Knight Rider

:For the American media company, see Knight Ridder.

Story

Michael Knight

In the pilot episode, undercover police officer Michael Long was betrayed and seemingly killed by a gunshot wound to the head. Declared dead to the public, his medical care was actually taken over by the Foundation for Law and Government (FLAG). FLAG was the private crime-fighting arm of the Knight Foundation, founded by dying millionaire philanthropist Wilton Knight. Given a new face via plastic surgery, Michael Long was resurrected as Michael Knight. Together with a high-tech automobile called KITT (Knight Industries Two Thousand), Michael set out to carry out Wilton Knight's crime-fighting work. Michael was usually given mission objectives by the new director of FLAG, Wilton's best friend, Devon Miles. He was selected for his high level of training in both deduction and self defense.

Related Topics:
Pilot episode - Police - Gunshot wound - Plastic surgery - Automobile - KITT

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Michael Knight was a new kind of hero, a modern knight, who avoided unnecessary violence and refrained from using firearms. Most episodes featured an attractive young woman (on one occasion, Geena Davis in an early role),in need of Knight's help. As with The A-Team, Knight didn't have one area where he operated; the Foundation required his services in whatever state where trouble arose.

Related Topics:
Hero - Knight - Firearms - Geena Davis - The A-Team

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David Hasselhoff plays a double role in the Season 2 episodes entitled "Goliath" and "Goliath Returns" as both Michael Knight and as Garthe Knight, Wilton's criminal son. At the time of Michael Knight's surgery, Garthe was imprisoned in Africa. Wilton Knight believed his son would never be seen again, and had Michael Knight's face modeled after Garthe's.

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KITT

KITT (short for Knight Industries Two Thousand) was for many, the star of the show. The car boasted artificial intelligence of sufficent level to reason, talk, and deliver sardonic 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" (disguised as a watch). KITT's Pontiac Trans-AM chassis was reinforced with Wilton Knight's revolutionary Molecular Bonded Shell, and was resistant to most known weapons below heavy artillery. The Knight 2000's drivetrain consisted of a turbine engine, capable of accelerating the car to speeds over 200 mph (320 km/h); furthermore, the car featured numerous other special abilities, the most notable being a frequently-used 'Turbo Boost' for jumping over obstacles. Several episodes saw new technical gadgets added to KITT's repertoire, which were subsequently used to rescue Michael and KITT from some perilous situation in the very same episode. Other notable special features: Ski Mode, which enabled KITT to maneuver on only two wheels; Micro Jam, which enabled KITT to take control of any Solid State electronic device; Auto Eject, which had such force and control that Michael could be propelled 25 feet in the air and land safely on the roof of a building; also frequently used: Grapling Hook, Oil Slick, Smoke Screen.

Related Topics:
KITT - Artificial intelligence - Artillery - Mph

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KITT was the second robot car developed by FLAG. The first, named KARR (Knight Automated Roving Robot), was built without the directive for protection of human life (see Three Laws of Robotics) that KITT possessed. KARR fell into the wrong hands and served as KITT's Doppelganger during several sweeps episodes.

Related Topics:
Three Laws of Robotics - Doppelganger - Sweeps

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KITT was improved greatly in the show's final season. During a mission in Chicago, KITT's Molecular Bonded Shell was neutralized and his body was 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 street-wise mechanic friends. While they were not initially able to restore the car's Molecular Bonded Shell, they added a 'Super Pursuit Mode', giving KITT a 40% increase in speed (upwards of 300 mph), made possible by retractable airfoils, and jet boosters. An 'Emergency Braking System' was also installed to either slow the car down or stop it from these high speeds using three large airflaps (The Mercedes SLR actually uses this technology today). The 'C' button was able to turn KITT into a convertible. (It is obvious in following episodes that once Michael and crew returned to FLAG headquarters, KITT's Molecular Bonded Shell was in fact restored to him.) Some fans viewed these changes as unnecessary or over the top, and interest in the show declined. Regardless of whether or not this caused its demise, the show went off the air as Universal needed more money to produce Knight Rider than NBC was willing to pay for it.

Related Topics:
Chicago - Peter Parros - Airfoil - Mercedes SLR - Convertible

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