Team Knight Rider

Ten years ago all it took was one man and one car to get the job done. Now, the foundation for law and government has assembled five highly skilled operatives and paired them with the most advanced state of the art vehicles to take on a new breed of outlaw. They are…Team Knight Rider.

Set a decade after the original series, Team Knight Rider (TKR for short) ran for one season of 22 episodes between 1997-98. Here in the UK, it went out on the ITV network on Saturday afternoons. It would be fake news to say that Team Knight Rider was a success. It wasn’t. But I don’t actually lay the blame on the production team nor its cast of actors. I just think people lacked the imagination to give it a change + were so hung up on the original Knight Rider series to accept anything different + NBC gave it little to no promotion. I’ll return to that topic later. TKR had a lot going for it and revisiting the series on my VHS recordings ( sadly no physical media release to speak of at this time) I feel very strongly that this show is often overlooked/underestimated and still stands up well 24 years later. Recently I watched an episode titled Bad Seed in which a mad scientist creates a killer virus and releasees it around the world causing the population to wear masks and protective clothing until, eventually, TKR finds a cure. Sound familiar? In another episode ( actually the season debut) Fallen Nation, the team rescues a supposed kidnapped general, only to uncover he is behind a plot to detonate a nuclear bomb over Washington D.C all in the name of progressive politics.

In some respects, Team Knight Rider actually dealt with global catastrophes far more than the original Knight Rider did but still keeping the mythology of the original series and the legend of Michael Knight and KITT going. Michaels presence can be felt across the season. There are corners of the Knight Rider fandom that refuse to acknowledge TKR as cannon and only see it as a failed reboot. I see it as a continuation! If you doubt that, well there’s a lot to argue the contrary. It is heavily implied that TKR team member Jenny Andrews is the daughter of Hasselhoff’s Michael Knight character and the whole series builds up to villain Mobius flushing Michael out of hiding which results in a cliffhanger that I still remember till this very day.

Legion of Doom is the last episode of the series and is stuffed with show lore and fan-pleasing goodness. When that last episode went out and a character, who had been looming in the shadows across the season (SPOLIER COMING UP) reveals himself to be Micheal Knight (not played by David Hasselhoff) my whole body was pulsating. I actually didn’t know it was the season finally as the TV Guide had Team Knight Rider listed for next week as a brand new episode titled Apocalypse Maybe. If that doesn’t sound like a season finally title I don’t know what dose. This is going to be epic I thought. All week at school I was going on about this episode and even told my teacher (who used to watch Knight Rider when she was a child) that Micheal and KITT were going to be in it. Boy did I look dumb! Apocalypse Now goes out and something is not right. Where is Micheal? Why is the Team driving around in Arizona and not on the hilltop where they found Micheal? In fact, there is no reference to anything that happened in the previous EP. WTF? Turns out this episode was actually EP 20 and was shown out of order by ITV. Hate it when networks do that. I later found out that TKR was canceled after just 1 season of 22 episodes and Legion of Doom was the last one. Great! Now I’ll never know what happens.

The series was axed due to poor ratings and frankly a total lack of promotion by NBC. Such little faith did NBC have in Team Knight Rider that it was moved from a prime time slot, midseason, to a midnight slot on a Monday morning. Screw you NBC. I still long to know what happened after Legion of Doom. Fanfics have been written and I am considering following up the story myself once I reach the end of the season. I have not seen Legion in 24 years and will almost be seeing it fresh. It will be brand new all over again. Yes, I think will write my own fanfic to the season conclusion, maybe it’s better that way? Leave it open for the fans to decide what happens next. Regardless, this is an amazing show. If you loved the original Knight Rider then I think you will find enough in this to grab your interest. Don’t expect the Hoff or the original Kitt car (although they are referenced a lot) but a new take and a continuation of the story of one man making a difference with his talking car. However this time its 3 men, Kyle Stewart (played by Brixton Karnes), Duke DePalma (played by Duane Davis) Trek Sanders (played by Nick Wechsler), and 2 women, Jenny Andrews, (played by Christine Steel) and Erica West (played by Kathy Trageser) with their 3 talking cars + 2 motorcycles…

Danté (voiced by Tom Kane) a modified Ford Expedition sport utility vehicle driven by Kyle. Danté’s AI expresses himself in a haughty British manner and has no misgivings about making his driver and passengers feel uncomfortable. He is the de facto leader of the vehicles (if they’d ever listened to him) and he usually speaks on their behalf. Domino (voiced by Nia Vardalos), is a modified Ford Mustang convertible driven by Jenny. The AI’s manner is sleek, sexy, and flirtatious. She is also talkative and likes to gossip to the annoyance of the other vehicles. Attack Beast (voiced by Kerrigan Mahan), is a modified Ford F-150 full-sized pickup truck with off-road capability, driven by Duke. Beast’s AI has a stubborn and argumentative attitude that talks tough and is not afraid to stand up to a fight. Much to Duke’s embarrassment, Beast also has a fondness for the music of Alanis Morissette. His favorite tactic is to crash through walls and surprise the enemy. Beast does not like to take orders from Duke or anyone else, but he is fiercely loyal and gets the job done. TKR member Jenny is the only one Beast will listen to, and his aggressive nature softens when she is around. Kat, (voiced by Andrea Beutner), is a high-tech motorcycle that merges with her twin, Plato, to form the advanced High-Speed Pursuit Vehicle, capable of high speeds and incredible maneuverability. Kat is driven by Erica and her AI has a polar opposite personality to that of her driver. Kat is always concerned with rules and regulations and is in constant conflict with Erica’s amoral traits. She acts more like Erica’s mother than her partner, but she will do whatever is necessary to get Erica out of a jam. Plato (voiced by comedian John Kassir), is the other motorcycle that merges with his twin Kat to form the High-Speed Pursuit Vehicle. Plato is driven by Trek and, like his operator, Plato is a nerdy brainiac completely consumed by facts, figures, and data. Plato likes to quote television commercials and famous movie lines and talks in sort of a code that only Trek can understand. The two have developed a strange symbiotic relationship that the other TKR members can never figure out.

So there you have it, folks. Team Knight Rider. One of the most underrated shows of all time. I personally think it a crime that this series is not out on physical media but from what I understand NBC Universal doesn’t even obtain copies within their archives anymore. Apparently, it was junked after a certain period due to not being commercially viable. Thank Wilton Knight (fan ref) that I never recorded over my VHS tapes. I highly recommend this show. You can check it out on YouTube for a complete season of $12;99 or per EP $1:99  https://www.youtube.com/show/SClaXpmLOw0crGubT26pglwQ?season=1 and if you remember watching the show please do comment as I would love to hear from other TKR fans assuming I am not the only one.

• This topic was modified 3 years, 3 months ago by Emrys.
• This topic was modified 2 years, 11 months ago by WeareChaoS.