Reviewed by Colin Jacobson (September 3, 2025)
While I won’t claim a TV series about a hunky dude who fights crime with the aid of a talking and self-aware car could only exist in the 1980s, it does feel like a product of that era. Knight Rider debuted in the fall of 1982 and lasted four seasons before it got the axe.
In this 20-disc 4K UHD set, we get all 90 episodes of Knight Rider aired from fall 1982 to spring 1986. With so many shows involved, I needed to pick and choose if I wanted to get through the box in a reasonable amount of time.
As such, I selected four programs per season for this review. The plot synopses come from IMDB.
SEASON ONE:
Knight of the Phoenix: “An apparently dead detective gets a new face and identity as Michael Knight (David Hasselhoff) and is armed with an artificially intelligent super car to battle crime.”
As a mid-teen when Knight Rider debuted, I feel I must’ve watched the show at some point. If so, all memories of the series evaporated decades ago.
Case in point: I went into “Phoenix” with no awareness of Michael’s “origin story” as told here. I assumed he existed as a Bruce Wayne-style millionaire who used his smarts and his wealth to create technology that helped him battle bad guys.
As the episode synopsis reveals, this proves incorrect – well, partly. I got it right that some rich dude used his wealth to create KITT, but I mistakenly assumed it’d be Michael.
Anyway, the double-length “Phoenix” exists as a pretty standard pilot episode. It introduces the characters and situations while it also tosses in some action and intrigue.
Well, in theory, as the reality says something else. “Phoenix” attempts a thriller plot and some fighting but it drops the ball in both regards.
I don’t judge any series based solely on its pilot, as plenty of TV shows need a while to get into a groove. But as someone who has many hours of Knight Rider left to watch, I hope matters improve quickly, as I’m not sure I can survive 15 more episodes like this one.
Deadly Maneuvers: “After giving a lift to a woman (Devon Ericson) to an army base, Michael investigates her father's death and discovers a plot to sell nuclear weapons.”
I don’t know if “Michael stumbles onto a mystery because he’s a horn dog” will become a theme for the series. However, his attraction to Lt. Ladd prompts the show’s plot.
If nothing else, “Deadly” offers an improvement over the pilot. It lends Michael a bit more of a James Bond vibe and leans into a decent story as he investigates.
Does this give me confidence that I’ll enjoy the 14 episodes I have left to watch? No, and I don’t want to leave the impression “Deadly” becomes anything special.
Still, it creates a watchable mix of mystery and action. After the doldrums of the pilot, I’ll take it.
Nobody Does It Better: “When computer software gets stolen from Deltron Micronics, Michael becomes convinced it's an inside job.”
With “Better”, we get to see a then 37-year-old Tony Dow from Leave It to Beaver in a guest spot. We also watch as Michael butts heads with cute and spunky private detective Flannery Roe (Gail Edwards).
She and Hasselhoff actually boast decent chemistry, and this makes it a minor disappointment that Flannery only appeared in this one episode. As usual, “Better” leans toward cheesy elements typical of the series, but it still comes with some positives.
Short Notice: “Michael picks up a hitchhiker (Robin Curtis) who's looking for her daughter. When he defends her from a couple of bikers from the Satan's Stompers motorcycle club, he ends up charged with second degree murder himself.”
Curtis will look familiar to Star Trek fans. Though Kirstie Alley originated the role of Vulcan Lt. Saavik in 1982’s Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan, Curtis took over the part for 1984’s Star Trek III: The Search for Spock.
If we take “Notice” as an indication of Curtis’s skills, she made sense as a Vulcan. Curtis displays little emotional range, an issue for a character despondent over the loss of her kid.
In addition, the involvement of the bikers feels like a weird and gratuitous choice. Motorcycle gangs provide easy fodder for action TV/movies since they offer roles audiences view as bad guys from the get-go and they also allow the hero lots of bodies to fight.
All of this leads toward a fairly dreary episode. “Notice” relies on too many clichés to go anywhere, especially since “Michael framed for murder” doesn’t offer the twist one might anticipate.
SEASON TWO:
Goliath: “Wilton Knight's estranged son Garthe (Hasselhoff) returns from imprisonment in Africa. Together with his mother Elizabeth (Barbara Rush), he steals the formula to KITT's Molecular Bonded Shell and applies it to a monster truck he calls Goliath. Garthe then sets out to destroy Michael Knight, the man he feels his father gave everything rightfully his.”
Double the Hasselhoff, double the fun? Given Garthe’s evil facial hair, Rider seemingly pays homage to the famous Star Trek doppelganger episode “Mirror, Mirror”.
Unsurprisingly, Hasselhoff camps up a storm in his second part as nasty Garthe. And who can blame him given the silliness of the plot?
Let’s face it: Knight Rider always existed as a series with a goofy concept at its heart. I actually feel surprised that so many episodes avoided the nutty implications of its basic premise.
As such, I should forgive Knight Rider when it embraces the more ludicrous notions like Michael’s doppelganger. Though I have a feeling the series will dig deeper into ever-cartoonier stories as it progresses.
If we just look at “Goliath” on its own, it offers more action than usual, and that becomes a plus. Still, the inherent ridiculousness of so much of the episode makes it a net negative.
Brother’s Keeper: “Michael Knight helps to break a criminal (Gerald Gordon) out of jail against his wishes in order to halt the detonation of a Minotaur bomb. When the escapee refuses to cooperate, Knight and KITT become fugitives of the law themselves.”
If nothing else, “Keeper” starts from an unusual POV, as the inmate in question actively seeks to stay behind bars. Gordon also offers a better than average performance as the fearful convict, one that gives us an appealing Roy Scheider vibe.
After the goofiness of “Goliath”, “Keeper” bounces back fairly well. It suffers from some of the series’ usual hamminess but it turns into an above-average Knight Rider program.
Let It Be Me: “Michael investigates the death of Greg Noble (John Patrick Reger) of the rock band Class Action only to discover the lead suspect is his lost love Stevie March (Catherine Hickland). Michael takes Noble's place in the band to protect Stevie and find the murderer.”
When TV shows depict popular musical artists, they almost always get it wrong. That proves accurate with the silly and unconvincing portrayal of “hot rock band” Class Action.
“Me” also brings foreshadowing of Hasselhoff’s infamous musical career when Michael becomes a member of Class Action. Apologies to all the Germans who apparently adore him, but if his vocals here offer a representation of his talent, Hasselhoff can’t sing.
Hasselhoff also creates a comically terrible attempt at rock star stage antics. He emotes up a storm and looks like a fool when he appears in the program’s concert scenes.
In addition to the awful music, “Me” turns into a clunker due to the cheesy romance between Michael and Stevie, as the arrival of Michael’s “one that got away” leans heavily into cheap melodrama. This turns into a weak episode.
Big Iron: “Michael and KITT investigate the theft of tractors and similar 'big iron' construction equipment.”
After the romantic silliness of “Me”, “Iron” takes Michael back to a story that more heavily emphasizes a mystery and an investigation. The episode hints at woo between Michael and the awfully young/awfully pretty/awfully lonely wife of client (Stuart Whitman).
However, “Iron” avoids that thread and largely sticks to the case at hand. Nothing especially thrilling results but at least “Iron” fares better than the God-awful “Me”.
SEASON THREE:
Knight of the Drones: “David Halston (Jared Martin) and Margo Sheridan (Barbara Stock) gather a team to stage a break-in of a San Francisco jail. Michael and Devon (Edward Mulhare) ask Bonnie (Patricia McPherson) to help them on this case.”
If nothing else, “Drones” gets some credit for the presence of a recognizable guest actor, as Jim Brown plays a prisoner freed in the scheme. Though the series involved a few future stars as well as some established performers, both seem in surprisingly short supply for a series that lasted as long as Knight Rider.
In any case, “Drones” stretches one episode of story to double-length. It tends to meander and the basic plot never becomes all that interesting. Expect a lackluster launch to Season Three.
The Ice Bandits: “A collection of diamonds gets stolen from a Foundation-sponsored charity auction. Michael and KITT follow one of the thieves to the Monastery of the Grape in Napa where a plastic surgeon (Julian Barnes) provides criminals with new faces for a percentage of their takings.”
On the positive side, “Bandits” comes with better than average action, especially when Michael chases down the thieves. On the negative side… pretty much everything else.
We get standard issue antics with the less than compelling twist related to cosmetic surgery. The action bits give “Bandits” a boost but they can’t redeem this otherwise blah show.
Knight Strike: “A truckload of confiscated weapons gets stolen from a police warehouse. Michael finds a female hitchhiker (Judy Landers) selling part of the shipment at a survivalist convention.”
Along with sister Audrey, Judy Landers earned fame the in 1970s and 1980s via a series of bubbled-headed voluptuous blonde roles. “Strike” doesn’t ask her to stretch her talents, though the part leans less comedic than usual.
Outside of Landers, “Strike” becomes more interesting than most Knight Rider shows due to the time with the survivalists. Nothing here delivers a terrific episode – and the comedic subplot in which some yokels try to defraud Michael and KITT becomes a persistent irritant – but this nonetheless turns into a better than average program.
Circus Knights: “Michael joins Circus Major as ‘Turbo Man’ after one of its stars meets with foul play on the trapeze. KITT helps him perform death-defying stunts as Turbo Man's 'talking flying carpet'.”
While never exactly a serious and dramatic series, Knight Rider got sillier and goofier as it proceeded. That trend becomes a major issue with “Circus”.
Oh, the episode provides some darker elements and threats, but these feel even more superficial than usual. The episode exists mainly for the hijinks we find with Michael and KITT at the circus, and as such, it becomes even campier than usual.
SEASON FOUR:
Knight of the Juggernaut: “Terrorist Phillip Nordstrom (John Considine) kidnaps Devon and replaces him with a duplicate in order to extract the secret of KITT's Molecular Bonded Shell. Having found a way to neutralize it, Nordstrom unleashes his own super vehicle, the Juggernaut on an unsuspecting KITT”.
Seen as Michael’s semi-love interest all the way back in Season One’s pilot, Pamela Susan Shoop returns here… in a different role. Given that I watched the shows over a fairly short span of time, I suspect this repetitive casting stood out more to me than to audiences 40 years ago, but it still feels weird.
Granted, TV series reused actors in different roles back in those days - The Odd Couple essentially made it a running joke how many parts Richard Stahl played – but I still find it perplexing that they’d use a perfectly ordinary and replaceable performer like Shoop a second time. Although sexy, Shoop wasn’t much of an actor.
Perhaps the producers brought back the wholly mediocre Shoop because they knew she wouldn’t upstage Hasselhoff. Our lead couldn’t act back when the series started and he didn’t get better over time.
Honestly, it remains astonishing that Hasselhoff maintained a long career, as the man couldn’t act his way out of the proverbial paper bag. I guess he looked the part and that seemed good enough.
Anyway, “Juggernaut” kicks off the series’ final season with a thud. It ratchets up potential intrigue with a mix of theoretically dramatic threads but none of them go anywhere. This turns into an oddly dull episode.
KITTnap: “Imprisoned criminal Jeff Cavanaugh (Robert F. Lyons) escapes from jail with help Julian Martin (Daniel Faraldo). Fearing FLAG is on his tail, Julian decides to kidnap Michael's latest flame Karen (Janine Turner) and also gets his hands on KITT.”
If nothing else, “KITTnap” offers a look at a pre-fame Turner, as Northern Exposure remained five years in her future. With long hair instead of her Exposure pixie cut, she looks semi-unrecognizable – and really great.
Outside of how sexy Turner seems, “KITTnap” becomes a dud. Faraldo plays his role as a cheap knockoff of Al Pacino in 1983’s Scarface and the other actors camp it up as well.
This results in a weak episode. Even by Knight Rider standards, it’s too silly to work.
Knight of the Rising Sun: “Michael and RC (Peter Parros) meet with Devon’s old military friend Nick O'Brien (Ken Swofford). They end up protecting Nick's adopted son Coy (Rummel Mor) from Ninja leader Suki Taneka (George Kee Cheung).”
Should one expect blatant racism from a Knight Rider that involves Asian characters? Yes, and “Sun” delivers, though perhaps without quite as many cringe-worthy moments as I might expect.
Still, the episode hasn’t aged well, though it wouldn’t be especially compelling even without the racism. “Sun” comes with a flimsy plot that seems to exist mainly for a little “Asian flavor” and not much else.
Voo Doo Knight: “Michael walks in on a robbery to find three men seemingly under the influence of voodoo princess Harada (Rosalind Cash). While he investigates incidents that involve wealthy art collectors, Michael meets Elizabeth Wesley (Christine Hauser) and she explains that everyone seeks the fabled crown of Tequatl.”
After 90 episodes and four seasons, Knight Rider comes to an end – well, for a chunk of time. As seen elsewhere on this disc, Michael and KITT returned for a 1991 TV movie called Knight Rider 2000.
Does “Voo Doo” send off the original series on a positive note? Heck no, as the episode seems as hokey and goofy as the premise promises.
Actually, “Voo Doo” sparks to life a bit thanks to slumming guest stars Henry Gibson and John Vernon, as both bring some verve to the silly story. They can’t make this a strong send-off to the series, though.
Note that the 4K UHD discs came with some alterations from their original broadcasts. This meant episodes with abbreviations made for syndication as well as music replacement.
Given I hadn’t watched Knight Rider in a good 40 years – and I don’t even feel sure I viewed it when it was new – I can’t comment on any cuts made to the shows. However, the alterations to the music became more apparent.
Knight Rider featured a fair amount of hit songs from the 1970s and 1980s, and these undoubtedly would’ve cost biggity bucks to include on these discs. As such, the producers opted for soundalike performers to recreate the original tunes.
The shows provide replacements for acts like James Taylor, Fleetwood Mac, Eagles and many others. Some fare better than others but the experienced rock fan will notice they’re not the original artists.
On one hand, it’s a shame the set loses so much original music. On the other hand, the substitutions might’ve been the only practical way to release this set because the cost of rights to the songs could’ve proved prohibitive.
