The Checklist: Knight Rider (S4 Ep16) “Redemption of a Champion”
The time has come to once again delve into the fantastic world of TV action with one of the most iconic shows of the 1980’s and the series that first made David Hasselhoff famous, Knight Rider.
In this edition of The Checklist, I’ll put an episode from Knight Rider’s fourth and final season to the test and see just how Knight Rider it really was.
The episode is titled Redemption of a Champion and it was the 16th episode of Season 4.
- Synopsis: A sportswriter, who was about to blow the whistle on some dirty dealings in the boxing world, is murdered. Michael Knight is on the case looking to bring the man who ordered the murder to justice.
1. Did Michael Knight communicate with K.I.T.T. via his watch phone?
Indeed he did… on multiple occasions in fact. Michael called K.I.T.T. in to help when he and Spider-Man (not that Spider-Man) were caught in some crossfire. K.I.T.T. also warns Michael about some bad guys in the arena while Michael was having a heart to heart with ex-champion boxer, Bo Keeler. And the episode actually kicks off with K.I.T.T. interrupting Michael’s dinner date with an 80’s hussy via his watch phone. Knight definitely got his money’s worth for that pricey gadget in this episode. 1/1
2. Were there any notable guest stars?
Any time you have a Bloodsport alumnus on your show, it is pretty notable in my eyes. The actor who portrayed the sportswriter is none other than Norman Burton. Burton played Helmer in Bloodsport, the government guy who was running around with Forest Whitaker’s character Rawlins, trying to get Frank Dux (Jean-Claude Van Damme) to go back to the United States. Burton was also a cop in the Sho Kosugi classic, Pray for Death and he was one of the many actors to play the character of Felix Leiter in a James Bond film. Burton played Leiter in Diamonds Are Forever starring Sean Connery.
Other notable guest stars include Don King who played himself and called the Battle in Butte an “extraordinary evening of fisticuffs”. And playing the role of Bo Keeler, former boxing champion, was an actual former WBC Heavyweight Champion, Ken Norton. 2/2
3. Was an innocent bystander confused by K.I.T.T.?
Bo’s wife, Ruth Keeler was taken aback by K.I.T.T.’s ability to talk when she was riding shotgun and navigating Michael to the whereabouts of her husband. A “not so innocent” bystander, Jean Tremont also was surprised to hear Michael having a conversation with his car and even wondered aloud what kind of car it was. 3/3
4. Was K.I.T.T.’s Turbo Boost button used?
When Michael and K.I.T.T. nearly found themselves submerged completely in an aqueduct, it was the old Turbo Boost special that got them back on a dry surface, then when they got stuck in a tunnel, the Turbo Boost was used again to blast right through the top of the tunnel, avoiding near death in the process and not a scratch on K.I.T.T. 4/4
5. Was K.I.T.T.’s Ejection Seat button used?
I don’t think anyone would have complained if Michael used the Ejection Seat button on the scandalous Jean Tremont, but unfortunately for the viewers he did not. 4/5
- Final Score = 4/5 (80%) Another nearly perfect episode of Knight Rider. I was glad they didn’t use any of K.I.T.T.’s “enhanced features” from the fourth season. Those were so lame!
