Knight Rider DVD - Season 2 Review - by Neil Epstein

In the summer of 1983, the second season of Knight Rider began filming with one familiar piece missing. Due to some behind the scenes issues the role of Bonnie, played by Patricia McPherson in season 1, disappeared. Instead we met April, a gorgeous strawberry blonde with similar skills as Bonnie. (In the third season Bonnie is explained to have gone off to do research at a university)

The second season had it's share of memorable episodes. Two two hour episodes (Goliath, Goliath returns and Mouth of the Snake) introduced us to Garthe, Wilton Knights criminal son, who we learn is the image that Michael's reconstructed face was built on. "Let it Be Me" was another part of the Stevie story arch that are held highly in the eyes of many fans as the emotional core of Knight Rider. And of course, many gadgets were added to KITT, most never seeing the light of day again once season three arrived. Call it the April factor.

Packaging:
The packaging for this season changed a little bit from its predecessor. In place of the five fold digipack, this set comprises of three ultra silm clear white cases inside one larger exterior box. The exterior is the same Red and Blue shimmering metallic surface and still covered with imagery and iconography of the series. The result of using these slimmer cases result in a smaller footprint on your shelf width wise.

Navigation:
Once again, Universal has put together a nice menu package. A video montage plays some of KITT and Michael's highlights. I still enjoy the scanner that whooshes on the screen every now and then, it is a great touch.

Each disc has a selection of three basic choices. The "Play All" feature plays all the episodes on that side in sequence, when the Goliath ends Brother's Keeper begins on the next second.

The "Episode Index" section allows you to play one episode at a time. Each episode has a brief synopsis before selection. "Languages" allows you to choose your closed caption on (english) or subtitles (spanish or french).

They have made a small improvement to the chapter navigation. For the first season, viewers wishing to not watch the credits or the teaser in the beginning would have to fast forward rather than hitting a chapter advance because doing so would put you in the middle of an episode. This is no longer the case, as there is now a break right after the opening credits, which is great.

Each episode still only has 4 chapter marks even for the two parter episodes. It seems as if they just divide each episode in 4 and that's where the chapters will be. It would be more accurate to actually have the breaks at the commercials.

Video:
As we noticed in the first season, the video quality has been greatly improved over previous Knight Rider releases. By looking at our Video Comparison the difference was clear. Thankfully, Season 2 looks great as well. Recorded almost 22 years ago it is amazing how well it has held up.

Once again you see things that you never noticed were there before, skies in Goliath have a beautiful tint to them that were lost since the original airings. This is not to say however that there aren't blemishes. There are occasional dust scratches, and some darker scenes can look grainy, but this is more a side effect of the Film stock that was used and time, rather than a poor transfer from Universal

Audio:
Originally recorded in mono sound, these episodes contain all original audio as no mixing to stereo takes place. The result is flat, but clean and sharp as it is much crisper due to the formats native technologies. Don Peake's score remains as critical to the series as a turbo boost.

One fear within the community was not Peake's score, but rather the songs that were included in these episodes. Another Universal series had several songs replaced, including one important one, because of clearance issues. This is due to the fact that when these series were originally recorded rights were not secured for home video since it was not the financial machine it has since become. Series like Miami Vice were held up from a release due to its excessive use of popular music which helped define the series. Fortunately the majority of the music in Knight Rider was original score composed by Don Peake, and when Knight Rider did use popular songs of the time, they were very often covers and not recorded by the original artists. This made it easier for Universal to secure the licenses again because they didn't need to pay for the fees attached to the original, and often famous, artist. The team at Universal did such a great job with clearances that you'd be hard pressed to find the changed song with out someone telling you. Yes, there is exactly one song changed. In fact the song they changed was inconsequential to the story it was in that it isn't worth mentioning where it is, it makes no difference to the story. It's not like they removed "White Bird" from Let it Be Me.

Extras:
Unfortunately, Universal skimped on this feature. Nothing except the 30 second teasers, which some consider a bonus, are included with this set. If other series DVD sets are any indication, the future sets will be void of extras as well. This is a shame, considering the amount of material (such as bloopers which fetch over $50 dollars on eBay alone) that is still available, not to mention the various changes in front of the camera and behind that have stories of their own to tell. (if you are reading this Universal, send us an email: we'd love to point you in the right direction in order to stop the eBay robberies). Also the zooming the picture into KITT driving into the dessert at the commercial breaks are intact.

Final Thoughts:
Just 8 short months since Season 1 was released, Universal comes through with Season 2. While this disc does lack some of the features one begins to expect with a DVD release, there is no point in denying this collections value. With 21 episodes of classic Knight Rider action for under 40 bucks, you will be rewarded with the best quality available of this season anywhere. And, with Season 3 rumored to being available in time for the holiday shopping season: it will be surprisingly soon till we are all content with every episode legally available at our finger tips.

Available April 12th from:

Amazon

Barnes & Noble

Buy.com

and Other DVD stores near you!