Totally Rad Christmas!

Monday Memory: Knight Rider (w/ The Saturday Morning Mafia)

Gerry D / Saturday Morning Mafia

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0:00 | 1:19:21

What's up, dudes? The Saturday Morning Mafia breaks down the Knight Rider Christmas episode "Silent Knight" with me! It's all about the Hoff and K.I.T.T. in one of the coolest shows of the decade!

While shopping for a Christmas tuxedo for the Foundation banquet, Michael and KITT meet Tino, a young gypsy who has pickpocketed a valuable watch from bank robbers. These robbers, disguised as clowns and Santa Claus, need the watch back to destroy evidence of their crime. Michael promises Tino's sister Marta that he will keep the boy safe and deliver him to their uncle, Stephano, the king of the gypsies. The bank robbers, however, are on their trail, fearing identification.

Unfortunately, the uncle isn't the savior Tino was hoping for, and he sells him out to the robbers. After thrilling car chases, Michael and K.I.T.T. track them to a field, where luckily K.I.T.T. is able to stop a thresher from harming them. The robbers are apprehended and the day is saved! Merry Christmas!

Whoa! Michael Knight had a whole backstory? K.I.T.T. could do what?!? How many times do they say the word 'gypsy'? Hmmm.... So grab your leather jacket, hop in your AI car, and turbo boost into this episode on Knight Rider "Silent Knight!"

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SPEAKER_03

It's like Transformers in Mask had a baby, then let Mr. Phoenix's brain, we're talking Knight Rider, fit it. James T. Kirk screamed, Con iconically, and Michael Knight drove a high-tech car around helping all those in need. I'm your host, Jerry D with another episode of Totally Rad Christmas, the podcast that talks all things Christmas in the 80s, toys, movies, specials, music, and fads. If it was gnarly during Christmas in the 80s, we got it covered. Now joining me are two very special guests. You might know them as two members of the Saturday morning mafia, Todd and Michael. Guys, how are y'all doing?

SPEAKER_02

Good. How are you?

SPEAKER_03

You know, I'm making it here. Just taking it day by day, I think. Anything new going on with you guys?

SPEAKER_10

I'm just like I said, day by day.

SPEAKER_03

Pretty much same here, yep.

SPEAKER_04

Yep. Just keeping busy, getting ready for the 4th of July, getting ready for the Burr months. Oh yeah. They're coming very soon. Yes. Ready for pumpkins.

unknown

Yep.

SPEAKER_03

Yeah, I actually so I I went to go make some tea before we started recording here, and uh I ran out of tea. I didn't have any more, except I found one last bag of pumpkin spice tea.

SPEAKER_02

There you go.

SPEAKER_03

So I'm drinking my pumpkin spice ready for uh getting ready for the 4th of July.

SPEAKER_10

So we'll we'll have pumpkin spice lattes by the end of next month. So it's it's coming.

SPEAKER_03

Oh yeah. They keep coming earlier and earlier. So I don't mind. I like I like the pumpkin. No, exactly.

SPEAKER_04

Yeah, we have a local bakery that does does a uh pumpkin Ui Gooey buttercake, and I cannot wait for it. That sounds awesome. It is. It's it sounds just as good, it tastes just as good as it sounds. When I get a piece, I'll make sure to brag and showboat all over the internet with yes, please.

SPEAKER_03

We'll live vicariously through you. Exactly. Yep. Yeah. Oh man. So uh I have to ask, what do you guys remember about Night Rider? Like, what are your general thoughts and feelings on Knight Rider?

SPEAKER_10

It was huge to me. It was, I mean, that was my favorite show um growing up. And um I I don't I might have been 1983. I went to Universal Studios um in California and I sat in a kitchen um which was like the highlight of my very young life. And then um somewhere I got the blueprint I we mailed away for them, but I got the blueprint to kit, which was just a trifle basically brochure. Um so it was a big deal for me.

SPEAKER_03

Wow. Nail away. I mean, it always felt like uh, and I know Todd, you and I talked about this in the G.I. Joe episode, but uh I remember mailing things away always seemed like it took forever. Uh-huh. And it was probably only like six weeks, you know, but uh but it always seemed like it was years and years, and then finally it came and just excited.

SPEAKER_10

I got it open, and you thought, I have a piece of paper. I didn't think that, but now it's like now I have a piece of paper that it's kidding off.

SPEAKER_04

It's a crummy commercial.

SPEAKER_10

Exactly. Exactly. That that scene totally does justice to what we did as we lived through as kids.

SPEAKER_04

That's one of my favorite all-time movie quotes, is I left the bathroom wiser.

SPEAKER_03

I feel like that could be applied many, many times.

SPEAKER_10

So yeah, it was for me personally, it was a big deal.

unknown

Yeah.

SPEAKER_04

Thinking about Knight Rider and preparing, I I realized I don't remember many of the individual stories. I remember watching it like every week with the whole family. We'd pop popcorn and we'd watch you know, Knight Rider every week, and and I remember really liking it, but it's like I was just waiting to get to watch Kit do his thing. Yeah. I don't, you know, I don't remember away from the car, out of the car moments that much. So the the one story I really remember, and I think it was like a two-parter or three-part series, is when they had the evil kit car.

SPEAKER_03

Oh, yeah, car.

SPEAKER_04

Yeah, yeah, yeah.

SPEAKER_03

Car, yeah.

SPEAKER_04

Yeah, and I really mean I I remember legitimately being like worried and afraid that things weren't going to work out well, you know. That's that's some good writing then. Yeah, yeah.

SPEAKER_10

Exactly.

SPEAKER_03

Yeah, well, I was I was six or seven years old, so it probably didn't take a whole lot, but it's funny because I I know I watched it, but it was the same, it was like uh with the Dukes of Hazard that I talked about last week. It uh I remember my cousins watching it more than than actually remember watching it myself.

SPEAKER_02

Right.

SPEAKER_03

And I remember, you know, whenever I was at their house or my grandma's house, and and they would be watching it, and I would just stay whenever there was like an awesome car chase, and then or whenever Kit would do something, and then when it was back to the talking, I was like, all right, and then I'd go play. That's it was it was pretty much the same thing with the Dukes, you know. I I'd stay for the cool car chases and jumps, and then I'd go play.

SPEAKER_04

I I did the same thing and then Incredible Hulk came on, I think, after the Dukes Hazard. So it's like I'd wait till like the last 20 minutes when the Incredible Hulk was there. Yeah, yeah. I didn't care about the the I didn't care about the setup, you know. Yep, you know, I did the same thing, and and I was trying to remember because I remember like watching this every week, right, watching Night Rider every week and popping popcorn, but then we did that with Airwolf too. Oh and you know, the A team. So either they were all on on the same night or we just pop popcorn every night and watch TV. I haven't decided which one's true yet.

SPEAKER_10

So Well, I there's a new channel we have on air, we don't have cable, and there's a new channel called called Charge TV, and from two to five or whatever, two to four, they show straight Knight Rider episodes. And I've been watching them religiously, and I don't remember any of the stories except for car. Yeah, that's the only one I I remember as well.

SPEAKER_03

So it's funny because well, so so Night Rider aired from was it 82 to 86, and you know, four seasons, and I same thing, I I don't really remember any of the individual stories, but there was a lot about like the basic plot that I didn't remember either until I started looking it up and doing some research for the show. So of course, David Hasselhoff is is the star, you know, he's he's Michael Knight. But what I didn't remember was that Michael Knight's not even his real name. So he was actually he was actually Michael Long, who was uh an LAPD detective that he was a Green Beret counterintelligence veteran in the Vietnam War, and then he was discharged, you know, discharged and he became a detective. And then somehow in the army he had gotten like a metal plate due to like an accident in the war, you know, an injury. And so he'd gotten a metal plate in his head, and then when he was a detective like 10 years later, he got shot, and while it messed him up, it didn't kill him because of that metal plate. And so then the you know, Wilton Knight, who was like the head of this, you know, this this billionaire, like Elon Musk Kitan kind of guy. He started, you know, this the Foundation for Law and Government, and they had this program going on, and so they used him and they reconstructed his face kind of based on young pictures of Wilton Knight and also pictures of his son. And so he kind of resembles his son, but so they they gave him the new identity of Michael Knight. Like this whole backstory, just I completely I don't remember this at all. I don't either. I don't either.

SPEAKER_10

I I noticed like uh last week that the foundation of law and government is flag.

unknown

Flag.

SPEAKER_10

Never got that.

SPEAKER_03

So they they they they developed this supercomputer and they kind of essentially put him into a car. But their other huge breakthrough was like this this crazy plastiel. Polymer, yeah, yeah, that they covered you know kit with, and it makes him virtually indestructible. And and not only do they cover like his his frame, but they like cover everything. So like even the tires and the undercarriage, and so he can like drive over bombs and stop them from exploding and stuff like that. And and I mean, no wonder this guy's a billionaire, because I mean, if you create something like that, you know. But yeah, so so essentially they took the supercomputer and just put it in a car, and that's how we get kit. And and this car is amazing. I mean, it's like like better than the Batmobile because it can do so many more things. I mean, I love the Batmobile, it's like my favorite vehicle of all time. But reading about Kit and and you know, remembering and watching all the shows again, I mean, he just does so much more. It's it's crazy.

SPEAKER_04

Yeah, it's almost like he has a trick of the week, too. It's like, oh, I didn't know you could do that till you need this week.

SPEAKER_03

Yeah. Yeah, I was I was telling Michael, it's it's like, you know, whatever the plot needed him to do, he could do.

SPEAKER_10

Yeah. Yep. Yeah. Right, kit in the script.

SPEAKER_03

Yeah, exactly.

SPEAKER_10

Yeah, yeah.

SPEAKER_03

And then kit all of a sudden can fly. Exactly.

SPEAKER_10

He can see a hundred and oh three hundred and sixty degrees around, four miles of down the road. Four miles up in the sky.

SPEAKER_03

Oh, yeah, yeah, yeah. We'll get into all the stuff, the cool stuff Kit can do for sure.

SPEAKER_10

Oh yeah, yep.

SPEAKER_03

Oh man. So the reason we're talking Knight Rider is not only was it awesome, but they actually have a Christmas episode. In season two, so this is when uh Bonnie was wasn't there, if I remember correctly. Yeah, it was the other girl. April. I and I don't remember her name, shame on me. I didn't write it down. It was April. April, yeah, yeah, yeah. That's it. Yeah, there you go. But yeah, so so Bonnie wasn't in this one, and I don't even remember why they got rid of her. I just remember that they she left, and then it was because of a lot of like the huge fan backlash and Hasselhoff himself that brought her back. But she was like such a part of it in my memory that I didn't even remember that she was replaced.

SPEAKER_10

Yeah, I didn't either.

SPEAKER_03

I thought it was just the same girl the whole time. Yep. Oh man. But this episode that we're gonna be talking about is it's really cool. It's a it's a cool episode, although I gotta say, I don't know if it would fly nowadays. It's I think PC culture would uh would have some words with it because they yeah, they use the word gypsy a lot. A lot.

SPEAKER_10

Well, and uh I it's like he's dressed like a hobo. The other gypsies aren't when it gets to that point. He's dressed like a hobo, and uh but they played like Greek music when they introduced that character. Yeah, they had to, you know.

SPEAKER_04

I just don't know the early on they called him a gypsy, and I'm like, I I had no idea what distinguished him enough to be called a gypsy. It's just kind of I guess they just needed that for the plot.

SPEAKER_03

Yeah, they just needed someone that that you know could roam. It was kind of uh didn't really have a home, kind of I I mean, it's problematic by today's standards. Back then, I mean you could get away with a lot more, you know. But but I love what another thing that I'd forgotten about Knight Rider in general is that uh they did use a lot of like popular songs.

SPEAKER_04

That's the that's the first thing I noticed is the very few first few seconds you hear yes is only heart. I'm thinking, what kind of budget did this TV show have?

SPEAKER_03

Well, and and listening to it because I went back and listened to it again, and it's not the actual song. Yeah, I mean it's the song, but it's not the singer. It's not the yeah, it's like yes singing it.

SPEAKER_09

You always live your life.

SPEAKER_03

Uh same thing with gypsy and and uh fleet Mc Fleetwood Mac Gypsy. That was just that was above and beyond it. It was a little ugly at the top there.

SPEAKER_04

Well whoever covered it, whoever covered it did a very job, yeah. Because, you know, just I just I just seen it uh just a little bit ago and I couldn't tell the difference. Yeah, you know.

SPEAKER_03

Yeah, I I went back and listened to it again, and and it's it's definitely it's definitely not him.

SPEAKER_07

Underground.

SPEAKER_03

But it yeah, they were they're good covers. They they really are. They're they're close. They tried to get as close as they could. So it kind of reminds me of the claymation. I have the tiger. I have the tiger, yeah, that's the other one. Uh-huh.

SPEAKER_11

Rising up, back on the street. Took my time, took my chances.

SPEAKER_03

But it kind of reminds me of like the claymation Christmas celebration special because though they they bought the rights to the Temptation song, you know, Temptation singing Rudolph the Red Nose Reindeer. But then they they hired another group to actually perform it, and the other group was like trying to put their own spin on it. And of course, Will Vinton was like, No, you gotta, it's gotta be like note for note, recreate it. So I mean it was kind of that thing, and but uh you're right, they did like a tremendous job. Yeah, but that was the first thing I thought, you know, it was owner of a lonely heart, I mean Survivor, Gypsy, like like these are expensive songs, I'm sure.

SPEAKER_04

I don't I don't listen to enough of those those uh tunes every day to be able to you know spot the uh you know the fakes or but they do that in almost every episode.

SPEAKER_03

Yeah.

SPEAKER_10

So it's it's pretty cool.

SPEAKER_03

Yeah, yeah, they must have had a pretty good uh pretty good music supervisor guy.

SPEAKER_10

Well, it was a Glenn Larson production, so you gotta give it your all.

SPEAKER_03

Well, that's true. Yeah. Oh man. The other thing is that this is one of those Christmas specials that is is Christmassy but is not very Christmassy at the same time. So you don't really get, at least for me, I didn't get a lot of Christmas feels from it. But it's like there's always mentioning something about Christmas. Yeah, I mean, Kit and Michael had the whole conversation about what to get for presents, you know. He he makes a comment about a Donner and Blitzen. There's you know, it's like they don't really seem like they're full of the Christmas spirit, do they, kid? You know, that there's all these little things here and there, but like I if you had taken those out, I don't think it would have made a difference.

SPEAKER_04

Right. I was uh I I was lucky enough to be on Tiz's podcast not long ago and do Lethal Weapon, and I had mentioned that you kind of forgot Lethal Weapon that Christmas was taking place because it was so busy and you were all over the place. And that this episode was the same way you kind of forgot it was Christmas at time because you were just moving from point A to point B, back to point A to point C, back to point B.

SPEAKER_10

Jerry mentioned a couple of them, but I kind of jotted down Knightwriters' tips to make an episode Christmassy. Basically, mention anything Christmas related when it doesn't call for it.

SPEAKER_02

Right.

SPEAKER_10

Um, yeah, those guys don't have the Christmas spirit you mentioned. Um let's let's make like Donner and Blisson before Kit jumped. Um I'll be sure there's a Saint Nick when he's talking to April, and then he says, you know, those jokers are starting to take the thrill out of Christmas for me. It's like, okay, it's a Christmas episode.

SPEAKER_03

So I think I'm gonna start I'm gonna start throwing random things like that just in normal conversations every day. Right. Like, uh oh, like, oh no, we're we're running late. Come on, let's make like Donner and Blitzen. I say go for it. Might as well, let's make it a thing.

SPEAKER_12

Exactly. Yeah, exactly. Oh, I'll be there. Sure as saying.

SPEAKER_03

So it the overall plot of the special is a bank robbery that happens, you know, the uh some some guys rob a bank, a witness who happens to be a gyp of gypsy origin or romani, or I don't know. Finger close. However, you want to say it, that's the you know, his PC, I suppose. I don't know. So he he witnesses uh their escape and kind of takes something from them that would incriminate them. Michael has to swoop in and save the day. That's like the bare bones, you know, plot. But we I and we'll really get into it in a bit. But I mean it it kind of follows, I mean, it's it's similar in structure to to most of the other episodes where you know Michael comes in and someone's in trouble and he he ends up saving the day, and he and Kit, of course, you know, kind of have a little they get into it, I guess, a little bit, and then shenanigans ensue, and the day is saved.

SPEAKER_10

Why I thought this one would be different because at the in the beginning of the episode it's all about the Christmas ball or the dinner, and then it just disappears. What is that?

SPEAKER_00

That is what you will be aware of if you fail to find a tuxedo of your own for the annual Christmas banquet. Okay.

SPEAKER_03

Yeah, yeah, they they do mention that when he's talking with is it Devin? Is that right? Right, right.

SPEAKER_10

Yeah, Devin and April call him about his tux.

SPEAKER_03

To get a tux, yeah. He has to they have to to get the tux ready to be at this big ball that there's gonna be all sorts of you know socialites and and you know, big wigs there, and so he has to attend. And I guess they I think they mentioned that there was one like the year before that he didn't go to and so they're like, No, you gotta be there. And even Kit says something like, Well, you're going this year because I promised.

SPEAKER_04

Yeah, right.

SPEAKER_03

It's like classic kit.

SPEAKER_04

Yeah, Devin sh Devin shows Michael this tuxedo with ruffles on the shirt saying that's that'll be the tuxedo wear if he doesn't find his own.

SPEAKER_10

And he'll have to be he'll be seated next to the uh Lady Pinwall and the Duchess of Chipstead.

SPEAKER_06

Michael, now you know how seriously Devin takes the annual Christmas banquet. Now he seated you between Lady Pinwall and the Duchess of Chipstead, so please remember he's counting on you.

SPEAKER_03

Duchess of Gipstead.

SPEAKER_10

Which is okay.

SPEAKER_03

All right. Yeah, why not? I don't know. So yeah, he's on his way, and that's when we get the uh we get the the bank robbery.

SPEAKER_02

Uh-huh.

SPEAKER_03

And they're dressed like clowns, and there's like a big van with circus, and they they one of the robbers steals a gold pocket watch from is it the bank manager, I believe.

SPEAKER_04

Right. And the bank manager confused me a little bit because I thought he was in on the robbery for a minute. Oh, okay. Oh, really? Because he when the the clown van pulled up, he like runs over there and then he backs up to the passenger door of the van. He's like, You guys are late. Like he was getting ready to let that guy take him hostage. And I thought, oh, the bank manager's in on it, so it was gonna have a little bit of a twist, but then they steal his watch, and I'm thinking, why are they stealing his watch if he's in on it? But then we never see the bank manager again.

SPEAKER_03

So yeah.

SPEAKER_04

I guess they had ordered clowns for the Christmas opening of the bank.

SPEAKER_03

That's yeah, that's probably what it is.

SPEAKER_04

Yeah.

SPEAKER_03

Who who orders clowns for a Christmas opening of the banks? Exactly. It's the 80s man. Yeah. I can't say anything. There's no excuse. But yeah, so they steal his watch. And as I mentioned, uh Tino, who was the gypsy boy, he he kind of sees what's going on. He kind of follows him. And they do this classic thing where he's he's walking by and he checks, he sees a present in the car, and he like tries to open the car door, but it's locked. And so, but then hey, there's a there's a payphone there, so then he checks the checks it for change and he he ends up following them. And that's when he sees them, they're like ditching their ditching their costumes, ditching the van. They'd already wrapped all the money and everything in in presents, and they're going, and the guy puts the pocket watch in his pocket. And as one of those character actors, I know he came out in vice versa. I remember him from vice versa, and and something else that I can't quite figure out.

SPEAKER_10

And I was he was definitely familiar.

SPEAKER_03

He kind of had like a Dan Hadaya kind of vibe.

SPEAKER_10

Yeah.

SPEAKER_03

And uh, but so he puts the watch in his pocket and and Tino can see the chain hanging out. So he he does the thing where the classic pickpocket move where he like bumps into him and takes it, and so he leaves, and the guy realizes that you know, the leader of the gang realizes like that watch can tie us back to the bank. So we gotta get rid of it. Then uh-oh, it's not there, Tino took it. And so that's when he he collides with Michael, and now Michael's gonna take over and help him.

SPEAKER_01

My leg, you broke my leg. You gotta get me to a hospital.

SPEAKER_00

Okay.

SPEAKER_09

Come on, I've seen that kid before. He's one of the gypsies from the neighborhood. It's the memory's taking him to the hospital. You gotta let's forget the kid. My pimp takes him to find out we can get out of the state. Now, listen, listen, the minute he tries to hunt that thing, the cops are gonna nap him, and then he's gonna hide DS, and in 24 hours our faces are gonna be coast to coast.

SPEAKER_03

So we get a classic, you know, oh my leg. You know, he kind of fakes like he's in there just to get away from the guys that were chasing him. And Michael's like, like, are you okay? Let me get you to the hospital, and and we get this weird thing where the guys that were chasing him drive up right beside him and kind of parallel. Like, like they give him the shift Eye. It's like if you're trying to, I mean, like, I get you need this watch, but I mean if you're trying to like lay low, especially after like a robbery, why would you why would you do that to someone? That's like like number one suspicious sign, you know?

SPEAKER_10

Yeah. Yeah, that was weird. That I that was a weird moment. It was like, what are they doing?

SPEAKER_03

Yeah.

SPEAKER_10

So yep.

SPEAKER_03

And that's kind of what tips Michael off that okay, I think these these guys are hassling. I mean, he even says, like, are those guys hassling you? Yeah, yep. And of course, Tino right away starts is starts saying, like, no, you know, um, or or yeah, they're they're gangs, or what does he call them? He he calls them like tufts or something like that. And yeah, it's some some 80s, 80s slang. And then he goes, uh, you know, I was on their turf, and then of course Kit being awesome, can scan him, and like he's like, he doesn't have any broken, there's no broken bones, so he's lying. He's got a gold watch in his pocket, so something's fishy, you know, and there was a bank robbery, and some of the things that were taken, one of them was a gold watch, so don't trust this guy. And so that's when they get into it and he realizes, okay, yeah, something happens, and okay, this kid's in on it, let's go to the police. And I mean, it's it's just it's it's it's funny because it's very much a step-by-step, like, okay, this happens and this happens and this happens, you know. Yeah, it's nothing's really like super fluid, but it's still awesome. I don't know what it is so far. It's still it's still pretty awesome, especially because as they're you know, as they're figuring all this out, the bad guys that you know drove up and were parallel to them, they kind of somehow turn around and now they're like gonna play chicken movie.

SPEAKER_12

I got helium in the tires.

SPEAKER_03

Michael's like, ah, don't worry about it. And so he turbo boosts and jumps over the car and like on an blitzer.

SPEAKER_04

Yeah, yeah. I didn't think turbo boost meant jump.

SPEAKER_03

Yeah, I didn't either. Apparently, yeah, maybe the turbo boosters are like under the tires.

SPEAKER_04

I guess that's right, it just depends on where they're located.

SPEAKER_10

Yeah. The best part about watching any of those kit jumps is just like the Dukesa Hazard, you can see the angle, and it's not gonna end pretty. Right. And then they go to a different shot and then it ends a little bit nicer.

SPEAKER_03

Which makes me wonder about kit suspension, you know, like it's code it and it's coded in the polymer, it's fun. Yeah, yeah, you're right. Yeah, well, that just means they won't break, but uh well, yeah, I guess.

SPEAKER_10

I just wonder how many cars I'm sure I'm sure we could find out, but I wonder how many kits there actually were. Because like I know that the General E had a ton of them because of that reason.

SPEAKER_03

Well, and then especially in the General E, and I know I know in Knight Rider also they ended up using miniatures for some of the some of those stunts as well.

SPEAKER_10

And the the more miniatures the later the series got.

SPEAKER_03

Oh yeah.

SPEAKER_10

Like in that last that last season with the anyway, I don't want to get too far off the subject, but they the new uh super pursuit.

SPEAKER_03

Oh yeah, yeah.

SPEAKER_10

I remember lots of models then.

SPEAKER_03

Yeah, the the downside, I mean, especially with cart chases and things like that, is you can almost always tell when a model's being used compared to like the actual stunts. Of course, it's a lot cheaper, so it makes sense, you know, but uh it just you kind of lose that something that that makes the show or the movie, you know, great to begin with.

SPEAKER_10

Yeah. Well, that's us as you know, 40-year-olds looking at it as opposed to the little kids.

SPEAKER_03

That's true. Yeah, as like six or seven-year-olds or whatever. I mean, it's it's awesome either way. Yeah.

unknown

Exactly.

SPEAKER_10

Exactly.

SPEAKER_03

So they they go to the police, is that right?

SPEAKER_04

And then there were 23 kit cars used for the series. 23?

SPEAKER_03

Oh wow.

SPEAKER_10

Okay.

SPEAKER_03

That makes sense. Thank you. That was yeah, yeah, that makes sense. I mean, I I would imagine they'd be, especially with all the jumps, they'd be having to work on all the things.

SPEAKER_10

Well, there are there was an episode I watched today where they had the the camera kind of outside the rear wheel. And you could see it was gonna, I mean, the nose was gonna impact at like a 90-degree angle. And then they went to another shot where it softly lands.

SPEAKER_03

So yeah. I think I think when you're when you're gonna do a jump, you're pretty much uh you know that your shocks are gonna be shot for a while.

SPEAKER_02

So yeah.

SPEAKER_03

So then it's okay, next, and then you work on that car while you use another one.

SPEAKER_10

So 23, that's wow.

SPEAKER_03

Yeah, can you imagine 23 transams? I mean uh back in the day I would have loved to have just one.

SPEAKER_10

Well, I'm thinking, guys, they're out there somewhere.

SPEAKER_03

Yeah, that's true, yeah. And this reminds me, like back in high school, I drove this little black 94 Nissan Sentra, and they used to call it the Batmobile because it was all black. And I remember, you know, I really wanted it to be the Batmobile, and of course it wasn't, but it was this tiny, little, tiny, tiny little thing that's like, oh man. But anyway, so Tino, Michael takes Tino to his sister. It turns out his sister has like an ex-boyfriend that's trying to get back with her, and who later on will become important to the plot. But one thing we did forget to mention was that the robbers, you know, after Michael puts Tino in his car, the the crooks are like, well, I I recognize that kid. He hangs around those gypsy, he's one of those gypsy kids or something like that. So that's why they're able to uh to track down later on. They they track down the ex-boyfriend of Tino's sister, and they make a deal with him, like, hey, we'll give you some money if you can tell us anything about about this kid here. He's gonna spoilers, he's gonna rat him out.

SPEAKER_10

Yeah. That ends that uh relationship.

SPEAKER_03

Yeah, yeah, yeah, exactly. Oh man. I mean it's it's like one of those perfectly like like it just works out perfectly, kind of plot points, you know.

SPEAKER_10

I I just love seeing the uh open shirt, the the big collar, you know, you anyway.

SPEAKER_03

With the stripes, you gotta, yeah. Yes. Classic look, yeah.

unknown

Yeah.

SPEAKER_03

Yep. And it turns out that the Tino's always wanted to live with their uncle. Not worships him, but he kind of really, you know, really respects him and his lifestyle. And he's like the leader of like a band of of gypsies that live somewhere far. Which, by the way, they drive a super long time. I mean, it seems like a long time to get there. Like it's night and everything.

SPEAKER_02

Yeah.

SPEAKER_03

And then on the way back, I mean, it seems like it takes him no time.

SPEAKER_10

Which you know, I seventeen minutes.

SPEAKER_03

Yeah.

SPEAKER_10

That is in the episode. How long are we gonna be there? It's gonna take 17 minutes, Michael.

SPEAKER_04

Oh, uh about the time back and forth. It's it's where when Michael stops to let the kid drive kit, that to me that felt like it was like the halfway point there. Now there was nothing in the show that said that or anything, it's just kind of how I felt that it was about halfway there, and then that was and then that seemed to be about the same location that they got to when Kit said they had like 17 minutes left. But Kit did say he was going as fast as he could, which is like according to the intro of Knight Rider, it's like what 212 miles an hour is what the speedometer goes. Yeah, you know, so if he's going that fast, then it's a long way. Yeah.

SPEAKER_03

But it's yeah, it just seems like he gets there. I mean, it it seems like it takes a lot longer to get there than it does on the way back. Although I have noticed even just driving long distances myself, it always seems like it takes longer to get somewhere than it does on the way back.

SPEAKER_02

Right.

SPEAKER_03

Yeah. I'm gonna say that's what happened. Yeah.

SPEAKER_02

Okay.

SPEAKER_03

Yeah, so he he takes him to the the uncle's house and or actually doesn't he like run away or something and they they like go find him?

SPEAKER_10

Oh yeah.

SPEAKER_04

Yeah, they uh yeah, he he he runs away and then he built he built a shack on a construction site.

SPEAKER_03

That's right. That's right, yeah.

SPEAKER_04

And and then the the bank robbers shake down his sister's ex-boyfriend for money, uh or they give him money to tell him where he's at.

SPEAKER_05

Yeah, but the kids are split. I heard somewhere he's going to his uncle's.

SPEAKER_01

That's not true.

SPEAKER_05

Come on. Where's that? Stefano's got a caravan of gypsies. They spend a winter camped out by Lockett.

SPEAKER_04

So and he does. You know, and Michael and his sister look for him around the store, and then she realized then she remembers he he lives in a shack built on a construction site. It's like, well, why didn't you think of that first? You know. So Michael goes to investigate. He he goes into the shack why the kid takes off out the back door of it, and then the bank robbers come and they just run over the shack with their with their car. And uh, but they only hit half of it.

SPEAKER_03

So So he's okay.

SPEAKER_04

So Michael's okay. Spoiler alert. Michael Knight does not die in this.

SPEAKER_03

He does not, nope, the show goes on for more seasons.

SPEAKER_10

He might have had a concussion, right? But he did not die.

SPEAKER_03

Yeah. So that's when he agrees to take him to his uncle's if in exchange for Tino allowed to be drive or to drive Kit's for a little bit. Yeah. Right. So you're right, yeah. They right before they get there, they kind of stop and and he drives them around, everything's cool, and then they get to the they get to the gypsy camp. Right. Can't believe I'm saying gypsy camp in 2020. Yeah, they they get to their their their little camp or civilization or whatever. So he's like, hey, here's your uncle, everything's cool, but it's not really cool.

SPEAKER_02

Nope.

SPEAKER_03

Because those guys show up and they bribe the uncle.

SPEAKER_04

Yeah.

SPEAKER_03

And uh luckily one of the old ladies in the camp overhears, because that's gonna that's gonna be important later. Yes, so Michael goes back, everything's awesome, and and I love how Michael's always like the the womanizer, you know, and so he and the sister kind of eye on each other. And uh April, I think, even makes a comment about it, doesn't she?

SPEAKER_10

Yeah, yeah, because he yeah, he's we stopped to see a girl or a sister, and she's like, okay, something's again. Yeah, so April, season's greetings!

SPEAKER_06

Thank you, Michael. Same to you. I hope you and Kid are headed back to the foundation.

SPEAKER_12

Oh, we're heading in that direction.

SPEAKER_06

Michael, just what are you up to?

SPEAKER_12

Nothing. Well, not much, at least. I ran into a gypsy kid who's a witness to a robbery. He and his sister His sister?

SPEAKER_06

Yeah, I should have known.

SPEAKER_03

I always and and you know, not to get off topic, but I always wanted Michael and Bonnie to kind of get together. And uh, you know, I wish they had. But I know one thing that I did like about Michael Knight and his backstory is that it was very much like a James Bond kind of thing. So he ended up marry getting married, but she was killed on on their wedding day. So I mean it's very much, very much James Bond, you know. That's exactly what happened with him. So I wonder if that like informed his whole relationship, you know, yeah uh ability after that.

SPEAKER_10

Yeah, maybe. But she Bonnie was a great or April Bonnie was a great Miss Plenty Penny.

SPEAKER_03

Yeah, she was, yeah.

SPEAKER_10

That's about what it is. Although she's more technical.

SPEAKER_03

Yeah. Well, yeah, very much so.

SPEAKER_10

Yeah.

SPEAKER_03

So he goes back to see her, they and then together they drive up to the the camp because something's something's fishy. Yes, and they realize he he sold them out. Which by the way, guys, just so you know, if you're ever trying to get back with your ex, don't sell out you know, her family in any way. Yeah, that's like the worst thing to do. Yeah, it's like, hey, I got money now. Yeah, no, no, don't don't do that. Yeah, just that's that's some relationship advice from the Saturday morning.

SPEAKER_04

Or going back a little earlier, don't stop by your exes to ask for money.

SPEAKER_03

Yeah, yeah. Yeah, yeah, don't do that first. And then second, don't sell out our family and say, hey, by the way, I have money now. Especially not at Christmas time. So they drive back up there, they they manage to track down the uh or they they drive back up to where the the camp was originally located, it's gone, but based on the soil and and you know deposits of of oil and you know fluids and things like that, they're able to track them, and they stop, and of course, the uncle gets like super offended, like, I'm the leader of these gypsies. Why would you like how dare you accuse me of something?

SPEAKER_01

And then the old lady who earlier overheard everything says, Liar, I saw them give you the money. I saw them, swine. You sold your own nephew.

SPEAKER_12

Let your own people deal with you now. I just want to know one thing. Which way did it go?

SPEAKER_03

And so then they all like kind of turn on him.

SPEAKER_02

Right. Right. Right.

SPEAKER_03

And I love Michael, he's right there. He's like, he's like, I'm gonna let I'm gonna let them deal with you. Right. But they you know, they get him to confess kind of where he they're going, and then he goes to save the day.

SPEAKER_04

Yeah, yeah. The the way they found they followed the gypsies is because there's an oil leak in the car.

SPEAKER_03

Oil leak, yeah.

SPEAKER_04

Yeah, and they uh kit can smell oil or follow the oil leak on the road.

SPEAKER_03

He yes, kit has an olfactory sensation.

SPEAKER_04

And they are driving so slow following those oil spills on the road.

SPEAKER_03

Well, I I'm guessing Kit's Kit's sensor only works, you know, right it's not a great as as as great as his other sensors are. Right. It is funny that he can smell it though, yeah. Right. That's an odd thing.

SPEAKER_10

It couldn't be like you'd like like, you know, how do bloodhounds, you know, I I those animals are not disgusting, but you know, he makes a dig at bloodhounds because they're doing the same, you know, they were bred to do the same thing.

SPEAKER_03

Yeah. I love Kit because it's it really is just it's Anthony Daniels. Yes, Mr. Feeney. Yep. So every time he's talking, like I always just picture I like I always just picture him in my mind. Like it's so it's hard to like separate the voice for me just because I I really loved Boyd Meets World, I love Saint Elsewhere. There's another movie that he was in that I really love called Her Alibi, which is a terrible Tom Selleck movie, but but it's like one of my favorites. I mean it's a bad movie, but I love it. And so it's like every time I hear his voice, like I just can't not picture him. So he's saying all these things to him, and I just picture, you know, with the glasses and the mustache being all prim and proper, like, well, Michael, you know, these bloodhounds are awful creatures.

SPEAKER_10

It's probably exactly the way he it was written.

SPEAKER_03

Yeah, it probably probably was, yeah. Yeah, so they track him down, get him to tell him where the the criminals are going or which way they went, and and so he follows him, and somehow he was able to escape. Is it and I think it's because he thinks he's gonna he says he's gonna throw up right and he's sick.

SPEAKER_02

Yeah.

SPEAKER_04

They they pull over. Yeah, the bank robbers realize that the cops have the watch.

SPEAKER_10

That's right.

SPEAKER_04

Yes, they pull they pull over to figure out at a Christmas tree stand.

SPEAKER_10

Right. Yeah, it's Christmas.

SPEAKER_04

Yeah, you gotta figure out one of the three bank robbers wants just to off the kid. Yeah, and and the others are like, well, if you do that, there's gonna be even more heat on us.

SPEAKER_03

Yep.

SPEAKER_04

And so when they're out of the car discussing that, they leave him in the car by himself and he just hot hot wires it and drives away.

SPEAKER_10

And then nobody knows nobody notices that.

SPEAKER_04

Right.

SPEAKER_10

Because the the bank robbers go back and try to find a car. Nobody comes out and says, Oh, you just ran over, you know, that car just ran over you.

SPEAKER_03

Right.

SPEAKER_10

There's nothing.

SPEAKER_03

Well, you know, obviously, if you're a vagrant teenager, you can hot wire a car. Well, it's because he's a gypsy. He's a yeah, yeah, exactly. Exactly. Yep, he's he just knows how to do it. Right, right.

SPEAKER_04

And then they casually walk up to the car and the door the door's locked, but there happens to be a convertible with the top down. Yes, and so they just casually get in it and drive away. You know, it's like nobody runs out, hey, that's my car, or nothing.

SPEAKER_03

Again, I love this this perfectly coincidental storytelling, you know. It's like, well, thank goodness this happens. Thank goodness that was I mean it just it works out so so well. But yeah, so he's going and he runs out of gas. Uh-huh. And so they're chasing him, even though they're like they're going ridiculously slow. Right.

SPEAKER_10

At least that's the payoff about finding the convenient car. Yeah. At least it at least there was you know something against that. Yeah. So slow.

SPEAKER_04

Right. Yeah, it was a piece, it was a piece of junk car. Yeah. Yes, it was. So maybe whoever owned it was like, good, someone's taking it from me. All right.

SPEAKER_10

10 bucks and insurance money.

SPEAKER_03

Insurance paycheck, here I come. But but because he runs out of gas, they are able to catch up with him anyway. And they chase him into like this big like wheat field or cornfield. Yeah, like a cornfield. And of course, Kit and Michael and the the sister, because you know you gotta have a you gotta have the the beautiful lady sitting next to you. They they manage to catch up, and Kit is able to somehow like sense or see where he is.

SPEAKER_04

Get and it gets and it gets a camera on him in the middle of that cornfield. Yes, yeah. Yeah.

SPEAKER_10

That's what that's what 15 years before they could use satellites for that. So I just don't know where that camera was, but hey, it's Kit.

SPEAKER_03

Yeah, exactly. Yeah, it's it's whatever the plot needs them to do at the time. Yeah, because nowadays they would have they would have like used Google Maps or something, zoomed in on him, or you know, some sort of the satellite, you know, satellite going on. But yeah, back then, I don't know about that. Or drones, you know, they would have launched a drone or something, but but kit's able to do it. They're able to, and uh one of the crooks has activates what the thresher, is that what it's called?

SPEAKER_04

Yeah, it's like the small Kanban kind of thing.

SPEAKER_03

Yeah, yeah. And so that Kit's able to stop that, and thank goodness he's indestructible, because man, that would have been terrible. Right.

SPEAKER_11

It's Tino. He's directly in the path of that machine.

SPEAKER_10

I kept looking, I kept looking so hard when he was against it to see if there was any damage. Because I mean, I don't know how they did that.

SPEAKER_03

Yeah. Yeah, it's I mean, it's it's really cool. A kit is awesome. The more we talk about it, the more it's like, man, I want a kit so bad.

SPEAKER_02

Yeah.

SPEAKER_03

So I just need like a billion dollars and supercomputer, but oh well. Yeah. Yeah, so then it's like this cool hand-to-hand fight. You know, it's like Michael against the three, the three guys, and I mean is it the three?

SPEAKER_04

Or maybe it's just the two. Yeah, I don't know what happened to the third one.

SPEAKER_10

Tino, the boy Tino gets one, doesn't he? He gets one.

SPEAKER_04

It's one that's one that Michael's fighting, though.

SPEAKER_10

That's true. Yeah, it is.

SPEAKER_04

So so I don't know what happened to the third one. So I'm only left to believe that the sister took him out off camera.

SPEAKER_03

I like this reading, yeah.

SPEAKER_04

Yeah.

SPEAKER_03

All right, let's go for that. It's a it's a good feminist tale here. Here we go. Yeah, so so they ended up taking him down, the day is saved, and he's gonna work uh he's gonna go with his sister in the end. And you know, Michael's gonna go to his ball, I guess.

SPEAKER_04

Right. And not a tuxedo.

SPEAKER_03

Yeah, well, of course, yeah.

SPEAKER_04

Brown corduroy.

SPEAKER_03

Naturally. I mean, what else would you wear to fancy wall?

SPEAKER_10

That was I I will say that was probably one of the worst wrap-ups I've ever seen in the show. Um Night Rider. Or yeah, it was like he he hugs the sister and the cousin, I mean the son, I mean the brother, sorry about that, and picks him up and says, Merry Christmas, and that's like that's it.

SPEAKER_11

That's it, yeah. Hey, you're all right for a car. Thank you, and Tino.

SPEAKER_12

Yeah.

SPEAKER_11

Merry Christmas.

SPEAKER_12

You two.

SPEAKER_11

What? Tino forget that. No. April was kind enough to pick it up for me.

SPEAKER_12

Wait a minute. Don't tell me.

SPEAKER_11

Yes, Argyll socks, if you must know. You shouldn't have, but you're right. It is the first time. And I'm sure Devin will appreciate the thought behind his stomachs. His great-grandfather was from County Argyll, Scotland. These socks are for Devon. Of course. You don't think I'd buy you Argyle socks? Of course.

SPEAKER_04

This is all supposed to be the same day, so they all change clothes too.

SPEAKER_03

Yeah, it's it's it's it's odd. It is, but you know, it's I do like how Kit ends up, you know, they're they're talking about earlier, and they're talking about like what kind of presents to to give each other, you know, what's appropriate. And you mentioned Argyle socks, and uh they have to pick up the Argyle socks, but no, it turns out it's not for him. It's for Devin. Yep, yep. Classic switcheroo there. This, you know, I think overall this was a this was a fun episode. I mean, I don't remember like a ton of them, because like I said uh earlier, I I mostly just remembered like the car stuff because that was the coolest part to me as a kid. But I I I thought it was fun. Uh I mean, yes, they say gypsy way too many times, and there's like a lot of stereotypes in here, but but I you know I like how the sisters uh you know meant trying to make it on her own, she has her shop and all that, and you know, she doesn't go back to the that ex-boyfriend, she's like, nope, stands up for herself. So I really like that. And and just of course, all the like stuff Kit can do is always amazing.

SPEAKER_10

No, I I give it two David Halfhoff thumbs up.

SPEAKER_03

Oh wow. Two hoffs.

SPEAKER_10

Yeah, two hofs. Hey, that's there. We go.

SPEAKER_03

It's two hops. That's gotta be our new rating system. Yeah. There you go. Christmas clatter. Yeah, it's uh I give this five hoffs.

SPEAKER_04

I'll give it, yeah. Yeah, I give it five hoffs and one BA breakus.

SPEAKER_03

There you go, yeah. There you go. Yeah, but this it really was. I I enjoyed the episode. I wish it was a little more Christmassy. Yes. I th I think it would have made it just a little bit better.

SPEAKER_04

Yeah, it did have a Linus moment. It was a little bit that's right.

SPEAKER_03

The podcast we're stealing your things.

SPEAKER_04

Yes, I still I steal everybody's things.

SPEAKER_03

But we're gonna call it still we're gonna call it the Grinch moment.

SPEAKER_04

The Grinch moment, there you go. It did have a hoff moment.

SPEAKER_03

Hoff, there you go, yeah. Yeah, I mean, you know, Tino comes around and realizes that there's a there's a good way to a better way to live.

SPEAKER_04

Right. And he's and they add Luda too, he he was illiterate, so he said he was gonna, you know, take some classes to learn how to read and then get into computers and stuff like that. So I kind of set the foundation that you just assume that he's gonna do all those things and be just fine.

SPEAKER_03

Yeah. Which is always nice. I like a a nice happy ending in in my movies and shows.

SPEAKER_02

Yeah.

SPEAKER_03

I am a sucker for that. And and there's a lot of good dramas out there that are amazing, and they're awarded, you know, have so many awards, but to me, it's just like it's such a downer. I'd rather I'd rather have a good uh a good happy ending.

SPEAKER_02

Yeah, you know.

SPEAKER_03

So yeah, that was a nice little nice little end to it. Yeah, I would have liked to have seen uh like more Christmas decorations or can you imagine if like Hoff had tried to put like the the Rudolph nose and like the antlers? Oh kid. That would be great. Well he's got that little red beamy of his. He does have the red, yeah, that's kind of Rudolph-ish. Yeah. So he just needed the antlers in.

SPEAKER_10

Yeah, there you go. There you go. I mean, and all the songs, it would be nice if they would do such, you know, have one song, a Christmas song.

SPEAKER_03

Yeah, yeah.

SPEAKER_10

Because they cover, like as we've already said earlier in the show, they cover amazing songs.

SPEAKER_03

Well, don't they they're singing, they sing a couple of them, don't they? Or am I thinking of I might be thinking of something else actually?

SPEAKER_04

There would there might have been one playing at the bank opening or something. Maybe that's what I mean. Yeah, that's that's it, that's the only place I I seems like I remember one at. Yeah.

SPEAKER_02

Yeah.

unknown

Yeah.

SPEAKER_04

They hit they hit the Christmas tree stand twice, two different times. And I don't remember anything there.

SPEAKER_03

No. Which is uh kind of odd, also. That's like where you would expect you know, you want people to be in the Christmas spirit there to buy your trees.

SPEAKER_04

Right.

SPEAKER_02

Exactly.

SPEAKER_04

But no, they're gonna they're gonna play Fleetwood Mac instead. Well, you know. Or Fleetwood Mac like.

SPEAKER_03

Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah. Fleetwood Mac-esque.

SPEAKER_04

Yeah.

SPEAKER_03

Macwood Fleet.

SPEAKER_10

Yeah. Well, really, there's only two songs that are gypsy. It's the Fleetwood Mac and then Sonny and Cher. So I think they chose the best one.

SPEAKER_03

I think they did too, yeah. Oh man, yeah. If you're gonna rip off, rip off one, definitely do Lindsay Buckingham and Stevie Nick's version of it. Yeah. But no, this is this was fun. One thing I did want to get into was some of the powers kit. So Kit, another thing that I didn't remember was that kit stands for Night Industries 2000. Later on on some of the spin-off shows and and like some of the the TV movies, it was like Night Industries 3000 when it was more advanced. And then there was gonna be like a another version that was like Night Industries 4000, but you know, they still called him kit, even though I think at that point it would be Kift.

SPEAKER_04

Yeah, it just jumped up to 10,000.

SPEAKER_03

Right? They why did they do that? That made so much more sense. But so of course he's got his AI, which is cool. Um, so he's got his alpha circuit, which is like his main control system. That's like what lets you know the CPU actually drive the car. Okay. And then of course he's got his, and I love this. We were talking about that uh that polymer is called trihelical plasty 1000 molecular bondage shell. Wow. It's like the the most like let's see how many pseudoscientific words we can throw in. It's like very 80s right there. Uh he's got his pyroclastic lamination. So that's what like it's his it's like that uh heat resistant coating as well. So not only is he indestructible, but he can resist up to 800 degrees, which is awesome. Power system, his jets, so he can go zero to sixty in two seconds. Yeah, that's talk about whiplash there. And he's got electromagnetic hyper vacuum disc brakes. So he's got a 14-foot braking distance, which is like nothing when you're going fast. Of course, his uh turbo boost, yeah, can get him up to uh in excess of 200. You mentioned that you know 212 or something miles per hour. Of course, his voice synthesizer, voice projection, so he can project his voice other places, which I don't know who would ever think about doing that. Like, why would you add that to the car?

SPEAKER_04

He he he did that, he hollered at Michael when he was in that shack. Yes, he did, yeah. To let him know that it's getting ready to be ran over by a car.

SPEAKER_10

And I've seen a few episodes where he makes it sound like the police are coming. Yes, yes, you know, the sirens coming.

SPEAKER_03

Yeah, he's got his ventriloquist mode. Right, yes. Let's throw your voice. So that that that beam, you know, the with the red lights that we were talking about, his his Rudolph nose, that's actually called his anamorphic equalizer. Okay. And it can see here's so here's where we go. It's a fiber optic array of electronic eyes that can actually see all the wavelengths of light, especially X-ray and infrared as well. So that makes sense how he can kind of you know sense different things, but yeah, yeah, that camera trick is still kind of iffy there. And then I mean he's got like a whole list of features here: oil slicks, smoke screens, flamethrowers, tear gas. I mean, like you name it, he's got it. And I mean, if you go to Wikipedia, you can find all this stuff. There's like way more than than I want to name here, but so I thought that was kind of cool. Yeah, so there were several other spin-offs from Knight Rider that again I didn't remember at all, but there was like a couple of TV movies. There was like like Night Rider 2000 was one of them.

SPEAKER_04

I remember that one that was with the Dodge Viper, right?

SPEAKER_03

I think so, yeah. Yeah, yeah. Night Rider 2010. Team Knight Rider was another one.

SPEAKER_04

The 2010, I think, was with the Mustang? Mustang, yeah. The new uh when Mustang changed its body style to yeah. Yep.

SPEAKER_03

Yeah.

SPEAKER_04

I've never seen any either one of those.

SPEAKER_03

I never have either. And uh they mentioned, like in one of them, they mentioned something called like the shadow or or shadow organization or whatever, and it's supposed to be like Kit essentially, and and Michael Knight. And so they like they even go to a grave, like where the team even goes to a grave and it has like Michael Knight, and it says, you know, it has a little eulogy, whatever. But then as far as I can tell, it seems like he's actually still alive. They just like that's when the the Michael Knight persona died, the alias. So, because there's like the he's the only one that like never failed in any of his missions, and I was like, that that's right. Hoff never fails.

SPEAKER_04

No, ever.

SPEAKER_03

That's why Germans love him. I was just gonna say that. Y'all remember basketball? Or not basketball, dodgeball?

SPEAKER_02

Uh-huh.

unknown

Yes.

SPEAKER_03

Yeah, and there's they're like playing against a German team or something, and David Hasselhoff is like the coach, and he's just he's just chewing him out for their failure. Oh man, that's like the best.

SPEAKER_10

I love in Guardians of the Galaxy, I think too, how Star Lord was the the perfect father, because he didn't have a father, was David Hasselhoff.

SPEAKER_03

Yep. I think he even sings on the soundtrack to Guardians 2. There's a a new song, and I think he even sings it. Oh, okay. I got it. It's like the Guardians disco or something like that. I mean, it's it's like a disco-esque thing, and I think David Hasselhoff actually sings that.

SPEAKER_04

Yeah, one of my one of my most vivid memories of David Hasselhoff was uh at a very serious time in the world when the Berlin Wall was coming down. Oh, yeah. And there's there's a great video footage of him in this jacket with lights on it blinking. And he's singing this song about freedom on top of the Berlin Wall as people are sledgehammering it down. It's like the only person that could be on top of that wall with this light of jack, you know this jacket light going off like that is David Hasselhall.

SPEAKER_00

Yep, I agree.

SPEAKER_04

For for one, how did he get over there so fast? You know, hey man, he's the hop. He probably took kid over there.

SPEAKER_03

Probably he may have been on tour in West Germany. That's true. He might have been, yeah.

SPEAKER_04

He might have been, but I I still I still remember seeing that on the news. He's up there giving this this concert on top of the wall as it's come down, and that jacket is just blinging. I don't even know what's the only thing I remember of the song is he kept singing Freedom. I don't even know what the song was, what if one of his or or what it was, but or George Michael's Freedom.

SPEAKER_03

I don't know. I don't know. And and it's funny because I remember I remember watching that, but I don't remember him up there, which is something I would have remembered. So maybe I was just watching a different channel or something, and just they're like, We're not gonna cover, we're not gonna cover that.

SPEAKER_10

CNN was like, we're not covering that.

SPEAKER_03

Yeah, yeah. Let's let's uh just just video this this part over here. Oh man. Well, yeah, so there was quite a few, there's like a whole series of different Knight Rider things and another 2008 television series as well. And then even in 85, there was a spin-off series called Code of Vengeance that starred Charles Taylor, who was another Vietnam veteran. They kind of retooled, he was like in an episode of Knight Rider as like a CIA agent and then or FBI agent, and then they like instead made him like a drifter, and then he I mean it was just it was just a weird spin-off, and it didn't last.

SPEAKER_04

I don't remember, but this seems like they would have been this would have been the perfect TV show to turn into a Saturday morning cartoon. Right?

SPEAKER_03

Like like this is a good thing.

SPEAKER_04

And I don't I don't know if they did that or not. I don't seem it doesn't seem like they did.

SPEAKER_03

I don't think they did either.

SPEAKER_04

I remember like the A Team being a Saturday morning cartoon and a few other Duke of the Hazard was also a Saturday morning cartoon. This seemed like that would have been a perfect Saturday morning cartoon.

SPEAKER_03

Well, especially because this is like right around the time of Transformers, Mask, G.I. Joe. I mean, like vehicles that were high-tech were like in, you know, you wanted stuff like that.

SPEAKER_04

And I don't remember a lot of toy lines from it either.

SPEAKER_03

Yeah, I don't either. Which is again, that's that's insane. They could have made like bank with stuff, you know, Michael Knight leather jackets or something. I mean, it would have it could have been I mean, it seems like they would have capitalized on it, but I don't know why they didn't.

SPEAKER_10

Or even a remote control car.

SPEAKER_04

Well, they did they did have a remote control car because I remember I remember my my sister was a little bit of a tomboy growing up. And I remember for Christmas one year she got a kit remote control car, and that was a real cheap one. Oh wow, it was like it's like one of those with the the trigger that goes back and forth to go forwards and backwards, and the little steering wheel on the side. Yeah, and it was only I don't know, probably a foot long, maybe in size. It wasn't a very big one at all, and uh it didn't work that great. So it looked just like kit and it had the red thing. Well, here's the thing, I'm gonna say this it looked just like kit and it had the red thing on the front, but it could have been a knockoff look-alike.

SPEAKER_03

Oh, I gotcha, yeah. No, but like I know that they had to stop saying that it was a transam because so many people were like actually going to try to buy it because they wanted one just like kit. And of course, there is none just like it.

SPEAKER_02

Right.

SPEAKER_03

So they actually had to like drop it from the from the show, which I thought was kind of cool.

SPEAKER_04

Yeah.

SPEAKER_03

That it that it had that kind of an impact, you know. It's like uh like the DeLorean. Yeah you know, everybody everybody wanted a DeLorean after Back to the Future, but of course then it folded.

SPEAKER_04

Right. They don't they're not that fun to they're not that fun to ride in.

SPEAKER_03

No, no, definitely not. That's why Doc Brown had to like totally pimp it out.

SPEAKER_04

Right. Friend of mine in high school had a DeLorean. Really? That's awesome. Wow. Him and his him and his dad rebu bought it and rebuilt it, and it was it was sweet. And me and him hung her up quite a bit, so we'd we'd drive through the town weekends in it and you know get all the looks. But the thing is, you couldn't go through drive-throughs because the window barely rolled down. And in the front was the trunk. So if you had a bunch of homework, you had to like lay all your books completely flat or the trunk wouldn't shut because it was so shallow. Oh yeah. But it was fast, didn't have power steering, but it was fast.

SPEAKER_03

So there's probably a reason why it folded.

SPEAKER_04

Yeah.

SPEAKER_03

Well, I I would have liked uh, and I still would like, honestly, one of those, you know, black transam. I think it'd be it'd be pretty awesome. Right. Yep.

unknown

Yeah.

SPEAKER_04

One one thing I did notice watching this episode, and I didn't I thought it was cool at the time when I was a kid, but now that I I've been driving for many years, that's got to be the world's worst steering wheel to drive with.

unknown

Yeah.

SPEAKER_03

Well, I think because kit can also, you know, autopilot, I think uh they're like, yeah, whatever, it doesn't matter.

SPEAKER_04

Yeah, there's no way to turn hard hand over hand, you know.

SPEAKER_03

So yeah, that's true.

unknown

That's a good point.

SPEAKER_03

So one thing that I didn't remember, I mean, because this is like Hasselhoff in like his prime, you know, he's really young, he's he's got the swagger and everything. And and one thing I didn't remember was he kind of actually looks a little like puffy to me. And I I think it's because I remember mostly seeing him when he's older, and so you know, as you age, you get a little more gaunt and stuff. And so I'm just used to see him a little a little more thin. And when I saw him there, I mean his skin is he's got that that sheen that young people have. Young people, gosh, what what do we what am I saying? But you know, but you know, I mean, uh you know, youngsters, you know, but I I mean he just he seemed like he was a little more full, I suppose, in the face, like his head. More of a baby face than I remember him having, I guess is what I'm trying to say.

SPEAKER_04

Yeah, I understand that. I thought he had more puffier hair than I remember.

SPEAKER_03

His hair, yes.

SPEAKER_04

Especially in the back. He had like this perm thing in the back, which I remember kind of being popular in the 80s, but it was he did have a lot of hair. And still the uh the women loved it. Right.

SPEAKER_10

And the Germans, don't forget.

SPEAKER_03

And the Germans, of course, yeah. Oh man. Tino was originally supposed to be like a scruffy 14-year-old kind of guy, but of course they aged him up a little bit. And he's in the original script, he was supposed to be a lot more like sympathetic. You know, his he goes to visit his his dead father in the funeral parlor, and he's gonna make some money so that he can take care of his sister, and of course, all that's changed with rewrites and whatnot. I mean, I think Michael, you were saying that you know, before we started recording, I think you were even saying that in the original script that it was a lot more having to do with with the ball.

SPEAKER_10

Yeah, I thought I I read it that the end of it they there's a little bit of the April and Devin show up for the banquet at the end of it, but that was I guess I don't know why they didn't do that.

SPEAKER_03

Yeah, I don't know. I think it would have been pretty good, you know, especially because it's a Christmas bowl, so you would think it would be it would really add to the Christmas atmosphere.

SPEAKER_10

Well, just as a story, as a story point, they made all the you know, it was a big thing in the beginning. Yeah, and then it just doesn't happen.

SPEAKER_04

Yeah, they could at least they could at least have Michael and Kit driving up in the back of the semi-truck. Yeah, we we didn't get any of that this episode, and no, that was always one of my favorite parts.

SPEAKER_03

Yeah, that was always really cool. Same thing. The original script actually called for more of the Christmas spirit. So Michael was supposed to be listening to Christmas carols in one scene, and there was gonna be uh more decorations along the streets in another scene, and things like that. And I don't know if it was for budgetary reasons, maybe because they spent so much money on the songs or or what. I don't know, but yeah, they ended up not going with that, which I think would have been which would have been pretty cool. But oh well. So I have to ask guys, what would you say would be your hap, hap happiest memory of Night Rider?

SPEAKER_04

I'd have to go back to what I said before. We just even though I don't remember individual shows that much, I just remember it being a time that you know mom and dad, my sister, and myself were just kind of gathered around the TV and and you know, sharing that experience every week. And there's a few shows through the years I can I could check off and say that we did that too, and and Night Rider was definitely one that we made sure to see.

SPEAKER_10

Right on. I would probably say, you know, the hour I took out of my day at not at Universal Studios to actually sit, you know, for like a minute in kit.

SPEAKER_03

That's still so cool. I'm sure you have tons of pictures all over.

SPEAKER_10

Somewhere my dad does. I I'll have to I'll have to ask where he is, and if they do, I'll obviously send it to you guys.

SPEAKER_03

Yeah, yeah, that'd be awesome. Yeah. For me, it's it's funny because I remember watching it, but there's not like one specific moment that kind of sticks out. So I think out of every like out of my whole life, I think I'd probably preparing for this show would be my happiest memory. Just because I I I my memories are really vague and they're mostly of just kit driving around or you know, doing you know something cool, a cool jump, or or you know, something like that. So I can't really point out a specific point, but but you know, I always like talking with you guys, so you know, definitely definitely preparing for the show is would be it.

SPEAKER_10

I I wish I wish I had a car that made that sound, by the way.

SPEAKER_03

Yeah.

SPEAKER_10

That sound is so cool.

SPEAKER_03

I wish I had a car with turbo boost.

SPEAKER_10

Yeah.

SPEAKER_03

Because it would make getting out of getting out of traffic, I think, would would be a lot better. Yeah.

SPEAKER_10

Oh yeah.

SPEAKER_03

Especially a rush hour. Just press the button and go.

SPEAKER_10

Go to turbo.

SPEAKER_03

So now we come to uh my favorite part of the show, which I like to call Gag Me with a Spoon. So this is of course where we do our best impressions of our least favorite part of the show. I'll let you guys as a guest go first. But I'll let you guys go first, just kind of set up the scene. So we'll start with Todd and then Michael, you can go after that, and then I'll bring up the rear.

SPEAKER_04

Well, I'm not gonna set up a scene because I think I think my the gag me with the spoon part happened about 37 times during the show. And I hope I don't take anybody else's, but it was one of the many times that Tino looked at Michael or his sister and went, I can take care of myself.

SPEAKER_03

That was good. I love it. Well, you didn't take mine, so that's good.

SPEAKER_10

No, yeah.

SPEAKER_03

What about you, Michael?

SPEAKER_10

Well, I there was one I've I I've I don't have it right now, but it was it's it's it's said in almost every episode of uh Night Rider, that's why I chose it. But after Tino's shack is destroyed by the robbers, Kit says, Michael, are you alright? Probably in every episode, I just that's that's that's Kit to me.

SPEAKER_03

Yeah, yeah, I gotcha. So for me, I I also chose a Tino one, although it was really close between a Tino and a Michael quote. But the just this was like the cringiest part, and it's mostly because of his facial expressions, which I can do, but I know it's not a great it's not great for the audio medium of podcasts. So instead, I'll just try my best to do his voice. And it's it's like right after he gets in the car and he's trying to make a deal with Michael, and you know, that hey, you know, I'll drop the lawsuits or whatever. Because this is at this point, Michael still thinks that he broke his leg. He's like, I'll drop the lawsuits and cops and all that stuff if you just let me go or whatever. And so, you know, kids telling him, like, okay, well, don't trust him, he's lying, whatever. And Tino goes, Who asked you? Hey, you got a talking car? It's like the worst.

unknown

Yep.

SPEAKER_10

The people we should, you know, have we should keep track of how many people said, this car just talked.

SPEAKER_03

Yeah, yeah, for real. Yeah. Yeah. If you were to like like binge night rider and do a shot like every time or something, I mean you'd be you'd be pretty plastered. She would. So I I almost came down to uh a quote when Michael and Kit are going back and forth about what to get each other for Christmas. Oh, yes. And Michael said, How about a nice set of retreads and some mud flaps? Yes, yes.

SPEAKER_04

Yeah. Yeah, I was thinking about Michael when he was talking about uh, you know, a good part of Christmas is uh about the getting because you know, even though it's good to give, you gotta have someone that gets. Yeah.

SPEAKER_10

What? Well, there was the part where he sums up Christmas. It's like, what does a a guy in a red suit have to do with a religious holiday?

SPEAKER_03

It's true. Oh man. This this, yeah, this was definitely very fun. But at this point, I gotta say, well, the you know, G.I. Joe, they taught us that uh knowing is half the battle. So what do you guys think is the other half of the battle?

SPEAKER_04

Being a gypsy, so you know how to so you know how to take care of yourself. There you go.

SPEAKER_03

Yes. A stereotypical gypsy. Yeah, yeah.

SPEAKER_04

Very stereotypical.

SPEAKER_03

Yep.

SPEAKER_04

I would say not that not necessarily the opinion of the host or anybody participating in the podcast.

SPEAKER_03

We apologize to all those out there of Romani background.

SPEAKER_10

I would say pronouncing the polycarbonate, the molded plastic shell.

SPEAKER_03

Yeah, how how much mumbo jumbo can you put into it? Exactly. Techno babble, I think is what it's called. No, those are good. Those are better than mine. Mine was because I kind of already said mine, but if knowing is half the battle, the other half is that if you want to get your ex back, don't sell out her brother to some bank robers.

SPEAKER_04

There you go. Make a note, I'm making notes of that right now.

SPEAKER_03

Yep, yep. Everybody write that down. Write it down. Put it in your phone. Set the alarm to go off every 30 minutes. But I think right now we're gonna drive on over to our chatting with the little spot. Hi, welcome to another episode of Chattin with the Littles. I have little number one with me.

SPEAKER_08

Hello!

SPEAKER_03

Today we're talking about Night Rider. Do you remember Night Rider?

SPEAKER_08

I don't know what that is.

SPEAKER_03

Remember with the talking car?

SPEAKER_08

Yeah.

SPEAKER_03

Do you want a talking car?

SPEAKER_08

No.

SPEAKER_03

No, why not?

SPEAKER_08

I think it will bother me all the time because I don't like the music you put on in the car.

SPEAKER_03

What kind of music would you put on?

SPEAKER_08

High school musical.

SPEAKER_03

Okay, okay. Alright. But would you want a car that has turbo boost?

SPEAKER_08

No.

SPEAKER_03

Why not?

SPEAKER_08

I might crash into a city.

SPEAKER_03

That you probably might, yep. Well, I think we're gonna return to our regularly scheduled program. Guys, it's been so much fun talking with you. You know, it gave me a chance to when when you brought up Night Rider, it really made me just remember a lot of things. And and while it wasn't some of the strongest memories I've had, they were always they were very warm memories. Because I do remember walking in like my grandma's or my aunt's house and just seeing my cousins, you know, watching it, and I just stop and just you know watch the cool car chases and then you know go play. So thank you guys for bringing it up and and thanks for being on. What uh what what do you guys want to plug?

SPEAKER_04

Well, I'll I'll plug Christmas Clatter Podcast. You can find it uh wherever you can find podcasts at, and follow me on Facebook, Instagram, at Christmas Clatter Podcast, and at Clatter Podcast on Twitter.

SPEAKER_03

Right on. Yeah, definitely check it out. It's always a lot of fun, always. Some cool stuff. Uh, the miscast recast option is uh that's a cool segment that I love because uh you've had some quite controversial picks there.

SPEAKER_04

And I don't and uh teaser, I don't see that changing on our July 15th episode.

SPEAKER_03

Oh, all right, looking forward to it. Nice.

SPEAKER_10

This is uh the first Saturday morning mafia post or uh podcast.

SPEAKER_03

Yes, yes, it is. Yep, yep, the Saturday morning mafia. Yeah. So I'm not gonna explain what that is yet.

SPEAKER_04

Just know that's us.

SPEAKER_03

That's yep, that is us. Yeah, exactly. The first of I hope quite quite a few.

SPEAKER_10

I hope so. Yeah, this was fun.

SPEAKER_03

It was, it was a lot of fun. So thanks again for being on. And I'm gonna say, let's make like Donner and Blitzen and hit the turbo boost to find us as always on our social media pages, Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram. And if you're feeling as awesome as Michael while he's driving kit, then please go ahead and leave us a review on iTunes. Not only does it help us reach more people, but you also get a free sticker. I mean, can't go wrong with that. And I'm gonna end with later dudes. Wait, what did you want to say?

SPEAKER_08

Challenge time.

SPEAKER_03

Challenge!

SPEAKER_08

Our challenge today is that you guys get to make a little box, a box car that does not talk, or it can if you want to. If you put a little box voice inside, you hit a special button. But make your own little cardboard car and put it on Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter.

SPEAKER_03

Ooh, that sounds like a fun idea.

SPEAKER_08

Yeah, it is.