00:15Television in the 80s was absolutely the cash cow for all the studios.
00:21And the number one thing was action.
00:27It's part of the job. It's called show business.
00:29You put on a good show, you get good business.
00:35We had so many shows that were action-oriented that were trying to do the same thing that Dukes of
00:40Hazzard had set the pace on.
00:43During those years, it was just a very special, special time.
00:47We really had the time of our lives driving the car right into the ground.
00:50Car work was at its heyday back then.
00:53Everything had action in it.
00:55You've got to realize, this is the first time this has ever been done.
00:59Dukes, Fall Guy were a lot of experiments.
01:02There was a lot of action television.
01:04Sometimes I'd work two shows in a day.
01:06There was just a lot of work because there were a lot of TV shows.
01:09The audience was there and the budgets were there.
01:12A lot was like a beehive.
01:14Universal was rightly called a factory because it was a machine.
01:17They had up to 23 to sometimes 31-hour shows they're shooting at the same time.
01:23If the tour's coming through, we've got to stop filming and let the tour go through.
01:27That's how low the TV shows are on the pecking order.
01:30All these action TV shows were trying to get the upper hand as to what can we do that's bigger
01:34and better.
01:34And a lot of them seem to have this focus on some kind of a super machine.
01:44Night Rider was like a rocket that took off and did not stop.
01:50Glenn described the show as Lone Ranger.
01:53Instead of a horse, this guy rides into town with his black car.
01:56But I'm really a car guy.
01:57People have a love affair with cars.
01:59So I fell in love with the car, with Bill's voice.
02:03I am the voice of Night Industry 2000's microprocessor.
02:07Without William Daniels, what would Kit be, right?
02:09William Daniels was absolutely the anchor of the show.
02:13Nobody could tell him how to play Kit.
02:15He had it nailed.
02:17Listen, Glenn, just let me do it with my voice.
02:20Abandon ship and save yourself.
02:22Not a chance, Belle.
02:23I remember David Hasselhoff being an ace.
02:26He was probably the most pleasant professional actor I'd worked with.
02:30David was the essence of gung-ho.
02:33Night Rider influenced a lot of kids.
02:34It influenced them in such a positive way and I'm extremely proud of that.
02:38I think he's a huge reason the show was such a hit.
02:41I do remember seeing the ratings every week and being shocked.
02:45And they kept going up.
02:47I had no idea that it was going to be so popular.
02:54Doing 22 episodes of a TV series like you're in the trenches.
02:57People don't understand there was no CGI.
03:00When you saw Kit jump over that stream, it did.
03:04Well, at Night Rider, we're jumping the Kit car every single week.
03:07Jack made a science of putting that car in the air.
03:11It's palatable when you watch the show because it's real.
03:14Dukes of Hazard, the steel on the General Lee was a little thicker
03:16and it could take the landings a little beefier than the Night Rider car.
03:22We were wrecking cars left and right.
03:24And the damage underneath that car.
03:27The cars that were used in those stunts needed to be repaired.
03:30And that really was killing production.
03:35If I'm off my mark and I hit the other side of that building,
03:38I'm going through that window.
03:39Oh my God, he's going to get killed.
03:41You know, you try and make everything as safe as it possibly can.
03:45He landed, bam, slam, hard.
03:48But it's not safe.
03:49And we found out that people were breaking their backs doing these big car jumps.
03:53Did Jack really do that stunt?
03:55Jack Yill is out of his fucking mind.
03:58We're going to have explosion and this and that and Jack would like,
04:01yeah, I know, set him off when I'm right there.
04:04Kit jumps through the open doors of a moving freight car.
04:07You want to do that stunt, there's no insurance for it.
04:09And Jack said, I'll do it anyway.
04:10He did something insanely great there.
04:13You know, it took his life in his hands there.
04:16Man, because that guy's right, he still cares.
04:21The network was pressuring us.
04:23They really were not happy with Patrice's casting.
04:25There was constant pushback on her.
04:29I'm not going to mention any names because I don't want anybody to go to jail.
04:32Again, I thought, he's going to die.
04:34I'm like, yeah, I don't know how he's going to make it.
04:36Just as I go by, all I see is blood hit the windshield.
04:39I went, oh my God, oh my God.
04:39A lot of puffer time, as we used to call it.
04:42This is a story that may never have been told before.
04:47I mean, I had two dealers call me.
04:49They had never sold so many Pontiacs in all their life.
04:52We had 14 cars and they all had their own specialties.
04:56This car you see here is one of five surviving Knight Rider cars left in the world.
05:00I fell in love with Kit when I was 10 years old and suddenly at the age of 40, I
05:05had the chance of owning my own Kit replica.
05:08I know what it takes to do it and I'm so impressed.
05:14And they drive it around and they get out and they share Knight Rider stories.
05:17It's really an awesome thing.
05:18I'm kind of astonished with the skill set of some fans.
05:21I just, it makes me smile.
05:23The Kit car has become a cultural icon.
05:26When the show came out, we got horrible reviews.
05:32You get the bad reviews, I always say, don't worry about it, we'll get the fans.
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