26 years ago: Half Hour Knight Rider syndicated

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26 years ago: Half Hour Knight Rider syndicated

Post by Michael Pajaro » Fri Mar 02, 2012 7:47 pm

When Knight Rider went into syndication, MCA TV offered a 30-minute version of the show to local TV stations in addition to the full hour-long episodes. This ad appeared in Variety March 5, 1986.
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half-hour.jpg (144.98 KiB) Viewed 21432 times
I never saw a 30-minute episode. Has anyone else?
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Re: 26 years ago: Half Hour Knight Rider syndicated

Post by Knight Racer » Fri Mar 02, 2012 10:59 pm

I never have but a few years ago I remember someone posting about half hour episodes as if someone was going to cut them even shorter to broadcast them on a television network.I was used to the 45 minute episodes i taped on cable.I must have watched each episode 20 times until the tapes wore out but when I got the series on dvd and a few extra minutes of my favorite show came out it was like the show aired new episodes.I'd hate to think what was chopped up and left to make an episode.

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Re: 26 years ago: Half Hour Knight Rider syndicated

Post by Joe Huth » Sat Mar 03, 2012 6:35 am

It's funny, because even though I was a little tyke at the time, I specifically remember watching a half hour version of "Diamonds Aren't a Girl's Best Friend" on WWOR out of New Jersey. They seemed to play KR many hours a day - some were 30 min, some were the full hour. All I remember is that the entire sub-plot with Mabel and her dog was removed. At the time, I had it on tape...but no longer.

Thanks for spurring that memory!

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Re: 26 years ago: Half Hour Knight Rider syndicated

Post by Skav » Sat Mar 03, 2012 10:06 am

I've seen all the syndicated 30 minute episodes and they are nothing like their full counterparts!
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Re: 26 years ago: Half Hour Knight Rider syndicated

Post by DarylKnight » Sat Mar 03, 2012 11:19 am

YES!!!! I totally remember this! I was a Long Islander as a kid, and I also watched Knight Rider reruns on WWOR. Knight Rider was definitely a big syndicate for that channel as they used to run 2 episodes every Saturday from 3 - 5 pm. Every Sunday at 11 am, following "Steampipe Alley", and at one point, a few Friday nights from 9 - 11 pm. Yeah, it was definitely big for them.

WWOR was also, at the time, the home channel of the New York Mets. During Baseball season, particularly spring training, they would use the half hour Knight Rider to cover the lapse of programming whenever a game ran over. The episode I had always seen in this case was S3's "The Ice Bandits". This episode was paired with several Mets postgames. I don't quite remember how the episode was cut, but even as kid, I knew it was butchered. Haha, fantastic memories! :kitt2:

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Re: 26 years ago: Half Hour Knight Rider syndicated

Post by neps » Sat Mar 03, 2012 12:03 pm

Fellow life long member of the tri-state here - WWOR regular! DarylKnight you are exactly right! Watched many of those gamed with my dad and often Knight Rider straight after.

An old retro commercial for the 3-5pm runs: http://www.retrojunk.com/details_commercial/5602/" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

WWOR also aired Team Knight Rider and the other Action Pack shows of the day.

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Re: 26 years ago: Half Hour Knight Rider syndicated

Post by DarylKnight » Sat Mar 03, 2012 12:16 pm

OMG Neps!!!! Thanks for that! Sooooo Many memories with seeing the old "9" for WWOR! I used to watch Airwolf from 1 - 3 before KR would come on. Only when the Mets weren't covered, of course! Wow, seeing commercial was just awesome. I used to look forward to those Saturdays all week long, just to watch Knight Rider reruns. So great.

I also remember when the Line up changed a bit, and Knight Rider stayed intact, and Baywatch hit the scene, I think at 5 pm. I remember them touting the hours of Hasselhoff or something to that effect.

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Re: 26 years ago: Half Hour Knight Rider syndicated

Post by Knight Racer » Sat Mar 03, 2012 2:19 pm

Speaking of Channel 9,I remember knight rider being on that channel too with WWORTV it was knight rider then A-team.I loved both shows but kr more.I remember one saturday there were 2 kr episodes back to back.Loved that more.
Last edited by Knight Racer on Sat Mar 03, 2012 4:14 pm, edited 1 time in total.

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Re: 26 years ago: Half Hour Knight Rider syndicated

Post by Joe Huth » Sat Mar 03, 2012 3:22 pm

I have two videos that I recorded back on WWOR that I will upload soon...you guys who remember the station will love it :)

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Re: 26 years ago: Half Hour Knight Rider syndicated

Post by Joe Huth » Sun Mar 04, 2012 12:25 pm

Not to hijack the thread and change it into a discussion about WWOR...but...

I have such fond memories of WWOR and really, if it weren't for that station showing the re-runs to me when I was a wide eyed kid, who knows if I would have the passion for it that I do today.

Anyways, for those of you who remember WWOR airings of KR as fondly as me, you'll appreciate this...

I managed to save this video all of these years and finally transferred it to digital. It's the end credits of the show "Baretta" with the announcer saying to stay tuned for Knight Rider next. You guys will remember his voice. The first second is cut off, but it's amazing it survived at all!

http://youtu.be/HvYn3g9h4iM

And second is this...when I think of KR on WWOR, I always remember the giant logo that appeared on screen after commercial breaks. Luckily, I saved one example of that, too:

Image

Happy reminiscing!

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Re: 26 years ago: Half Hour Knight Rider syndicated

Post by Knight Racer » Sun Mar 04, 2012 2:54 pm

loved it but do you remember a commercial with david saying give me everything you've got probably from knight strike season 3.that pic is probably from forget me not both gues starring that playboy nlond minx.

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Re: 26 years ago: Half Hour Knight Rider syndicated

Post by DarylKnight » Sun Mar 04, 2012 5:32 pm

JOE!! No worries about the thread hijack, I too have fond memories of WWOR. Thank you so much! I totally remember Knight Rider following Beretta! As a kid the, that "hotel" on the credits is so easy to remember with Knight Rider being described. Wow. I LOVE the screen cap. The giant 9 with KNIGHT RIDER following behind it, so many memories. I used to live for those weekends to hear those words "Knight Rider is next, on channel 9"

I definitely loved Knight Rider heavily after it's NBC demise, and I remember without any prior knowledge, getting "lucky" one Sunday morning at 11 am. The first episode I stumbled on too was "A Plush Ride" and, I was only 6 or 7, so that was the first time I had seen the "Block" modulator for KITT's dash. I like to believe I would have been a die hard KR fan anyways, but no doubts, that WWOR 9 was a huge assist in that department as they got that show pretty fresh on it's debut to rerun syndication.

Channel 9 is also SOLELY responsible for my affections of Airwolf as it became channel 9's 1 - 3 pm Saturday slot, before KR took the reigns on that now legendary 3 - 5 spot. This thread has turned into a fantastic trip down memory lane!

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Re: 26 years ago: Half Hour Knight Rider syndicated

Post by Knight Racer » Sun Mar 04, 2012 10:47 pm

I was born on april 10,1982 so I know I have some memories of the original kr then it was channel 9 and I remember being slightly confused on the channel change to 9.I also remember watching a good day at white rock on a Friday night for some reason.Man i felt that i couldn't narrow down when my favorite tv show was on as not to miss a single minute.Mostly I remember the block of airwolf,knight rider,and a-team being my saturday favorites.

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Re: 26 years ago: Half Hour Knight Rider syndicated

Post by nee716 » Mon Mar 05, 2012 1:40 am

I also remember when they had Knight Rider on WWOR after Steam Pipe Alley here in brooklyn, NY

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Re: 26 years ago: Half Hour Knight Rider syndicated

Post by Joe Huth » Thu Mar 08, 2012 2:11 pm

To add to this some more, I dug through my archives to find some other MCA Knight Rider ads....enjoy!

Image

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Image

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Image

Image

Image

Image

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Re: 26 years ago: Half Hour Knight Rider syndicated

Post by DarylKnight » Thu Mar 08, 2012 5:12 pm

Wow, just read up on those stats. Knight Rider was an absolute BEAST in it's syndicate run! It really is a wonder how by like, 1989 or 90, NBC didn't pool it's resources to get the real KITT back on the road. Much like 'Family Guys' post run resurrection. NBC really missed the boat even when it HAD the original Knight Rider. Just awesome to see all these.

As I said earlier, WWOR really ran the snot out of Knight Rider, it did seem, any spot they could give it, they usually would! Once my family moved to Rochester, NY, we still had WWOR in our cable. I remember KR hanging in there til about '93 or so. Fall of 1994 was definitely when the USA Network made a run with it in the daily 4pm spot.

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Re: 26 years ago: Half Hour Knight Rider syndicated

Post by Knight Racer » Thu Mar 08, 2012 5:46 pm

I think I was 13 when I saw my last episode of KR on WWORTV Channel 9.I was born in 82 so I think it was 1995 when they showed it last in Brooklyn,NY.In 97 I think I finally learned how to use a pc for high school projects.Went to the Library and after being paired with a classmate at a library,I finally learned to use the internet.I went to the library every Friday from then on spending aout an hour reasearching kr.Didn't know until then that the guy in the pilot always shown in the dark was Michael Knight before he was given a new face.

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Re: 26 years ago: Half Hour Knight Rider syndicated

Post by DarylKnight » Fri Mar 09, 2012 2:09 pm

I was born in 81. So I was juuuust old enough to catch the end of the series' regular run, and be head over heels in love with it. Like I said earlier, when channel 9 started showing, I had never seen the earlier "block" voice modulator on KITT, nor did I remember his Season 1 plane like Turbine sounds.

Up here, by 96 or so, we lost WWOR altogether, and Animal Planet took it's place in the cable line up. That was a sad sad day. Right before we lost it, I remember watching Airwolf regularly at 7pm every night, but KR was gone at that point, except on the USA network.

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Re: 26 years ago: Half Hour Knight Rider syndicated

Post by 2nddaniel2011 » Tue Mar 20, 2012 6:45 pm

I remember half hour knight rider being shown here in the UK too, it was on Granada (regional tv station) and I think they showed 6 episodes before Season 4 showed. The only half hour episode I can clearly remember is the one where devon is in jail, and plans an escape. (I know i could go and get the book out and find the episode name, but i can't be bothered getting up). As far as i can remember all the talking bits were cut, mostly driving/ moving/ action. and it did appear badly chopped, even at my age of 12ish.

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Re: 26 years ago: Half Hour Knight Rider syndicated

Post by Knight Racer » Tue Mar 20, 2012 7:24 pm

No Big Thing Season one.I loved the scene Where Michael was driving kitt backwards.

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