Michael Knight (Knight Rider)

For other people of the same name, see Michael Long.

Michael Knight
First appearance	Knight of the Phoenix (Knight Rider episode)
Last appearance	Knight Rider (2008 film)
Portrayed by	David Hasselhoff (Michael Knight) Larry Anderson (Michael Long, pilot only)
Information
Aliases	Michael Arthur Long Michael Long Michael Knight
Gender	Male
Occupation	Intelligence Officer (1970s) Police Officer (1970s-1982) FLAG (1982-1990)
Family	Garthe Knight (evil "twin-brother") Jennifer Knight ("sister") Wilton Knight (deceased "father") Elizabeth Knight (estranged "mother")
Spouse(s)	Stephanie March Mason (girlfriend) (deceased) Jennifer Traceur (girlfriend) (deceased)
Children	Michael Knight II (son)

Michael Knight is a fictional character and protagonist in the 1980s Knight Rider television series played by David Hasselhoff. The character first appeared in the opening scenes as Michael Long, played by Larry Anderson in the beginning of the pilot.^[1]

Michael Long

Born Michael Arthur Long on January 9th, 1949 outside of Los Angeles, California, raised by a blue-collar working family.

In 1970s, while in his 20s, Long joined the Army, was part of the Green Berets, and spent three years in counter-intelligence work in Vietnam. Captured once when snooping around, he fought his way out of a POW camp, incurring an injury which required brain surgery, and a metal plate that was inserted into his skull.^[2]

After those years in Vietnam as an intelligence officer, Michael was discharged from the service, and arrived back in Los Angeles in the 1970s. Later he joined the Los Angeles Police Department, starting as a patrolman, where he met his partner Muntzy. Michael was subsequently promoted to Detective Sergeant, and finally to Detective Lieutenant with the 11th precinct of the L.A.P.D. and his badge number was 4262. He used to reside at 1834 Shoreborne Ave Wilmington, California, and the zip code was 90744.^[3]

Michael Knight

After 10 years on the force, during the night of August 8, 1982 - while on special assignment from the LAPD as an undercover Security Guard for Consolidated Chemical Corporation in Las Vegas, Nevada for six months - his long-time partner, Muntzy (Herbert Jefferson, Jr.), working undercover as a maintenance man, was killed by Security Guard Gray (Lance LeGault).

In the pilot episode, police officer Michael Arthur Long (played by Larry Anderson) was betrayed by a female informant and nearly killed by a gunshot wound to the head by an industrial espionage expert named Tanya Walker (Phyllis Davis). A metal plate in Long's skull - the result of a head injury sustained during the Vietnam War ten years earlier - deflected the round, which still inflicted serious facial damage.

That same night Long was declared dead to the public and his medical care was taken over by the Foundation for Law And Government (FLAG). This part of the story is shown in the pilot, titled Knight of the Phoenix in syndication. The symbolism in this title is related to Michael's car, a Pontiac Firebird Trans Am, the likes of which usually featured a giant decal on the hood depicting the fire bird (the Phoenix). The phoenix traditionally is symbolic of rebirth, and the scene of Long collapsing on the hood foreshadows later events.

FLAG is a private crime-fighting arm of Knight Industries, an organization founded by Wilton Knight, a billionaire philanthropist. Michael was not Wilton Knight's first choice for the pilot program, but Wilton changed his mind and reopened the foundation due to Michael's arrival. In the context of the pilot, Wilton Knight (Richard Basehart) is dying of an undisclosed illness. Wilton picked up Michael passed out in front of his car, on a desert highway. Michael barely survived, thanks to the metal plate.

Given a new face via facial reconstructive surgery, Long is resurrected as Michael Knight (now played by David Hasselhoff). Together with a high-tech automobile called the Knight Industries Two Thousand (KITT), Michael Knight agrees to carry on Wilton Knight's crusade of aiding the powerless. He usually was given mission objectives by the new director of FLAG, Wilton Knight's longtime friend and confidant, Devon Miles (Edward Mulhare). Michael was selected for his high level of self-defense training, intelligence, law enforcement experience, and his ability and preference to work alone without assistance or back-up.

Michael Knight was a special type of hero, a modern knight who avoided violence whenever possible and generally refrained from using firearms. Although most of Knight's cases were based in Southern California where FLAG was headquartered, the operation was not confined there. He could travel to whatever part of the country trouble arose in; sometimes even crossing borders into Mexico. FLAG also had facilities in Las Vegas and Chicago. The organization also owned an semi-trailer truck that served as a mobile office and also offered technical support for KITT.

In early literature for the series, the aforementioned metal plate in Michael Long's forehead was also said to be used for Knight to pick up various radiowaves and signals. This was played upon in the several Knight Rider tie-in novels published, but was very seldom used in the actual series itself. One of the only questionable examples of it being utilized is in the first season episode "Trust Doesn't Rust", when Michael suddenly tells KITT to switch to the police frequency, although it is arguable that he could have just noticed local commotion, or been acting on a hunch. In the second-season episode "Soul Survivor," KITT's CPU is separated from the car and deposited in a trash can in a garage; Michael finds it after telling Devon he senses KITT's essence.

In addition to playing Michael Knight, Hasselhoff also played a double role in the Season Two feature-length episodes Goliath and Goliath Returns, portraying not only Michael Knight but also Wilton's biological son Garthe Knight. At the time of Michael's surgery, Garthe was imprisoned in Africa. Believing that his son would never be seen again, Wilton had Michael's face modeled after Garthe's.^[4] In the pilot episode, both Devon Miles and Wilton stated that Michael actually resembled the face of Wilton himself as a young man. The novels written after the series aired described Michael's reconstructed face as based on images of both a young Wilton and Wilton's son. In any event, the Garthe storyline would not go beyond the second season, primarily due to Hasselhoff's request that the doppelgänger villain be ended, due to the time it took to be made up and film both the roles of Michael and Garthe.

In 1984, Michael finds out that there was a hit put out on Long by Tayna's lover Cameron Zachary, the reason why Michael was shot.^[5] (In episode #47 of the two part "Knight of the Drones" it is revealed that prior to Michael Long/Knight that FLAG had a prospective "Knight" driver who was murdered; however, this was never mentioned in any other episode).

Michael is always a ladies' man, often loves women, and that included his former fiancee Stephanie "Stevie" March Mason (portrayed by David Hasselhoff's actual wife at the time, Catherine Hickland), who eventually he marries in the episode "Scent of Roses" on the same day she was killed.^[6] Michael's favorite foods are often steak, eggs, and greasy fried potatoes.

He retired from FLAG in 1990. TKR would take over his duties.

Knight Rider 2000

Main article: Knight Rider 2000

In a 1991 sequel movie Knight Rider 2000 Devon visits Michael and convinces him to join FLAG's project, the Knight 4000, as the test driver. But Michael is furious to discover that KITT has been disassembled. Michael is ready to walk away, but later decides to rebuild KITT's AI unit. At the end of the movie Michael returns to retirement.

Knight Rider (2008 TV series)

Main articles: Knight Rider (2008 film) and Knight Rider (2008 TV series)

In the 2008 Knight Rider revival television movie, Michael Knight shows up at the funeral for his son's mother. He introduces himself to his estranged son, Michael Traceur, who asks if he will see Michael again. Michael replies, "I hope so".

Michael Knight was again mentioned by his son in the first episode of the new series. Traceur said that his father's name was Michael Long, and his co-workers make fun of it. Later, Traceur decides to adopt the "Knight" family name in an attempt to start a new life.

References

1. ^ Knight Rider Region 1 DVDs ISBN 7 4170 0213-1 (Season 1).
2. ^ Knight Rider Region 1 DVDs ISBN 7 4170 0213-1 (Season 1): Knight of the Phoenix.
3. ^ Knight Rider Region 1 DVDs ISBN 7-4170-4302-4 (Season 2): Episode 211 Knightmares.
4. ^ Knight Rider Region 1 DVDs ISBN 7-4170-4302-4 (Season 2).
5. ^ Knight Rider Region 1 DVDs ISBN 7-4170-4302-4 (Season 2): Episode 220 A Good Knight's Work.
6. ^ Knight Rider Region 1 DVDs ISBN 7-4170-7434-5 (Season 4).

External links

• Michael Knight at the Internet Movie Database