The Michael Knight Question.

[Kirin]

My problem with the Michael Knight charecter wasn't so much the 80's-ness of him, or even the....errr...controverisal acting of David Hassellhoff. My problem is, like tkr9 said, he's a bit prepackaged. I know that behind that party boy facade lay an intellegent and seasoned crimefighter, but the one liners, the half hearted portrayal as a ladies man, the "I work alone" attitude, etc; are things that you see in alot of lead roles, especially from that era.

Ghost

I always had a hard time buying that Michael Knight was supposed to be a loner without attatchments as the character was originally envisioned by Glen A. Larson. He never came across as a loner to me. Michael Long had a girlfriend (Stevie), and as Michael Knight the guy was a real stud. He had a different chick with him everyweek. The 1st season seemed to try and keep the original intention of the character and series in place, but by the start of the 2nd season it was replaced with the more cartoony Michael Knight and campy storylines.

In my mind, the character of Michael Knight should have been a bit more like the way Michael Biehn played Kyle Reese in the first Terminator movie. Now that was a believable loner type character without any attatchments. There could have been plenty of humour in there from KITT to lighten it up too, but I think that would have been the way to do the character of Michael Knight.

[Miked]

Somewhere, somebody once called David "the cheesiest man alive."

There's some truth in that.
But as much as David gets dissed for hanging it out there and playing the role so seriously . . . in a weird way, that is actually kind of hard to do.

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Look at it this way. . .
We've all seen the original "Star Wars" series. Look at Harrison Ford's "Solo" role. We give him credit for doing a great job in stuff like "Empire Strikes back."
But "Empire" was a great script and a great director for that genre.

What about "Jedi?"
People tend to agree that it was a weaker film than the first two, and more cheesy than Empire.

Well, Harrison Ford spent much of "Jedi" seeming bored and annoyed.
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Another example of an actor who wouldn't play cheese in earnest was Roger Moore in the "Bond" Films.
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What I'm saying is that as cheesy as he was, David Hasselhoff seemed to bring some something to KR by playing it every bit as seriously as it was written.
Not everybody can passionately yell at a dashboard all day and seem to MEAN IT all the time.
David's willingness to be cheesy really helped the kid viewer suspend their disbelief and get wrapped up in the story, whatever damage it may have done for adults.

[tkr9]

Depends on whether or not he 'played' it cheesy. Although it was one of his earliest roles, and actors do throw themselves into their earliest roles with more verve and less polish than their later ones.

I refuse to comment on his role in Baywatch. I refuse to comment on Baywatch. As a 21st Century gal I will never understand it.

[Knicks4973]

I've always liked David Hasslehoff. I'm not a very big fan of Baywatch, but I'll say this: without his success on Knight Rider, I don't think Baywatch would have lasted as long as it did.

I really can't see anyone else playing Michael Knight other than David Hasslehoff. He just seemed to fit the role so perfectly.

Without the character of Michael Knight, there would be no Knight Rider series. The series was built on one man and his car. Not just "his car." Without Michael Knight, KITT wouldn't have lived throughout the series, because he would have been destroyed early on.

[Rockatteer]

David's willingness to be cheesy really helped the kid viewer suspend their disbelief and get wrapped up in the story, whatever damage it may have done for adults

Good point....lets not forget...the show was aimed at a younger audiance. It might seem cheesy to adults...but kids love it....and even today... my youngsters wont go for even one day with out watching one of my Knight Rider tapes. They think Michael is the coolest.

[Ghost-Unmade]

Hmm. I somehow doubt that David had very much to do with Baywatch's success.

I mean, come on Jasmine Bleeth, Pam Anderson et al. in swimsuits *running* a lot (wink wink, nudge nudge). Somehow David Hasselhoff just can't compete.

BUT I'm a guy.

And I didn't even watch the show. :d

Ghost

[tkr9]

It was that I think that made Baywatch unwatchable for me. Chauvanism run rife. Besides, most women don't look anything like that, and then we're all made to feel crap because of it.

Not that I have anything to worry about. I'm gorgeous, me. *coughs*

[Ghost-Unmade]

You know what is really bad, is that alot of guys don't even want that Baywatch-ish type woman. In a way its almost as insulting to the male community when the media assumes all we want is big, well you know.

Ghost

[cloudkitt]

Thank you for the defense, Ghost, lol

[Ghost-Unmade]

anytime

[Rockatteer]

Isn’t there another side to it though?

There where more female life guards than males. These females where out there putting their lives on the line and saving lives.

Doesn’t that show them as being strong individuals and on equal footing with the men?

Not all the women where “big”.
The only thing big on Alexandra Paul is her smile.

[tkr9]

It would have done if they had been doing it to save lives, but it was just an excuse to see more women running along an improbably sunny beach in improbably flimsy swimming costumes. That's why the plots were so thin. Someone came up with the idea of cute people running along the beach and then were hard pressed to fill in the remaining parts of the episode with those pesky plot lines.

If it was about equalty why didn't any of the women look normal? Not all the men were good looking. Shouldn't the show want to show that normal women could be life savers, now THAT would be inspiring, but it wouldn't catch the male audience.

[Rockatteer]

improbably sunny beach

Hello!!!????? Wake up…. Go to any beach anywhere in the world on a summer day and it will be very sunny and very hot and have lots of people running around with skimpy bikinis and swim suits on.

If it was about equality why didn't any of the women look normal?

Alexandra Paul looked fairly normal to me. And I don’t recall saying anything about equality? I just pointed out that there’s another side to this coin.

improbably flimsy swimming costumes

The swimming costumes warn by the lifeguards, is the real costume warn by the real lifeguards in that area of California

Not all the men were good looking

Not all the women were good looking either.
Beauty is in the eye of the beholder.
I, for example, think nothing of either Pam Lee or Nicole Eggert, neither of them work for me. I’m sure there’s others on this board, however, who will disagree with me.

[aussieknight]

Not that I have anything to worry about. I'm gorgeous, me. *coughs*

OK, let's try this again....
As an amature scientist I cannot predjudice my decision, and must weigh up the evidence for myself.
Here's where to send picture proof: slidin_sidewayz@yahoo.com

[Rockatteer]