by Unknown
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Featured Songs:
“Tush” by ZZ Top
Quotes:
(Michael) “Sorry Harana, but a stolen crown never made a man a king nor woman a princess.”
(RC III) “That’s good, Michael. What is that, Shakespeare?.”
(Michael) “No…Michael Knight.”
Trivia:
Writer Deborah Dean Davis also penned some of the series’ earliest episodes including “Good Day at White Rock” and co-wrote “Just My Bill,” and “Forget Me Not.”
CHAPTER SIXTEEN:
UNPRODUCED EPISODES
The Wind Devil
Season: 2
PROD. #57802
Script Date: November 23, 1983
Writers: Peter Dixon and Janis Hendler
Characters:
Warren Grannis, Martha Grannis, Graham, Tolly Gault, Ayla, Eric Gault, Kala, Gable Bronson
Michael and K.I.T.T. are headed into an area of the desert known as “The Dead Lands” to meet a scientist who is setting up a space antenna. They come across three huge prehistoric arrow carvings, all pointing ahead. Just as they see them, a wind devil (a compacted cloud of dust) comes towards them. K.I.T.T. detects a human aura inside the cloud. Soon after, the wind devil envelopes Michael and K.I.T.T. and they hear a strange voice that tells them to go back. The wind devil then leaves. They continue toward Warren Grannis’ camp. Michael meets up with Warren and he tells Michael they are having problems with the space antenna project, that’s why he called the Foundation. The female aura appears again atop a cliff. Michael climbs up the cliff and finally makes it to the woman. The aura says the space antenna project will destroy the arrows. Michael asks her name and she says it’s Ayla, she’s a bruja. K.I.T.T. detects a plane, but 292
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another wind devil arrives and forces the plane to retreat. Michael chases it, but it goes over a gorge. K.I.T.T. says that he can’t jump the gorge, but Michael hits the turbo boost anyways. K.I.T.T. jumps but doesn’t make it to the other side. He crashes on the floor of the gorge, seriously injuring Michael. Ayla nurses Michael back to health then takes Michael to her home in the desert. She reveals that the whole desert sits on a vast lake of fresh water. The arrows point toward the water and if they are destroyed, no one would be able to find the water. Ayla then leads Michael to an oil rig nearby. Eric Gault, who is in charge of the rig, hits something and a gusher comes out. Eric believes it’s oil, but it turns out to be water. They start to flee but Michael stops them. After apprehending the Gault’s, Michael turns back to thank Ayla, but she is gone, leaving Michael and K.I.T.T. to wonder if she was, in fact, an illusion.
Commentary:
Judging by the script, this episode would have been very interesting to see. It was written by Peter Dixon (who also penned “The Rotten Apples”) and Janis Hendler. Hendler was responsible for writing some of the better episodes in the second season, including “K.I.T.T. the Cat,”
“Knightmares,” and “Goliath Returns.”
Notes:
This story was also pitched for The Bionic Woman by Peter Dixon, but it went unproduced there as well.
Michael explains to Ayla about his similarities to her: “You know, I’m a kind of protector in my world, too. I was found dying in the desert and given a new life so that I could try to save people from crime and injustice.”
Functions Used:
Auto Cruise, Auto Phone, Grappling Hook, Pursuit, Radar, Turbo Boost, Vital Scan
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Quotes:
(Michael) “April tried to reach me? Was she wearing white and a sort of headband?”
(April) “I’m not a hippie, Michael.”
Girls’ Knight Out
Season: 3
PROD. #58634
Script Date: November 13, 1984
Writer: Richard Okie
Characters:
Matt Erickson, Samantha P. Sheehan, Julie Holmes, Misty, Legs, Captain Nelson, Christine Briggs, Rosie, Officer Robertson, Russell, Darleen, Michael and Bonnie are in a nightclub dancing when Bonnie notices that her friend, Matt Erickson, is dancing with a young lady named Samantha. Michael spots Samantha’s friend Julie Holmes and asks her to dance. She refuses his offer and walks away as Matt tells Michael that he lost his wallet and keys. He and Matt run to the parking lot in an attempt to catch the girls, but Julie and Samantha steal Matt’s Ferrari and runs him down during their escape. Back at the semi, Michael convinces Devon to make it a Foundation case and describes the rare necklace that Julie was wearing—a bloodstone in a hand-crafted gold setting. Michael tracks the necklace to a small shop run by a woman named Misty. Misty reveals that she only produced fifty of those pendants and doesn’t remember Julie. Meanwhile, at Gainesboro Prison, Warden Christine Briggs warns Julie that if she doesn’t keep committing the crimes that are asked of her, she will never be released from prison. Christine informs Julie that she and Unproduced Episodes •
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Samantha are to rob Matt’s apartment while he is in the hospital. While robbing the apartment, Michael shows up and a car chase ensues, but Michael loses them in a traffic jam. K.I.T.T. manages to get a shot of Samantha and traces her back to Gainesboro Prison. Michael pays a visit to the prison and spots Julie in the yard on his way out. Meanwhile, K.I.T.T. taps in to the prison’s surveillance system and notices that Misty came to visit Julie. While leaving, Michael and K.I.T.T. are forced to take a detour when they see a driverless bulldozer barreling down on them. They turbo boost over the bulldozer and it crashes into a nearby rock pile. Michael goes to confront Misty again and she reveals that Briggs and Nelson are behind the entire scheme. Michael sends Bonnie into the prison for an undercover operation. Bonnie creates a distraction as Michael hops over the fence and makes his way to Julie’s cell. Nelson catches Michael, Julie, and Samantha trying to escape and apprehends them. Nelson puts the three of them, plus Bonnie, in a prison bus and heads to a remote part of the county. Bonnie distracts Nelson as Michael jumps out the back of the bus and into K.I.T.T., who is following behind. Michael then turbo boosts through the side of the bus, separating the girls from Captain Nelson. Michael apprehends Russell and Captain Nelson as K.I.T.T. wonders how he is going to get untangled from the bus wreckage. Commentary:
A good portion of this script was rewritten as season four’s “Knight Behind Bars.” “Girls’ Knight Out” seems more like a Knight Rider episode than “Knight Behind Bars” does. This script has comic relief, two turbo boosts, and some good dialogue between the characters.
Notes:
Michael complains that K.I.T.T. drifts a little on sharp turns. Bonnie says that it is probably the traction stabilizer.
Comic relief comes in the form of a rapper named Legs who performs a dancing act on K.I.T.T.’s hood. 296
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Functions Used:
Auto Cruise, Auto-Roof Left, Computer Printout, Pursuit, Turbo Boost The Deadly Prize
Season: 3
Script Date: 1985
Writer: David Bennett Carren
Characters:
Damon Miles, Jocelyn Miles, Orwell, Johnathan Pearson, Melissa Morton, Karl Kerensky, Cooper, Ziv, Kemp, Great White, Shark, Daniel Ratch, Surofsky
Michael is en route to the Titanic Disco Club for a night of dancing when K.I.T.T. detects a silent alarm at the Montiero Apartments. They arrive to find that the thief is actually Orwell, an orangutan, and he has stolen a one-of-a-kind Wolcott Prize medal. Michael chases the ape to its masters, Damon and Jocelyn Miles. Michael is shocked when he realizes that Damon is an exact double of Devon. When Michael tells Devon of this story, he is stunned. Bonnie comes in and says that Devon has a visitor—
it’s Damon. Damon is Devon’s twin brother whom he hasn’t seen in ten years. As far as Devon is concerned, ten years isn’t long enough. Damon has always been the black shee
p of the family and travels the world with no means of support. Michael investigates the safe where the medal was stolen from, and detects orangutan fingerprints. He also finds out that some diamonds in the safe were stolen by Johnathan Pearson, the creator of the medal. Pearson calls his friend Daniel Ratch and tells him to rig another Prize medal with a bomb, just like the first one was. He is planning to assassinate the recipient of the prize, Karl Kerensky. Meanwhile, Michael gets a lead on Orwell that takes him to an alley behind the Titanic Unproduced Episodes •
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Disco Club. K.I.T.T. scans the Wolcott Prize on him, as well as an ankle bracelet with the name “Joccie” etched in it. Michael realizes that Jocelyn and Damon are involved in the theft. They claim they are not thieves—
they recover items that were stolen by someone else. Pearson gets his hands on the medal after Orwell drops it and they continue with their assassination plans. Michael discovers the medal is housing a bomb and stops the assassination attempt with only minutes to spare. Commentary:
This script introduces Devon’s twin brother Damon and his niece Jocelyn. Damon is a crook and Devon considers him to be the black sheep of the family. Orwell is Damon’s orangutan which he has trained to recover stolen items. This script would have made an excellent third season episode because it deals with Devon’s family, a topic not explored in any of the produced episodes.
Notes:
David Bennett Carren was a third season story editor.
Devon’s Aunt Harriet is mentioned here, as Damon steals her Wedgewood service from him.
A scene in the semi has Bonnie pulling a flounder out of K.I.T.T.’s grill due to an earlier turbo boost through a fish truck! K.I.T.T. says that the fish was ruining his olfactory circuits.
The script says that Devon’s father is named Charles (although in
“Knight Moves,” Devon states it as Cedric). He is deceased, but Damon has started an organization called the Charles Foundation that provides food and housing for poor children across the world. According to the script, K.I.T.T. has a “Blast Shield Mode” which seals up the car when a bomb is detonated inside.
The Air Vac procedure is completed in this episode when K.I.T.T. releases the smoke through his exhaust pipe.
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Functions Used:
Air Vac, Anharmonic Synthesizer, Audio/Video Record, Auto Cruise, Pursuit, Ski Mode, Turbo Boost, Zoom-In
David takes a break with George Barris [Courtesy George Barris] CHAPTER SEVENTEEN:
KNIGHT RIDER 2000
Knight Rider 2000 Technical Credits Editor: Barry B. Leirer
Production Designer: Bill Cornford
Director of Photography: Billy Dickson
Music: Jan Hammer
Producer: Chuck Sellier
Based on Characters Created by: Glen A. Larson
Executive Producer: Michele Goldman Brustin
Producer: Rob Hedden
Stunts: Dan Berryman, Richard M. Jones, Grady Bishop, Steve Kelso, Dave Cass, Matt McColm, Robert Detweiler, Lewie Meador, Gloria Fioramonti, Bobby Sargent, Charles Gunning, Mark Silverstein, Hollis Hill, Richard Slaughter, Kelley E. Johnston, Mark William Travis, John Underwood
Production Manager: Allan C. Pedersen
1st Assistant Director: Bob Mayberry
2nd Assistant Director: Tod Swindell
Art Director: John Bucklin
Set Decorator: Carla Curry
Special Effects: Tim Drnec
Camera Operators: Stephen Collins, Bill Waldman
Post-Production Supervisor: Robert Fisher, Jr.
Gaffer: John Farr
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Key Grip: Weston Lant
Sound Mixer: Randy Gable
Costume Designer: Pat Welch
Makeup Artist: Shelly Woodhouse
Hair Stylist: Mary Lampert
Props: Brian Cornford
Casting: Peggy Kirton Ellis
Script Supervisor: Patricia Motyka
Transportation Supervisor: Robert Detweiler
Locations: Anne McCaffrey
Production Coordinator: Deborah Flood
Assistant Editor: Ruben R. Munoz
Music Supervisor: Don Perry
Music Editor: Dan Johnson
Colorist: David Hussey
Visual Effects Supervisor: Tim McHugh
Visual Effects Coordinator: Bob Kane
Special Effects Editor: Don Greenberg
Sound Editor: Stephen Grubbs
Re-Recording Mixers: Tom Huth, Sam Black, Anthony Costantini Post-Production Services and Effects by: The Post Group Edited on the CMX 6000
Audio Post-Production: Larson Sound Center
Lenses and Panaflex Camera by: Panavision
Some locations furnished by: The Edward Debartolo Corporation Some computers furnished by: Canon U.S.A., Inc. and IBM Corporation Special thanks to the city of San Antonio
A Charles E. Sellier Production
In Association with Riven Rock Productions
Knight Rider 2000
Also known as: Knight Rider 2000: The Motion Picture Knight Rider 2000 •
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PROD. #82137
Original Airdate: May 19, 1991 (Sunday)
Rerun #1: September 1, 1991 (Sunday)
Writer: Rob Hedden
Director: Alan J. Levi
Cast: David Hasselhoff (Michael Knight), Edward Mulhare (Devon Miles), William Daniels (Voice of K.I.T.T.), Susan Norman (Shawn McCormick), Carmen Argenziano (Russ Maddock), Eugene Clark (Kurt Miller), Megan Butler (Marla Hedges), Mitch Pileggi (Thomas J. Watts), Christine Healy (Commissioner Ruth Daniels), Lou Beatty, Jr. (Mayor Harold Abbey), Francis Guinan (Dr. Jeffrey Glassman), John Cannon Nichols (Lieutenant Justin Strand), James Doohan (Himself), Chris Bonno (Andrew), Robert F. Cawley (Prison Guard), Phillip Hafer (Charlie), Carolyn G. Jackson (Bag Lady), Ron Jackson (Police Officer), Stacy Lundgren (Sandy), Matt Menger (Shawn’s Father), Paul Menzel (Businessman), J.W. Moore IV (Medical Technician), Edwin Neal (Warehouse Clerk), Marco Perella (Police Sergeant), Ellis Posey (Mayor Frank Cottam), Larry Roop (Fellow Cop), Lori Swierski (Lori) In the year 2000, criminals are cryogenically frozen to save the city money and handguns are outlawed. The Knight Foundation, under the leadership of Devon Miles and his new partner, Russell Maddock, is in danger of losing a vital contract with the Seattle law enforcement. They believe that the only way to win the contract is to develop the Knight 4000, a brand new super-car with state-of-the-art technology. K.I.T.T. has long since been dismantled and his parts sold off. Devon, realizing that he may not be able to do it alone, seeks out the one man who made a difference when it mattered most—Michael Knight. Michael reactivates K.I.T.T.’s CPU and manages to integrate it into his 1957 Chevy Bel Air. Michael and K.I.T.T. once again fight those who operate above the law,
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while the Knight 4000 is being finished. On the way, they recruit a cop named Shawn McCormick who has one of K.I.T.T.’s chips implanted in her brain after a near fatal gunshot. Michael, Shawn, and K.I.T.T. (later integrated into the Knight 4000’s body) take on a group of illegal gunrunners, with deadly consequences. Knight 4000 boat pilot receiving instructions(Courtesy P. Sher Jr./Code 1 Auto) Knight Rider 2000 explores how Devon, as the head of the Knight Foundation, has now assumed the role of Wilton Knight and how Wilton’s deathbed speech from the pilot episode (“One man can make a difference”) affected him more than it did Michael. When Watts probes Devon’s mind, he finds the majority of memories focus on Wilton, Michael and K.I.T.T. A frustrated Devon approaches Michael to help him until the new Knight 4000 is ready. We see that Devon never lost the ideal that Wilton had set forth and conveys this to Michael at his cabin on the lake. Michael left the Foundation in 1990 after losing his sense of purpose, and insists that he is Knight Rider 2000 •
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on his third life now. He thi
nks of Devon as his father—saying that “no one cared more about that man than me—no one.” Michael conveys this to Shawn as he is distraught with emotion due to Devon’s death. The movie itself does not utilize the classic Knight Rider special effects as there is no Turbo Boost, Super Pursuit Mode, or Ski Mode.
Knight Rider 2000 does show us how close Michael and Devon had become since they first met nearly twenty years ago. The relationship between Michael and K.I.T.T. seems to suffer a setback as the two bicker much like they did in the very early episodes of the series (this is most likely due to K.I.T.T.’s ten year storage), however during K.I.T.T.’s “death scene” when the Chevy sinks in the bay, the magic of their friendship is briefly recaptured.
After Devon is killed, a passion reawakens in Michael—the same passion seen after he is shot in the pilot episode and when Stevie is killed in
“The Scent of Roses.” The movie ends with Michael returning to his quiet life in the woods, while Shawn becomes K.I.T.T.’s new partner. So how did the movie come together? With his international singing career at its peak and his latest show Baywatch cancelled after one season on NBC, Hasselhoff realized that fans could not forget about Knight Rider. Hasselhoff reflects, “I had been out traveling the world, pursuing music and other things, and I saw that Knight Rider was still incredibly popular. The biggest questions I usually was asked were, ‘Why are you so tall?’ and ‘Why aren’t there more episodes of that show?’ I kept coming back and telling my managers and agents we really ought to do some more, and they would put calls into the powers that be, who would say there was no interest. I never let it die, though, and I finally ran into (exiting NBC executive) Brandon Tartikoff at the mall. I told him that I had Universal (the studio behind the show) on the ropes, and that I thought the timing was really good to bring Knight Rider back as a TV movie. His wife turned to him and said, ‘Oh Brandon, that’s a great idea!’ Then he turned to me and said ‘That’s a great idea!’ The phone rang three or four days later, and Universal said ‘Let’s do it.’ They hired a writer who wrote a
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script, and we were about 10 days away from starting production, then they suddenly threw away the script and the whole thing died. I went off to Europe for a big music tour and had a baby girl, and I never thought about the movie because I was more interested in being a father. Well, after she got on her feet, I started thinking about Knight Rider again.”
