Happy Birthday, Patricia McPherson!

Many Happy Returns to Patricia McPherson, the one and only Bonnie Barstow, who celebrates her birthday today! Knight Rider fans the world over will join the Knight Rider Archive in wishing her a great day!

Knight Rider trivia buffs will know that it was actually Bonnie's birthday three days ago (November 24th). Both character and actress share the same birthstone: Topaz. That's a kind of Topaz Connection.

On This Day: 3rd February, 1985

Today sees the anniversary of another classic Original Series show, Junk Yard Dog.

A raid on a toxic waste dump goes terribly wrong when K.I.T.T. is destroyed. In an attempt to rebuild the supercar, the Foundation must call in the original team assembled by Wilton Knight, but there are fears that the car will never be the same again...

On This Day: 14th January, 1983

26 years ago today was the original airdate of a pivotal episode of Knight Rider: The Original Series, and Knight Rider mythology. Hearts of Stone was the first show of the 1982-83 season's "back nine" block of episodes, and the first that was written and produced by Robert Foster.

It's not the most popular of all the shows, but it remains one of the most important. Foster's approach to the material was vastly different to the earlier episodes; there was still humour, but the overall tone was less light-hearted. Suddenly, Michael Knight found himself in situations where he was really threatened, and faced fights that he might not be able to win -- whether it's driving into the middle of a hi-tech gang war or being roughed-up by arms dealers.

The show that Foster inherited was on shaky ground. The show was actually on the verge of cancellation until the extremely popular November '82 episode Trust Doesn't Rust. It was Foster's approach that saw the show successfully ride out three more seasons on NBC.

It's a situation that is being repeated for the most part right now. The current Knight Rider production team dared to try something different for a new audience; some of it worked, a lot of it didn't. And now that we are entering the business-end of the season -- that will see the series either cancelled or renewed -- Knight Rider is finally returning to its original premise: a lone crusader championing the cause of the innocent, the helpless, the powerless, in a world of criminals who operate above the law.

On This Day: 10th January, 1986

23 years ago we had one of the last great Knight Rider: Original Series episodes. Killer K.I.T.T. pitted Michael Knight and the F.L.A.G. team against K.I.T.T., who has been re-programmed and, in true Exorcist-style, has become evil.

Happy Birthday, Patricia McPherson!

Many Happy Returns to Patricia McPherson, the one and only Bonnie Barstow, who celebrates her birthday today! Knight Rider fans the world over will join the Knight Rider Archive in wishing her a great day!

Knight Rider trivia buffs will know that it was actually Bonnie's birthday three days ago (November 24th). Both character and actress share the same birthstone: Topaz. That's a kind of Topaz Connection.

On This Day: 30th September, 1984

24 years ago today saw the premiere of the third season, the return of Patricia McPherson as Bonnie Barstow, and a new dashboard for K.I.T.T. The episode was Knight of the Drones, and it saw Michael and K.I.T.T. hunt down a killer who escaped from jail in a car that seemed to drive itself. It was filmed on location in San Francisco, and features an extended chase sequence inspired by the movie Bullitt. The guest cast featured Jared Martin, Barbara Stock, Jim Brown, Evan Kim and The Barbarian Brothers.