What made this such a great pilot was the fact that Michael was shot and left for dead but ultimately got his revenge on the individual who tried to kill him. "Knight of the Phoenix" indeed...raised up from near death to right the wrong...couldn't be more poetic!
I love this Knight Rider pilot episode. It was at the time it aired, and even to this very day your reading this message absolutely fantastic. Lots of modern TV shows throw in filthy language, very often it's totally unnecessary. Knight Rider on the other hand is good clean fun for all the family. 😎
@@XB10001 it was actually two pilots if you are a die hard fan. This episode was a 20 minute movie pitched to the various networks, and when NBC picked it up, they added a ton more footage to it to make the two hour pilot that we got to see. That is why KITT’s front nose changes throughout the episode.
@@phoenixblack1220 I had no idea. I did notice the front changes when I was a kid, but I have only seen bits and pieces since. For the longest time, I did not want to rewatch Knight Rider, for fear it would.not have aged well. You see TV shows differently as a kid.
The first episode set the tone for the series. As a 12 year old boy, KITT was the car every kid (and a few adults) wanted to own. The amazing thing is that a few of the more grounded features KITT had eventually became reality in actual cars.
@@SquicxI don’t think it would have gone quite that dark but they could have kept going with this more dramatic tone to the adventures and still have allowed for some humor and levity just as this pilot did.
The first time I ever watched this scene, I was so on the edge of my seat. When Tanya discerned Michael’s secret, I kept wondering what would happen next. I guess it was poetic justice that Tanya killed herself in her failed attempt to kill Michael, and took that secret to her grave. I also recall this scene with the exploding plane was used in an early third season episode involving the usage of a poison from a unique plant. Both Michael and a dancer nearly died. [Guess what - I made the 100th comment on this video. Go figure.]
This was the first sequence I saw back in 2005? Started from Michael sneaking inside the Comtron facility or the prison bust out right through and it got me hooked since
Indeed, Jwbaxter85.....I would put a pilot episode on the report..... For the record....... thank you for the comment sector update 👍 and have a great morning
4:42 Who's the loser now, Tanya? Like they say, a poetic justice: you've shot Michael with a gun, and you died from the same gun. I guess, you're even!
I'm not sure if it was this episode or another where Michael was injured and refused to allow KITT to take control. KITT comments that Michael seemed to be keeping himself alive through sheer force of will. I really enjoyed this show and was terribly disappointed that the remake-sequel of a few years ago failed so badly.
0:00-0:10.; The truck driver with the cigar in his mouth was Red West--the same guy who played Red Webster in the 1989 movie 'Road House'. I first saw him in 'Road House' when I was about 7 & when I saw him in his episode of 'Knight Rider’, I immediately knew who it was just by how he sounded. Amazing the things I first picked up on, back then & still remember, today... I believe Red West passed away in July of 2017, but, I could be wrong.
@@robertyoung3992- Never had a clue... The only ways I remember him are because of 'Road House' & this episode of 'Knight Rider'. I'll have to check out the role that you just pointed out to me, however.
Great sequence when KITT rams into the plane's wing and then the plane explodes. So great, they reused the footage again later in the Season 3 episode "Dead of Knight".
I saw that. I can't really blame them though, they had to keep production costs down when they could but at least they reused their own stuff. Using that dam collapse sequence from Superman was rather cheap though. I'd say that a lot of people had already seen that movie and knew where Universal stole the footage from. - I'd love to see this series updated with todays CGI effects. A little CGI in the right places could easily cover up some of the budgetary shortcomings and other issues they had back then.
@@matthewhudson7883 Maybe if they'd done something like that, but have the Blu-ray allow viewers the option to choose which version of the episodes to watch like they did with the original Star Trek series.
Damn. I like how did Michael Knight DROPPED that "Evil Tayna" at the last second at the airport. So much for her trying to finish/killing him in the Knight Rider pilot scene. But nevertheless, in the end, Michael Knight are the right man for the job.🇺🇸📺😎☕
Beatrice Travis from Vega$ and Dr. Ben Casey were no match for Knight Rider and K.I.T.T. aka Mitch Buchanan from Baywatch and Mr. George Feeny from Boy Meets World who is also known as John Adams in 1776 and Dr. Mark Craig from St. Elsewhere R.I.P. Phyllis Davis and Vince Edwards - 2 talented stars
I really love how Knight Rider let's their main protagonist get wounded. I always hated other shows that treated their protagonist like nothing could harm them.
kitt is bulletproof anytime something is bulletproof you don't shoot at it the bullet bounce off of and the bullet come right back at you and she should of listen to micheal that's her fault for not listening to micheal
how not only were we watching a great tv show about a man and his incredible car, but we also have to come to realise that although off course this is still only a tv series and not real life, but i do have to conclude that compared to cars even today kitt still makes them all look like scrap metal, and if they ever do make a kitt for real, where can i buy one, and along with airwolf still possibly being able to blow anything out of the sky, street hawk still being the fastest motor bike ever, and blue thunder still being one hell of a helicopter, god we loved our 80s super machines.
It most certainly would be great if we as fans could watch Knight Rider all the way through without any commercials at all . I love the program but not the commercials at all .
I absolutely loved this sequence Michael with his last ounces of life literally running out of his body clings to consciousness just enough to get through the obstacles that Wilson and Tanya threw into his path so he could stop the woman who had almost ended his life from getting away to strike again only to be killed with her own gun
Did u know that Lance legault is the guest of this episode the enemy in the helicopter on left side. Even the e13 s2. He also know as colonel decker from the a-team
He hit us... No you hit us... Sparks FLYING. We will be lucky to make it to the airport.......... .. Despite the fact that the bullet damage...Sparks are no where near the Engine turrit... !!! Got to love 1980s tv logic
Not to mention that the car was on the port side yet the bullet managed to maintain momentum, follow a curved trajectory, and hit the starboard side of the Bell! haha
Yes but before CGI alot of stunt people were i jured or killed and sometimes even a main actor, so just ingnore alittle blurriness in the action scenes to save a person from injury.
So I love this channel because I love everything Knight Rider. However, this is not the first ever Turbo Boost. That happens minutes before this one when another truck is trying to block the road so KITT can't get through. KITT - "If you're going through with this may I suggest that you permit me to activate the Turbo Boost?" Michael - "The what?" KITT - "Nevermind, allow me to demonstrate." That scene is actually in a video you posted 7 days after this one where KITT helps Michael escape from Comtron.
The turbo boost was used earlier in this scene when the 1st lorry attempts to block kitt. Kitt says to Michael he should use use the turbo boost Michael is confused so kitt says allow me
Love that both Devon and Michael refer to K.I.T.T. as he and him. It's AI, never implied that he's sentient (like Data), but K.I.T.T.'s not a thing or an it. There's so much personality in the program that he's more than the sum of his parts. (And it amuses me no end how K.I.T.T. had his own Lore with K.A.R.R. or I guess since they were first, it's more Data had his own version of K.A.R.R. with Lore. Frankly, this two shows were about the only times the whole evil twin plot actually worked, at least for me.)
ok I've gone through the comments and not one person mentions that the scene where KITT jumps over the truck is probably just the car suspended in the air(not moving) with the truck [moving) passing underneath it, to give the illusion that its turbo boosting over the truck
can anyone help me ? from childhood when these first were aired i remember kitt and michal being trapped under sand or dirt or something and running out of oxygen and them having to use turbo boost as a last ditch effort, which used up all the oxygen. what episode is that from ? i try searching on google but cant come up with anything. love this show :)
You might be thinking of Season 2, episode 24, "Big Iron". A bulldozer pushes KITT down a hillside and buries him under a pile of gravel. They have 5 minutes of air left, and KITT Turbo Boosts out of the gravel.
The truck driver is played by Red West who best known as a long time member of Elvis Presley’s Memphis Mafia. Some people say he was a friend, others say he was an enabler of Elvis’ bad habits
This seems to be edited. I recall KITT suggesting that Michael use the turbo boost and then he presses the button. On this online clip Michael just presses it like he already knows about it.
Actually that wasn't the first ever turbo boost. The first turbo boost was when Michael and KITT were in the demolition race and Michael didn't know how to do it so KITT took over.
Actually no. It was explained that it was a bump in the road, even though we hear a bit of a sound effect. During the run to the airport, one the of the semi-truck drivers tried to block the road with his trailer, but then KITT said, "If you're going to go through with this, may I suggest allowing me to activate the turbo boost?" Michael said, "The what?" KITT then said, "Never mind. Allow me to demonstrate!"