List of Knight Rider episodes (season 1)

Knight Rider Season 1

DVD cover
Country of origin United States
No. of episodes 22
Broadcast
Original channel NBC
Original run September 26, 1982 (1982-09-26) – May 6, 1983 (1983-05-06)
Home video release
DVD release date August 3, 2004 (2004-08-03)
Season chronology
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Season 2

The first season of Knight Rider, an American television series, began September 26, 1982, and ended on May 6, 1983. It aired on NBC.[1] The region 1 DVD was released on August 3, 2004.[2]

Episodes

# Title Directed by Written by Original air date Production
code
1 1 "Knight of the Phoenix (Part 1)" Daniel Haller Glen A. Larson September 26, 1982 (1982-09-26)[1] 57375
After Detective Michael Long is shot and left for dead, he is saved by the eccentric billionaire, Wilton Knight and his associate Devon Miles. He is given a new face by plastic surgery, a new identity as Michael Knight, and the Knight Industries Two Thousand (KITT for short) – a dream car with super-spy gadgets and nearly invulnerable armor. Wilton asks Michael to carry on his crime-fighting crusade believing "one man can make a difference." 
2 2 "Knight of the Phoenix (Part 2)" Daniel Haller Glen A. Larson September 26, 1982 (1982-09-26)[1] 57376
The story continues as Michael locates his shooter, a woman named Tanya Walker, who is stealing technology secrets and embezzling money from a computer company. With the help of a woman named Maggie, Michael lures Tanya into a trap by showing off KITT's abilities as bait. 
3 3 "Deadly Maneuvers" Paul Stanley William Schmidt & Bob Shayne October 1, 1982 (1982-10-01)[1] 57305
Michael helps a stranded Army Lieutenant named Robin Ladd who learns her father has died in a suspicious accident. Michael conducts his own investigation which leads to uncovering the theft of nuclear warheads from an Army weapons depot and evidence the top brass may be involved. 
4 4 "Good Day at White Rock" Daniel Haller Deborah Davis October 8, 1982 (1982-10-08)[1] 57303
Michael goes to the sleepy mountain town of White Rock for some rock-climbing, but the place is invaded by a troublesome biker gang. Learning another gang is on its way for a showdown, Michael, with the help of a local woman (Anne Lockhart) and her brother, must find a way to drive off the gangs before they turn the town into a battleground. 
5 5 "Slammin' Sammy's Stunt Show Spectacular" Bruce Bilson E. Paul Edwards & John Alan Schwartz October 22, 1982 (1982-10-22)[1] 57315
Michael investigates a dare-devil stunt show that is plagued with accidents and sabotage. When Michael finds out a disreputable businessman named Blake may be to blame, he joins the show with KITT as his stunt car, hoping to draw out the saboteur and connect him with Blake's scheme to take over the business. 
6 6 "Just My Bill" Sidney Hayers David Braff October 29, 1982 (1982-10-29)[1] 57311
Devon assigns Michael to protect Senator Maggie Flynn who has made enemies in her political crusade to fight a new energy bill. After numerous attempts on her life, Michael arranges for her to hide out with Devon, much to Devon's chagrin, while he conducts an investigation with Flynn's assistant Jane Adams, who suspects a rival politician to be involved in the attacks. 
7 7 "Not a Drop to Drink" Virgil Vogel Hannah Louise Shearer November 5, 1982 (1982-11-05)[1] 57304
Michael is sent to help a group of cattle ranchers who are battling an acquisitive landowner. Getting in Michael's way is a troubled rancher's hot-headed daughter-in-law Francesca, who believes they don't need an outsider's help. After Michael and KITT stop a gang of thugs from destroying a pipeline the landowner resorts to bombing a dam that could flood the valley and kill dozens of people. 
8 8 "No Big Thing" Bernard L. Kowalski Judy Burns November 12, 1982 (1982-11-12)[1] 57313
Devon is pulled over in a small town for a minor traffic violation, but the officers add "resisting arrest" to the charges and toss him in the slammer. Devon then learns a fellow cellmate, Frank Reston, is an investigative reporter about to bust the county's Judge Paxton on a corruption scheme, but soon Reston is taken away and eliminated. With Devon is a potential witness, Paxton has Devon taken to a maximum security prison. Michael and KITT then break Devon out in order to prove he is being set up. 
9 9 "Trust Doesn't Rust" Paul Stanley Steven E. De Souza November 19, 1982 (1982-11-19)[1] 57307
Two petty thieves, Tony and Rev, break into a Foundation warehouse and unwittingly reactivate KARR, (the Knight Automated Roving Robot) (Voiced by Peter Cullen), which was sitting in storage. Responding to the break in, Michael and KITT arrive to see the two thieves make a getaway in KITT's twin. After Michael learns that KARR was KITT's prototype and programmed with an unstable self preservation AI, he goes after the vehicle which the two thieves are using to crash into bank vaults. Things become more complicated when KARR has the thieves kidnap Bonnie so she can repair a malfunctioning circuit. Michael and KITT get Bonnie back, and try to disable KARR using a laser. When this fails, Michael sets KITT on a direct collision course with KARR, banking on KARR's self preservation to defeat him. 
10 10 "Inside Out" Peter Crane Steven E. De Souza November 26, 1982 (1982-11-26)[3] 57302
Michael poses as a wheelman named Dugan so he can infiltrate a criminal training camp led by a retired General named Kincaid. Helping him is a woman on the inside named Linda who only follows Kincaid to avoid being blackmailed. The situation becomes dire when Michael, after unwittingly helping Kincaid in a gold heist, faces off with the real Dugan who shows up and points to Michael as an impostor. 
11 11 "The Final Verdict" Bernard L. Kowalski Story by: Tom Greene
Teleplay by: E. Paul Edwards & John Alan Schwartz
December 3, 1982 (1982-12-03)[3] 57316
Michael tries to help a friend named Cheryl Burns who is accused of murdering her boss, and her only alibi lies with a nerdy accountant named Marty Kean who was with her at a bar on the night of the crime. When Michael tries to locate Kean, he finds the man at the center of a police investigation suspecting him of cooking the books of his shady employer. Michael agrees to get the cops, and Kean's employer, off his back if he helps prove Cheryl innocent. 
12 12 "A Plush Ride" Sidney Hayers Gregory S. Dinallo December 10, 1982 (1982-12-10)[3] 57306
Michael infiltrates a bodyguard-chauffeur driving school the Foundation suspects may be training an assassin plotting to eliminate a group of third world leaders meeting at a secret conference. Michael first suspects a woman named Margo Wells until another student named Jacobs tries to kill him. With Jacobs eliminated, Michael goes on his way, but when Jacobs returns from the dead, Michael realizes he's been duped and the leaders are still in danger. 
13 13 "Forget Me Not" Gil Bettman Richard Christian Matheson & Thomas Szollosi December 17, 1982 (1982-12-17)[3] 57312
Michael works with Marie Elena, a woman whose father is a South American leader visiting the United State. Marie fears a rival figure, Rudy del Fuego, may have hired an assassin to kill him. Michael infiltrates del Fuego's private party where he meets a drunk woman named Micki, but she lays down in a bedroom and overhears del Fuego's assassin discussing the killing plot. When she is caught, Michael sees her being taken away in a car, and gives chase, but Micki escapes by jumping from the car and injures her head. Now Michael must make the amnesiac Micki remember who the assassin is before he strikes. 
14 14 "Hearts of Stone" Jeffrey Hayden Robert Foster January 14, 1983 (1983-01-14)[3] 57322
Michael goes to Texas to meet Father Carlos Laguna whose family is feuding with a group of gunrunners in possession of an advanced assault rifle called the X-19. The situation worsens when Carlos' brother Roberto is shot with an X-19 during a drive-by attack. With the help of a bartender named Angie, Michael poses as a gun collector and makes contact with the gunrunners where he offers to buy the whole shipment of X-19s. They strike a deal, but Angie tricks Michael and steals his suitcase full of money which was charity funds provided by Devon. 
15 15 "Give Me Liberty… or Give Me Death" Bernard L. Kowalski David Braff January 21, 1983 (1983-01-21)[3] 57323
Michael enters KITT in an alternative fuel race where the coordinator, Dr. Kempler, believes an oil-producing nation is conducting sabotage to see the advanced fuel technologies fail. Michael investigates every driver's background and zeroes in on a reporter named Liberty Cox who has a long criminal record and a radio detonator device in her luggage. Little does Michael know that Liberty is being set up by the real saboteur; a ruthless cable television sponsor Clark Sellers, who stands to make a killing off of the filming rights of the race if every car makes a "spectacular crash". 
16 16 "The Topaz Connection" Alan Myerson Stephen Katz January 28, 1983 (1983-01-28)[3] 57321
A high-profile "skin magazine" editor named Philip Royce is murdered and Michael helps his daughter Lauren investigate who killed him and why. The clues may be found in Royce's computer, but the file he was working on is password protected under the code name "Topaz". The plot thickens when a private investigator Royce hired calls Lauren to reveal the story, but the man is killed by a sniper. Lauren and Michael then follow the P.I.'s leads to Las Vegas in hopes of uncovering the meaning behind Topaz, but quickly come across more thugs who want them eliminated. 
17 17 "A Nice, Indecent Little Town" Gil Betteman Frank Telford February 18, 1983 (1983-02-18)[3] 57317
Michael poses as a freelance bounty hunter looking to capture a counterfeiter named Ron Austin. He tracks the criminal to the small town of Alpine Crest where Devon is presenting a Foundation award for the city with the lowest crime rate per capita. While following Austin, Michael befriends Jobina Bruce (Jean Bruce Scott), a local reporter looking for a big story, but Jobina is also working for a CIA agent named Larken, who is conducting his own investigation of a local religious printing business, "Hallelujah Press". While Michael tries to make a connection between Austin and the print shop, he is arrested by Sheriff Moore, a corrupt official who also has KITT impounded. 
18 18 "Chariot of Gold" Bernard L. Kowalski William Schmidt February 25, 1983 (1983-02-25)[3] 57326
Michael is called to investigate an archeological dig that dug up something strange, but his contact Dr. Litton, suddenly goes insane and slips into a coma. Meanwhile, Devon and Bonnie speak with Dr. Graham Deauville, (Litton's partner) and leader of the prestigious "Helios Society" – an organization of genius minds. Michael learns Litton had stumbled upon a secret excavation and is just the latest member of Helios to fall victim to a mysterious death. Deauville puts Bonnie under mind control and has her reprogram KITT to assist in a museum gold heist which is just one phases of a much larger scheme – to fund the building of an underground complex that Deauville believes will save him from the nuclear armageddon of World War III
19 19 "White Bird" Winrich Kolbe Virginia Aldridge March 4, 1983 (1983-03-04)[4] 57330
Michael learns that the woman he was once engaged to, Stephanie Mason, has been arrested for her involvement in a money laundering scheme. Unfortunately, he was engaged to her when he was Michael Long and Stephanie thinks he is dead. The Justice Department has given Stephanie the option of turning in her boss Gilbert Cole, or face conspiracy charges if she refuses. The situation intensifies when Cole sends thugs to eliminate her before she can testify before a grand jury. Now Michael must protect the woman he once loved and capture the people who are setting her up, all the while avoiding slip ups that may give away his secret identity. 
20 20 "Knight Moves" Christian I. Nyby II William Schmidt March 11, 1983 (1983-03-11)[4] 57332
Michael goes to New Mexico to investigate for the Alliance of Independent Truckers (AIT) whose rigs are getting hijacked on isolated stretches of highway. AIT is led by Rick Calley (James Whitmore, Jr.) who is the latest victim of the attacks when gunmen stole his trailer filled with valuable equipment. More problems arise when AIT's main client threatens to do business with AIT's biggest rival, Prairie Trucking, whose trucks, suspiciously enough, haven't been hit by thieves. When Michael sticks his nose into Prairie Trucking's business, their owner, Falker, sends his thugs to eliminate him. 
21 21 "Nobody Does it Better" Harvey Laidman David Braff April 29, 1983 (1983-04-29)[4] 57331
A CEO of an electronics firm hires the Foundation to help catch whoever is stealing software from his company. Michael suspects someone on the inside – a programmer named Julian Groves when he learns of his involvement with a con-woman named Connie Chason. Soon an overzealous private investigator named Flannery Roe, hired by Groves' wife, gets into Michael's way, but things become more complicated when Connie is found murdered in Julian's bungalow and the programmer is on the run. Michael doesn't believe Julian is capable of murder and he and Flannery are forced to tolerate each other to find the real killer. 
22 22 "Short Notice" Robert Foster Robert Foster May 6, 1983 (1983-05-06)[4] 57336
Michael meets a hitch hiker named Nicole Turner (played by actress Robin Curtis) and they share a hotel room together, only to have a gunman bust in who targets Nicole. During the struggle, Michael shoots the gunman in self defense, but to his bewilderment, Nicole flees the scene. Michael is then arrested on charges of murder but Devon bails him out so he can track down Nicole who is his only witness. Michael then learns the gunman was a member of the felonious biker gang and Nicole's ex-husband Harold Turner is their leader. Turner wants Nicole to hand over a microfilm containing criminal evidence and is holding Nicole's young daughter Natalie as hostage. 

References

External links