Knight Rider Returns Feb 17, Kids

Since it's that useless dead week between the conference title games and the Super Bowl, and since Boilerdowd already talked about the Purdue victory over Wisco, why not a little diversion from the usual today?

I know many of us and our readers were fans of Michael Knight and KITT back in the day and if you weren't aware, well, Knight Rider is coming back. We have the writer's strike to thank for this because this is likely something that would have been shelved had there been better options but hey, here it is. No complaining. There's nothing cooler than a futuristic talking car. Or something.

I mean, that was how we thought back in 1982 when KR first came out, anyway. Never mind that KITT eventually, in Super Pursuit Mode, could do almost 300 MPH and this never resulted in a collision that would have disintegrated any vehicles involved. Or, you know, what if someone was crossing one of the roads KITT was on at 300 MPH? Or, hell, even 200 MPH? I guess the fact that we all believed a 1982 Pontiac was capable of deflecting missles showed how willing we were to suspend our disbelief. Or that Michael Knight worked for "The Foundation for Law and Government." I do like that the acronym was "FLAG," though I don't recall them ever identifying themselves as from "FLAG." No, it was always, "I'm Michael Knight. I work for the Foundation for Law and Government." And that was it. The hot chick in distress always trusted him after that. No ID needed, no credentials... not even a realistic-sounding government-based, crime-fighting organization. Not FBI, not CIA, not US Marshal. Nope, the Foundation for Law and Government. Wouldn't you have loved somebody to be like, "The what? Get lost, you weirdo. And button up your shirt and find a leather jacket that fits. Speaking of which? It's California, dude. Lose the jacket."

Then, of course, there was Boilerdowd's favorite character, Garthe Knight, who was Michael's evil twin. Well, actually, he was the long-lost son of Wilton Knight, the creator of the Foundation for Law and Government. Nobody ever figured to see Garthe again, so when Michael Knight was created (remember, he was a cop named Michael Long who gets shot in the face in the pilot), they modeled him after Wilton Knight's actual son, Garthe. A little creepy, if you ask me. Even more creepy? That I know these details. But you can, too. Just check out Wikipedia.

What I think is funny, though, is that the Garthe Knight alter-ego was dropped at the request of Hasselhoff, who didn't like all the extra work to get into that character's "look" and shoot all the double-scenes. Yeah, looks like quite the arduous makeup session.

So anyway, Knight Rider is returning in a few weeks. This time, though, KITT is a Mustang (and he's always the Knight Industries Three Thousand) and the Michael character is Michael Knight's estranged son. Does this mean Michael Knight could return? Maybe even in the original KITT? And maybe now KITT can be evil like KARR was and be really upset that his Firebird model turned into a synonym for wanna-be muscle car owners?

Regardless, enjoy the promos below. And if you have your volume on enough, you'll hear the little musical touches reminiscient of the original. For those old enough to remember.










Apparently KITT is a little more cocky now.