David Hasselhoff is the king of cheesy action shows. Sure everyone knows about Baywatch but lets not forget the show that put him on the map (excluding his playing a guy named Snapper on The Young And The Restless. What the hell kind of name is Snapper???). That show was NBC's Knight Rider.

   Knight Rider told the story of a young police officer who was shot in the face and left for dead. Rescued and given a new face by the Knight foundation, this young cop was also given a new identity, Michael Knight, and a kick ass car with which he would continue to fight crime although no longer as an officer of the law.

   The car was the Knight Industry Two Thousand, or KITT for short. It was a decked out, gadget filled Trans Am that would have made James Bond or Speed Racer jealous. Not only could KITT launch missiles and drive at rocket speeds, this car could talk! It had a built-in artificial personality! Michael Knight's car was also his sidekick! Not too shabby. Together Michael and KITT fought crime for four years before the hit show ran out of gas in 1986.

   In 1991, Knight Rider returned to TV in a movie for television that producers hoped would also serve as a pilot for a new Knight Rider series. Called Knight Rider 2000, the movie started with Michael Knight in retirement and Kitt in mothballs. By the end of the film, Kitt's personality had been moved into the body of a brand new car and, after being briefly reunited with Michael Knight, he was paired up with a new heroic owner. The change of leads was needed since David Hasselhoff was at the time still very busy with Baywatch. As it turned out the change of leads was not needed as the movie did not turn into a series.

   In 1997 the show was revived again with a new syndicated series called Team Knight Rider. If one guy with a talking car was cool, clearly five people each with a talking vehicle would be super cool! Woo hoo! And each vehicle would have its own personality! And... and... and... that would make for a cast of about ten lead characters! And... and... and it went about one year!

   Aside from the talking cars, the show had more ties to the original series. Team member Jenny Andrews was the daughter of Michael Long. So? So Michael Long got shot in the face and was resurrected as Michael Knight! And Kitt's brain was still hanging around HQ... well until in the series finale it got stolen. In the same episode, the team crossed paths with a guy claiming to be Michael Knight, who was believed to be dead. Of course Michael was a guy who got shot in the face and died but didn't really die so resurrection would hardly be out of place for him. But was this in fact Michael Knight or just an imposter? Of course that was where the show left off cliffhanger-style, the series canceled, the mystery of the stranger unresolved and the one guy who watched the show left frustrated.

   As to that "one guy who watched" thing, if you were a fan of the show, no hate mail please. You should feel honored because you are clearly the guy I was talking about!

   No hate mail for the apology turned second insult either please. I can't help myself. I'm a sick man.

Other Knight Rider Crossover Links
Knight Rider and Code Of Vengeance/Dalton's Code Of Vengeance
Knight Rider and Las Vegas
Knight Rider and Knight Rider (2008)

Other Team Knight Rider Crossover Links
Team Knight Rider and Star Trek

Click here to return to main Crossover List

Buy these shows on Amazon.com and support this site at the same time! Check out Knight Rider on DVD!




Poobala.com Main Page/ Email Me