On Feb. 17, fans of David Hasselhoff, talking cars and all things '80s will have a chance to relive one of the iconic TV shows of the Reagan era when NBC airs a new, two-hour "Knight Rider" TV movie.
"Knight Rider" starred Hasselhoff, but the real star of the show was KITT (Knight Industries Two Thousand) the talking Pontiac Trans Am with artificial intelligence. But KITT hasn't been the only automobile to steal the spotlight from the human stars of TV shows. Here is a list of some of the most memorable TV cars of all time.
10. The Beverly Hillbillies' Truck
Who could ever forget the image on "The Beverly Hillbillies" as Jed and the Clampett clan rolled into Beverly Hills on the back of a 1920's flatbed truck?
9. Starsky's 1975 Ford Gran Torino From "Starsky and Hutch"
Starsky drove the tomato-red Gran Torino with the white stripe while Hutch rode shotgun. After the first season, the car was updated to the 1976 version, which was actually the last year that Ford produced the Gran Torino despite the show's popularity.
8. The Batmobile From "Batman"
Very few things stay cool for more than four decades. But with "Batman: The Dark Knight" set to hit theaters in 2008, it seems Batman's coolness will live on for decades to come. One reason has to be because of The Batmobile, which made its first live-action appearance in the 1960s "Batman" show on ABC.
"The Batmobile defined a superhero: sleek, dark and really, really equipped," said Minneapolis Star Tribune TV critic Neal Justin via e-mail. "I'd say the design is right up there with Frank Gehry and Frank Lloyd Wright's best work."
The Batmobile paved the way for TV cars to be characters themselves, but never outshined the star characters of Batman, Robin and the colorful assortment of villians they battled each week.
7. The 1983 GMC G-Series Van From "The A-Team"
There was a lot that didn't make sense about "The A-Team." The show's opening credits said that if you have a problem, contact the A-Team. Well, if the A-Team was hiding "underground" in Los Angeles, then how was someone supposed to contact them?
Maybe they could by simply spotting their iconic and easily-identifiable 1983 GMC van with the unique red and black paint job.
6. Thomas Magnum's Ferrari 308 GTS From "Magnum, P.I."
TV shows in the '80s were big, flashy and knew how to reel in viewers with iconic imagery that was easily identified with the show. Tom Selleck's Hawaiian shirts, Detroit Tigers baseball caps, mustache, and his red Ferrari 308 GTS were all a part of the show's opening credits, and it is hard to hear the words "Magnum, P.I." without an image of the red Ferrari jumping into your head.
5. The Flintmobile From "The Flinstones"
It was made entirely of rock and stone, had no engine, and had to be pushed by foot power. Was there a more environmentally friendly car in the history of television than the Flintmobile? Part of what made the car so memorable was that at the end of each episode, the Flintmobile flipped onto its side when a waitress at a drive-in restaurant placed a huge rack of ribs on the side of the car.
4. The Vista Cruiser From "That 70's Show"
Every episode of "That 70's Show" for the first seven seasons opened up with shots of the main characters cruising around in the Forman family's 1969 Oldsmobile Vista Cruiser and singing out the show's theme song.
The car was an important part of the show from the get-go, as the pilot episode revolved around Eric's parents giving him the Vista Cruiser. Eric, defying his father's orders, takes his friends out of town for a Todd Rundgren concert. On the way, the battery dies, and they must sell two of the tickets to pay for a new battery.
3. The Car From "My Mother the Car"
Not everything is memorable for a good reason. "My Mother the Car," which ran on NBC in 1966 for one season, is widely remembered as one of the worst shows in the history of television, with TV Guide naming it in 2002 the second-worst show of all time, right behind "Jerry Springer." The show was based on the preposterous concept of Jerry Van Dyke's dead mother being trapped inside his 1928 Porter automobile. His mother talked to him through the car's radio, which only he could hear, of course.
"The Simpsons" famously parodied the show in its 1997 episode "The Simpsons Spin-Off Showcase" in which Homer's dead father is reanimated inside a love tester machine. James L. Brooks, executive producer of "The Simpsons," wrote several episodes for "My Mother the Car."
2. The 1982 Pontiac Firebird From "Knight Rider"
It seemed that "My Mother the Car" would have forever killed off the idea of a show being based around a talking, thinking car. But long before he was singing on top of the Berlin Wall, running down a beach with Pamela Anderson and eating cheeseburgers off the floor in a drunken stupor, Hasselhof fought crime and evil-doers and helped make "Knight Rider" a hit for NBC along with KITT.
1. The General Lee From "The Dukes of Hazzard"
It took a little while to figure out, but every episode of "The Dukes of Hazzard" was pretty much the same: The Dukes get in trouble with Boss Hogg, are chased around the back roads of Hazzard County by Hogg's deputies in their 1969 Dodge Charger, Daisy Duke prances around in short shorts, and everything works out in the end. The show proved that you don't need plot, character development or depth to have a hit show, just a sweet car and lots of shots of girls in short shorts.
"I've never paid much notice to vehicles, but you couldn't help it on 'Dukes of Hazzard' and the way the car would always find some sort of natural or unnatural ramp that allowed them to reach the sky and get over some creek. Just good ol' luck, I guess!" said Justin. "Being young at the time, it took me at least a season to realize that every episode was exactly the same and that the General Lee was the most dynamic character on the show -- at least until I was old enough to fully appreciate the talent of the Daisy short-shorts. At that point, the car might as well have been a Saturn."
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