Guest Blog: KNIGHT RIDER IN THE TVCU By Brad Mengel
As part of the celebration of our fourth anniversary, I am reposting each day for ten days some of my favorites from the past four years.
I was at an airport, on my way to pick up my son. The TVCU was in its first year, but we were on hiatus during my son's visit. And out of the blue, author Brad Mengel contacts me to say he's got a Knight Rider post that would be perfect for my website. It was, and I was honored that someone I held in such esteem had been following my work, and wanted to contribute.
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
In continuing with my blog updates, this one is next my list. Brad Mengel submitted this one two years ago, and I'm taking it on me to update it, though I don't expect there will be much to update. My updates will be in RED to allow the reader to differentiate between the original post from Brad, and my updates.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
I was very surprised to learn that professional author Brad Mengel was a fan of this blog, and honored when he asked to post a guest blog.
Brad Mengel is the author of SERIAL VIGILANTES OF PAPERBACK FICTION and a contributor to MYTHS FOR THE MODERN AGE.
From reading this blog, it should become very clear that he does indeed follow this blog, knowing it's format and getting the concepts and rules of the reality I created. And his knowledge of KNIGHT RIDER is amazing. I've seen every episode, but only a few of the crossovers listed were ones I was aware of. This blog has definitely expanded my own knowledge of the TVCU. Of course, it's no surprise if you check out his blog, the Serial Vigilante Blog.
So now that introductions have been made, on to his blog.
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
KNIGHT RIDER IN THE TVCU
By Brad Mengel
1976 FBI agent Frank Menlo arrests Katherine Reece and her gang. (referenced in “Female of the Species” STREETHAWK)
1978 (speculative) Knight Industries begins The Megaman Project creating a bionic man. The first subject is Ken Savage, who is partnered with Summer Lyndsay James. (referenced in “The Return of Megaman” TEAM KNIGHT RIDER)
1979 Knight Industries starts building the car of the future The Knight Automated Roving Robot (K.A.R.R) . K.A.R.R.’s programming for self-preservation making him too dangerous and he is deactivated in August 1981. (referenced in “Trust Doesn’t Rust” KNIGHT RIDER)
1979--CAPTAIN AMERICA--STEVE ROGERS RECEIVES THE SUPER-SOLDIER FORMULA, CALLED THE FLAG FORMULA. ONE MUST WONDER IF THIS IS F.L.A.G. FROM KNIGHT RIDER. THE CINEMATIC VERSION OF CAPTAIN AMERICA TIED TO THE AVENGERS FILM IS IN THE TVCU, BUT EVEN IN THE COMICS, THERE WERE OTHERS WHO WERE GIVEN THE MANTLE OF CAPTAIN AMERICA, SOME EVEN CALLING THEMSELVES STEVE ROGERS AND SOME EVEN BELIEVING IT. IT COULD BE THAT THIS STEVE ROGERS MAY BE THE SON OF THE ORIGINAL CAP AND PEGGY CARTER, WHO HE IMPREGNATED BEFORE HIS FINAL WWII MISSION. IN THAT CASE, HE MIGHT HAVE BEEN CHOSEN AS THE SUBJECT BECAUSE OF HIS GENETIC SIMILARITIES.
1980 Norman Tuttle begins work on the Streethawk project. (Speculation: The Streethawk project was the government’s attempt to create their own version of Knight Rider)
1980 CODE OF VENGEANCE – David Dalton a Vietnam Veteran is drifting around helping people (TV Movie aired June 1985) – This TV movie aired after Dalton’s appearance in KNIGHT RIDER but given Dalton’s increased skills and ties to the Department of Justice in his Knight Rider appearance it seems likely that the Code of Vengeance TV Movies and series take place before that.
1981 DALTON: CODE OF VENGEANCE II – Dalton discovers that his former commanding officer is working with a militia. (TV Movie aired May 1986)
1981 CODE OF VENGEANCE (aka DALTON’S CODE OF VENGEANCE) - This two episode series continued the adventures of David Dalton. (aired 1986)
August 1981 Knight of the Phoenix KNIGHT RIDER – Police Officer Michael Long is shot and left for dead. He is rescued by Wilton Knight and Devon Miles of The Foundation for Law and Government (FLAG) and given a new face and identity of Michael Knight. He is also given The Knight Industries Two Thousand (K.I.T.T.) a super car with an advanced artificial intelligence and gadgets. Together Michael and K.I.T.T. travel America helping people. (Pilot TV movie aired September 1982) Later episodes suggest that this took place in August 1982 but they must be in error.
September 1981 “Trust Doesn’t Rust” KNIGHT RIDER - When K.A.R.R. is reactivated Michael and K.I.T.T. must stop the more ruthless vehicle. (aired November 1982)
November 1981 “A Plush Ride” KNIGHT RIDER Michael meets Bonnie and Devon at The Buckaroo Club. The Buckaroo Club is the hangout of Colt Seavers, THE FALL GUY bringing that show into the TVCU. (aired December 1982)
December 1981 - “Give Me Liberty …or Give Me Death” KNIGHT RIDER - Michael and K.I.T.T. enter
the Alternative2000 race against the Prince brothers who drive a orange Dodge Charger and run moonshine. Clearly these are disguised DUKES OF HAZZARD bringing that show into the TVCU. The race goes past The Bates Motel from PSYCHO bringing those books and films into the TVCU.
October 1982 “Mirror Image” KNIGHT RIDER - Wilton Knight’s biological son Garthe steals the secret
of K.I.T.T.’s molecular shell to steal a nuclear weapon. (aired October 1983)
November 1982 “Soul Survivor” KNIGHT RIDER - Michael is seduced by a woman calling herself Adrienne Margeaux, who removes the CPU from K.I.T.T. and attempts to use the car for an art heist (aired November 1983) There is a suggestion that she also uses the surname St Clair.
Feb 1983 – “Goliath Returns” KNIGHT RIDER - Garthe Knight teams with Adrianne Margeaux to kidnap a scientist to a foreign country. (aired Feb 1984)
Feb 1983 – “Mouth of the Snake” aka “All that Glitters” KNIGHT RIDER - Michael and K.I.T.T encounter David Dalton they team with Joanna St John. Since his CODE OF VENGEANCE days, Dalton has started working for Archibald Hendley of Department of Justice and trained in martial arts. (Aired April 1984) Novelised as Knight Rider #4 “.45 Carat Assassin”. The 5th novel “Mirror Image” reveals that Dalton and Joanna are engaged shortly after.
October 1983 “Timber” THE A-TEAM - The A-Team meet Billy Lawrence when his mother and uncle hire the team to fight a corrupt logger. (Billy is played by Andre Gowan)
October 1983 –“Halloween Knight” KNIGHT RIDER - Michael and Bonnie investigate a murder that Bonnie witnessed. The murderer’s mother lives in the house formerly owned by Norman Bates.
November 1983 “K.I.T.T. vs K.A.R.R.” KNIGHT RIDER – K.A.R.R. is rebuilt after his destruction and faces off against Michael and K.I.T.T.. (aired November 1984)
Jan 1984 “Pilot” STREETHAWK Jesse Mach is invited to be the rider on the Streethawk project. (aired Jan 1985)
Feb 1984 –“Knightlines” KNIGHT RIDER Michael and K.I.T.T. meet Billy. (This is speculative but Andre Gower played Billy in both Timber and Knightlines) (aired March 1985)
Speculation: In “Timber” Billy Lawrence and his mother and uncle live two hours out of LA. At the end of the episode The A-Team has manages to defeat the thugs threatening them. John Lawrence is able to build his lumber company enough to hire people. Samantha and her son Billy move to LA to sell the timber directly to builders. This is why Billy is skipping school and wandering around late at night as he has only recently moved there and he has not made any friends yet and his mother is working all the time.
March 1984 “Knight in Retreat” KNIGHT RIDER - Michael and K.I.T.T. investigate an apparent suicide of a missile technician. They discover that a seductress named Bianca Morgan is responsible. (aired March 1985) Given the similar MO and identical appearance to Adrienne Margeaux/St Clair, it seems likely that she is the same woman. It is unclear why Michael doesn’t recognise her as such.
March 1984 “Murder is a Novel Idea” STREETHAWK Jesse Mach and Streethawk investigate the attempts on the life of a writer. One of the police investigating is Pete Crenshaw, in his youth Crenshaw was a member of THE THREE INVESTIGATORS bringing that novel series into the TVCU. (aired March 1985)
May 1984 “Female of the Species” STREETHAWK Jesse Mach and Streethawk encounter a seductress known as Melanie Ryan who is attempting to kill a visiting VIP. Jesse uncovers that Ryan was formerly known as Katherine Reece and the true target is the FBI agent charge of security, Frank Menlo who arrested Reece years ago. Reece had gotten plastic surgery to change her looks and become more attractive. (aired May 1985) Given her similar MO and appearance it seems likely that Katherine Reece/Melanie Ryan is also known as Adrienne Margeaux/Bianca Morgan who encountered Michael Knight.
April 1985 Voo Doo Night KNIGHT RIDER. This is the final recorded exploit of Michael Knight and K.I.T.T. in the original series.
Throughout this year Michael has had his vacations cut short by FLAG missions and the love of his life Stevie was murdered. He increasingly withdraws from FLAG business and in early 1990 he retires (Information from KNIGHT RIDER 2000 Movie) .
1991 – After Michael’s retirement James Marland is hand picked by Devon Miles to drive a new vehicle a Ferrari called The Knight Reformulation One (KRO). One of the candidates is Kyle Stewart. (information from KRO – TEAM KNIGHT RIDER)
Speculation: shortly after Devon retires and Martin Jantzen takes control of the Knight Rider Branch of FLAG.
Marsland is unstable and the pressure of living up to Michael Knight’s legacy took its toll and this impacted on KROs programming and by 1994 KRO is deactivated and Marsland is forced to retire. Jantzen also leaves the Foundation at this time.
1994-1996 After the failure of Marsland and KRO, the Knight Rider Project is rebuilt as Team Knight Rider consisting of five vehicles and five drivers. Kyle Stewart is recalled to be team leader driving a Ford Expedition named Dante, the remainder of the team is Jenny Andrews driving a red Ford Mustang named Domino, Duke DePalma driving Attack Beast, a Ford F-150. The final two members drive two cycles that can form a unified vehicle. They are Kevin “Trek” Saunders on Plato and Erica West on Kat. Given the increased size of the team, the scope of the cases is larger. The team is also transported in a plane codenamed Sky One.
October 1996 “Fallen Nation” TEAM KNIGHT RIDER – The first recorded case of Team Knight Rider. (aired October 1997). It is revealed that team member Jenny Andrews is the biological daughter of Michael Long aka Knight.
October 1996 “K.R.O.” TEAM KNIGHT RIDER – The Knight Reformation One is reactivated, the team must stop it. (aired October 1997)
January 1997 “The Return of Megaman” TEAM KNIGHT RIDER –Former Megaman Ken Savage comes out of retirement to defuse a time bomb 5XE. There is a reference to his former partner Summer James. There is also a reference to the three branches of FLAG, The Knight Rider project, The Megaman Project and The A-Team project. (aired January 1998)
There is no details about the A-Team project but at the end of the final episode of The A-TEAM it is hinted that the team are about to be pardoned and they plan to continue helping people. It seems likely that they started work for FLAG.
Given the bionic abilities of Ken Savage and the similarity of the name Summer James to Jamie
Summers, it seems likely that there is some connection between FLAG and the OSI (THE SIX MILLION DOLLAR MAN and THE BIONIC WOMAN)
Early 1998 “Apocalypse Maybe” TEAM KNIGHT RIDER – Kevin “Trek” Saunders discovers that one of his mentors Jackson Roykirk invented an earthquake machine. (aired May 1998) Roykirk was also the inventor of The Nomad Space Probe which appeared in “The Changeling” STAR TREK.
Feb 1998 “Legion of Doom” TEAM KNIGHT RIDER – The team tries to stop the theft of The Knight Industries Two Thousand CPU. (aired May 1998)
Speculation: The costs of running a five vehicle team and the Sky One flying command centre became too high and the project nearly bankrupted FLAG. Devon Miles was brought out of retirement to try and return FLAG to glory. K.I.T.T. was dismantled and sold off.
Feb 2000 KNIGHT RIDER 2000 – Devon has brought former District Attorney Russ Maddock to develop the next generation of artificial intelligence The Knight Industries Four Thousand. During the development of the Four Thousand, Devon brings back Michael Knight to help stop an epidemic of gun violence. Police woman Shawn McCormick is shot in the head and to save her life one of K.I.T.T.’s memory chips is implanted into her head. Devon is killed by the bad guys.
Michael and Shawn work together to track down the criminals responsible and Michael puts K.I.T.T.’s rebuilt CPU into the Four Thousand. After they bring those responsible to justice Michael again retires. Russ is the new head of FLAG with Shawn as K.I.T.T.’s new driver.
Speculation: The development of the Knight Industries Four Thousand was not enough to save FLAG and the Knight Rider project is again suspended.
Circa 2004 Dr Charles Graiman, one of the developers of the original K.I.T.T., builds a new Knight Automated Roving Robot (K.A.R.R.). Army Ranger Mike Traceur is the driver. The experiment is a failure. K.A.R.R. is deactivated and all of Mile’s memories from this time are wiped.
2005--HERBIE FULLY LOADED--In the opening title montage of newspaper clips, there is a mention of Herbie "hanging with" Knight Rider.
Feb 2007 “Knight Rider” Pilot movie KNIGHT RIDER (2008) – The Knight Industries Three Thousand (K.I.T.T.) a Ford Mustang is active when his creator Dr Charles Graiman is attacked. K.I.T.T. is programmed to contact former army ranger Mike Traceur. Traceur discovers that he is the son of Michael Knight. (aired Feb 2008) K.I.T.T. finds Mike at the Montecino casino from LOS VEGAS bringing that series into the TVCU. (The Montecino also appeared in HEROES, MEDIUM and CROSSING JORDAN bringing them also)
MARCH 2007 TO OCTOBER 2009--DYNAMO 5--MATT HICKMAN INFORMS ME THAT IN THIS SUPER-TEAM BOOK, THERE IS AN ORGANIZATION CALLED F.L.A.G. (FOUNDATION FOR LAW AND GOVERNMENT, WHICH IS THE SAME ORGANIZATION FROM KNIGHT RIDER.
September 2007 “A Knight in Shining Armour” KNIGHT RIDER (2008) - Mike changes his name to Mike Knight. (aired September 2008)Mike and K.I.T.T. operate out of Sky One (from TEAM KNIGHT RIDER)
November 2007 “Knight of The Zodiac” KNIGHT RIDER (2008) - A car similar to Domino appears in this episode. (aired November 2008)
January 2008 “Knight to King’s Pawn” KNIGHT RIDER (2008) Mike discovers that he was the driver for K.A.R.R. 2.0 which formed an unhealthy attachment to him. When K.A.R.R. is reactivated, Mike and K.I.T.T. have to battle to the death. (aired January 2009).
2010--SCOTT PILGRIM VS. THE WORLD: THE GAME--The band Clash At Demonhead arrives in a stretch limo version of K.I.T.T.. (Probably K.A.R.R.).
2019--SEAQUEST DSV--"SPECIAL DELIVERY"--IN THE BACKGROUND IS AN POSTER ADVERTISING A CAR SHOW, INCLUDING ONE CAR MAKER WHICH IS KNIGHT INDUSTRIES FROM KNIGHT RIDER.
ALTERNATE UNIVERSES:
THE ACTION PACK UNIVERSE: It is here that I place the KNIGHT RIDER 2010 TV movie. Despite the title the movie has no connections to the Knight Rider franchise. Set in a post apocalyptic future, Jake McQueen makes a car with a crystal that accesses the ghost of his dead girlfriend.
EARTH PRIME: K.i.T.T. along with Templeton “Faceman” Peck of THE A-TEAM and The Incredible Hulk are temporarily transported to Earth-Prime by a magic remote control in “Remote Control Man” AMAZING STORIES
David Hasselhoff appears several times with K.I.T.T. including “Hooray for Hollywood” DIFF’RENT STROKES and the movie KICKIN IT OLD SKOOL. K.I.T.T. ALSO APPEARED IN THE BENCHWARMERS AND THE COMEDY CENTRAL ROAST OF DAVID HASSELHOFF.
THE MUSIC VIDEO UNIVERSE: Footage from Knight Rider is used in the video clip for David Hasselhoff’s Looking for Freedom. K.I.T.T. also appears in the video clip for Hasselhoff’s cover of Get in my car”.
ROBOT CHICKEN UNIVERSE: Michael and K.I.T.T. appear in several episodes.
SKITLANDIA: In the SUPERNATURAL episode “Changing Channels” The Winchester brothers are placed into scenarios that parody Japanese Gameshows, sitcoms, Grey’s Anatomy, CSI Miami, and knight Rider. In the Knight Rider Parody, Dean acts as Michael Knight and Sam’s spirit animates their Chevy Impala. The Impala has the K.I.T.T. scanner and voice box.
THE ZED ANOMALY: There been several references to Knight Rider in the Simpsons but most refer to watching the TV Show.
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I was at an airport, on my way to pick up my son. The TVCU was in its first year, but we were on hiatus during my son's visit. And out of the blue, author Brad Mengel contacts me to say he's got a Knight Rider post that would be perfect for my website. It was, and I was honored that someone I held in such esteem had been following my work, and wanted to contribute.
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
In continuing with my blog updates, this one is next my list. Brad Mengel submitted this one two years ago, and I'm taking it on me to update it, though I don't expect there will be much to update. My updates will be in RED to allow the reader to differentiate between the original post from Brad, and my updates.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
I was very surprised to learn that professional author Brad Mengel was a fan of this blog, and honored when he asked to post a guest blog.
Brad Mengel is the author of SERIAL VIGILANTES OF PAPERBACK FICTION and a contributor to MYTHS FOR THE MODERN AGE.
From reading this blog, it should become very clear that he does indeed follow this blog, knowing it's format and getting the concepts and rules of the reality I created. And his knowledge of KNIGHT RIDER is amazing. I've seen every episode, but only a few of the crossovers listed were ones I was aware of. This blog has definitely expanded my own knowledge of the TVCU. Of course, it's no surprise if you check out his blog, the Serial Vigilante Blog.
So now that introductions have been made, on to his blog.
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
KNIGHT RIDER IN THE TVCU
By Brad Mengel
March 14, 1974-November 9, 1989--THE EUGENICS WARS: THE RISE AND FALL OF KHAN NOONIEN SINGH, VOLUME ONE--This is a major, major, major crossover. This is the story that reconciles how Khan's history in Star Trek could have happened once our real history caught up to it. Like a TALES OF THE SHADOWMEN story, I'm just going to lay out all the crossovers that are brought in or confirmed here: STAR TREK, ASSIGNMENT: EARTH (this counts as a crossover because ASSIGNMENT: EARTH was orginally meant to be a spin-off of STAR TREK), AVENGERS, SIX MILLION DOLLAR MAN, STEPFORD WIVES, STAR TREK: THE NEXT GENERATION, FRANKENSTEIN, MODESTY BLAISE, PRETENDER, BEAUTY AND THE BEAST, YOUNG FRANKENSTEIN, BUFFY THE VAMPIRE SLAYER, BIONIC WOMAN, KNIGHT RIDER 2010, EQUALIZER, THE INVISIBLE MAN, JOHNNY QUEST and ANDROMEDA STRAIN.
1976 FBI agent Frank Menlo arrests Katherine Reece and her gang. (referenced in “Female of the Species” STREETHAWK)
1978 (speculative) Knight Industries begins The Megaman Project creating a bionic man. The first subject is Ken Savage, who is partnered with Summer Lyndsay James. (referenced in “The Return of Megaman” TEAM KNIGHT RIDER)
1979 Knight Industries starts building the car of the future The Knight Automated Roving Robot (K.A.R.R) . K.A.R.R.’s programming for self-preservation making him too dangerous and he is deactivated in August 1981. (referenced in “Trust Doesn’t Rust” KNIGHT RIDER)
1979--CAPTAIN AMERICA--STEVE ROGERS RECEIVES THE SUPER-SOLDIER FORMULA, CALLED THE FLAG FORMULA. ONE MUST WONDER IF THIS IS F.L.A.G. FROM KNIGHT RIDER. THE CINEMATIC VERSION OF CAPTAIN AMERICA TIED TO THE AVENGERS FILM IS IN THE TVCU, BUT EVEN IN THE COMICS, THERE WERE OTHERS WHO WERE GIVEN THE MANTLE OF CAPTAIN AMERICA, SOME EVEN CALLING THEMSELVES STEVE ROGERS AND SOME EVEN BELIEVING IT. IT COULD BE THAT THIS STEVE ROGERS MAY BE THE SON OF THE ORIGINAL CAP AND PEGGY CARTER, WHO HE IMPREGNATED BEFORE HIS FINAL WWII MISSION. IN THAT CASE, HE MIGHT HAVE BEEN CHOSEN AS THE SUBJECT BECAUSE OF HIS GENETIC SIMILARITIES.
1980 Norman Tuttle begins work on the Streethawk project. (Speculation: The Streethawk project was the government’s attempt to create their own version of Knight Rider)
1980 CODE OF VENGEANCE – David Dalton a Vietnam Veteran is drifting around helping people (TV Movie aired June 1985) – This TV movie aired after Dalton’s appearance in KNIGHT RIDER but given Dalton’s increased skills and ties to the Department of Justice in his Knight Rider appearance it seems likely that the Code of Vengeance TV Movies and series take place before that.
1981 DALTON: CODE OF VENGEANCE II – Dalton discovers that his former commanding officer is working with a militia. (TV Movie aired May 1986)
1981 CODE OF VENGEANCE (aka DALTON’S CODE OF VENGEANCE) - This two episode series continued the adventures of David Dalton. (aired 1986)
August 1981 Knight of the Phoenix KNIGHT RIDER – Police Officer Michael Long is shot and left for dead. He is rescued by Wilton Knight and Devon Miles of The Foundation for Law and Government (FLAG) and given a new face and identity of Michael Knight. He is also given The Knight Industries Two Thousand (K.I.T.T.) a super car with an advanced artificial intelligence and gadgets. Together Michael and K.I.T.T. travel America helping people. (Pilot TV movie aired September 1982) Later episodes suggest that this took place in August 1982 but they must be in error.
September 1981 “Trust Doesn’t Rust” KNIGHT RIDER - When K.A.R.R. is reactivated Michael and K.I.T.T. must stop the more ruthless vehicle. (aired November 1982)
November 1981 “A Plush Ride” KNIGHT RIDER Michael meets Bonnie and Devon at The Buckaroo Club. The Buckaroo Club is the hangout of Colt Seavers, THE FALL GUY bringing that show into the TVCU. (aired December 1982)
December 1981 - “Give Me Liberty …or Give Me Death” KNIGHT RIDER - Michael and K.I.T.T. enter
the Alternative2000 race against the Prince brothers who drive a orange Dodge Charger and run moonshine. Clearly these are disguised DUKES OF HAZZARD bringing that show into the TVCU. The race goes past The Bates Motel from PSYCHO bringing those books and films into the TVCU.
October 1982 “Mirror Image” KNIGHT RIDER - Wilton Knight’s biological son Garthe steals the secret
of K.I.T.T.’s molecular shell to steal a nuclear weapon. (aired October 1983)
November 1982 “Soul Survivor” KNIGHT RIDER - Michael is seduced by a woman calling herself Adrienne Margeaux, who removes the CPU from K.I.T.T. and attempts to use the car for an art heist (aired November 1983) There is a suggestion that she also uses the surname St Clair.
Feb 1983 – “Goliath Returns” KNIGHT RIDER - Garthe Knight teams with Adrianne Margeaux to kidnap a scientist to a foreign country. (aired Feb 1984)
Feb 1983 – “Mouth of the Snake” aka “All that Glitters” KNIGHT RIDER - Michael and K.I.T.T encounter David Dalton they team with Joanna St John. Since his CODE OF VENGEANCE days, Dalton has started working for Archibald Hendley of Department of Justice and trained in martial arts. (Aired April 1984) Novelised as Knight Rider #4 “.45 Carat Assassin”. The 5th novel “Mirror Image” reveals that Dalton and Joanna are engaged shortly after.
October 1983 “Timber” THE A-TEAM - The A-Team meet Billy Lawrence when his mother and uncle hire the team to fight a corrupt logger. (Billy is played by Andre Gowan)
October 1983 –“Halloween Knight” KNIGHT RIDER - Michael and Bonnie investigate a murder that Bonnie witnessed. The murderer’s mother lives in the house formerly owned by Norman Bates.
November 1983 “K.I.T.T. vs K.A.R.R.” KNIGHT RIDER – K.A.R.R. is rebuilt after his destruction and faces off against Michael and K.I.T.T.. (aired November 1984)
Jan 1984 “Pilot” STREETHAWK Jesse Mach is invited to be the rider on the Streethawk project. (aired Jan 1985)
Feb 1984 –“Knightlines” KNIGHT RIDER Michael and K.I.T.T. meet Billy. (This is speculative but Andre Gower played Billy in both Timber and Knightlines) (aired March 1985)
Speculation: In “Timber” Billy Lawrence and his mother and uncle live two hours out of LA. At the end of the episode The A-Team has manages to defeat the thugs threatening them. John Lawrence is able to build his lumber company enough to hire people. Samantha and her son Billy move to LA to sell the timber directly to builders. This is why Billy is skipping school and wandering around late at night as he has only recently moved there and he has not made any friends yet and his mother is working all the time.
March 1984 “Knight in Retreat” KNIGHT RIDER - Michael and K.I.T.T. investigate an apparent suicide of a missile technician. They discover that a seductress named Bianca Morgan is responsible. (aired March 1985) Given the similar MO and identical appearance to Adrienne Margeaux/St Clair, it seems likely that she is the same woman. It is unclear why Michael doesn’t recognise her as such.
March 1984 “Murder is a Novel Idea” STREETHAWK Jesse Mach and Streethawk investigate the attempts on the life of a writer. One of the police investigating is Pete Crenshaw, in his youth Crenshaw was a member of THE THREE INVESTIGATORS bringing that novel series into the TVCU. (aired March 1985)
May 1984 “Female of the Species” STREETHAWK Jesse Mach and Streethawk encounter a seductress known as Melanie Ryan who is attempting to kill a visiting VIP. Jesse uncovers that Ryan was formerly known as Katherine Reece and the true target is the FBI agent charge of security, Frank Menlo who arrested Reece years ago. Reece had gotten plastic surgery to change her looks and become more attractive. (aired May 1985) Given her similar MO and appearance it seems likely that Katherine Reece/Melanie Ryan is also known as Adrienne Margeaux/Bianca Morgan who encountered Michael Knight.
April 1985 Voo Doo Night KNIGHT RIDER. This is the final recorded exploit of Michael Knight and K.I.T.T. in the original series.
Throughout this year Michael has had his vacations cut short by FLAG missions and the love of his life Stevie was murdered. He increasingly withdraws from FLAG business and in early 1990 he retires (Information from KNIGHT RIDER 2000 Movie) .
1991 – After Michael’s retirement James Marland is hand picked by Devon Miles to drive a new vehicle a Ferrari called The Knight Reformulation One (KRO). One of the candidates is Kyle Stewart. (information from KRO – TEAM KNIGHT RIDER)
Speculation: shortly after Devon retires and Martin Jantzen takes control of the Knight Rider Branch of FLAG.
Marsland is unstable and the pressure of living up to Michael Knight’s legacy took its toll and this impacted on KROs programming and by 1994 KRO is deactivated and Marsland is forced to retire. Jantzen also leaves the Foundation at this time.
June 14, 1992-February 2, 1996--THE EUGENICS WARS: THE RISE AND FALL OF KHAN NOONIEN SINGH, VOLUME TWO--The story continues with more crossovers: STAR TREK, ASSIGNMENT: EARTH, JOHNNY QUEST, WICKER MAN, FANTASTIC FOUR/BLACK PANTHER, TEAM KNIGHT RIDER, and CHILDREN OF THE SHROUD. The Illuminati is also referenced. Eventually I will do a blog about them. They exist in the real world, and thus will be treated like other celebrities and historical figures.
1994-1996 After the failure of Marsland and KRO, the Knight Rider Project is rebuilt as Team Knight Rider consisting of five vehicles and five drivers. Kyle Stewart is recalled to be team leader driving a Ford Expedition named Dante, the remainder of the team is Jenny Andrews driving a red Ford Mustang named Domino, Duke DePalma driving Attack Beast, a Ford F-150. The final two members drive two cycles that can form a unified vehicle. They are Kevin “Trek” Saunders on Plato and Erica West on Kat. Given the increased size of the team, the scope of the cases is larger. The team is also transported in a plane codenamed Sky One.
October 1996 “Fallen Nation” TEAM KNIGHT RIDER – The first recorded case of Team Knight Rider. (aired October 1997). It is revealed that team member Jenny Andrews is the biological daughter of Michael Long aka Knight.
October 1996 “K.R.O.” TEAM KNIGHT RIDER – The Knight Reformation One is reactivated, the team must stop it. (aired October 1997)
January 1997 “The Return of Megaman” TEAM KNIGHT RIDER –Former Megaman Ken Savage comes out of retirement to defuse a time bomb 5XE. There is a reference to his former partner Summer James. There is also a reference to the three branches of FLAG, The Knight Rider project, The Megaman Project and The A-Team project. (aired January 1998)
There is no details about the A-Team project but at the end of the final episode of The A-TEAM it is hinted that the team are about to be pardoned and they plan to continue helping people. It seems likely that they started work for FLAG.
Given the bionic abilities of Ken Savage and the similarity of the name Summer James to Jamie
Summers, it seems likely that there is some connection between FLAG and the OSI (THE SIX MILLION DOLLAR MAN and THE BIONIC WOMAN)
Early 1998 “Apocalypse Maybe” TEAM KNIGHT RIDER – Kevin “Trek” Saunders discovers that one of his mentors Jackson Roykirk invented an earthquake machine. (aired May 1998) Roykirk was also the inventor of The Nomad Space Probe which appeared in “The Changeling” STAR TREK.
Feb 1998 “Legion of Doom” TEAM KNIGHT RIDER – The team tries to stop the theft of The Knight Industries Two Thousand CPU. (aired May 1998)
Speculation: The costs of running a five vehicle team and the Sky One flying command centre became too high and the project nearly bankrupted FLAG. Devon Miles was brought out of retirement to try and return FLAG to glory. K.I.T.T. was dismantled and sold off.
Feb 2000 KNIGHT RIDER 2000 – Devon has brought former District Attorney Russ Maddock to develop the next generation of artificial intelligence The Knight Industries Four Thousand. During the development of the Four Thousand, Devon brings back Michael Knight to help stop an epidemic of gun violence. Police woman Shawn McCormick is shot in the head and to save her life one of K.I.T.T.’s memory chips is implanted into her head. Devon is killed by the bad guys.
Michael and Shawn work together to track down the criminals responsible and Michael puts K.I.T.T.’s rebuilt CPU into the Four Thousand. After they bring those responsible to justice Michael again retires. Russ is the new head of FLAG with Shawn as K.I.T.T.’s new driver.
Speculation: The development of the Knight Industries Four Thousand was not enough to save FLAG and the Knight Rider project is again suspended.
Circa 2004 Dr Charles Graiman, one of the developers of the original K.I.T.T., builds a new Knight Automated Roving Robot (K.A.R.R.). Army Ranger Mike Traceur is the driver. The experiment is a failure. K.A.R.R. is deactivated and all of Mile’s memories from this time are wiped.
2005--HERBIE FULLY LOADED--In the opening title montage of newspaper clips, there is a mention of Herbie "hanging with" Knight Rider.
Feb 2007 “Knight Rider” Pilot movie KNIGHT RIDER (2008) – The Knight Industries Three Thousand (K.I.T.T.) a Ford Mustang is active when his creator Dr Charles Graiman is attacked. K.I.T.T. is programmed to contact former army ranger Mike Traceur. Traceur discovers that he is the son of Michael Knight. (aired Feb 2008) K.I.T.T. finds Mike at the Montecino casino from LOS VEGAS bringing that series into the TVCU. (The Montecino also appeared in HEROES, MEDIUM and CROSSING JORDAN bringing them also)
MARCH 2007 TO OCTOBER 2009--DYNAMO 5--MATT HICKMAN INFORMS ME THAT IN THIS SUPER-TEAM BOOK, THERE IS AN ORGANIZATION CALLED F.L.A.G. (FOUNDATION FOR LAW AND GOVERNMENT, WHICH IS THE SAME ORGANIZATION FROM KNIGHT RIDER.
September 2007 “A Knight in Shining Armour” KNIGHT RIDER (2008) - Mike changes his name to Mike Knight. (aired September 2008)Mike and K.I.T.T. operate out of Sky One (from TEAM KNIGHT RIDER)
November 2007 “Knight of The Zodiac” KNIGHT RIDER (2008) - A car similar to Domino appears in this episode. (aired November 2008)
January 2008 “Knight to King’s Pawn” KNIGHT RIDER (2008) Mike discovers that he was the driver for K.A.R.R. 2.0 which formed an unhealthy attachment to him. When K.A.R.R. is reactivated, Mike and K.I.T.T. have to battle to the death. (aired January 2009).
2010--SCOTT PILGRIM VS. THE WORLD: THE GAME--The band Clash At Demonhead arrives in a stretch limo version of K.I.T.T.. (Probably K.A.R.R.).
2019--SEAQUEST DSV--"SPECIAL DELIVERY"--IN THE BACKGROUND IS AN POSTER ADVERTISING A CAR SHOW, INCLUDING ONE CAR MAKER WHICH IS KNIGHT INDUSTRIES FROM KNIGHT RIDER.
ALTERNATE UNIVERSES:
THE ACTION PACK UNIVERSE: It is here that I place the KNIGHT RIDER 2010 TV movie. Despite the title the movie has no connections to the Knight Rider franchise. Set in a post apocalyptic future, Jake McQueen makes a car with a crystal that accesses the ghost of his dead girlfriend.
EARTH PRIME: K.i.T.T. along with Templeton “Faceman” Peck of THE A-TEAM and The Incredible Hulk are temporarily transported to Earth-Prime by a magic remote control in “Remote Control Man” AMAZING STORIES
David Hasselhoff appears several times with K.I.T.T. including “Hooray for Hollywood” DIFF’RENT STROKES and the movie KICKIN IT OLD SKOOL. K.I.T.T. ALSO APPEARED IN THE BENCHWARMERS AND THE COMEDY CENTRAL ROAST OF DAVID HASSELHOFF.
THE MUSIC VIDEO UNIVERSE: Footage from Knight Rider is used in the video clip for David Hasselhoff’s Looking for Freedom. K.I.T.T. also appears in the video clip for Hasselhoff’s cover of Get in my car”.
ROBOT CHICKEN UNIVERSE: Michael and K.I.T.T. appear in several episodes.
SKITLANDIA: In the SUPERNATURAL episode “Changing Channels” The Winchester brothers are placed into scenarios that parody Japanese Gameshows, sitcoms, Grey’s Anatomy, CSI Miami, and knight Rider. In the Knight Rider Parody, Dean acts as Michael Knight and Sam’s spirit animates their Chevy Impala. The Impala has the K.I.T.T. scanner and voice box.
THE ZED ANOMALY: There been several references to Knight Rider in the Simpsons but most refer to watching the TV Show.
- “Lisa’s First Word” The Simpsons watch KNIGHT BOAT which must be a "Bongoverse" only spinoff of Knight Rider
- “The Wizard of Evergreen Terrace” K.I.T.T. appears in a film to cheer up Homer.
- MICHEAL KNIGHT ALSO APPEARS ON SOUTH PARK IN "CARTOON WARS". IT SHOULD BE NOTED THAT THESE SHOWS ARE PART OF THE TVUC, BUT BECAUSE THEY ARE PART OF A SPATIAL AND TEMPORAL ANOMALY, THE CROSSOVER CHARACTERS ARE NOT NECESSARILY THEIR TVCU VERSIONS, BUT COULD COME FROM PRETTY MUCH ANY ALTERNATE REALITY, POCKET DIMENSION OR DIVERGENT TIMELINE.
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A few suggestions for later inclusion if you like them:
ReplyDeleteWilton Knight could be the uncle to Emma Knight, whose family fortune was in the military-industrial complex. She may have stock options in Knight Industries. Her married name is Peel.
There is an online theory that some of the tech used in KITT (like its "red-eye" "visor") was taken from a deactivated Cylon when the original 'Battlestar Galactica' arrived in the Sol system back in 1980. I think that date can fit in nicely with the KR timeline.
On a side note, Jackson Roykirk may have grown up in "Carbon Creek", Pa, as seen in the 'Enterprise' episode by that name.
All of that is speculative, so it's up to you. Toobworld Central does accept them all, but does avoid novels, so we're alternate universes with common interests.
I didn't see many episodes of 'Knight Rider', but Brad certainly made it interesting for one lacking in a lot of the rudimentary knowledge. Kudos!
In one word I can explain this show that its "AWESOME" tv series. I just love this show and I watch “Knight Rider TV Show” online.
ReplyDeletei never noticed the big cylon red lights similasrity to kitt.
ReplyDeletehow many times did someone not in the main story get surprised/scared by kitt without michael making a noise .eg,hooker,policewoman.