I remember watching Knight Rider as a child in the eighties ( i was more of a child of the nineties but i was young enough in the late eighties to remember Knight Rider repeats) and falling head over heels in love with Kitt. What child after watching that show didn't pretend to be Michael Knight, hurtling around eighties America, beating up corrupt small town sheriffs or greedy property developers with a a few well placed martial art kicks to the head. And that synthesised theme tune sent shivers down my spine whenever i heard it, my parents sofa was on the receiving end of a few super powered jumps in Kitt as my imagination rode me around the room. As an adult re- watching Knight Rider it is too easy to sneer, David Hasselhoofs cheesy 'son of Fonze' leather and jean outfit and afro haircut and perma tan he really couldn't look more 'eighties cool'. The plots are laughable and paper thin, its the same locations every week and the same stunts. Anyone with even a sense of physics could point out more than a few plot holes and inconsistencies. The role of women in the series is sexist with the script leaving them with little to do but be rescued or provide a 'comedy' put down to Davids aching chat up lines. The fact is these types of shows have been parodied so much no one can take them as anything other than comedy these days, irony has killed them. I find it painful to return to these treasured childhood memories, like the films you saw, music you loved and all the other memoria from childhood revisiting them as an adult is not always wise, you can end up ruining forever those golden memories that provide comfort and a positive communal reference point as you proceed through life. Sometimes is it better not to look backwards.
Review of Knight Rider
