Bonnie's looks not great enough for Michael's love interest

[Knight Racer]

Anyone here read the knight rider legacy page that said Patricia wanted a role of Michael's love interest in season 2 but they denied her it because she wasn't pretty enough.Well when she came back I thought she was gorgeous.Look at her in sky knight and try not to drewl over her good looks.I know David wanted to stand up for her but back then actors never had the leverage that they might have now.

[Michael Pajaro]

I think you're over-simplifying things by phrasing it like that. It wasn't an issue that McPherson wasn't "pretty" enough. As Executive Producer Robert Foster said in a TV Guide article in '86, "We wanted to try something different, something glitzy". I think it is fair to say that red-headed Rebecca Holden was "glitzier" than Patricia McPherson, but that doesn't mean she was prettier. McPherson's beauty was (is) more sophisticated. The producers steered away from that, realized they made a mistake, and went back.

Think of it this way: If Patricia wasn't pretty enough to play Michael's love interest, but Rebecca was, then why wasn't there any romance between Michael and April in season 2?

[Knight Racer]

I figured they didn't go that route with Rebecca because with Patricia she wanted it or she would walk.Rebecca was just someone they used instead of her.I could be wrong but it does make sense.

[knightshade]

I always assumed that they just didn't want to go the route of having a serious relationship for Michael. It would have changed the focus of the show if either Bonnie or April became Michael's girlfriend. Even with Stevie, they always ended with her out of Michael's life. Knight Rider was a formula action/adventure show -- I don't think they wanted to deal with a serious relationship.

Although, considering that the vast majority of the fan favorite episodes dealt with slightly more serious relationships (be they romantic, or in the case of Michael and Kitt friendship/partnership), that might have been a mistake on the part of the producers. A little bit more character developement might have led to better ratings.

[Lost Knight]

I agree that character development (i.e. a romance between Bonnie/April and Michael) would have led to better ratings. But I also feel that they wanted to steer away from this so that Michael could always meet his "bimbo of the week." He was on the road a lot and traveling through many towns at a time. That would put the writers in a position to either have Michael meet these women while having a relationship back home, or telling these different women that he was taken in each episode. Considering that the producers obviously wanted to paint the character of Michael Knight as a good-looking ladies man, that angle would work best if he was a bachelor, in my opinion.

As for the relationship with Stevie, this was a previous relationship that Michael had before his adventures began with K.I.T.T. If Michael were able to continue his relationship with Stevie at the end of "White Bird" or "Let It Be Me," that would have also steered the show in a different direction. Of course, as we all know by the time "The Scent Of Roses" aired, Michael was ready to give up his life to finally settle down when Stevie was ultimately killed. It seems that the character of Michael Knight lives in a world too dangerous to maintain a serious relationship even if he wanted to.

[FuzzieDice]

I thought it was becuase of the "one loner" theme (which they had in the voiceover at the start of some of the earlier episodes). Meaning, he was always ultimately alone. "One man can make a difference." Meaning one man, alone, without a woman by his side. Just a machine, the car. Actually, I read that originally the show was to focus mostly on KITT, the car as the center of the show.

I would have probably liked it if KITT grew 'fond' of some of the ladies on their mission or at least Bonnie, in a way that he's close emotionally with them in some computerized form, as if to establish he's more sentient than they had originally realized (maybe could have wrote this in the later seasons). Give it a new twist, something different. But I did like the car/driver protectiveness relationship though, nonetheless. Car enthusiasts like myself can pick up on that and appreciate that.

I also liked some of the humor that was between Michael and KITT regarding Michael's escapades with the ladies. And every time I hear KITT say "I've heard that one before." I just have to laugh.

[knightridergundam]

Think of it this way: If Patricia wasn't pretty enough to play Michael's love interest, but Rebecca was, then why wasn't there any romance between Michael and April in season 2?

Good point....

[MIKEMAC]

I thought Patricia was fired for pushing for a love interest, then re-hired in season 3 cause everyone didn't like April over Bonnie?

[Lyn]

What do looks have to do anything with whether or not Bonnie would've made for a good love interest for Michael or not?
Hey, a love story between Michael and Bonnie could've worked with the right script down the line.....
Either that, or a special episode kind of thing.
Just some thoughts from me.