I’m dealing with a particularly pernicious ear worm just now.
It all started out of idle curiosity.
In the pilot episode of Knight Rider, was the pre-facelift Michael Long played by David Hasselhoff or another actor?
I was about 90% certain it was another actor, but memory is malleable and this is an important question. I had to know for sure.
Since nuking it from orbit wasn’t an option, I hopped onto the nearest local streaming service and found the pilot.
A two parter, and everyone knows how bad 80s television was. Would I be willing to endure nearly two hours of Vogon poetry-esque viewing in order to get my answer?
Clearly, no. Thankfully, to answer my question I would only need to watch the first couple of minutes.
Ahem.
I can confirm now that Michael Long/Michael Knight was played by a different actor for the pre-plastic surgery bits, one Larry (not Harry or Gerry!) Anderson.
(And the irony of using IMDB to look up his name for this post, and not thinking to do that earlier instead of actually watching, is not lost on me.)
I wonder if that actor was hoping for the series lead role, and if he was bummed to only get this entirely forgettable bit part instead. Is he at home now, in a fluffy recliner, watching YouTube footage of David Hasselhoff singing on the Berlin Wall, thinking bitterly, “That could have been me!”?
I like to think so. I mean, his career includes such post-Knight Rider highlights as “BMW Businessman” and “Tarlack Officer” in Star Trek:Insurrection.
On second thought, a glance at IMDB suggests he’s worked a lot more than The Hoff. Maybe it’s David sitting in the fluffy recliner, staring at the TV and shouting at Larry in that one episode of Castle.
(Let me just say, I have a newfound love of IMDB.)
Anyway, where was I?
Oh yeah, pernicious ear worm.
I’ve got the theme to Knight Rider stuck in my head. Duh da duh da duh da duh da daaa duh duuuh duh doo doo doo doo doooo doo ARGH!
That, plus after quitting about 30 minutes into the pilot, I realized that Knight Rider is the start of the end times. KITT is a precursor to, not self-driving cars, but the Cylons that will nearly wipe us out in the not so unforeseeable future.
Judge for yourselves:
 Ya think KITT had Intel Inside? |
 Definitely Intel Inside |
Mask hiding AMD Inside? |
I guess we should start replying to every Elon Musk tweet with, “As you wish.” *
* NOTE: Thanks to the thoughtful comment below, I have corrected an error in this post. I originally misquoted the Cylon catch phrase and said: I guess we should start replying to every Elon Musk tweet with, “As you command.” I apologize for the error and constructive criticism is always welcome.
ian m dudley 