KnightRiderLegacy
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CHAPTER TEN
A KNIGHT IN DECLINE
Many changes were in store as Knight Rider entered its fourth—and what would become final—season. The producers had realized the show needed a new gimmick in order to keep the viewer’s attention. They decided that K.I.T.T. would be destroyed again (a trademark of season premiere episodes), only this time he would be given three new functions that were radically different from anything he had before. The producers also decided to introduce a new regular to the series in order to add new storylines.
The fourth season was off to a strong start with “Knight of the Juggernaut,” a two-hour episode that had Michael assigned to protect a valuable new isotope during a layover in Chicago. The episode guest starred Pamela Susan Shoop as Marta Simmons. Shoop had previously appeared in Knight Rider’s pilot episode. “We were always cracking jokes around the set,” she recalls. “I remember that my brother came to the set when I was filming a scene in which I had ripped clothes and I had to cry. When you have close-ups like that, they turn all the lights off except a spotlight on you. So, one minute everyone was cracking jokes and suddenly the cameras started rolling and I started crying. My brother was very impressed with that scene.”
Shoop had done a lot of work for Glen Larson in the past, and seemed to be his good luck charm. Nearly every pilot that she did for him, like CBS’ Magnum P.I., was a success. Larson was very hands-on with the writers to ensure that his vision would be properly translated to the screen. 101
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There was no point for actors to learn their lines because Glen would stay up all night re-writing the scripts and by the next day, there would be entirely new dialogue for them!
One of the most spectacular scenes in “Knight of the Juggernaut” was seeing the total destruction of K.I.T.T. by the Juggernaut. “I am pretty sure they brought four cars to Chicago,” says Shoop. “One Super Pursuit car, one convertible car, one regular car to destroy, and one picture car. The car they used [for K.I.T.T.’s destruction] was fully functional, not gutted at all. David was not in the car during any of those scenes. They used a trained stuntman and maybe even a dummy.” Although Shoop was not in the scene where K.I.T.T. was destroyed, she did watch it from off-camera. “When you’re not in a scene, usually you can either go sit in your trailer or stand off-screen and watch. When a scene like that is being filmed, I wanted to watch. I remember that it was very windy and cold that day.”
Pamela Susan Shoop enjoyed her time working with the cast and crew on Knight Rider, even playing mother to Roger the dog! “I got along with Roger—as I recall, he was very mellow. And I locked him in that room, poor thing!” Canine co-stars aside, Shoop bonded with her human co-stars as well. “Oh I loved Edward [Mulhare]. He was such a sweet man and always very professional. I remember that David, Edward and I went out to dinner one night after shooting was completed for the day. We went to a place in Chicago called ‘The Pump Room’. While we were there, an employee took our picture and hung it on the wall by the hostess’ stand. It’s still there today! Every time I go to Chicago, I stop in to see it!”
Patricia McPherson also had a memorable experience while filming the episode. “I got to ride a mounted officer’s horse while we were shooting in Chicago. I asked and he allowed me. It was quite an experience.”
Production of “Knight of the Juggernaut” took about four to five weeks. It was very expensive because it was location shooting (in Chicago A Knight in Decline •
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no less) and they had to close a number of streets. The boat scene also cost quite a bit due to its location. “There were thousands of people lining the street when we were filming,” recalls Shoop. “I couldn’t believe it.”
On December 8, 1985, K.I.T.T. made a cameo appearance in an Amazing Stories installment entitled “Remote Control Man.” The story revolved around a man named Walter who bought a special television that allowed the characters seen on the screen to appear in real life. Eventually, he conjured up such characters as Ed McMahon, Templeton Peck from The A-Team, and even The Incredible Hulk! Just as Walter started to crack with the dozens of characters in his living room, K.I.T.T. came crashing through the side of his house, scanner blazing, and asked if anyone had seen Michael! The car was not voiced by William Daniels, but another actor with a similar voice. Ed McMahon told Walter to start tuning out the television and pay attention to the people in real life. K.I.T.T. chimed in and said, “Don’t be such a boob, Walter.”
After K.I.T.T. was destroyed in “Knight of the Juggernaut,” Bonnie took that opportunity to create a new system which allowed K.I.T.T. to travel well in excess of 300 mph. When Michael activated Super Pursuit Mode, as it was called, the car altered its appearance in order to improve the aerodynamics to allow for faster speeds. The process of K.I.T.T.’s changeover is best described in an excerpt from the “Knight of the Juggernaut” script: “An Air Dam slides down on K.I.T.T.’s front end. The rear fin converts to a new aerodynamic shape as the rear end lifts up to expose two jet exhausts…Side vents slide outward. An air intake vent pops up from the hood. The Super Pursuit Mode transformation complete, we see a whole new K.I.T.T.—sleeker, meaner, a car out of the future dropped into today.”
Patricia McPherson commented, “I thought the new K.I.T.T. would work well. Anything that pertained to the car as far as its abilities was always interesting to the viewers. I was the host at various car shows and race tracks in California. Even professional drivers were keyed in to what
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the car could and could not do. For a lot of people, whether it could or couldn’t, it was always very entertaining for them to watch all the different antics of this car. I think they did a great job in the looks of how they had the car operating. It was always very realistic and always very believable, from the standpoint of professional race car drivers. It was a very expensive show when you’re continually needing a car that could do one thing and another car that could do something else.”
Barris original SPM concept sketch [Courtesy George Barris] In order to keep the series fresh, producers decided that the ultimate automobile would need a few new gimmicks. George Barris had a meeting with Universal Studios to discuss a few new ideas for the star car. Universal had already drawn out what they wanted the new K.I.T.T. to look like, and handed it to Barris. The drawings depicted K.I.T.T. with various parts extending from his body. There were boxes punched out over each wheel well with standard sized tires. The initial design was very weak. The tires
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could hardly be seen deep within the wheel wells. Barris and his associate sketched a new drawing and Universal gave them the green light to go ahead and build it. There were four different cars built for the fourth season. The first car was a drivable convertible constructed from a 1982 model. The car was a “permanent” convertible, meaning that there was no top for it. The second car was dubbed “The Trailer Convertible.” This was essentially the shell of a Trans Am mounted on a trailer. The rear was equipped with the hydraulics necessary to retract the hardtop of the car into the rear deck area using a track and bearing system. It was suggested that the car be equipped with a soft cloth cover that would roll out and cover the trunk area once the car was in convertible mode, but Universal Studios ultimately decided to go with a “hard shell” that appeared out of thin air. A stage hand pushed the giant fiberglass cover forward from the back after the top retracted in to the trunk area. Many fans wonder if a fully functional K.I.T.T. convertible could be constructed. The answer is yes, with a lot of planning and labor. The SPM car becomes a reality [Courtesy of George Barris]
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The third car built for the 1985-86 season was the “Super Pursuit Mode”
version, built from a 1983 model. The fins and body extensions did not actually work on this version; they were permanently we
lded in place so the car could be driven by stunt drivers. This car was designed to be driven hard, although Jack Gill recalls, “The SPM car worked well, but tended to come apart at speeds over 80 mph.” The hydraulic air brakes were fully operational and extremely fast actuating. The roof was a fiberglass piece and one of the air brakes was cut from it. Below the bumper was an aerodynamic
“wing” that provided down-force from the air exiting below the car. The front bumper split into two pieces. The upper half became a wing and rose vertically above the hood line. The original design showed a real wing rising from the area between the bumper and the front of the hood. That is the reason why the bumper moved forward. They decided to make everything simpler to build by making the bumper split into two parts. The fourth car had no engine and was used specifically for transforming K.I.T.T. into Super Pursuit Mode. The entire engine bay had to be empty so there would be room for the hydraulic rams that moved the front bumper out and up and made all the parts extend. This car was specifically used for close-ups and nothing else. It did have a working steering and brake system, but no motor to propel it. Universal Studios almost balked at the $250,000 price tag that accompanied the Super Pursuit Mode car. It ended up being a last ditch attempt to save Knight Rider as it slipped further in the ratings during its last season. K.I.T.T. in Super Pursuit Mode [Courtesy George Barris]
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While the current location of the Super Pursuit Mode car remains a mystery, the convertible car is another story. It is one of the few original K.I.T.T. cars known to still exist. After the series ended, the vehicle changed hands from several private collectors and car museums and is currently on permanent display at the Cars of the Stars Museum in Keswick, England along with a KITT T-top the museum purchased from David Hasselhoff.
The Knight 2000 Convertible [Photos Courtesy of George Barris and P. Sher Jr./Code One Auto, respectively]
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Although season four’s episodes were not up to par, one lucky guest star will surely remember his episode as the one and only time he would ever drive a car. Jack Gill fondly remembers, “We did an episode with a blind man called ‘Knight Song’. Originally, he was going to ride in the passenger side while I blind-drove the car from the driver’s side. I suggested that we put him behind the wheel and I would drive from the passenger side. This guy got such a kick out of it, he literally said, ‘I’ve been blind since I was a child and I’ve never sat in the driver’s seat, held on to the steering wheel, and driven around town.”
NBC tried to help the ratings downfall by adding Peter Parros to the fourth season cast as Reginald Cornelius III (RCIII), a streetwise mechanic called in to repair a demolished K.I.T.T. and later, to drive the Foundation semi. “Part of my role is to drive the big transporter van that carries K.I.T.T. around,” says Parros. “The producers told me to go to any truck driving school I wanted to and come back with my license. The hardest part is backing up.” His fellow truck drivers at the school saw Parros as a man with exceptional talent. “They told me, ‘If you ever want to get into truck driving, you’d do really well’.”
When Parros joined the cast, he was given a warm greeting by the rest of the cast which transformed into a great chemistry on and off the set. Co-star Patricia McPherson recalled, “Peter is a great guy. I thought it was a rather interesting episode with him coming back as the Street Avenger. It was humorous, but fun as well. Peter was a very intelligent guy and had a sense of humor as did David throughout the whole run. It was a good meld between all of us—we all liked Peter.”
Executive Producer Robert Foster comments on a possible reason behind the declining ratings. “At the end of the third season, I got a chance to do Dalton: Code of Vengeance. I became very preoccupied with that. It was a two hour show on NBC that got passed over for a Fall pickup. They put it on in the summer and it came in number 2 behind Bill Cosby. The phone was ringing off the hook the next day. They A Knight in Decline •
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ordered thirteen episodes to be shot entirely on the road. I was the executive producer of two shows and Knight Rider suffered as a result.”
Unfortunately, K.I.T.T.’s new Super Pursuit Mode and the addition of RC III to the F.L.A.G. family did little to slow the ratings decline. Universal Studios, who produced Knight Rider, felt that a fifth season of the series would have made the show less profitable. They also felt that the series would not have a life in syndication (Ironically, it went on to be shown in syndication in 82 countries). McPherson recalled, “There were a lot of shows that were cancelled in 1986 because they considered them to be too costly and decided to switch over to sitcoms. We had a second unit that went out and did things with the car, and we were always on location. Sitcoms are, generally speaking, on a set somewhere. All of that involved cost and that was the season they pulled top shows and cancelled them. There’s always a period of time where you wonder whether the show will actually be picked up or not. It was quite a surprise.”
Many of the writers who made the show a hit during its first three seasons did not return for the fourth season, including Richard Okie and Gerald Sanford. Hasselhoff remarked, “I would have done a fifth season of the show without hesitation, but most of the scripts were low quality and we managed to produce an entire season in under five months.”
By season four, stuntman Jack Gill was quite ready to perform K.I.T.T.’s last turbo boost. “I told David in the fourth season that if we were going another year, someone would have to come in and drive the car because I can’t do that as well as be the stunt coordinator and the second unit director. We had about six producers at that time and they all wanted something different. I’d get a call from one producer saying that the car would not be involved in any big stunts for that particular episode, and then I would get another call 20 minutes later from a different producer saying that the car was going to do some stunts! It was quite confusing.”
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On Tuesday February 25, 1986, production concluded on “Voo Doo Knight,” the series’ final episode. The entire premise was a bit of a stretch, with Michael investigating a voo doo princess that could turn people in to zombies in an instant. Patricia McPherson was noticeably absent, with Devon filling her role on the semi. “I was working on an action/adventure film where I played a diver,” McPherson replies. “That was the reason I left the series one episode short, because I was a lead in this feature.” The producers had planned to reuse stock footage of nearly every driving scene in the episode as a way of reducing costs. Consequently, the scenes where Michael was talking inside K.I.T.T. at night were filmed in a studio–this technique is called the “Poor Man’s Process.” Although many of today’s television programs film a special series finale, this was not the case in the 1980’s. Most television series ended quietly, and Knight Rider was no exception. The final scene involved a friendly dialogue between Devon, Michael, and guest character Elizabeth Wesley in the semi. By this time, the series still managed to pull a respectable share of the audience with a Nielson rating of 13.8 and 22 share.
Perhaps Patricia McPherson summed up the series best when she said,
“It was essentially a show about the good guys and the bad guys, and we rehabilitated the bad guys. That’s why it was a great kids show. Nobody really got hurt. It was a wonderful show to be a part of. I would have children running up to me, whether it was on the set or south of the equator, and treating me like Santa Claus! They would hang on my leg because of my involvement with the show. It was a family show, something that parents could sit and watch with their kids. Bonnie’s role was a good role model for a lot of girls because she was intelligent and in a position of power.” David Hasselhoff added, “Those memories of Knight Rider and those days…There wasn’t a day where I said I wanted to quit.”
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First / Second Season Ratings [Courte
sy of Nielsen Media Research, Graph by Richie Levine]
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Third / Fourth season Ratings [Courtesy of Nielsen Media Research, Graph by Richie Levine]
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RATINGS INFORMATION 1982-1986
This is the rating share information for all 84 episodes of Knight Rider based on public information from Nielson Media Research.
Episode Percentage of Households Pilot
30.3
Deadly Maneuvers
19.0
Good Day at White Rock
20.2
Slammin Sammy’s
16.8
Just My Bill
14.5
Not a Drop to Drink
17.7
No Big Thing
17.7
Trust Doesn’t Rust
20.6
Inside Out
19.3
The Final Verdict
17.9
A Plush Ride
19.1
Forget Me Not
14.9
Hearts of Stone
19.1
Give Me Liberty
22.7
The Topaz Connection
20.1
A Nice, Indecent Little Town
19.2
Chariot of Gold
19.6
White Bird
19.9
Knight Moves
19.4
Nobody Does it Better
19.6
Short Notice
16.4
Goliath
30.9
Brother’s Keeper
22.4
Merchants of Death
26.0
Blind Spot
22.2
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Return to Cadiz
23.4
KITT the Cat
22.0
Custom K.I.T.T.
22.5
Sole Surviver