Knight Rider (1982 TV series)

For the American media company, see Knight Ridder.

For the Nintendo Entertainment System game, see Knight Rider (video game).

For the 2008 version, see Knight Rider (2008 film).

Knight Rider
Knight Rider logo/titlecard
Genre	Action Drama
Created by	Glen A. Larson
Starring	David Hasselhoff Edward Mulhare Patricia McPherson (Season 1, 3-4) Rebecca Holden (Season 2) Peter Parros (Season 4)
Voices of	KITT: William Daniels (uncredited)
Theme music composer	Stu Phillips
Composer	Don Peake
Country of origin	United States
Original language	English
No. of seasons	4
No. of episodes	90 (list of episodes)
Production
Executive producers	Glen A. Larson Robert Foster
Producers	Glen A. Larson Productions Universal TV
Production location	California
Running time	60 minutes (with commercials)
Original release
Network	NBC
Release	September 26, 1982 – August 8, 1986
Related
Team Knight Rider

Knight Rider is an American television series that ran from September 26, 1982, to August 8, 1986. The series was broadcast on NBC and starred David Hasselhoff as Michael Knight, a kind of modern-day "knight" who drove an advanced smart car with artificial intelligence. Conceived and produced by Glen A. Larson, the show was an instant hit and inspired a sub-genre of high-tech crimefighter series. "I wanted to do The Lone Ranger with a car", Larson said in The Last Great Ride. "Kind of a sci-fi thing, with the soul of a western."

Knight Rider is currently aired in the United States on the NBC Universal cable television channel, Sleuth. In Canada, it airs on Saturday and Sunday on the DejaView network. In the UK, re-runs can be seen on the Satellite, Cable and Digital Terrestrial channel Bravo and Virgin 1 at selected times. In the Middle East the show can be seen on TV Land.

Story

Michael Knight

In the pilot episode, police officer Michael Arthur Long (played by Larry Anderson) was betrayed and nearly killed by a gunshot wound to the head by an industrial espionage expert named Tanya Walker (Phyllis Davis). A metal plate in Long's skull, the result of a head injury sustained during the Vietnam War, deflected the round, which still inflicted serious facial damage.

Declared dead to the public, his medical care was taken over by the Foundation for Law And Government (FLAG). This part of the story is shown in the pilot, titled Knight of the Phoenix in syndication. The symbolism in this title is related to Michael's car, a Pontiac Firebird Trans Am, the likes of which usually featured a giant decal on the hood depicting the fire bird (the Phoenix). The phoenix traditionally is symbolic of rebirth, and the scene of Long collapsing on the hood foreshadows later events.

FLAG is a private crime-fighting arm of Knight Industries, an organization founded by Wilton Knight, a billionaire philanthropist. In the context of the pilot, Wilton Knight (Richard Basehart) is dying of an undisclosed illness. Given a new face via facial reconstructive surgery, Long is resurrected as Michael Knight (now played by David Hasselhoff). Together with a high-tech automobile called the Knight Industries Two Thousand (KITT), Michael Knight agrees to carry on Wilton Knight's crusade of aiding the powerless. He usually was given mission objectives by the new director of FLAG, Wilton Knight's longtime friend and confidant, Devon Miles (Edward Mulhare). Michael was selected for his high level of self-defense training, intelligence, law enforcement experience, and his ability and preference to work alone without assistance or back-up.

Michael Knight was a special type of hero, a modern knight who avoided violence whenever possible and generally refrained from using firearms. Although most of Knight's cases were based in Southern California where FLAG was headquartered, the operation was not confined there. He could travel to whatever part of the country where trouble arose; 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.

In early literature for the series, the aforementioned metal plate in Michael Long's forehead was also said to be used for Knight to pick up various radiowaves and signals. This was played upon in the several Knight Rider tie-in novels published, but was very seldom used in the actual series itself. One of the only questionable examples of it being utilized is in the first season episode "Trust Doesn't Rust", when Michael suddenly tells KITT to switch to the police frequency, although it is arguable that he could have just noticed local commotion, or been acting on a hunch.

In addition to playing Michael Knight, Hasselhoff also played a double role in the Season Two feature-length episodes Goliath and Goliath Returns, portraying not only Michael Knight but also Wilton's biological son Garthe Knight. At the time of Michael's surgery, Garthe was imprisoned in Africa. Believing that his son would never be seen again, Wilton had Michael's face modeled after Garthe's. In the pilot episode, both Devon Miles and Wilton stated that Michael actually resembled the face of Wilton himself as a young man. The novels written after the series aired described Michael's reconstructed face as based on images of both a young Wilton and Wilton's son. In any event, the Garthe storyline would not go beyond the second season, primarily due to Hasselhoff's request that the doppelgänger villain be ended, due to the time it took to be made up and film both the roles of Michael and Garthe. (In episode #47 of the two part "Knight of the Drones" it is revealed that prior to Michael Long/Knight that FLAG had a prospective "Knight" driver who was murdered; however, this was never mentioned in any other episode).

KITT

KITT on display at Universal Studios Hollywood.

KITT, short for "Knight Industries Two Thousand", was for many the real star of the show. The car boasted artificial intelligence of sufficient level to reason, talk (the voice of William Daniels), and deliver sarcastic one-liners to Michael Knight as an equal. KITT could drive himself when Michael was otherwise engaged, keeping in contact via a wrist communicator or "comlink" (a modified LCD AM radio watch). KITT actually was considered two separate machines: the Knight 2000 vehicle and the Knight 2000 microprocessor. According to series creator Glen A. Larson, as quoted from Knight Rider Legacy, "The car is Knight 2000. KITT is the onboard computer. The car is one, and KITT is the nickname for the computer. I never considered the car was named KITT, just the character inside." The two entities were separated briefly throughout the series (refer to the episodes "Soul Survivor", "Junkyard Dog", and "Knight of the Juggernaut.")

KITT's Pontiac Trans Am chassis was reinforced with Wilton Knight's revolutionary Molecular Bonded Shell, which was resistant to most known weapons below heavy artillery. The vehicle's drivetrain consisted of a turbine engine, capable of accelerating to 300 mph; furthermore, the car had numerous other special abilities, the most notable being a frequently used 'Turbo Boost' for jumping over obstacles. This was a stunt similar to that used by the General Lee in The Dukes of Hazzard, where the car (assisted by the aid of ramps and/or air compression) would leap into the air, usually in order to clear a hazardous obstacle. (In fact, the same stunt coordinator, Jack Gill, was involved in both series.) In Give Me Liberty... or Give Me Death, where an alternative-fuel race takes place, a racecar bearing a strong resemblance to the General Lee is racing with KITT. Though the car is missing the trademark Confederate flag and does not sport racing number 01, it is the same color and sports the same wheels as the General Lee. As an aside, its fuel is moonshine, in comparison with KITT's liquid hydrogen. KITT also had many other varied uses - perhaps the most impressive of these was his ability to print money as seen in Episode Four of the second season.

An early version of KITT, before the familiar scanner was completed, had a mockup scanner located at the extreme front of the bumper rather than at the front of the hood. It did not have the regular red light, being made instead of reflective material. The front end of this early model was significantly different from the usual model. It can be seen in a handful of very brief scenes in the pilot episode, and in stock footage used in some other first season episodes. (It can also be seen in a couple of shots of the first season opening sequence, and is prominent in the pre-closing credits sequence used for much of the season.)

KITT's speech is reflected in a 'voice modulator' located above the customized steering wheel. During the first season, the modulator was a red blinking square that lit up in time with KITT's voice. Midway through the first season, in the episode "Hearts of Stone", the voice modulator was updated to reflect that of "evil twin" KARR. KITT's voice modulator was now three red lines that rose and sank from the centre of the screen as he spoke. This look was retained for the remainder of the run, although subtly tweaked in the third and fourth season. (The original blinking red square remained in the opening credits sequence for the remainder of the first season, and could still often be seen as stock footage in episodes of the first two seasons.) The very early mockups of KITT's dashboard showed the original flashing square to have 'Knight 2000' written on the display in LCD type font (this square was also a blank white color in some shots), leading to breaks in continuity, sometimes even within the same scene, as the details of the display varied between shots.

KITT was actually the second smart car developed by FLAG. The first, dubbed KARR (the Knight Automated Roving Robot), was programmed for self-preservation and not the directive for the preservation of human life (see Three Laws of Robotics) that KITT possessed. KARR fell into the wrong hands and served as KITT's mis-programmed evil twin during two episodes, "Trust Doesn't Rust", and "K.I.T.T. vs K.A.R.R.".

Several episodes - particularly during the second season - saw new technical gadgets added to KITT's repertoire, which were usually subsequently used to rescue Michael and KITT from some perilous situation in the same episode (and more often than not were never seen again). These features included a new coating that allowed KITT to drive through fire (in the episode "Ring of Fire"), special spiked tires for added traction ("Speed Demons"), and the ability to drive on water ("Return to Cadiz"). The last of these functions was actually planned for use as a recurring feature of KITT's, but the special effects process, which was done using models, was found to be so awkward and time-consuming that the ability was never utilized again.

The third season opener, "Knight of the Drones", saw the newly returned Bonnie rebuild KITT after he had been badly damaged by a missile. The dash display was revamped (with KITT's voice modulator slightly tweaked to be slightly taller). With this rebuild, several new features were added, such as the ability to generate an electrical charge; some of these new features continued to be used, others were seldom if ever seen again.

KITT received his most extreme modification at the start of the show's final season. During a mission in Chicago ("Knight of the Juggernaut"), KITT's Molecular Bonded Shell was neutralized by a passing street cleaner which actually sprayed a solvent designed to remove the MBS. His body was then severely damaged by an enemy battering ram. He was rebuilt in a miraculous 24 hours, with the help of Bonnie, RC3 (Peter Parros) and his streetwise mechanic friends.

Because they were not initially able to restore the car's Molecular Bonded Shell, the mechanics added a "Super Pursuit Mode", giving KITT a 40 percent increase in speed to in excess of 300 mph (483 km/h). Super Pursuit Mode was made possible by retractable airfoils and jet boosters. An "Emergency Braking System" was also installed to decelerate KITT from these high speeds, using three large airflaps. (The Mercedes-Benz SLR McLaren actually uses some of this braking flap technology today). As a special "gift" to Michael, the street mechanics added a button marked 'C', which when pressed, brought KITT's top down and turned him into a convertible. The effects for the extra functions, designed by George Barris, cost $250,000 to create.

The car (actually, a set of them) is a customization of a stock 1982 Pontiac Firebird Trans Am. Rumor has it that the first one off the Pontiac/GM line was sent directly to Universal. The show's success resulted in the auto manufacturer's being overwhelmed by requests for the "Knight 2000" version of the car (which did not actually exist). The major exterior difference from a stock Trans Am is the nose, which was redesigned in order to accommodate a cylon-like red scanner. (It is notable that in most regions of the USA flashing/strobing red lights are reserved for emergency vehicles and are illegal for street use.) In the pilot "Knight of the Phoenix", there are a few noticeable scenes where the nose is a mockup. The car itself still has a worldwide scene with passionate fans, and replicas are known to exist in an unusually high number, at various levels of fidelity.

When asked about KITT's whereabouts, David Hasselhoff indicates that, like Roy Rogers did to Trigger, KITT is now stuffed and mounted in Hasselhoff's living room. In actual fact, Hasselhoff commissioned his own version of the car which sold to a private collection (the Nelson Collection) in 1992. Today one of the original KITTs (complete with the original 'red square' voice display) can be seen at the Cars of the Stars Motor Museum in Keswick, Cumbria, England. The car is in a state of slight disrepair likely due to its age.

Supporting cast

• Edward Mulhare as Devon Miles: Devon played the dual role of friend and leader of the team. He appears in almost every episode, usually to give the background on an assignment or situation in the beginning, and to help conclude the plot lines at the end. His extremely proper, British upbringing (even though the actor was, in fact, Irish) plays a large role in his demeanor, though a definite social hierarchy exists in Knight Rider. Initially, Devon was very displeased and unimpressed with Wilton Knight's choice of a successor, although Michael soon proved himself. Even so, particularly in the first season or two, Devon was often frustrated by the destruction and mayhem Michael would cause in the course of his missions. However, Michael always treated Devon with the respect and care as that of a father. Devon was an experienced and resourceful man who had evaded the Gestapo during World War II, and defended the Foundation for Law and Government whenever it came under negative scrutiny. On more than one occasion, Devon's role as leader of FLAG put him in situations of extreme danger, from which he was always somehow saved or able to recover. Devon was finally murdered in the year 2000 by Thomas J. Watts, a released murderer working with members of the Seattle police to overthrow a gun ban in Knight Rider 2000.

• Patricia McPherson as Bonnie Barstow: served as KITT's chief mechanic. She also served as romantic tension for Michael, as well as constructing new devices to aid KITT's performance in the field. Bonnie was chief mechanic in Seasons 1, 3 and 4. McPherson constantly pushed for more to do in the series, possibly even having a romance with Knight, but as a result was dropped after the first season. However, the character and her relationship with Knight was popular enough for fans to write in by the sackload, leading to her being re-introduced at the start of the third season.

• Rebecca Holden as April Curtis: replaced Bonnie's role in Season 2 (1983-1984). Holden was brought in because Patricia McPherson was fired at the end of season one, and producer Robert Foster wanted to add (his own words) "glitz" to the series. Taking over the role of KITT's technician, April seemed to be more knowledgeable in medicine than Bonnie, though both were (arguably) about evenly matched in terms of physics. However, the relationship between Michael and April was different to Bonnie's relationship with Michael. Michael treated April with more respect and care as that of a sister. Michael and Bonnie's relationship had more sexual tension. Although in an interview, presumably held at the end of the second season, in the second UK Knight Rider annual Holden said that she has just renewed her contract and planned to stay with the show, April left the series without a trace as Patricia McPherson was re-hired for seasons 3 and 4. In the third tie-in novel from the series, "Mirror Image" (adapted from the feature-length episode "Goliath"), it is stated that April is in fact Devon's daughter, but this was never mentioned in the series proper and is not considered canon.

• Peter Parros as Reginald Cornelius III or "RC3" for short (often abbreviated to simply "RC" in the show), appears in Season 4. RC brought a different set of talents to FLAG, most notably his "street smarts" and ability to back Michael up in physical confrontations. He also is sometimes the driver of the semi. RC rides a dirt bike, and often gets to accompany Michael on missions. He saves Michael on more than one occasion, but also requires rescuing himself at times since he does not share Michael's high level of martial arts training.

Rogues gallery

Michael and KITT generally had different enemies in each episode. No single type of criminal was the norm, as Michael clashed head on with mobile assassins, saboteurs, bio-terrorists, psychopaths, and even nuclear-powered military groups. The only continuing thread was that his adversaries operated "above the law"; that is to say, conventional law enforcement agencies were unable or unwilling to stop them. Most adversaries were permanently defeated or captured after one encounter, though a select few would later return to challenge the duo.

Perhaps most noted for repeat appearances was Michael's physical double Garthe Knight, an international criminal who happened to be Wilton Knight's natural son. Garthe piloted a huge, nearly indestructible truck named Goliath (a Peterbilt 352 Pacemaker). Goliath also counts as a nemesis of a sort for KITT, since it shared the same Molecular Bonded Shell, although it had no artificial intelligence.

Other repeat enemies included KARR (voiced by Peter Cullen and Paul Frees), an "evil" prototype of KITT, and Adrianne Margeaux (Ann Turkel), a highly educated and wealthy criminal who made appearances in two episodes (one of them a two-parter). In her second appearance, she teamed up with Garthe Knight and Goliath to attempt to defeat Michael Knight (the only occurrence that two previous villains team up).

It is notable that while Knight Rider portrayed a wide variety of situations and enemies, some actors and actresses were re-hired to play different roles later in the series. Both Ann Turkel (first as the aforementioned Adrianne Margeaux, then later as Bianca, the leader of a team of female extortionists) and John Considine (first as Boyd LaSalle, an electronics expert operating in Louisiana in Season 3, then as Phillip Nordstrom, a cybernetically-enhanced international terrorist in Season 4) made repeated appearances, as did other actors in more minor roles. This is a common practice for long-running TV shows: MacGyver, Dragnet, Law & Order, and the Star Trek series are just a very few shows that have also employed "re-casting".

A few episodes, such as Season 3's "Knight of the Chameleon", feature Michael and KITT facing adversaries that dialogue indicated they had encountered in the past, despite such encounters not having been previously depicted in an actual produced episode.

Spinoffs

The two part episode "Mouth of the Snake" 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, not unlike The Six Million Dollar Man sans bionics, but when Code of Vengeance aired, Dalton was an ordinary-skilled drifter. It soon fell off the schedules after only five episodes.

The television show also spawned two made-for-television movies:

• Knight Rider 2000, a 1991 sequel movie featuring Michael Knight and Devon Miles, who is killed, with KITT being given a new sporty red body (provided by the Pontiac Banshee IV concept car) as the Knight 4000, and serving as a Television pilot for a would-be new series starring Susan Norman as Shawn McCormick, but it did not sell.
• 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, and there are very few links to the original show, so much so that it may not be considered canon other than for carrying the Knight Rider title. The film was penned by Miami Vice writer John Leekley.

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.

In September 2007, NBC asked Doug Liman to produce a television movie for spring 2008 as a backdoor pilot for a fall 2008 series. Knight Rider (2008 film) is currently scheduled to air on February 17 2008 on NBC.

Cultural impact

Similar shows

Debuting in 1982, the show was an instant hit, and inspired several other "crimefighter plus high-tech vehicle" series, such as Airwolf, Viper, Street Hawk, Blue Thunder and The Highwayman. There were also a few animated cartoon series partially inspired by the series; one was Turbo Teen, which featured a teenager who could morph into a talking car. Also, the cartoon series Pole Position, which was based off the popular Namco arcade game featured high-tech talking racecars. Glen A. Larson also produced a short-lived show called Automan that featured a hero with a virtual computer sidekick called "Cursor" that could become whatever was needed at the moment. Cursor often rendered the form of a car that would turn corners at 90 degrees, throwing passengers across the car. According to an interview with Sci-Fi Channel, Glen said he intended for Automan to be (technologically-speaking) "a step above Knight Rider."

Automotive design/marketing

Knight Rider had a profound effect on consumer expectations, and the motor industry reacted accordingly. Within a couple of years of the show's runaway success, motor manufacturers began offering vehicles with digital LED instrumentation, and even trip computers and security systems which used electronic voice synthesisers which played back "talking" messages to the driver.

It has been alleged that customers would visit their local Pontiac Dealership and request a Trans Am "Knight Rider" edition. Pontiac then told Glen Larson to refer to the car as a "Black T-Top" instead.

Knight Rider was a boom for General Motors Pontiac and also Cadillac. Pontiac supplied the Trans Am for the show, which in 1982 was a redesigned model. Knight Rider promoted the Pontiac label for General Motors. Cadillac also benefited to because Michael Knight's boss Devon would always drive a Cadillac car. He would drive a Cadillac Seville, Cadillac Eldorado, or a stretch Cadillac DeVille limousine. In addition, General Motors supplied cars for the show.

Toys, games and vehicles

Various toy versions of KITT were released and produced solid profits. Among the more notable of the Knight Rider memorabilia includes the remote controlled KITT, the Knight Rider lunch box, and the deluxe version of KITT. This final model, sold by Kenner Toys and dubbed the "Knight Rider Voice Car", spoke electronically (actual voice of William Daniels), featured a detailed interior and a Michael Knight action figure as well. Also various electronics firms sold kits to add the running red lights to any car.

In the 80's there was a Knight Rider toy vehicle for Germany's Darda system.

Knight Rider was turned into a computer game in 1986 for several popular 8-bit formats, although it only received a partial release.

In the modern era, Knight Rider the Game was produced by Davilex International under license. Players could drive KITT through 15 missions and meeting characters from the show like Devon, Bonnie, KARR and Garthe Knight.

With the popularity of Knight Rider the Game, Davilex also released a sequel in late 2004. The game improved the overall structure of the game, but didn't follow the original series much as KITT has weapons and he uses them to fight robots.

In Japan, between 2002 and 2004, a Japanese toy manufacturer Aoshima which had the official license to produce Knight Rider merchandise, produced the Knight Rider FLAG trailer truck 1/28 scale model and a KITT and KARR mini-Z racers (these were R/C cars).

Charawheels 1/64 scale die-cast toy model of KITT (2004) — Charawheels is “Hot Wheels” in Japan. This toy is very hard to find now.

As with many popular series of the era (including The Dukes of Hazzard, The A-Team et al), ERTL released die-cast toys of KITT in three different sizes - the common miniature sized model, a 'medium' sized model, and a large sized model. These toys featured red reflective holograms on the nose to represent the scanner (however, they were located on the point of the nose, rather like the early mock-up of KITT seen in the Pilot) as opposed to altering the basic model design to incorporate the scanner as commonly seen in the series. The toys also included round steering wheels as opposed to KITT's customised one. Also in late 2004, 1/18 scale die-cast models of KITT and KARR were produced from ERTL complete with detailed interior and light up moving scanner just like in the series. KARR was later manufactured by Aoshima. They repainted the KITT models that they got from ERTL with KARR's colours and changed the scanner to amber. Both KITT and KARR sold very well both in stores and online. These models are still available on various websites selling die-cast models, as well as eBay.

In September 2006, Hitari, a UK based company that produces remote control toy cars, released the Knight Rider KITT remote control car in 1/15 scale complete with the working red scanner lights, KITT's voice from the TV show and the car's turbine engine sound with the "whoosh whoosh" scanner sound effect. This can still be found online at eBay or at some stores in the UK.

In March 2007, Advanced Mobile Solutions Ltd (AMS) published the Knight Rider mobile game in 2D and 3D versions. The game has been released on wireless carriers' networks in Europe with a planned Q2 2007 release in the U.S. and Asia. In the 10 multi-level missions, the user plays avatar Michael Knight and drives KITT to combat enemies such as KARR, Goliath, the Fist and others.

Music

• In 1983, the theme music was released on a 45rpm during the holiday season. Produced by Glen Ballard & Brock Walsh under the performer title "Kitt The Amazing Car of Tomorrow" with narration by William Daniels & David Hasselhoff but mostly by an unknown performer. This single was titled "A Knightrider Christmas" on MCA Records 52330.
• The fondly-remembered theme music, written by* series producer Glen A. Larson and Stu Phillips (who also scored several episodes), was sampled for two 1997 hit singles: Busta Rhymes' "Fire It Up" and Timbaland & Magoo's "Clock Strikes [Remix]".
• Under the moniker of Michael Knight, DMX Krew released a 12" vinyl, "Knight Ryder", with a cover of the theme. The B-side is a track called "Trans-Am Beats."
• UK Garage outfit So Solid Crew sampled it for their 2002 hit "Ride Wid Us."
• In 2000, female rapper Lil Kim also sampled this tune in the song "How Many Licks" featuring Sisqo on The Notorious K.I.M. album.
• Panjabi MC also sampled the theme tune for his 2002/2003 UK and European crossover Bhangra influenced dance hit, "Mundian to Bach Ke (Beware of the Boys)". A remix to Panjabi MC's song featured Jay-Z.
• In 2003 the Mexican electronic-music band Sonido Lasser Drakar performed a remix from the theme, it was called "Pontiac Firebird 82" as a tribute to the car that was portrayed KITT. Pat Thomi, a prolific session guitarist, played the guitar on the original theme.
• Swedish deathrash outfit The Crown adapted the opening notes of the theme tune for the bridge of their song "The Speed Of Darkness", which appears on their 2002 Crowned In Terror album and its 2004 revision, Crowned Unholy.
• Swedish melodic death metal band In Flames used the theme to open their set during the Unholy Alliance tour in 2006.

Classical music fans will note a striking similarity between the opening motif of the Knight Rider theme and the opening fanfare of the "March and Procession of Bacchus" by Léo Delibes.

The latest cover addition, released on some parts of Europe during late 2006/early 2007, is called: "Crazy Frog - Crazy frog in the house (knightrider)"

When Stu Phillips left the series, Don Peake became the music composer and did the remaining 77 episodes during the rest of the series. The change of the style between the composers can be felt in the middle of the first season, from Hearts of Stone onward. The style of the music composed by Phillips was more symphonic, Peake's was more electronic and rock.

Knight Rider has the distinction of being one of the first U.S. television series to utilize popular music throughout the episodes. Most of the time, for cost reasons, a cover band was hired to perform the songs (so that the production company only had to pay for a license for the song itself and not the original artist's recording of it). Most of the songs were used in driving montages, although music did figure prominently in the plot of the episode "White Line Warriors", in which a radio disc jockey played the John Cougar Mellencamp song "Crumblin' Down" (albeit performed by a cover band) as a signal to robbers. It would not be until 1984 that Miami Vice would go further in its use of music, both original and popular, for both dramatic scenes and action scenes.

Popularity in other countries

Knight Rider proved immensely popular overseas, and continues in syndication in various countries today. David Hasselhoff remains one of the most recognized stars worldwide thanks to his role as Michael Knight.

Country	Foreign title	Translation	Network(s)	Notes
Austria	Knight Rider	Dubbed	ORF1 ATV	The show's opening text has been changed to: Knight Rider - ein Auto, ein Computer, ein Mann - Ein Mann und sein Auto kämpfen gegen das Unrecht (Knight Rider - a car, a computer, a man - A man and his car fight against injustice). The FLAG was called "Foundation für Recht und Verfassung" (Foundation for Law and Constitution).
Brazil	A Super Máquina (The Super Machine)	Dubbed	SBT(TVS) (80's) Record (80's) Channel 21 (Play TV) (90's)
China	霹靂遊俠 (Thunderous Knight (errant))			Michael Knight's name was transliterarily as 麦克柰特("mai-ke-nai-te"). KITT was transliterated as “基特”(ji-te).
Costa Rica	El Auto Fantastico (The Fantastic Car)	Dubbed
Czech Republic	Knight Rider	Dubbed	TV Prima
Estonia	Knight Rider	Subtitled	TV3
Finland	Ritari Ässä (Knight Ace)	Subtitled	MTV	The Swedish speaking minority in Finland may use either the Finnish title or Swedish (identical to English) title when talking about the show.
France	K 2000	Dubbed	M6 TF1 NT1 (2006)	K 2000: K for Knight, the intro also reference Michael as a knight and his horse.
Germany	Knight Rider	Dubbed	RTL Super RTL Das Vierte	The show's opening text has been changed to: Knight Rider - ein Auto, ein Computer, ein Mann - Ein Mann und sein Auto kämpfen gegen das Unrecht (Knight Rider - a car, a computer, a man - A man and his car fight against injustice). The FLAG was called "Foundation für Recht und Verfassung" (Foundation for Law and Constitution).
Greece	Ο ιππότης της ασφάλτου (O Ippotis tis asfaltou) (The Knight of Asphalt)	Subtitled		In the late 1980s, a Greek b-movie was produced, based on a Greek version of Knight Rider, called "Psit", starring the comedy actor Kostas Voutsas in the role of Michalis Nichtas (Μιχάλης Νύχτας), a transliteration of the name Michael Night (not Knight).
Israel	Abir al Galgalim (Knight on Wheels)			Most people refer to the series as "Hamechonit Hashchora" ("The Black Car").
Hungary	Knight Rider	Dubbed		KITT was voiced by László Versényi, although much deeper than the original. The reason for such a deep voice was that Hungarian people were not used to a telephonic voice like William Daniels' KITT. Most of KITT's functions were translated in a way that they were named "Mode", for example, "Turbo Boost" was called "Turbo Mode", or sometimes "Turbo Drive". Super Pursuit Mode was translated S-P-M-Stage (S-P-M-Fokozat). During the original airing in 1992, the episodes were disordered and were left in this scrambled way until the latest airing in 2005-2006, when the episodes were aired according to the original episode sequence. FLAG was translated as "Jogért és Igazságért Alapítvány (Foundation for Right and Justice). In Hungary, Knight Rider was one of the first crime fighter series and is still popular among many fans.
India	Knight Rider		Doordarshan Star World
Indonesia	Knight Rider	Subtitled	RCTI
Italy	Supercar	Dubbed		This is widely recognized as one of the most successful series in the history of Italian television. The introduction soundtrack is always the instrumental from the pilot "Knight of the Phoenix", the narrated version is never used. The same way, the ending quote "One man can make a difference, Michael", at the epilogue, is replaced with only the soundtrack, giving the audience the classical image of the venture hero riding away, rather than the one of a person with a mission stated by a dead man. A different character interpretation is present in many lines from KITT, especially from early episodes. Assuming that KITT's behavior while speaking is in between HAL9000 from 2001 and VINCENT from The Black Hole, there are lines (for example, in the pilot, when KITT returns to Michael after having been stolen) where it sounds much more formal and distant (like HAL9000) in Italian than in the original dialogue. The voice was also deeper than the English one, so much that at the beginning of Season 2 ("Goliath") the dubbing actor was changed. The early voice belongs to Adolfo Lastretti and the later one, closer to the original, to Massimo Venturiello. An edition aired in the Italian-speaking Switzerland in 1985 had, for at least a couple of episodes, a different audio mix, with the front scanner "humming" noise removed or heavily lowered. It also sported the original title in the opening sequence.
Japan	ナイトライダー in Katakana (Romaji: Naito Raidā) (Knight Rider)		TV Asahi	The sequence of the episodes was very different from the original. For example, "Voo Doo Knight" was the last episode in the USA, but "The Scent of Roses" was the last one in Japan. Most season two episodes were aired before starting Season One. The following episodes (from Season One unless otherwise indicated) were not aired in Japan, but they are still available in the Japanese version (Region 2) of Knight Rider DVDs: Slammin' Sammy's Stunt Show Spectacular, Not a Drop to Drink, A Plush Ride, Forget Me Not, Hearts of Stone, A Nice, Indecent Little Town, White Bird, Knight Moves, Short Notice, and Silent Knight (Season Two). Season 4 was retitled Shin Knight Rider (新ナイトライダー) (New Knight Rider) to reflect KITT's Super Pursuit Mode upgrade.
Latvia	Ceļojošais bruņinieks (Travelling Knight)
Lithuania	Ratuotas Riteris (Knight on Wheels)
Mexico	El Auto Increible (The Incredible Car)			KITT's voice was provided by Germán Robles who, oddly enough, was born in Spain.
Netherlands	Knight Rider	Subtitled
New Zealand	Knight Rider	None
Pakistan	Knight Rider		PTV	The series gained a massive following and even now cars can be seen with a row of red lights imitating KITT's scanner. It remains the most popular American TV show ever broadcast in the country to date.
Poland	Nieustraszony (Fearless)	Dubbed		The character names and KITT itself have not been changed in the first translation, although in the second one KITT was called "K". Due to bad sound quality in some episodes, many fans were thinking that Michael was driving KARR. Although, in episode 3 or 4 of the first season, KITT says "Jednak wolę być K 2000", which can be translated as "I want to remain as K 2000". That convinced Polish fans that Michael was driving KITT.
Portugal	O Justiceiro (The Bringer/Enforcer of Justice)	Subtitled	TVI	Some years after its prime reruns of the show were broadcast, there were the dubbed version from Brazil, which to many made the show unintentionally funnier than the original version (Brazilian and Portuguese people tend to consider each other's pronunciation funny in general).
Russia	Рыцарь дорог (The Knight of the Roads)	Dubbed	STS
Saudi Arabia	Knight Rider	None	Saudi Aramco Channel 3	One of the few shows that was permitted airtime, despite the fact that many of the female actresses wore short shorts, something unacceptable in Saudi culture.
Slovenia	Vitez za volanom (Knight Behind the (steering) Wheel)	Subtitled
South Africa	Knight Rider	None		Knight Rider had an effect out of all proportion to its immediate stature at the time of production, by creating a significant circumvention of the UN imposed sanctions during the era of Apartheid. The episodes "Goliath pt 1 & pt. 2" with the confrontation between Garthe Knight and Michael Knight, and therefore between KITT and Goliath, were filmed in South West Africa, then the U.N. mandate of South Africa. Moreover, local black acting talent John Kani provided a compelling African Dictator, Tsombe Kuna, a supporting villain to Garthe Knight, as the driving force supporting the construction of Goliath. The effect of the production for the SABC's syndication was electric - they furnished the Knight Rider crew with all facilities, and a number of SABC crew names appear on the credits of the two part episode.
Spain	El Coche Fantástico (The Fantastic Car)	Dubbed		"Coche" translates to "car", this is a stylistic difference of the Spanish language, whose vernacular varies from country to country) and FLAG was called "Fundación para la Ley y el Orden". The voice of KITT was dubbed by Carlos Revilla, a fondly remembered actor who later provided the voice of Homer Simpson. Funnily enough, in the Spanish version of the episode The Wizard of Evergreen Terrace, KITT makes an animated cameo and Mr. Revilla dubs both his voice and Homer's.
Sri Lanka			Rupavahini ITN
Sweden	Nattens riddare (Knight of the Night)	Subtitled		The show has two names, "Nattens riddare" and "Knightrider".
Taiwan	霹靂遊俠 (Thunderous Knight (errant))	Dubbed and subtitled, later in bilingual broadcast		Michael Knight's name was translated to be "李麥克" ("Mike Lee"). KITT was known as "霹靂車" or "Thunderous Car".
Turkey	Kara Şimşek (Black Lightning)			The show was such a big hit that during the years of the initial run, many automobiles and vans were fit with a thin row of red lights that imitated KITT's scanner. It has left such strong memories that stand-up comedian Cem Yılmaz came up with a series of television commercials as recent as 2005, where he had a talking car named GİTT, a 131 Fiat Mirafiori, the cheapest most common car in Turkey, outfitted with the scanner. In one petrol commercial Yilmaz drag races his GITT Mirafiori against a Corvette on the Istanbul Park raceway. They take off together, as the Corvette crosses the line and comes to a halt, the driver steps out to see Yilmaz playing a game of table football, casually proclaiming a 5-0 victory as the driver listens in.
United Kingdom	Knight Rider	None	ITV Bravo Virgin 1

• In Germany and Austria the show was popular enough that it spawned a licensed German audioplay series available on cassettes which re-told the original TV series, only with more accurate translation than can be done for lip-synch dubbing, featuring the series's original dubbing voices but employing their own sound effects and scene music alongside the show's original theme.

• In the UK the show was also a massive hit. Broadcast on - the show raked in a large audience, even though it was not networked for much of its run, with each region showing episodes in their own selected time-slots and (as was common with imported shows) episodes were often shown out of sequence, sometimes edited for time and/or content as each region saw fit. Many regions had their own quirks with the show - for example, London region Thames split the very late episodes, which were not pulling in as many viewers, into two halves, airing them over Monday and Tuesday in a 5:15 pm slot. After the initial run of the series, many regions ran the unpopular edited half-hour versions in the late 1980s. Various ITV regions also gave the complete episode versions a repeat run in the mid-1990s. Although some regions, such as London's LWT, did not, those that did only showed the first three seasons. In 1997, it was shown by the newly launched Channel 5, who ran most episodes in a Saturday morning slot as part of their youth-orientated strand, first as a double-bill of episodes, then later with one episode on Saturday and one episode on Sunday. Although there was the occasional minor edit here and there, it was the first time that a lot of material (such as the opening trailers, which ITV often edited out) was shown on UK television. They ran the series to near the end of the third season, but did not show the fourth season despite many requests from fans; although they did show the feature-length fourth season opener, "Knight Of The Juggernaut", in a 'one-off' showing (the other feature-length episodes were also given airings in such 'one-off' slots several times). A couple of years later they too also aired the unpopular half-hour edit versions. It is currently being broadcast by Virgin Media owned channels Bravo and Virgin 1, who also broadcast the fourth season for the first time since the episodes were originally shown on ITV in the later 1980s. The show has not been broadcast on terrestrial UK TV for some time now, though the two spin-off TV movies get occasional airings on Channel 5, and ITV broadcast Team Knight Rider in the early 2000s.

• In South America, except Brazil, the show was renamed El Auto Fantástico (The Fantastic Car) and is generally known by that title. Incidentally, many shows are renamed overseas to better suit the subtleties of different languages. In this case the play on the word "Knight" in the title (a triple meaning, with Michael Knight, the Knight Foundation, and the classic medieval Knight all playing part of the meaning) was not as effective in Spanish speaking countries, as the word Knight is translated to "Caballero" (meaning both "Knight" and "Gentleman"). El Auto Fantástico also contained slight differences in the naming of certain elements, with the Foundation for Law and Government (FLAG) being renamed FLO (La Fundación de la Ley y el Orden, translated as the Foundation for Law and Order) to suit the audience. Names of the characters remained unchanged, with the only other differences being the voices of the actors who recorded the lines in Spanish.

Currently (2007) in Argentina the series is still being broadcast.

Knight Rider still has a large following in Australia, New Zealand, Japan, India and China, and reruns of the show air across the world to this day.

DVD Releases

The show's first season (which includes the Knight Rider 2000 bonus disc) was released on DVD in North America (United States and Canada) on August 3 2004. The second season was released on April 12 2005. The third season (which includes the bonus episode "Knight of the Rising Sun" as a taster of season four) was released on January 31 2006. Season Three has some sound effects missing from some episodes (such as gun shots, eject lift, etc.) and by contacting Universal, they will send customers information about getting replacement discs sent to you via mail. The fourth and final season (which includes KITT's blueprints and a 1980s TV Flashback special) was released on April 4 2006. DVDs of the first two seasons have subtitles in English, French, and Spanish, but season three DVDs have no French subtitles and season four DVDs have no Spanish subtitles, either.

Title	Region 1	Region 2	Region 3 (Taiwan only)	Region 4
Season One	August 3 2004	September 13 2004	April 7 2007	December 1 2004
Season Two	April 12 2005	July 4 2005	July 24 2007	September 19 2005
Season Three	January 31 2006	May 26 2006	N/A	July 12 2006
Season Four	April 4 2006	September 18 2006	N/A	September 20 2006
The Ultimate Collection	N/A	November 13 2006 (only available in R2)	N/A	N/A

Film adaptation

In March 2002, Revolution Studios announced a partnership with Mayhem Pictures to create a film adaptation of the TV series. The film would be re-designed to be similar to Revolution's previous project, XXX. Series creator Glen A. Larson was hired to write the first script draft, with the series' lead actor David Hasselhoff attached to advise the project and also have an onscreen role. In April 2003, Revolution Studios hired screenwriters David Elliott and Paul Lovett to pen the film's script. In April 2004, the premise of the film was described to have Hasselhoff reprise his role as Michael Knight, though he would be an elder statesman that would serve as a mentor to the protagonist like the character Devon Miles mentored Knight in the TV series. The protagonist would be Knight's son, inheriting the family business and driving the vehicle KITT. The series' voice of KITT, William Daniels, was being sought by Hasselhoff to reprise his role. The producers' choice for the role was actor Ben Affleck.

In May 2006, The Weinstein Company acquired film rights to adapt Knight Rider from series creator Larson. He expressed his interest in the film adaptation as a potential franchise property. The following September, Hasselhoff invited actor Orlando Bloom to portray Knight's son in the film adaptation, but Bloom turned down the offer. In April 2007, Hasselhoff said that the film was in development at Miramax, and that he would at least have a cameo in the film.

2008 Telepic/backdoor pilot

Main article: Knight Rider (2008 film)

On September 26 2007, NBC announced that it is creating a two-hour backdoor pilot to air later this season. In the new version, Justin Bruening will star as the estranged son of Michael Knight, Mike Tracer. Deanna Russo will play Tracer's one-time girlfriend and love interest, Sarah Kamen. Bruce Davison will co-star as her father, physicist Charles Kamen. Wayne Kasserman co-stars as Mike's roommate and friend. David Hasselhoff will also have a cameo as Michael Knight.

KITT will be portrayed as a black 550 HP Ford Shelby GT500KR Mustang.

Supervising producer Dave Andron (Raines) is writing the pilot script, Doug Liman and Dave Bartis ("The O.C.", "Heist") to executive produce.

Variety reports that Transformers inspired Ben Silverman's decision to revive Knight Rider because smallscreen effects are sophisticated enough to have a weekly series with shape shifting cars (though the 1990s series Viper, heavily influenced by Knight Rider, shared the same concept).

NBC announced on December 13, 2007 that the new 2-hour pilot will air on February 17 2008. Val Kilmer will be the voice for the new K.I.T.T. Mustang (the part had been recorded by Will Arnett, but he was asked to withdraw by General Motors), and Sydney Tamiia Poitier, daughter of Sidney Poitier, will play FBI agent Carrie Ruvai.

Further reading

Nonfiction

• Joe F. Huth and Richie F. Levine (2002). Knight Rider Legacy: The Unofficial Guide to the Knight Rider Universe. Writers Club Press. ISBN 0-595-23910-2.

Fiction

• Glen Larson and Roger Hill (1983). Knight Rider. Pinnacle Books. ISBN 0-523-42170-2 (adapted from and expanded upon the feature-length / two-part Pilot episode)
• Glen Larson and Roger Hill (1984). Knight Rider: Trust Doesn't Rust. Pinnacle Books. ISBN 0-523-42181-8 (adapted from and expanded upon the first season episode of the same name)
• Glen Larson and Roger Hill (1984). Knight Rider: Hearts of Stone. Pinnacle Books. ISBN 0-523-42182-6 (adapted from and expanded upon the first season episode of the same name)
• Glen Larson and Roger Hill (1984). Knight Rider: The 24-Carat Assassin. (UK publication only) (adapted from and expanded upon the feature-length / two-part second season episode 'Mouth of the Snake'. Interestingly, the back of the book states that it is adapted from All The Glitters - the working title for the story)
• Glen Larson and Roger Hill (1984). Knight Rider: Mirror Image. (UK publication only) (adapted from and expanded upon the feature-length / two-part second season episode Goliath. The back of the book states that it is adapted from Goliath and Goliath Returns, but the actual story is only adapted from Goliath. One of the interesting differences is that in the book, Garthe Knight is called Garthe Bishop.)

A series of annuals were published each year in the UK by Grandreams. These books consisted of a mix of text stories and cartoon strips, as well as photos and articles on the shows stars and KITT. There were five annuals produced in total, each reflecting the different season of the show that was airing at the time, with the final two releases covering the final season. (The last annual was printed in a quite small quantity, due to popularity of the show gradually fading, and is considerably rarer as a result).

External links

• Knight Rider at IMDb
• Knight Rider at TV.com