Country of origin United States Original network NBC | No. of episodes 22 | |
Original release September 26, 1982 (1982-09-26) – May 6, 1983 (1983-05-06) | ||
The first season of Knight Rider, an American television series, began September 26, 1982, and ended on May 6, 1983. It aired on NBC. The region 1 DVD was released on August 3, 2004.
Contents
Knight Rider had a 2-hour premiere on NBC, airing at 8PM on Sunday night. The show was put up against Dallas, and would eventually move NBC out of third place in the network race. No other show had ever survived that time slot. The show eventually aired on Friday nights, and in December 1982 became the second-highest-rated show of its day; MASH was number 1. The show was renewed for a second season during the filming of "Short Notice".
K.I.T.T.
A car of K.I.T.T was eventually sent out on tour to various car shows around the country.
K.I.T.T. was designed by Michael Scheffe using Pontiac's 1982 Trans Am. Michael Scheffe had worked for Mattel designing toys, and had done some design work on Blade Runner. Scheffe had around 18 days to create his first mock up of K.I.T.T. for the network.
Stuntman Jack Gill says the car was dropped about an inch and a half from GM's stock height. The car also had around $2,000,000 worth of modifications. Spare cars were always on hand, and Universal eventually did all of the modifications that were needed. The hero car was the only one of the vehicles on hand that contained the intricate dashboard. A mock up dashboard was used on a sound stage for closeups of the voice box or other buttons.
Glen Larson wanted the car to have a heartbeat and asked Scheffe to design a beam of light like the Cylons had in Battlestar Galactica to be used on the front of the vehicle. The Pontiac's nose was eventually extended slightly.
Gill claims that they got the cars from Pontiac for $1 apiece. The only car Universal had to pay for was the hero car. Pontiac would call up the studio and ask how many cars were needed. Pontiac often gave the studio vehicles that had already been damaged.
William Daniels, the voice of K.I.T.T., would record his parts after the majority of the episode were filmed. Hasselhoff would work with a guy off camera who would read him K.I.T.T.'s lines. If the vehicle was in motion, the lines would be read through the car radio. The vehicle was usually towed during scenes where Hasselhoff appeared to be driving.
K.I.T.T. received an overhaul in 1984, receiving a new interior to keep up with the times.
The studio had a marketing campaign for Knight Rider. Fans could write the network and they would receive a pamphlet detailing some features about K.I.T.T. The first campaign was held in August 1982. The pamphlet received said, "The Competition is NO Competition!." K.I.T.T was parked alongside a vehicle that resembled the General Lee from Dukes of Hazzard. The General Lee featured a double zero on the door. The pamphlet compared the two vehicles.
In the fall of 1985, an ad came out in TV Guide detailing K.I.T.T.'s upgrades.
Season 1
At the end of Season 1, lead actress Patricia McPherson was fired from the show due to a falling out with producer Robert Foster. McPherson would be replaced by Rebecca Holden. Hasselhoff was reportedly angry about McPherson's firing but was in no position to fight the network or the show's producers for her job. McPherson returned for Season 3.
David Hasselhoff eventually got his girlfriend on the show for an episode titled "White Bird". Catherine Hickland would play Michael Long's long lost fiancee Stevie Mason. Hickland was brought in to help write the episode. The episode was more mature and dealt with solicitation. At the end of season 1 during the wrap party, Hasselhoff celebrated Hickland's birthday. A cake was presented with a replica of K.I.T.T. sitting on top. Written in icing were the words "Look Under the Hood." An engagement ring had been placed under the hood, and Hasselhoff proposed.
The couple honeymooned during the shows second season. During the episode "Mouth of the Snake" Hasselhoff is barely seen, because he was on his honeymoon with Hickland. Hickland returned to the show on "Let it Be Me". NBC was trying to create a spinoff series during the episode "Mouth of the Snake". The couple divorced in 1989, and Hickland later married Michael E. Knight.
The premiere episode featured Larry Anderson. Anderson would play Michael Long, the character who would be transformed into Michael Knight, played by David Hasselhoff. Hasselhoff's voice would eventually be dubbed in, and due to that, Anderson wished to remain uncredited in the episode.
Theme Song
Stu Phillips and Glen Larson composed the music for the show. The decision to use synthesizers was largely a network decision. Larson claims that they used five or six synthesizers, drums and a Fender bass.
Busta Rhymes sampled the theme song in his 1998 song "Turn it Up/Fire it Up".
Stunts
Stuntman Jack Gill worked on the show, and had previously worked on the Dukes of Hazzard. In the episode, "Give Me Liberty...Give Me Death" K.I.T.T. jumps over a General Lee lookalike. In the book, "Knight Rider Legacy" Gill remembers one jump that was reused several times throughout the show. In the episode, "The Topaz Connection" K.I.T.T. jumps a 90 foot ravine. A camera was mounted inside a cage on the right side of the car for a point of view shot. The cameras had cables attached to it, but when the vehicle neared the ramp, the cables would be cut loose, and the camera would run for about a minute before shutting down. When the jump was performed, the cable came loose, and the camera tumbled in the vehicle. The cable can be seen in the footage. The footage was used in several episodes including, "Nobody Does it Better", "Lost Knight", "Junkyard Dog", and "Knight Flight to Freedom."
Hasselhoff performed a few stunts on the show. Hasselhoff was often seen doing 180 degree turns in the vehicle. In the book, "Knight Rider Legacy, Hasselhoff explains that he achieved this by using the emergency brake while driving around 50 miles per hour. Hasselhoff eventually hit a palm tree and the studio banned him from performing any more of his own stunts due to the liability.
In the episode, "Return to Cadiz" K.I.T.T. appears to glide across water. K.I.T.T. was actually mounted to a submerged platform that had an outboard motor attached.
For the scenes in which K.I.T.T. appeared to be driving without a driver, Jack would sit behind the driver's seat. Jack would extend his arms and legs through the seat out of sight. A two way mirror was created that hid the stuntman during scenes where K.I.T.T. appeared to be driving solo. K.I.T.T. was never seen driving for long periods of time solo due to the difficulty shooting it.
Spin Offs
Code of Vengeance was a TV show that didn't do very well. The show starred actor L. Charles Taylor who had been featured in the Knight Rider episode, "Mouth of the Snake."
The network was determined to have a spinoff, a show entitled, The Speed Demons was envisioned. The show was supposed to involve motorcycles that had been modified like K.I.T.T. The show never materialized. Street Hawk aired about a year later on ABC.