by Unknown
Notes:
This is the first time that K.I.T.T. turns against Michael, but not the last. His programming is altered again in “Soul Survivor,” “Lost Knight,” and “Killer K.I.T.T..”
A scene cut from this episode can be seen in the episode “Goliath.”
In the original version, after Michael knocks the guard unconscious, K.I.T.T. crashes through the gate to the Helios estate. Garthe Knight watches this on his television.
The title of this episode comes from a line uttered by K.I.T.T. when he tells Michael that the Helios Society is named for “the Greek sungod, the god of brilliance, who rode to his palace in a chariot of gold.”
Quotes:
(Michael) “You are the Knight Industries Two Thousand. You are my car. You belong to me.”
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Trivia:
The footage of K.I.T.T. that the members of Helios watch consists of scenes from the pilot episode, “Deadly Maneuvers,” “Good Day at White Rock,” “The Final Verdict,” and “Hearts of Stone.”
Lynne Topping worked with David Hasselhoff on the daytime soap The Young and the Restless only a few years earlier. During the scene in K.I.T.T. where Michael is taking Dr. Litton’s blood pressure, the trunk hatch is open!
White Bird
Working Title: “The Long Way Home”
Episode: 18
PROD. #57330
Original Airdate: March 4, 1983 (Friday)
Rerun #1: September 18, 1983 (Sunday)
Rerun #2: July 22, 1984 (Sunday)
Writer: Virginia Aldridge
Director: Winrich Kolbe
Guest Cast: Catherine Hickland (Stefanie “Stevie” Mason), Bert Freed (Anthony Solan), Don Galloway (Gilbert Cole), Richard Caine (Federal Agent Carson James), Charles Picerni (William Donner), Eddy Donno (Blake)
Michael is caught off guard when he sees that his former fiancée has been implicated in a gangland conspiracy. Michael immediately posts bail for her and takes her to the Foundation retreat until he can find the people responsible for framing her. Devon has asked Michael not to reveal his true identity to her as it may jeopardize the case and his future at the Foundation. After an attempt is made on Stevie’s life, Michael takes it Knight Rider Season One •
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upon himself to personally see that justice is served while at the same time trying to keep Stevie from finding out the truth.
Commentary:
This is the first case to touch Michael on a very personal level. He had apparently tried very hard to cut all ties with his former life as Michael Long, but must have known that he would have to face them again eventually. From the moment Michael lays his eyes on Stevie, the viewers know how deeply he cares for her. This mostly came from the fact that David Hasselhoff and Catherine Hickland, who played Stevie, we very much in love off-screen as well. The entire episode has a different “feel” to it, with Michael trying ever-so-desperately to hide his feelings while at the same time trying to complete his mission. Also, notice Bonnie’s expression when she confronts Michael about it. She appears to be quite frustrated when Michael will not tell her about Stevie, and later appears heartbroken after she discovers the truth. The show’s producer on the turbo boost: “In another stunt, K.I.T.T. had to chase a light aircraft along a runway in an attempt to stop it taking off. This meant that the stunt man had to drive into the path of the ‘plane and slice the tail off it. Again, timing was crucial, but the thing went perfect on take.”
Notes:
The building used for exterior shots of F.L.A.G. is called Arden Villa, a 20,000 square foot mansion located in Pasadena, California. The mansion has been featured in over 200 productions, including The A-Team, Remington Steele, and Dynasty. This is one of four Knight Rider episodes in which scenes are shot at that mansion. The other three are “Brother’s Keeper,” “A Knight in Shining Armor,”
and “Goliath Returns.”
Catherine Hickland contributed to the script, although she did not receive credit for it.
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Highlights:
K.I.T.T. makes a remark that he has perfect pitch, a statement that obviously is false after hearing him attempt to sing in “Knight Song.”
Featured Songs:
“Heart of the Night” by Juice Newton
“White Bird” by It’s a Beautiful Day
Trivia:
Catherine Hickland returns in season two’s “Let It Be Me” and season four’s “The Scent of Roses;” Don Galloway is in “Knight in Retreat.”
This is one of Executive Producer Robert Foster’s favorite Knight Rider episodes.
The newspaper that Michael purchases in the episode is dated March 4, 1983—the original airdate of this episode.
Knight Moves
Working Title: “Wheels of Fear”
Episode: 19
PROD. #57332
Original Airdate: March 11, 1983 (Friday)
Rerun #1: June 24, 1983 (Friday)
Writer: William Schmidt
Director: Christian I. Nyby II
Guest Cast: Morgan Woodward (Sheriff Hank Winston), James Whitmore, Jr. (Rick Calley), Guy Stockwell (Gil Riggins), Lonny Chapman (Sam Bolker), Taylor Lacher (Kurt), Burton Gilliam (Gene), Knight Rider Season One •
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Yvonne McCord (Terri Calley), Kathryn Butterfield (Norma), Michael Potter (Ozzie)
After losing another shipment (and almost his life) to rogue hijackers, Rick Calley is ready to give up his trucking company. Terri, his sister, asks the Foundation to look into it and Devon sends Michael to find out who is responsible. Terri believes that she can make a run and goes it alone but ends up getting ambushed. Michael steps in and Devon reluctantly allows use of the Foundation semi for the next produce run in order to capture the criminals.
Commentary:
K.I.T.T attempts to learn the confusing CB lingo and eventually creates the name “Hot Knight” for himself. When letting the truckers use the semi, Devon points out that it “is worth a king’s ransom.” Michael comments that it’s “more like a knight’s yearly salary.” K.I.T.T. even notices Devon’s reluctance and comments on it, but Michael insists that it will all work out in the end.
Notes:
Devon’s alias for his meeting with the truckers is Cedric Bagshore. When asked by Michael where he came up with the name “Cedric,”
Devon replies that it was his father’s name. Michael responds sarcastically, “Great name.”
Highlights:
Bonnie installs a long range tracking scope.
Featured Songs:
“Nobody” by Sylvia
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Trivia:
Guy Stockwell also guest stars in “Return to Cadiz.”
This is the first episode to officially use the word “Knight” in the title, something that would become common to future episodes. Note that the background scene used during the ending credits is unique to this episode.
Nobody Does It Better
Episode: 20
PROD. #57331
Original Airdate: April 29, 1983 (Friday)
Rerun #1: August 5, 1983 (Friday)
Writer: David Braff
Director: Harvey Laidman
Guest Cast: Gail Edwards (Flannery Roe), Tony Dow (Julian Groves), Robert Ginty (Elliott Stevens), Angel Tompkins (Connie Chasen), Jimmy Bridges (Rollerskater), Marshall Teague (Armand), Laurie O’Brien (Linda Groves) Michael is sent to find out who has been stealing computer software from Delton Micronics. K.I.T.T. narrows the suspects down to two people, one of which is Julian Groves. Michael goes to see Linda Groves, his wife, to find out where he is hiding. Linda had hired a private investigator to track Julian, believing that he was having an affair with his tennis instructor, Connie Chasen. When Connie turns up murdered and Julian is nowhere in sight, it’s up to Michael to find him and the real killer. Commentary:
A fair story with Michael helping poor Julian while at the same time having to contend with the irrepressible private eye Flannery Roe. It is amusing Knight Rider Season One •
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that as Bonnie programs K.I.T.T. with all the information on Delton Micronics, she also installs their full line of videogames and gets hooked on
“Space Cadets.” Michael manages to get arrested fairly quickly into the case, something that will, unfortunately, happen quite frequently throughout the series’ run. This segment also enjoys some well-done car jumps and stunt driving which by now the drivers are pros at.
Notes:
Actor Robert Ginty on this episode: “I was good friends with the director, Harvey Laidman, and he called and asked me if I would be interested in guest starring on the series. It was a very good experience. The show was very clever and ahead of its time.”
Ginty on an experience at Universal Studios: “We would steal golf carts a lot and have races with them. I grabbed Alfred Hitchcock’s cart and took off. I got pulled over and was told that I couldn’t take Hitchcock’s cart because he had trouble walking and needed it!”
Highlights:
As a way of saying thank you, Julian sends Devon a very special present—a “Pac-Man” videogame. Bonnie warns Devon to not get hooked on it.
Featured Songs:
“Get Closer” by Linda Rondstat
Quotes:
(K.I.T.T.) “Pull over.”
(Flannery) “You better do what he says. That car means business.”
Trivia:
Angel Tompkins last name is misspelled in the opening credits of this episode (it appears as “Tomkins”). She returns in “Custom K.I.T.T.”
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Short Notice
Episode: 21
PROD. #57336
Original Airdate: May 6, 1983 (Friday)
Rerun #1: August 28, 1983 (Sunday)
Writer and Director: Robert Foster
Guest Cast: Robin Curtis (Nicole Turner), William Smith (Harold T. Turner), Sandy McPeak (Arthur Wexley), Dennis Burkley (Tiny), Jordan Clarke (James “Jungle Jim” Ferris), Brittany Wilson (Natalie Turner), Joe Conley (Manager #1), David Hess (Donny), Linda L. Rand (Manager
#2), Gail Fisher (Thelma)
Michael picks up a hitchhiker named Nicole who is in a heated domestic dispute with her husband over their daughter, Natalie. Harold manages to find out where they are staying and kidnaps Natalie. Michael picks Nicole up on the side of the road and decides to take her back to her house. They stop at a hotel for the night where one of Harold’s men breaks in to the room. Michael wrestles with him and the biker is shot. Michael is arrested and Devon warns him that if he is held over for trial, it could jeopardize the future of their work together. Michael must find Nicole to clear his name before he is forced to leave the Foundation forever. Commentary:
A fun episode that assures Natalie’s silence by having K.I.T.T not talk when humans are around. Michael, however, should know better then to pick up a hitchhiker who he does not even know and later share the same hotel room (although, as Michael stated, the room had two beds and he didn’t mind if she didn’t mind)! This episode features the only time a real stunt person is shot from the ejector seat. “In the beginning it didn’t work right,” David recalled. “It went way too far. The first two or three stunt Knight Rider Season One •
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guys who tested it wouldn’t do it again because it was so scary. They went high in the air, about half as high as a tall palm tree that was nearby. It wasn’t the height that scared them so much as the fact that the ejector seat was out of control and they didn’t know where they would land. Luckily, stunt people know how to land almost anywhere.”
Notes:
This episode marks Patricia McPherson’s last appearance as Bonnie Barstow until season three’s premiere “Knight of the Drones.”
The teaser contains a few extra seconds during Tiny’s run to the gate where he says “I’ll get you!” It fails to make the episode. Highlights:
At the beginning of the episode, Michael is returning from a fishing trip, a hobby that again shows up in Knight Rider 2000. Featured Songs:
“Skin Game” by John Hiatt and Ry Cooder
“Sweet Home Alabama” by Lynyrd Skynyrd
“Night Moves” by Bob Seger
Trivia:
Composer Don Peake can be seen lip synching to “Sweet Home Alabama” in the bar scene.
The motel where Nicole stays is the same one used as Chris Carlsen’s motel in “Diamonds Aren’t a Girl’s Best Friend.”
CHAPTER THIRTEEN:
KNIGHT RIDER SEASON TWO
Second Season Technical Credits
Executive Producer: Robert Foster
Supervising Producer: Joel Rogosin
Co-Producers: Robert W. Gilmer, Gian R. Grimaldi, Stephen Downing, Tom Greene
Created By: Glen A. Larson
Coordinating Producer: Gian R. Grimaldi
Associate Producers: Bernadette Joyce, Robert Ewing, George Crosby Executive Script Consultant: Janis Hendler
Story Editor: William Schmidt
Theme: Glen A. Larson, Stu Phillips
Music: Don Peake
Director of Photography: H. John Penner
Art Director: Russell Smith
Film Editors: Lawrence J. Gleason, Lawrence J. Vallario, Stanley Wohlberg, Beryl Gelfond, Howard B. Anderson, Grant Hoag
Unit Production Manager: Ron Martinez
1st Assistant Directors: Robert Villar, Charles Watson Sanford, Jr., Gary Grillo
2nd Assistant Directors: Bruce Humphrey, Jack Breschard Set Director: R. Lynn Smartt
Sound: Stan Gordon, Pat Somerset
Casting By: April Webster
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Sound Effects Editors: John Shouse, Sam Gemette
Music Editor: Richard Lapham
Costume Supervisors: Barry Downing, Judie Champion Stunt Coordinators: Robert Bralver, Jack Gill
Make-up: Jeremy Swan
Hairstylist: Allen Payne
Costume Designer: Jean-Pierre Dorleac
Some automobiles furnished by Pontiac Motor Division Second Season Regular Cast
David Hasselhoff (Michael Knight)
Edward Mulhare (Devon Miles)
Rebecca Holden (April Curtis)
William Daniels (Voice of K.I.T.T.)
Second Season Episode Descriptions
Goliath (Two Hour Season Premiere)
Working Title: “Mirror Image”
Episode: 22
PROD. #57823
Original Airdate: October 2, 1983 (Sunday)
Rerun #1: January 22, 1984 (Sunday)
Writers: Robert Foster and Robert W. Gilmer
Director: Winrich Kolbe
Guest Cast: Barbara Rush (Elizabeth Knight), Zakes Mokae (Tsombe Kuna), Paul Lambert (General Thaddeus Maximillian Maddux), Shawn Southwick (Rita Wilcox), Pepper Davis (Gambler), Petrus Antonius (Hotel Clerk), Ivan Naranjo (Chief), Murray Westgate (Technician) 174
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Michael investigates the murder of Ron Wilcox, a young man who stumbles upon a secret base in the desert being run by a man who looks nearly identical to Michael. After escaping three consecutive life sentences in an African prison, Garthe Knight, Wilton Knight’s only son, returns to the United States with Wilton’s ex-wife Elizabeth. Rita Wilcox seeks the Foundation’s help to find out what happened to her brother, and leads Michael to uncover the mystery of Red Bluff, a nuclear missile government facility that is somehow tied in to Garthe’s master plan. Commentary:
Certainly one of the better Knight Rider episodes of the series and the most history-driven one. The second season introduces us to a more conscious attempt by the writers to explain the history of the characters in greater detail. However, all is not well as Patricia McPherson disappears and Rebecca Holden is cast as April Cu
rtis, K.I.T.T.’s new mechanic, without any explanation. Hasselhoff does a dual role here as Michael Knight and as Garthe Knight, Wilton’s biological son. Garthe harbors deep resentment towards the Foundation and his late father who let him rot in an African prison for years. Devon explains to Michael that his face was not an accident and that Garthe wants the secret of the Molecular Bonded Shell to coat his monster truck, aptly named Goliath. The episode hits its high point with an actual staged collision of K.I.T.T. and Goliath. The only disappointment is that there is no turbo boost in this episode. Notes:
Garthe watches a tape of K.I.T.T. that consists of scenes from
“Hearts of Stone,” “Deadly Maneuvers,” and a cut scene from
“Chariot of Gold.”
In retrospect, Executive Producer Robert Foster felt it was a mistake to not introduce Rebecca Holden to the audience.
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The original NBC airing had a one minute teaser promoting the meeting between Goliath and K.I.T.T. In that teaser, Michael says,
“Here we go!,” a scene that does not air in the episode.
Highlights:
April installs Infrared and a laser power pack in K.I.T.T. The laser power pack can be seen again in “Soul Survivor.”
Featured Songs:
“Gimme Shelter” by The Rolling Stones
Quotes:
(Garthe) “Michael Knight is a living, breathing, insult to my existence.”
Trivia:
Ivan Naranjo returns in “Burial Ground.”
The climax of this episode takes place in the Valley of Fire, a dry lake bed near Las Vegas, Nevada.
Shawn Southwick was dating one of the Knight Rider producers during the filming of this episode.