SPM is where the 9 year old me started to lose touch of the Knight Rider fantasy. I never stopped watching even to this day, but I think that SPM was the proverbial nail in Knight Rider's coffin! Hello from Phoenix Arizona!🔥
The only thing worst then That was the Knight Rider 2008 Series and I don't mean the Mustange, I mean ok it's Car, Truck as Big guns and everthing else. Can we go back to simplar times when it was just a Car.
It’s ironic because SPM was introduced to boost ratings. Had there been a season 5 I bet KITT would have been upgraded with another burlesque feature. Maybe KITT would have been capable of space travel.
I didnt like SPM either. It looked ugly, dated (even back in the 80s) and messed up the lines of a beautiful car. There was a real dip in quality as well. I had hoped we would revisit some classic ideas such as KITT vs KARR and Bonnies unrequited love for Michael and how she had to let go of that when he found Stevie. I also wondered what a story might look like where some old season 1 baddies came back for revenge against Michael (Tanyas twin sister from ComTrom)... ...Pamela Susan Shoop reprising her original role, (not recast) begging the foundation for help aftet her son goes missing. ...April from S2 coming back for help from a dangerous stalker and getting a storyline which would give her a more deserving send off *even though im a Bonnie fan I felt April was done poorly by the show) KITTs AI evolving to him coming up with schematics for his own improvements, or an 'offspring' or even questioning the nature of what he does with Michael and whether some of that conflicts with Asimovs Laws of Robotics.
This was one of my favorite episodes as a kid and as an adult! This may have been what got me into rebuilding cars. It's funny looking at the driver seat when Kitt is in the semi after being beaten up, the seat back bends back towards the right side. My seat, although a standard seat, does the same thing. Must have just been a thing. I thought mine was doing something like bending or broke welds but this one even does the same thing.
Did you know, that there were 26 Knight Rider audio cassettes in Germany in the early 90s? They were produced by a large German audio play company, featured the original German dubbing voices of Michael, KITT, Devon, Bonnie, April and R.C., a narrator and guest voice actors. I still have all of them. 😊
I have them too, they were produced by Europa in Hamburg but they lack the original TV Music. Jan-Friedrich Conrad composed the Music for the German Audio Cassettes. The Sound for Turbo Boost is changed to the Sound of SPM maybe by mistake.
I always thought it was funny that right after Michael gets Kitt back, he's in SPM rushing to the vault and asks Kitt if he can "micro jam" the bomb. Kitt responds "No, it has a mercury switch detonator and micro jam could set it off" seconds later, they get into the vault and Michael absolutely MAN HANDLES the shit out of the bomb to disarm it!! I laugh EVERY time!!🤣
I felt it was a neat idea to have Michael tell apart the fake Devon from the real one from noticing that the fake one said "Of course" when he said "You were right. Call me Ishmael was Hemmingway". The real one tells Michael that "Call me Ishmael" was from "Moby Dick" by Herman Melville.
One thing that doesn't make sense in-universe. KITT does lots of turbo boost jumps BEFORE his MBS has been reapplied. That would destroy the car. The MBS is the only thing that keeps KITT from being destroyed every time he jumps, in-universe. Using SPM was fine, but KITT should've made a point of saying he can't do turbo boost jumps until his MBS has been restored.
In the early 80's, my parents took us on a trip to America, we did the Universal studios tour and I remember freaking out as a young teen because I spotted 7 Knight Rider cars when we were tranving around on the tuor train thing.. there were 3 on a double decker car carrier and the rest were all lined up around and about the trailer. It was before the Jaws lake and way before we got to the Cylons!
@@KnightRiderHistoriansOfficial No sorry, I was about 13 or 14 years old.. but I got to see the Conan the Barbarian show on that same trip, so that makes up for it :)
@Knight Rider Historians: Yes, National Lampoon's Vacation was a 1983 release from Warner Brothers. Another fun fact is the building that Michael Knight gets the upgraded KITT from in the promotional short is the former Fire Station #23 in Los Angeles. It was an operational Fire Station with the LAFD from 1910-1960, afterwards it became a popular filming location for movies and tv shows. Most notably, it was used for the interior shots of the Ghostbusters firehouse HQ in all three Ghostbusters movies.
I have to admit even as a kid in the 80s I wasn’t a SPM fan & thought it was over the top & a bit silly. As good an episode as Knight of the juggernaut was it does represent the start of the decline with the SPM introduction for me. Another great commentary though Joe 👏🏻👏🏻
I wasn't a fan of SPM either. I felt like it detracted from the beautiful lines of the car. I get though they were probably thinking they needed to keep upping the ante on KITTs destruction and rebirth. Personally i felt Season 4 (apart from a few episodes) revealed a marked decline in the series which is a shame because there were still many tales left to tell - lest of all a third KITT vs KARR episode.
This was the very 1st episode I collected on the vhs. I was in 10th grade high school and a friend of mine said that his father taped one of the episodes of the knight rider. I found out and couldn't believe it was the actual NBC airing of it. At the time I was just a kid in high school and didn't hand didn't have cable to watch reruns they took it off network TV for about 2 years. I was very fortunate to find a guy named jup from the knight rider online forum who was nice enough to make me the VHS tapes of my favorite episodes. Later on I met someone named Lee molinix who actually had VHS copies of the original airing on NBC. We were going to work hard to preserve the deleted scenes that were taken out during syndication before the TV series was released on dvd. I used to go down to the local library and print out hundreds of photos, fan fictions and trivia information from the Internet before I had a home computer. Ended up with binders full of different things.
This was a fabulous episode. I really hated Jennifer Knight for suspending Michael and withholding money from Flag.I cried when KITT got destroyed and I thought Michael had been killed.That Juggernaut scared the life out of me. Love those behind the scenes shots.
@@michaelknight2721 the writers of Justin's show realized their mistake. Michael Long never had a family. If he did, he would have never met KITT in the first place.
Also check out Sessums and Slagle channel they just posted a video showing the making of the miniature work for this episode and it also contains some awesome unused jump footage of a real Trans Am KITT that was used for the turbo boost landing. It lands, spins and then races off the shot! Real sound included!
I’m sitting here crying because they shouldn’t have changed Michael and Jennifer’s first interaction that would’ve been so much more powerful. That said, I always get teary-eyed when Michael hands her the envelope and tells her that everything he believes in is right there.
I always thought Super Pursuit Mode KITT looked way better from the front and sorta the back....but NOT from the side. From the side it looked really strange. I also found it hilarious that Bonnie and Michael had 24 hours before the Sernium 116 was gonna be moved and they had to put KITT back together and not only did they do it, Bonnie got so ambitious she figured, "HEY!! Why don't I completely re-design this car since I have SO MUCH time on my hands!!!???!!!" "OH! And hire a bunch of mechanics and make no mistakes, have never seen this car AND somehow we are in a strange garage and NEVER have to send out for any parts!!!!". But still, this is one of my favorite episodes to watch. This and the Pilot.
Dang Joe there are so many Easter eggs wardrobe bloopers and just everything thrown into this episode that you would have to watch it ten times to catch them all
You highlighted all the things that bothered me as a kid about the super pursuit car. The panel gaps and seams, the scanner details etc. Well done Joe 👍 Thank you
Wow, I remember watching Danger Theater on Fox, but don't remember a whole lot about it. I remember there was a segment called The Searcher and there was a swoosh sound effect every time the guy turned his head.
17:45 I remember being in that crowd of people for that scene. I think they shot it like 3 or 4 times, maybe more(??), but it probably took close to an hour to set up each take. It was kinda funny, every time they shot the scene, and the car spun 180 degrees, and came to a stop, the crowd erupted in applauds and cheers. 50:00 That kind of phone number was used in Chicago, and surrounding suburbs, until the early 70's. The house I was born in, had HU in the prefix, and I was born close to the end of 1964. If I remember correctly, the letters had something to do with where you lived in Chicago. Our house was in the Humboldt Park neighborhood, hence the HU. I believe those phone numbers, with letters, were replaced in the early 70's, with all numbers, eliminating the letters, so seeing that sign on the side of an old industrial building in the mid 80's was not at all uncommon. 58:34 I'm not sure if was intentional, or purely coincidental, but "What is your quest" was a line from Monty Python's 1975 movie, "Quest For The Holy Grail", the scene was called "The Bridge Of Death" here is a link to that scene ruclips.net/video/_7iXw9zZrLo/видео.html
There is a channel named "The 8bit guy" who deals with vintage computers. A collaboration of all computer implements from the series would be interesting
The thumbnail tho! 😂 K.I.T.T. can't catch a break! Lol. I've been a fan of this show since the 80's. I actually have a radio control Knight Rider K.I.T.T. car along with a Comlink wristwatch that Michael Knight wore from season 1 🤗 ❤️
Fab! I have a remote control Knight Rider Car as well, plus a 1982 ETRL die cadt model toy of KITT, a Corgi KITT from late 90s or early 2000s, another model which lights up and scanner goes back and forth, a KITT car from a toy in 1984, and even still own a pair of Knight Rider curtains from when i was little. In the UK, in the early 2000s, Dad took me to see the Motor Museum in Keswick in Cumbria which had cars of the stars, one of which was the Knight Rider hero car from the show. We werent allowed to take pics though 😪
There used to be a Knight Rider forum in Poland (maybe still exists) where ppl exchanged such never seen before fun facts, but your work is amazing. Thank you!
Knight of the Juggernaut is certainly one of my personal favorite episodes in the series! I always love to call the world's most iconic episode trait for the SPM AND C KITT. Now about the climax where the finishing fight is, it's not Dr. Phillip Nordstrom getting out of his plane. It's Devon Miles impostor climbing out. I always found it curious. Why are Michael and the imposter fighting, but not Michael and the main villian of the episode? Missed opportunity I guess. And by the way, Dr. Nordstrom's mechanical right hand really sends me to an homage to Tee Hee's mechanical hand from James Bond 007's Live and Let Die. SPM AND CONVERTIBLE KITT status ----- AWESOME!!! Thank you once again Joe! You have really made my wish come true.
One thing I always questioned myself: Was the SPM-car in reality with all those attachments slower, harder to drive and more fuel-hungry than the standard version? My guess would be: quite severely, yes XD
This. is one of the best and funniest episodes especially Devon playing a bad guy. When his hand scans and it goes through he makes a fist and his face is like yessssss. lol Also when the real Devon sees him in the room before he goes out the door he does this little twirl before he leaves. It's the funniest thing. And we can't forget him and Michael ready to kill each other. You had to know they had fun during that scene. Nothing wrong with my clipped consonants lol
Episode idea: How about a video covering all the things the Knight Rider Historians want to know about Knight Rider?? Such as the mysterious actor for Devon’s double. I’m sure there are other things about the show that leaves you stumped. But as always…another great coverage of a great episode. I know spm is a love it or hate it gimmick, but I absolutely love it.
About Lake Shore Drive: "A new development at the northeast corner of the Randolph Street intersection resulted in an extension of Randolph across LSD. Construction began in 1982 on a realignment of LSD south of the river (along with a reconstruction north of the river). A whole new alignment was built, greatly smoothing the S-curve. The northbound side opened in October 1985, and the southbound side opened in November 1986. A new lower level was built, using the lower level of the bridge, and providing access to the new Wacker Drive and the roads on the north side of the river." Source: Wikipedia This is the exact intersection that can be seen in the background of Juggernaut and where KITT lands after his turbo boost, confirming that this part of LSD was under construction during the time of filming.
Yep. The opening scene is East of the northbound lanes - it’s on what is basically now the northbound exit/frontage road for Randolph and Wacker Dr. But the turbo boost occurs at Randolph heading southbound. When he lands, he’s on the onramp to join LSD southbound. Then there’s an S curve and the the light at Monroe. So the Turbo Boost scene is between the north and southbound lanes, heading south.
I remember Juggernaut when it was used in Spacehunter: Adventures in the Forbidden Zone, a 1983 3D sci fi movie. Recognized it right away when that ep was a first run.
I remember that I read about twenty years ago an interview of the designer of the roof mechanism and he said that it was really functional, except that stupid magical cover, that just appeared from thin air. He also mentioned, that he never understood why it had to be fitted on a trailer, because he had put in a lot of efford so it would fit in a normal, working car.
@Knight Rider Historians Official 10:24 hasn't been redone, location is still there. Move south of Randolph and lakeshore drive "Left" about 100ft before the light, where the ramp is and you'll see the location. I pass it everyday!!
I still wonder if the season 4 insert car was really destroyed after filming. The outside was completely stock, and it was a 1984 car so could not have been a trainwreck car they were obligated to destroy (other than, apparently, the hardtop car they specifically brought in to be destroyed in this episode, as that's a 1982 car so it was probably still one of the trainwreck cars?). They could theoretically have removed the receiver bars, put the stock interior back into the insert car and sold it as a normal Trans Am? No one would notice....
Great job Joe, Knight Of The Juggernaut is my #1 favourite episode. I’ve got a long history with it as in the past it was always tricky to watch over the years. Maybe one day if I ever get to meet you guys in person I can tell you all about the trials and tribulations of trying to watch this episode on UK TV lol
10:42 - 41°53'01.4"N 87°36'50.6"W and the manhole on the road is still there. Note the angle of the face & floors on the 155 Harbour Drive building. (Others beat me to this but I thought I'd add an actual GPS location. And the building... 155 N Harbor Dr, Chicago, IL 60601, United States 13:08 The Fliver Car jumping, very near by above... 41°53'04.7"N 87°36'50.1"W
When Michael and KITT are heading to Meigg’s Field (no longer an airport) they drive north on LSD around the S curve heading north near the Drake Hotel and Oak St Beach, in the ABSOLUTE wrong direction of the airstrip, which is/was about a mile south of there, lol!!!
Knight Rider Historians Official- Around 58:35, it says "Hi, Mom!". Even in high-definition, it took me a while to read what it said, but, I can tell, now...
I was about nine when this episode aired and too young to understand the phrase ‘jump the shark’ but I remember thinking the SPM was utterly ridiculous. And questioning how SPM could possible work with a convertible roof. Later I tried to make a model of KITT with a functional convertible top and realised it could never be done 😂
I like your commentary as usual. This is really best episodes of season 4. I was scarred for KITT because it was first time he was destroyed this badly and also villains realized that if they want to destroy him they just need to nutrilaze mocular bonded shell which nobody done it before. I like super-pursuit mode but it may have been the reason in my opinion that they run out of money (just a speculation) and covertible mode it was great. I have some nittpicks such as KITT being fixed this Quickly and Michael fighting evil Devon instead of Nordstom him fighting Nordstom would be really interesting especially with his mechanical hand but still good episode.
One of the best commentaries yet!.. Thanks and great job Joe! 👍 As a kid I'll never forget the excitement Knight Rider generated in elementary school when these episodes aired for the first time. "I pity the fool that don't watch Knight Rider!!!" 😄 P.S. Happy 40th Kitt!!!!
As much as people say Knight Rider was cheesy but Michael's speech always made me proud to be a KR fan. On his deathbed Wilton Knight bequeathed to me that one man can make a difference. That alone should have kept Knight Rider on for at least another 3 years
I always dreamed that one day I would have a boss like Devon Miles. A true English gentleman! Unfortunately, decency and honesty are huge things these days.
Great pictures at the end. Thank you so much ! Unfortunately there were only four seasons. Can't get enough of this background informations. But I'm glad that there is no white wire alert anymore. 😉
EAT YOUR HEART OUT, BOB LAZAR!!! Knight Rider came up with the biometric hand scanner AND the "rare" element FIRST! Although I believe in the show it was element 114, not 115. BOTH which went even invented yet.
I felt Super Pursuit Mode was a great addition to the show, even if it was just them speeding up the footage. And the transformation scenes gives me some strong "Power Rangers" vibes. In all of Season 4, "Deadly Knightshade" had the only nighttime footage of the car in Super Pursuit Mode.
Truly one of my favorite episodes. Super Pursuit Mode was and always will be one of my favorite episodes. I still love the way the car looks. I always had a crush on Patricia McPherson from season 1 and 3, but I fell head over heals for her in season 4. Lastly, I was at Bob’s Big Boy in Burbank last week and there is a guy who I see quite often. Never really ever talk to him. But I overheard him talking to someone saying he was a stunt driver, and that he worked on many shows including Knight Rider. I had to leave, so I wasn’t able to talk to him, but the next time I’m there, I will try and get his name and some more information on what stunts he did for the show.
Fantastic breakdown and commentary as always Joe :D You are lucky to have so many behind the scenes photos for this episode too. The convertable with the sticker dash was based in the UK and alternated between Keswick and Scotland up until 2009. The dash was switched at somepoint though out the cars history to a Season 2 dash. I would love to know what happened to the original though. Keep up the great work my friend :D
Oh gosh, seeing KITT all beat up like that- tears me up inside. Can I just say how great Bonnie is in this episode? Her concern and care for Michael and her son KITT just makes my week. Really had some good development for her. Why was RC3 a character in the last season? Knight Rider could've lived without him- WHAT WAS HIS PURPOSE IN THE SHOW? I recently made a video featuring scenes from this episode, funny you would upload about it! Also, how do contact all the old stars? That's impressive
Married... With Children and Knight Rider is the crossover we never knew we needed. looks like a palm greener, not a palm reader. The TV box looks like a painted black 1970s era VCR, when they were huge lower scoop behind door at 57:25 looks like fake, not a real scoop. Same at 104:50 the upper scoop is fake Lower whacker drive? However it's spelled? He just missed The Blues Brothers.
The Juggernaut was a great episode and your commentary is even better!!! Thank you!! Now I'm thinking about two small things... the actor who played the role of Mr.Elliott who became the fake Devon is still unknown... but... could be his stunt double? Not sure about the images I have in my mind but when Devon escapes from prison in season one, there is a scene where he's jumping over the prison wall with the other two villains and his stunt double looks quite similar to this actor.... well, maybe my mind is just a bit confused, but... could be? And... about the Juggernaut, you told us that was built by some guys related with Dukes of Hazzard too, now I wonder if these guys had built the Mean Green Machine that we saw in two DoH episodes... (as usual, sorry for my english mistakes, I'm writing from Italy lol)
I'm sorry to want to keep talking about this episode. I am surprised that Michael didn't spout off to Jennifer saying that she's her mother's daughter. As to when you were mentioning the script mess up Joe, it reminds me of the time Anne Lockhart and Laurette Spang literally being handed scripts minutes before going on set when they were in Battlestar.
Just a tip for you, if you mention a video of yours in a video, put the link in the description, you will get more people to watch that video too. I had a passing interest to watch the buggy jump car video but didn´t want to dig around on your channel for it.
Knight Rider Historians Official- Where can I find the songs we hear around 1:08:20 & 1:09:20, for example?... Assuming it's from the sound-track to 'Knight Rider', I tried to find it on RUclips & can't find it.
I never realized they had a car they never bothered to convert. Very interesting to see a black and gold T/A. Also, so interesting that a show that could get so many people wanting to get a glimpse of KR filming would be cancelled after this season.
@knightriderhistorians I also watched knight rider when it originally aired but I was very young like 6-7. I also mostly watched knight rider on Wor 9 at my grandma's house also the A-Team. Those were the days. For me it was Saturday afternoon back to back episodes then A Team back to back. I miss wwor 9.
Another one that had me in bed... The KITT Vs KARR gave me bad nightmares...Nick Worth was also on The Greatest American Hero a few times.. He was on the show Swamp thing too....
Brilliant this. Loved watching this. I actually love season 4. My routine of watching the episode then the commentary is actually more fun than when I watched the show in the 80s now ha. Just wish they had had an episode where Devon, Bonnie or RC got to drive KITT properly in search of Michael like the brief time April does in season 2.
Don't know if anyone noticed the guard in the booth talking to his wife just like season 3 opener where the guard is talking to his wife before something big happens
This is my favourite episode :-) still have my vhs! It was released in the UK as a movie, the pilot was released as Knight Rider 1, then Knight of the Juggernaut as Knight Rider 2, with all the cut away scenes throughout cut out
A Ford Torino group on FB posted a screenshot of RCs shop, noting the nose of a 74-6 Torino in the background. Something I noticed in the original airing.
Awesome intro. I'm an old head and remember when that commercial aired. Pardon the expression, but I had a stiffy when I first saw that 😂 Thought it was the coolest thing on earth. Lots of hype for this episode and I was pretty impressed with it at the time. 👍
Netflix also cuts out the Edward Mulhare intro and has it in two parts. Had I noticed that I would’ve just put in the blu-ray. Can you tell me the names of the music used for the photos and the Patreon list.
SPM is where the 9 year old me started to lose touch of the Knight Rider fantasy. I never stopped watching even to this day, but I think that SPM was the proverbial nail in Knight Rider's coffin!
Hello from Phoenix Arizona!🔥
100% agree.
The only thing worst then That was the Knight Rider 2008 Series and I don't mean the Mustange, I mean ok it's Car, Truck as Big guns and everthing else. Can we go back to simplar times when it was just a Car.
yeah a bit like when they insist on giving superman a hulk like physique - didn't need all those silly bits to do amazing things
It’s ironic because SPM was introduced to boost ratings. Had there been a season 5 I bet KITT would have been upgraded with another burlesque feature. Maybe KITT would have been capable of space travel.
I didnt like SPM either. It looked ugly, dated (even back in the 80s) and messed up the lines of a beautiful car. There was a real dip in quality as well.
I had hoped we would revisit some classic ideas such as KITT vs KARR and Bonnies unrequited love for Michael and how she had to let go of that when he found Stevie.
I also wondered what a story might look like where some old season 1 baddies came back for revenge against Michael (Tanyas twin sister from ComTrom)...
...Pamela Susan Shoop reprising her original role, (not recast) begging the foundation for help aftet her son goes missing.
...April from S2 coming back for help from a dangerous stalker and getting a storyline which would give her a more deserving send off *even though im a Bonnie fan I felt April was done poorly by the show)
KITTs AI evolving to him coming up with schematics for his own improvements, or an 'offspring' or even questioning the nature of what he does with Michael and whether some of that conflicts with Asimovs Laws of Robotics.
This was one of my favorite episodes as a kid and as an adult! This may have been what got me into rebuilding cars. It's funny looking at the driver seat when Kitt is in the semi after being beaten up, the seat back bends back towards the right side. My seat, although a standard seat, does the same thing. Must have just been a thing. I thought mine was doing something like bending or broke welds but this one even does the same thing.
Did you know, that there were 26 Knight Rider audio cassettes in Germany in the early 90s? They were produced by a large German audio play company, featured the original German dubbing voices of Michael, KITT, Devon, Bonnie, April and R.C., a narrator and guest voice actors. I still have all of them. 😊
I have them too...
You forgot to mention that the german voice of Michael Knight was the same actor as for Kermit the frog. R.I.P Andreas von der Meden.
How much were they in Germany?
@@donovaneddiealanhodges1499 About five up to eight "DM" from the late Sixties to the late Nineties.
I have them too, they were produced by Europa in Hamburg but they lack the original TV Music. Jan-Friedrich Conrad composed the Music for the German Audio Cassettes. The Sound for Turbo Boost is changed to the Sound of SPM maybe by mistake.
"Supper's in the back and momma's home hungry" my favorite line from Peter's character
My favorite line from Peter's character too.
I always thought it was funny that right after Michael gets Kitt back, he's in SPM rushing to the vault and asks Kitt if he can "micro jam" the bomb. Kitt responds "No, it has a mercury switch detonator and micro jam could set it off" seconds later, they get into the vault and Michael absolutely MAN HANDLES the shit out of the bomb to disarm it!! I laugh EVERY time!!🤣
I felt it was a neat idea to have Michael tell apart the fake Devon from the real one from noticing that the fake one said "Of course" when he said "You were right. Call me Ishmael was Hemmingway". The real one tells Michael that "Call me Ishmael" was from "Moby Dick" by Herman Melville.
Not a very bright bad guy. Then again, it was "Knight Rider".
One thing that doesn't make sense in-universe. KITT does lots of turbo boost jumps BEFORE his MBS has been reapplied. That would destroy the car. The MBS is the only thing that keeps KITT from being destroyed every time he jumps, in-universe. Using SPM was fine, but KITT should've made a point of saying he can't do turbo boost jumps until his MBS has been restored.
In the early 80's, my parents took us on a trip to America, we did the Universal studios tour and I remember freaking out as a young teen because I spotted 7 Knight Rider cars when we were tranving around on the tuor train thing.. there were 3 on a double decker car carrier and the rest were all lined up around and about the trailer. It was before the Jaws lake and way before we got to the Cylons!
Assuming you didnt get any photos? Cool story!
@@KnightRiderHistoriansOfficial No sorry, I was about 13 or 14 years old.. but I got to see the Conan the Barbarian show on that same trip, so that makes up for it :)
@Knight Rider Historians: Yes, National Lampoon's Vacation was a 1983 release from Warner Brothers. Another fun fact is the building that Michael Knight gets the upgraded KITT from in the promotional short is the former Fire Station #23 in Los Angeles. It was an operational Fire Station with the LAFD from 1910-1960, afterwards it became a popular filming location for movies and tv shows. Most notably, it was used for the interior shots of the Ghostbusters firehouse HQ in all three Ghostbusters movies.
Nati9nal lampoons was a warner bros production
I think the 3 Stooges also used that same fire house
So, the TV show Emergency!, one of my favorite all-time TV shows, must’ve been filmed there. They had Engine 23 & Squad 23 in the show.
@@joebrezel the Emergency! fire station is in carson ca. I havent been by in a year or so, but it was still in use last time i went by.
I have to admit even as a kid in the 80s I wasn’t a SPM fan & thought it was over the top & a bit silly. As good an episode as Knight of the juggernaut was it does represent the start of the decline with the SPM introduction for me. Another great commentary though Joe 👏🏻👏🏻
Same here
I have to say I was a huge fan of Super Pursuit Mode in Knight Rider.
I wasn't a fan of SPM either. I felt like it detracted from the beautiful lines of the car. I get though they were probably thinking they needed to keep upping the ante on KITTs destruction and rebirth. Personally i felt Season 4 (apart from a few episodes) revealed a marked decline in the series which is a shame because there were still many tales left to tell - lest of all a third KITT vs KARR episode.
No matter how many times I see KITT get destroyed, it always hurts
Yeah, I'd rather send KARR to fight aganist this juggernaut: "KARR, catch, this thing will try to kill you, and I get out, to reduce excess weight".
It hurts me too.
I remember I cried when Kitt got destroyed I was really hurt when I was a kid
This was the very 1st episode I collected on the vhs. I was in 10th grade high school and a friend of mine said that his father taped one of the episodes of the knight rider. I found out and couldn't believe it was the actual NBC airing of it. At the time I was just a kid in high school and didn't hand didn't have cable to watch reruns they took it off network TV for about 2 years. I was very fortunate to find a guy named jup from the knight rider online forum who was nice enough to make me the VHS tapes of my favorite episodes. Later on I met someone named Lee molinix who actually had VHS copies of the original airing on NBC. We were going to work hard to preserve the deleted scenes that were taken out during syndication before the TV series was released on dvd. I used to go down to the local library and print out hundreds of photos, fan fictions and trivia information from the Internet before I had a home computer. Ended up with binders full of different things.
This was a fabulous episode. I really hated Jennifer Knight for suspending Michael and withholding money from Flag.I cried when KITT got destroyed and I thought Michael had been killed.That
Juggernaut scared the life out of me.
Love those behind the scenes shots.
How is your comment from a day ago when at the time of this writing, this video is only two hours old?
@@Jordi7174 Because the video was received by me the day before I wrote what I wrote.
I got practically sick to my stomach when I was watching the 2008 pilot. I said seriously??? Mike's mom was Michael's sister???
@@williammitchell4417 I didn't know that,I thought Mike's mom was a very close friend
@@michaelknight2721 the writers of Justin's show realized their mistake. Michael Long never had a family. If he did, he would have never met KITT in the first place.
Also check out Sessums and Slagle channel they just posted a video showing the making of the miniature work for this episode and it also contains some awesome unused jump footage of a real Trans Am KITT that was used for the turbo boost landing. It lands, spins and then races off the shot! Real sound included!
The palm scanner prop was also used as a cash register, in the gas station scene in Robocop.
I’m sitting here crying because they shouldn’t have changed Michael and Jennifer’s first interaction that would’ve been so much more powerful. That said, I always get teary-eyed when Michael hands her the envelope and tells her that everything he believes in is right there.
I always thought Super Pursuit Mode KITT looked way better from the front and sorta the back....but NOT from the side. From the side it looked really strange. I also found it hilarious that Bonnie and Michael had 24 hours before the Sernium 116 was gonna be moved and they had to put KITT back together and not only did they do it, Bonnie got so ambitious she figured, "HEY!! Why don't I completely re-design this car since I have SO MUCH time on my hands!!!???!!!" "OH! And hire a bunch of mechanics and make no mistakes, have never seen this car AND somehow we are in a strange garage and NEVER have to send out for any parts!!!!".
But still, this is one of my favorite episodes to watch. This and the Pilot.
Dang Joe there are so many Easter eggs wardrobe bloopers and just everything thrown into this episode that you would have to watch it ten times to catch them all
This is the last episode I was watching when I was also watching the first tarler video of you finding it.
We need a list of the top ten scenes of knight rider that were cut by syndication. Most people haven’t seen the uncut versions of knight rider
I'm glad to say I have, though with some of the missing music and sound effects as I only have the 2004-06 DVD sets.
You highlighted all the things that bothered me as a kid about the super pursuit car. The panel gaps and seams, the scanner details etc. Well done Joe 👍 Thank you
Wow, I remember watching Danger Theater on Fox, but don't remember a whole lot about it. I remember there was a segment called The Searcher and there was a swoosh sound effect every time the guy turned his head.
Man the sight of that juggernaut gives me a feeling of terror and dread even after all these years!
On that high-tech tool chest there are two multimeters mounted, left and right... they are Fluke 73 's :)
It was such a great episode. 14 KITTs, that was such tremendous work.
17:45 I remember being in that crowd of people for that scene. I think they shot it like 3 or 4 times, maybe more(??), but it probably took close to an hour to set up each take. It was kinda funny, every time they shot the scene, and the car spun 180 degrees, and came to a stop, the crowd erupted in applauds and cheers. 50:00 That kind of phone number was used in Chicago, and surrounding suburbs, until the early 70's. The house I was born in, had HU in the prefix, and I was born close to the end of 1964. If I remember correctly, the letters had something to do with where you lived in Chicago. Our house was in the Humboldt Park neighborhood, hence the HU. I believe those phone numbers, with letters, were replaced in the early 70's, with all numbers, eliminating the letters, so seeing that sign on the side of an old industrial building in the mid 80's was not at all uncommon. 58:34 I'm not sure if was intentional, or purely coincidental, but "What is your quest" was a line from Monty Python's 1975 movie, "Quest For The Holy Grail", the scene was called "The Bridge Of Death" here is a link to that scene ruclips.net/video/_7iXw9zZrLo/видео.html
Hi ! Thanks for the upload, enjoyed watching till the end. Your hardwork and dedication is commendable.
There is a channel named "The 8bit guy" who deals with vintage computers. A collaboration of all computer implements from the series would be interesting
The thumbnail tho! 😂 K.I.T.T. can't catch a break! Lol. I've been a fan of this show since the 80's. I actually have a radio control Knight Rider K.I.T.T. car along with a Comlink wristwatch that Michael Knight wore from season 1 🤗 ❤️
Fab! I have a remote control Knight Rider Car as well, plus a 1982 ETRL die cadt model toy of KITT, a Corgi KITT from late 90s or early 2000s, another model which lights up and scanner goes back and forth, a KITT car from a toy in 1984, and even still own a pair of Knight Rider curtains from when i was little. In the UK, in the early 2000s, Dad took me to see the Motor Museum in Keswick in Cumbria which had cars of the stars, one of which was the Knight Rider hero car from the show. We werent allowed to take pics though 😪
The 80s were the best time for night TV.
There used to be a Knight Rider forum in Poland (maybe still exists) where ppl exchanged such never seen before fun facts, but your work is amazing. Thank you!
Thank you!
The prop in the background at 21:44 is also in the Star Trek TNG episode “Ethics”
Knight of the Juggernaut is certainly one of my personal favorite episodes in the series! I always love to call the world's most iconic episode trait for the SPM AND C KITT. Now about the climax where the finishing fight is, it's not Dr. Phillip Nordstrom getting out of his plane. It's Devon Miles impostor climbing out. I always found it curious. Why are Michael and the imposter fighting, but not Michael and the main villian of the episode? Missed opportunity I guess. And by the way, Dr. Nordstrom's mechanical right hand really sends me to an homage to Tee Hee's mechanical hand from James Bond 007's Live and Let Die.
SPM AND CONVERTIBLE KITT status ----- AWESOME!!! Thank you once again Joe! You have really made my wish come true.
One thing I always questioned myself: Was the SPM-car in reality with all those attachments slower, harder to drive and more fuel-hungry than the standard version? My guess would be: quite severely, yes XD
A lot of the "attachments" were used to "create downforce"
In fantasy, William's reply is correct. In reality, your assumption is correct. ;-)
@@williammitchell4417 Yes downforce. Hmmm is there a sport that has something in common with this episode.
Fuel hungry haha that sounds so funny
This. is one of the best and funniest episodes especially Devon playing a bad guy. When his hand scans and it goes through he makes a fist and his face is like yessssss. lol Also when the real Devon sees him in the room before he goes out the door he does this little twirl before he leaves. It's the funniest thing. And we can't forget him and Michael ready to kill each other. You had to know they had fun during that scene. Nothing wrong with my clipped consonants lol
Episode idea: How about a video covering all the things the Knight Rider Historians want to know about Knight Rider?? Such as the mysterious actor for Devon’s double. I’m sure there are other things about the show that leaves you stumped.
But as always…another great coverage of a great episode. I know spm is a love it or hate it gimmick, but I absolutely love it.
About Lake Shore Drive:
"A new development at the northeast corner of the Randolph Street intersection resulted in an extension of Randolph across LSD. Construction began in 1982 on a realignment of LSD south of the river (along with a reconstruction north of the river). A whole new alignment was built, greatly smoothing the S-curve. The northbound side opened in October 1985, and the southbound side opened in November 1986. A new lower level was built, using the lower level of the bridge, and providing access to the new Wacker Drive and the roads on the north side of the river."
Source: Wikipedia
This is the exact intersection that can be seen in the background of Juggernaut and where KITT lands after his turbo boost, confirming that this part of LSD was under construction during the time of filming.
Yep. The opening scene is East of the northbound lanes - it’s on what is basically now the northbound exit/frontage road for Randolph and Wacker Dr. But the turbo boost occurs at Randolph heading southbound. When he lands, he’s on the onramp to join LSD southbound. Then there’s an S curve and the the light at Monroe. So the Turbo Boost scene is between the north and southbound lanes, heading south.
I remember Juggernaut when it was used in Spacehunter: Adventures in the Forbidden Zone, a 1983 3D sci fi movie. Recognized it right away when that ep was a first run.
I remember that I read about twenty years ago an interview of the designer of the roof mechanism and he said that it was really functional, except that stupid magical cover, that just appeared from thin air. He also mentioned, that he never understood why it had to be fitted on a trailer, because he had put in a lot of efford so it would fit in a normal, working car.
Idk about all these guys saying they didn't like Super Pursuit Mode. I love that stuff personally.
They've wrapped up the film just a day shy of The Hoff's birthday.
This is a fantastic breakdown of one of my favourite episodes. Thanks guys! Excellent detail
@Knight Rider Historians Official 10:24 hasn't been redone, location is still there. Move south of Randolph and lakeshore drive "Left" about 100ft before the light, where the ramp is and you'll see the location. I pass it everyday!!
What an awesome commentary!! I really love the vintage commercials too! Can’t wait for the next video!!
67:13 - the Buckingham Fountain xD.
I only can think of Al Bundy right now.
I still wonder if the season 4 insert car was really destroyed after filming. The outside was completely stock, and it was a 1984 car so could not have been a trainwreck car they were obligated to destroy (other than, apparently, the hardtop car they specifically brought in to be destroyed in this episode, as that's a 1982 car so it was probably still one of the trainwreck cars?). They could theoretically have removed the receiver bars, put the stock interior back into the insert car and sold it as a normal Trans Am? No one would notice....
Great job Joe, Knight Of The Juggernaut is my #1 favourite episode. I’ve got a long history with it as in the past it was always tricky to watch over the years. Maybe one day if I ever get to meet you guys in person I can tell you all about the trials and tribulations of trying to watch this episode on UK TV lol
52:14 if that guy is welding, and the guy on the right is spraying paint, wouldn’t that just create a massive flamethrower!?
Wonderful job! Thank you for all your dedication to bringing these videos to us!👍
10:42 - 41°53'01.4"N 87°36'50.6"W and the manhole on the road is still there. Note the angle of the face & floors on the 155 Harbour Drive building. (Others beat me to this but I thought I'd add an actual GPS location.
And the building... 155 N Harbor Dr, Chicago, IL 60601, United States
13:08 The Fliver Car jumping, very near by above... 41°53'04.7"N 87°36'50.1"W
Yep you nailed it!
When Michael and KITT are heading to Meigg’s Field (no longer an airport) they drive north on LSD around the S curve heading north near the Drake Hotel and Oak St Beach, in the ABSOLUTE wrong direction of the airstrip, which is/was about a mile south of there, lol!!!
Knight Rider Historians Official- Around 58:35, it says "Hi, Mom!".
Even in high-definition, it took me a while to read what it said, but, I can tell, now...
You are correct about the reused footage from National Lampoon’s Vacation being used in Married With Children
I was about nine when this episode aired and too young to understand the phrase ‘jump the shark’ but I remember thinking the SPM was utterly ridiculous.
And questioning how SPM could possible work with a convertible roof.
Later I tried to make a model of KITT with a functional convertible top and realised it could never be done 😂
I like your commentary as usual. This is really best episodes of season 4. I was scarred for KITT because it was first time he was destroyed this badly and also villains realized that if they want to destroy him they just need to nutrilaze mocular bonded shell which nobody done it before. I like super-pursuit mode but it may have been the reason in my opinion that they run out of money (just a speculation) and covertible mode it was great. I have some nittpicks such as KITT being fixed this Quickly and Michael fighting evil Devon instead of Nordstom him fighting Nordstom would be really interesting especially with his mechanical hand but still good episode.
One of the best commentaries yet!.. Thanks and great job Joe! 👍
As a kid I'll never forget the excitement Knight Rider generated in elementary school when these episodes aired for the first time. "I pity the fool that don't watch Knight Rider!!!" 😄 P.S. Happy 40th Kitt!!!!
As much as people say Knight Rider was cheesy but Michael's speech always made me proud to be a KR fan. On his deathbed Wilton Knight bequeathed to me that one man can make a difference. That alone should have kept Knight Rider on for at least another 3 years
you can only use soo many storylines~~
@@robertray4191 - simpsons has been on a few years
I always dreamed that one day I would have a boss like Devon Miles. A true English gentleman! Unfortunately, decency and honesty are huge things these days.
Great pictures at the end. Thank you so much ! Unfortunately there were only four seasons. Can't get enough of this background informations. But I'm glad that there is no white wire alert anymore. 😉
EAT YOUR HEART OUT, BOB LAZAR!!! Knight Rider came up with the biometric hand scanner AND the "rare" element FIRST! Although I believe in the show it was element 114, not 115. BOTH which went even invented yet.
Great episode and wow, a terrific commentary, thank you very much. Interesting facts about your cars too and - well, I liked it.:-)
I felt Super Pursuit Mode was a great addition to the show, even if it was just them speeding up the footage. And the transformation scenes gives me some strong "Power Rangers" vibes. In all of Season 4, "Deadly Knightshade" had the only nighttime footage of the car in Super Pursuit Mode.
No, SPM was used at night in "Knight Behind Bars" as well. When the two vehicles leave the prison, and Michael and KITT go after the wrong one.
@@knightad33
"We blew it pal. We should have followed the sedan."
Truly one of my favorite episodes. Super Pursuit Mode was and always will be one of my favorite episodes. I still love the way the car looks.
I always had a crush on Patricia McPherson from season 1 and 3, but I fell head over heals for her in season 4.
Lastly, I was at Bob’s Big Boy in Burbank last week and there is a guy who I see quite often. Never really ever talk to him. But I overheard him talking to someone saying he was a stunt driver, and that he worked on many shows including Knight Rider. I had to leave, so I wasn’t able to talk to him, but the next time I’m there, I will try and get his name and some more information on what stunts he did for the show.
such a tease..
Fantastic breakdown and commentary as always Joe :D You are lucky to have so many behind the scenes photos for this episode too. The convertable with the sticker dash was based in the UK and alternated between Keswick and Scotland up until 2009. The dash was switched at somepoint though out the cars history to a Season 2 dash. I would love to know what happened to the original though. Keep up the great work my friend :D
That's a shame that the juggernaut vehicle wasn't kept, it's such a cool machine! And I assume trying to recreate it would be nearly impossible?
Oh gosh, seeing KITT all beat up like that- tears me up inside.
Can I just say how great Bonnie is in this episode? Her concern and care for Michael and her son KITT just makes my week. Really had some good development for her.
Why was RC3 a character in the last season? Knight Rider could've lived without him- WHAT WAS HIS PURPOSE IN THE SHOW?
I recently made a video featuring scenes from this episode, funny you would upload about it! Also, how do contact all the old stars? That's impressive
Ever Hear of Miami Vice that was after Knight Rider on the Same Network if you did you kind of get why Now.
@@mattstansbeary3068 oh makes sense
If you go to Sessums and Slagle's channel they have a video of the miniature stunts for this episode
Married... With Children and Knight Rider is the crossover we never knew we needed.
looks like a palm greener, not a palm reader.
The TV box looks like a painted black 1970s era VCR, when they were huge
lower scoop behind door at 57:25 looks like fake, not a real scoop. Same at 104:50 the upper scoop is fake
Lower whacker drive? However it's spelled? He just missed The Blues Brothers.
Finally the deep dive episode I've been waiting for
If I'm not mistaken, I believe the line was, "Supper's in the back seat and mama's home hungry." I've used that a few times in real life. :-)
The Juggernaut was a great episode and your commentary is even better!!! Thank you!! Now I'm thinking about two small things... the actor who played the role of Mr.Elliott who became the fake Devon is still unknown... but... could be his stunt double? Not sure about the images I have in my mind but when Devon escapes from prison in season one, there is a scene where he's jumping over the prison wall with the other two villains and his stunt double looks quite similar to this actor.... well, maybe my mind is just a bit confused, but... could be?
And... about the Juggernaut, you told us that was built by some guys related with Dukes of Hazzard too, now I wonder if these guys had built the Mean Green Machine that we saw in two DoH episodes...
(as usual, sorry for my english mistakes, I'm writing from Italy lol)
Thanks, Joe. Great information and video as always.
I'm sorry to want to keep talking about this episode. I am surprised that Michael didn't spout off to Jennifer saying that she's her mother's daughter. As to when you were mentioning the script mess up Joe, it reminds me of the time Anne Lockhart and Laurette Spang literally being handed scripts minutes before going on set when they were in Battlestar.
Just a tip for you, if you mention a video of yours in a video, put the link in the description, you will get more people to watch that video too. I had a passing interest to watch the buggy jump car video but didn´t want to dig around on your channel for it.
One of the best episodes top 5 for me
Even though spm was a jumping the shark moment back then I’d loved it
amazing video thank you very much
Knight Rider Historians Official- Where can I find the songs we hear around 1:08:20 & 1:09:20, for example?...
Assuming it's from the sound-track to 'Knight Rider', I tried to find it on RUclips & can't find it.
Some of those Juggernaut were in “BUY OUT”
I drive by the Wreck site every day.
I never realized they had a car they never bothered to convert. Very interesting to see a black and gold T/A. Also, so interesting that a show that could get so many people wanting to get a glimpse of KR filming would be cancelled after this season.
@knightriderhistorians I also watched knight rider when it originally aired but I was very young like 6-7. I also mostly watched knight rider on Wor 9 at my grandma's house also the A-Team. Those were the days. For me it was Saturday afternoon back to back episodes then A Team back to back. I miss wwor 9.
Another one that had me in bed... The KITT Vs KARR gave me bad nightmares...Nick Worth was also on The Greatest American Hero a few times.. He was on the show Swamp thing too....
5:30 I knew that some of the areas filmed wasn’t Chicago. I live there and some scenes was not Chicago.
Brilliant this. Loved watching this. I actually love season 4. My routine of watching the episode then the commentary is actually more fun than when I watched the show in the 80s now ha. Just wish they had had an episode where Devon, Bonnie or RC got to drive KITT properly in search of Michael like the brief time April does in season 2.
Don't know if anyone noticed the guard in the booth talking to his wife just like season 3 opener where the guard is talking to his wife before something big happens
Awesome Work Joe, Thanks 👍👍👍 Greetings from Helsinki, Finland 🇫🇮🇺🇸🇫🇮🇺🇸🇫🇮🇺🇸
Another great episode guys and the photos at the end was really cool .
The closest I can find to possibly be Mr Elliott is Alan Rickman. Close. It could be a young Rickman. But I'm not putting money on it
“What can the best mechanic in ls do for ya”
This is my favourite episode :-) still have my vhs! It was released in the UK as a movie, the pilot was released as Knight Rider 1, then Knight of the Juggernaut as Knight Rider 2, with all the cut away scenes throughout cut out
A Ford Torino group on FB posted a screenshot of RCs shop, noting the nose of a 74-6 Torino in the background. Something I noticed in the original airing.
I like the bloopers from this episode
Awesome intro. I'm an old head and remember when that commercial aired. Pardon the expression, but I had a stiffy when I first saw that 😂 Thought it was the coolest thing on earth. Lots of hype for this episode and I was pretty impressed with it at the time. 👍
Knight Rider is my favorite show
57:48 RIP the super pursuit mode KITT!
Netflix also cuts out the Edward Mulhare intro and has it in two parts. Had I noticed that I would’ve just put in the blu-ray. Can you tell me the names of the music used for the photos and the Patreon list.
A clapperboard that appears on-screen… that almost neverrrrr happens! 😅