon as the Firebird was discontinued in 2002 that spelled the effective end of any chances of a real Knight Rider remake. Fortunately the powers that be at NBC got the clue and pulled the plug after one season.
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