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This article or section has multiple issues. Please help improve the article or discuss these issues on the talk page.
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| 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(s) | Don Peake |
| Country of origin |  United States
|
| Language(s) | English |
| No. of seasons | 4 |
| No. of episodes | 90 (List of episodes) |
| Production | |
| Executive producer(s) | Glen A. Larson Robert Foster |
| Producer(s) | Glen A. Larson Productions Universal TV |
| Associate producer(s) | Robert Ewing Bernadette Joyce |
| Co-producer(s) | Gino Grimaldi |
| Location(s) | California |
| Running time | 60 minutes (with commercials) |
| Broadcast | |
| Original channel | NBC |
| Audio format | Mono |
| Original run | September 26, 1982 – August 8, 1986 |
| Chronology | |
| Related shows | Team Knight Rider |
| External links | |
| IMDb profile | |
| TV.com summary | |
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.
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It has been suggested that this section be split into a new article. (Discuss) |
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).
In the 2008 Knight Rider revival television movie, Michael Knight shows up at the funeral for his son\'s mother. He introduces himself to his estranged son, Mike Traceur, who asks if he will see Michael again. Michael replies, "I hope so."
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It has been suggested that this section be split into a new article. (Discuss) |
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It has been suggested that this article or section be merged into KITT. (Discuss) |
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 (via 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 drive train 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 race car 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 mock up scanner located on a stock bumper rather than on the custom front nose. It did not have the regular red light, being made instead of reflective material. 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 center 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 mock ups 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 shows\' 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 neutralise 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.
With the freedom provided by the reconstruction of KITT, Bonnie and the mechanics added "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 air flaps. (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 shows 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 stock bumper. 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.
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, Airwolf, 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.
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.Michael Fleming. "Revolution revs \'Rider\'", Variety, 2002-03-18. Retrieved on 2007-04-14. In April 2003, Revolution Studios hired screenwriters David Elliott and Paul Lovett to pen the film\'s script.Marc Graser. "Scribes revving up \'Knight Rider\' pic", Variety, 2003-04-13. Retrieved on 2007-04-14. 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."Knightmare", Empire, 2004-04-13. Retrieved on 2007-04-14.
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.Ian Mohr. "TV\'s \'Knight\' rides again", Variety, 2006-05-08. Retrieved on 2007-04-14. The following September, Hasselhoff invited actor Orlando Bloom to portray Knight\'s son in the film adaptation, but Bloom turned down the offer."Bloom snubs The Hoff\'s role", News.com.au, 2006-09-01. Retrieved on 2007-04-14. 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.Brooke Tarnoff. "David Hasselhoff in Knight Rider Movie? Perhaps.", UGO, 2007-05-02. Retrieved on 2007-05-02.
On September 26 2007, NBC announced that it is creating a two-hour backdoor pilot to air later that season.Adalian, Josef (2007-09-26). NBC taps Liman for \'Knight Rider\'. Variety Magazine. www.variety.com. Retrieved on 2007-09-30. In the new version, Justin Bruening stars as the estranged son of Michael Knight, Mike Traceur. Deanna Russo plays Traceur\'s one-time girlfriend and love interest, Sarah Graiman. Bruce Davison co-stars as her father, physicist Charles Graiman, the original designer of KITT (Knight Industries Two Thousand). Wayne Kasserman co-stars as Mike\'s roommate and friend.http://www.scifi.com/scifiwire/index.php?category=0&id=45890 David Hasselhoff also has a cameo as Michael Knight. KITT is portrayed as a black 550 HP Ford Shelby GT 500 KR Mustang.West, Kelly (2007-11-30). Pictures Of Remake-Knight Rider\'s KITT Surface Online. Blend Television. www.cinemablend.com. Retrieved on 2007-11-31.
Supervising producer Dave Andron wrote the pilot script, Doug Liman and Dave Bartis executive produced it.Andreeva, Nellie. "Pair help KITT-start new \'Rider\'", Hollywood Reporter, www.hollywoodreporter.com, 2007-11-20. Retrieved on 2007-12-16. NBC announced on December 13 2007 that the new 2-hour pilot will air on February 17 2008. Val Kilmer is the voice for the new KITT (Knight Industries Three Thousand) Mustang (the part had been recorded by Will Arnett, but he was asked to withdraw by General Motors because of contractual conflict"Kilmer \'will voice\' Knight Rider", bbc.co.uk, BBC, 2008-02-07. Retrieved on 2008-02-07. ), and Sydney Tamiia Poitier, daughter of Sidney Poitier, plays FBI agent Carrie Rivai.http://news.yahoo.com/s/eonline/20071212/en_tv_eo/4afd8ce71767_4250_9486_858705d17b30
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 |
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."
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 boon 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 because Michael Knight\'s boss Devon would always drive a Cadillac. He would drive a Cadillac Seville, Cadillac Eldorado, or a stretch Cadillac DeVille limousine. In addition, General Motors supplied cars for the show.
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.
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This article may require cleanup to meet Wikipedia\'s quality standards. Please improve this article if you can. (October 2007) |
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.
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This section needs additional citations for verification. Please help improve this article by adding reliable references. Unsourced material may be challenged and removed. (August 2006) |
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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
 Argentina
| El Auto Fantástico (The Fantastic Car) | Dubbed | ||
 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) | |
 Bulgaria
| Среднощен Ездач (Midnight Rider) | Dubbed | Diema (2008) | KITT remained КИТТ and Michael Knight was Майкъл Найт. Although the false translation of the title, the name remained the same and was not translated. |
 China
| 霹雳游侠 (Thunderous Knight (errant)) | Dubbed | CCTV(1995) | 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 | |
 Ecuador
| El Auto Fantástico | Dubbed | Telesistema (RTS) - 1990s | |
 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) | Dubbed | LTV1 | |
 Lithuania
| Ratuotas Riteris (Knight on Wheels) | |||
 Malaysia
| Knight Rider | Subtitled | TV3 | |
 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 | ||
 Norway
| Knight Rider | Subtitled | TV3 | |
 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. | |
 Peru
| El Auto Fantástico (The Fantastic Car) | Dubbed | Frecuencia Latina | Knight Rider became a popular series in the 80s and 90\'s, even now it is widely recognize as a good show |
 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). |
 Romania
| K.I.T.T. (Knight Rider) | Subtitled | Tele7abc | This show was one of the most successful series aired on Romanian television after the 1989 Revolution.Teenagers and kids of that period all know who KITT was. |
 Russia
| Рыцарь дорог (\') | Dubbed | STS, DTV | |
 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 | Kanal A
TV 3 | |
 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 for first run, bilingual broadcast and subtitled for repeats | CTV | 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) | Dubbed | TRT 1 | 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. |
 Ukraine
| Мандрівний лицар (Knight Errant) | Dubbed | ICTV | |
 United Kingdom
| Knight Rider | None | ITV Bravo Virgin 1 |
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.
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).
Wikiquote has a collection of quotations related to:
| Knight Rider |
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Series: Knight Rider (1982-1986) • Team Knight Rider (1997-1998) |
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