Knight Rider

I was 3 years old when Knight Rider was released in 1982, I remember vaguely seeing some of the episodes when they were new. I find it puzzling that people will "nit-pic" a TV show that lasted a decent 4 years on the air, yes maybe corny to todays standards, but the show was harmless entertainment. Unlike TV programming today, at least it had it's own originality. Kids could watch it without a lot of heavy violence or nudity, (which was like none in Knight Rider. to name only a few.) on the contrary, it was very much sci-fi, as well as drama, and action. Bottom line, it's a TV show, get real folks, does anyone have imagination anymore?

In 1982 an unknown actor named David Hasselhoff burst onto the scene in a weekly Friday night series aired on NBC. Hasselhoff played Michael Knight on a brand new 80s vehicle oriented TV show (that frequently targeted boys) called Knight Rider to rival The Dukes of Hazzard on CBS.

Hasselhoff was what many in the industry call an "8 x 10", a perfect hunky man with shoulder length wavy hair and beaming smile. Hasselhoff was also gifted with a keen sense of humor and wit, which allowed many of the outrageous stories of Knight Rider to work and not be taken too seriously. Knight Rider was about an undercover cop named Michael Long who was betrayed and left for dead in the desert. Long was rescued by an eccentric billionaire by the name of Wilton Knight, who nursed Long back to health. Wilton Knight also gave Long a new face and identity as "Michael Knight". Knight convinced Long to use his police officer skills to help his private organization (The Foundation for Law and Government), and equipped him with a super car with artificial intelligence named KITT (Knight Industries Two-Thousand). The supporting actors like Edward Mulhare, Patricia McPherson complemented Hasselhoff wonderfully as Devon Miles and Bonnie Barstow. It is rare that a cast gels so well like this, and in many ways KR was more about the characters then the stories or KITT.

Despite some negative and absurdly over the top reviews here, Knight Rider remains one of the most fondly remembered action adventure TV shows of the 1980s. Knight Rider was not an L.A. Law or St. Elsewhere type drama, nor was it Harlan Ellison level science fiction, and it never tried to be. Knight Rider had some camp, but campy doesn't mean a dog meat series. Every single one of those action/adventure shows from the 80s like A-Team, Dukes of Hazzard, Blue Thunder, Airwolf, Hunter and MacGyver had plenty of instances of overt stupidity. They ALL had their "what the hell was that about?" moments. Every one of those 80s shows. So why is Knight Rider singled out and getting ridiculously picked on like this?

The show was a fun yet not too serious one hour adventure series. Many people here seem to be overly concerned with "looking cool" as adults and join in on the over the top teasing of a series that you know everyone loved back in the 80s. Stop trying to be so cool just because you're now an adult in the 2000s versus being the young kid that watched this show every week back in 80s. I highly recommend Knight Rider, (it will blow you away!) and check out the newly released DVD if you can. The Season 1 DVD has rich vibrant colors and sound, complete with an assortment of extra features that will keep you busy for days.

My Rating:

9/10

I was a kid when Knight Rider was in its prime time and yes I watch it no matter what. Currently have the reruns of Knight Rider on and I must say there are somethings that bug me. Like every kid in the 80s I loved K.I.T.T. Now for all you people that say David Hasselhoff can't act come on, o.k he's not the best actor in the world but he wasn't that bad, I think he was great for the role, but the things that bug me were like how everytime Michael say something like "K.I.T.T get Devon on the line for me" and Michael would go and press 20 other buttons and the reuse of footage. I must admint David Hasselhoff was good looking at the time, just about in every episode Michael would do his good dee and get the girl at the end, well they did drop to his feet, just about all apart from Bonnie, thats the only time we see Michael try so hard and get turn down, but you can see they are more then just friends. Michael and Devon I can say are bit like Maxwell Smart and the Chief off Get Smart but the only thing was Michael was a lot smarter but it still irritated Devon like Max did the Chief. Some episodes did a get a bit boring and could have been better, but over all Knight Rider is still a good TV series.

I just saw what another guy had written about this series and I must say he is so far wrong on this subject and is probably not even from the era of the Knight Rider, A-Team, Airwolf, Magnum PI, Simon and Simon, MacGyver, and Harcastle and McCormick. All of the shows listed above are some of the best shows ever in the history of TV and how anyone has the audacity to sit here and type in a bunch of drivvle and say that Knight Rider had bad actors, bad stunts, and bad filming shows to me they know nothing about the show. The only problem Knight Rider had was, it was way ahead of its time. Knight Rider was a lot like KITT it was the show of the future. Now I will go on and defend Kinght Rider like any true fan would. David Hasselhoff may not have been one of the best actors, but none-the-less he is a fairly decent actor. In turn, the KITT car was a real Pontiac and at times it was a dumb car, most people know this stuff, however this is a TV show not real life, so if it may have seemed fake in manner, then maybe you should sell your TV and sit in your house like a bored bump on a log. My rating for Knight Rider is 4 1/2 out of 5 stars.

And I still enjoy it. I was a senior in high school when this show premiered. Yes, it is absolutely campy, and of course it is not believable, but maybe that's why I like it so much, even today. This show reminds me of Star Trek,the original series in some ways. It's so over the top that you can forget about any idea of anyone getting hurt. You know before the episode even begins that Michael is going to come through, and good will triumph over evil and the bad guy is going to get it in the end. Just like Trek. But that's what I love about it. If I wanted to see reality, I can find another show, or simply walk out the front door. But this kind of show let's you just take your mind off the hook for a while and pretend that everything always comes out right in the end. If that's what you want, you're in the right place.