Nyet! Michael Knight

Jenn is on her way to Moscow right now. I forgot to tell her to say hi to Putin for me. Me and Puts (that's what I call him) go way back. Anyway, I'm flying solo here for a while. That's why I'm sitting here in front of a keyboard instead of next to her on the couch. Wait, I can watch whatever I want now! What am I doing here?

Speaking of doing things, do you know what I did the other day? I watched the Knight Rider pilot movie thing. Why? I don't know. I had some time to kill and it popped on on Netflix so I thought I'd check out where it all started since I couldn't remember. I remembered that Michael Knight was not always his name and he was basically brought back from the dead, but that was it.

So I watched the two-parter "Knight of the Phoenix." Clever, no? I realized that the pilot was quite a bit darker than I remembered the show. The thing that threw me at first was the guy playing Michale in the beginning was not Hasselhoff at first, but they dubbed in his voice. Which I found interesting. Then, after being betrayed by a girl (isn't that always the way) she shoots him in the head! Ouch. Why not the chest or something?  Man, what a bitch!

Anyway, he's rescued by some dude that appears out of nowhere with a helicopter and is rescued. I just watched this the other day and I don't remember them saying why this guy came to find Michael and his Trans Am in the desert. Was he following him? Did he just happen to be flying over the desert looking for a special person to help him solve crimes?

Anyway, Michael wakes up and is pissed about having a new face. Dude, you are the man now, why so pissed?  Is basically what Devon and Mr. Knight say. Oh, and can you help us out? Oh, and none other than Oscar Goldman was the doctor who saved him. Yes, that guy from Six Million Dollar Man. It turns out Michael was saved by a metal plate in is head that ricocheted the bullet back out of his face. Ouch, again!

So, eventually he gets out the the garage and finds a car there. It's his Trans Am! Yes, KITT (Knight Industries Two Thousand, which sounds much cooler back in the 80's) was his car. They rebuilt it. They made it better, faster, stronger...I think you get where I'm going. I didn't remember that KITT was his car reinCARnated. (Okay, I'll stop.) The best line of the show is when Michael gets in the car and gestures toward the dashboard saying, "What's all this? It looks like Darth Vader's bathroom." Actually, he's kind of right.

Basically, he goes on to find the people who tried to kill him (evil computer geniuses) and saves the day and learns to get along with KITT, who is not so annoying and grumpy in the pilot.

After I watched the pilot I watched two other episodes to see the changes. The first real episode is odd in many ways. For one thing, Bonnie, the lady mechanic (crazy, I know!) is all of a sudden in the show like she was there in the pilot. I'm guessing there was some delay between these two so they'd assume people forgot. We TV watchers aren't so bright you know.

Also, he helps a young female lieutenant (crazy again!) out when her car conks out on the road. He drives her to the base where she is due to report to her CO who happens to be her dad. Several odd things happen in the very beginning of the episode. Like when Michael brings her to the base he comes all the way into the office with her where she is meeting her dad. Why? If I gave someone a ride, especially to a military base of some sort, I'd just drop them at the front door, or gate, or whatever.

Then, when she finds out her dad is dead, they cut to his funeral and Michael is there! What the hell? He doesn't know anyone there so why go to the funeral? Obviously, he isn't going to get anything from her now? Give it up dude. So, yeah, he ends up foiling some big arms theft ring after taking on many missiles. The end.  

The last thing I watched was the second season two-part premiere. I don't know why either, but when I saw there was an Evil Michael Knight in the episode and a giant truck made out of the same material as KITT, I knew I had to watch. The best parts of this episode was the beard that Hasselhoff to wear when he was the Evil version of himself who just happened to be the real son of the guy who saved him back in the pilot. Oh, he was sent to prison in Africa and never expected to get out. So, I guess that's why Mr. Knight made Michael look like his son? I think the guy needed therapy. He had the money to get a great shrink.

Awesome! (photo from Whatculture!)

So, this guy gets the former Mr. Knight's wife to drug some of the foundation members to get the formula for the molecular structure of KITT's outer shell. It must be more complicated than that Magic Shell stuff, I guess. 

So, they gut this stuff and build a semi-tractor with this stuff. I guess they are going to plow through a militaryKITT gets whacked hard. He's smashed and upside down and Garth keeps driving? Where they heck is he going? He doesn't go in for the kill? Somehow after Michael gets KITT upright and driving through the desert all the people are gone that come to see Garth wipe out KITT and Michael. Where did they all go? Nobody thought to check and see if they were really dead? What kind of crap revenge is this? 

Anyway, Bonnie outfits KITT with some awesome laser, they have another showdown and KITT wins, or something. YAY! 

My final thoughts? The show definitely took a lighter turn after the pilot. Somehow KITT was turned into an old woman and Michael became a himbo. (Do people still say that?) 

Next up, I go back and watch The Greatest American Hero! (No, I don't. I don't want to ruin that for younger me.) 

Ha! I forgot I wrote about the "NEW" Knight Rider a long time ago.