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Help Wanted: Knight Rider restoration

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Hi everyone

I’ve recently been working on a project to restore the Blu-Ray Knight Rider episodes to their original broadcast versions.

Generally the Blu-Rays are accurate to the broadcast, but there were some differences.

Minor ones first:

  1. “Give Me Liberty…Or Give Me Death” 1 music track swapped out
  2. “White Line Warriors” 2 music tracks swapped out, one of which is used mutliple times.
  3. “Dead of Knight” 1 music track swapped out.

I have the previous UK DVD releases plus some homemade recordings from early 2000s which I have used to successfully restore all of the above.

Next one is interesting…

“Knight of the Drones” was releases as the syndicated 2 parter in the US. Luckily the UK set has the movie version. However, this and every version I’ve found has the normal season 3 intro. The original broadcast had a hybrid season 2/3 intro to avoid showing KITTs new dash. I have restored this completely other than 1 clip which lasts about 0.5 seconds which I can’t source anywhere. I’ve used a similar one in it’s place so to all intents and purposes I consider this one now done.

So…

This is the bit where I need some help!

2 remaining parts of the project.

  1. Restoring the original stereo soundtracks to season 4. Every home DVD release with the odd episode exception, has only been released with mono sound. I have successfully tracked down stereo sources for all season 4 episodes, apart from “Knight of the Juggernaut” and “Burial Ground”. Rumours are that maybe iTunes or Netflix US could be possible sources for these. If anyone can be of help with this please get in touch with me.

Secondly, I have read from a reputable source that the latter part of season 2 had a slightly different opening sequence. If anyone can confirm this, and better still, provide me with a copy of it (even if its just a phone recording pointing at a screen), it would be of huge help.

If anyone has any questions about the project feel free to ask and I’ll do mt best to respond

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I should also add, that although I’m a great fan of the show, I don’t have a perfect recollection of all episodes. There may be further cuts that I am unaware of.
If anyone out there is aware of more, or a list of them online, please let me know.

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OK, I’ve been helped out by a fellow fan who has identified the subtley different intros used for season 2 (the difference is VERY subtle!). The Blu-Ray release is accurate in this respect so no work required.

I am however still on the lookout (or should that be listen out?!) for the 2 stereo episodes listed above. If anyone can assist with this please let me know.

Also any edits to the BluRays that I haven’t listed.

Thanks

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Knight Rider was airing on Cozi Tv. Can’t find it on their schedule for this month though.

Forum Moderator

Where were you in '77?

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That’s interesting. Unfortunately I don’t think I can access this from the UK. I will however check the schedules now and again, and if it reappears, hopefully I can find someone to check them out

SilverWook said:

Knight Rider was airing on Cozi Tv. Can’t find it on their schedule for this month though.

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One of the episodes from season 2 or 3 is missing footage is it still missing on the blu ray? In other words are these the syndicated cuts?

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sithmastersidious said:

One of the episodes from season 2 or 3 is missing footage is it still missing on the blu ray? In other words are these the syndicated cuts?

Are you able to be a bit more precise? The opening feature length episode of season 3 (Knight of the Drones) is presented in 2 parts on the US Blu-ray set, and is therefore missing some scenes. Is that what you are referring to? The UK set had all the feature length episodes presented in 2 parts, but the distributor exchanged the discs for anyone who sent them off for replacement.
Therefore the UK version is complete, apart from the opening credits used, which I have reconstructed and shared on a well known organ site 😃

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Ok, So is the Fabulous UK BD set edited as well? I couldn’t tell from reading all this. When you mention the “blu ray set” is that the UK or US release you’re working with?

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Fair question. It’s not clear from my posts!
Yes I’m working from the UK set.
The UK set was originally released with syndicated 2 partners, but you can send the affected discs away and they will send you the movie length versions in exchange.
The UK episodes all have the pre credits teasers. I believe the US set was missing them on some episodes.
The music edits are I believe present on both US and UK sets. Episode titles listed above.
Both releases have mono soundtracks for season 4,when they were originally recorded in stereo.
There is another issue with the UK sets due to a mastering error in the colorspace settings. This can be overcome with settings on some TVs or by a conversion process on PC.

Let me know if anything is still unclear 😃

Nick

crampedmisfit1990 said:

Ok, So is the Fabulous UK BD set edited as well? I couldn’t tell from reading all this. When you mention the “blu ray set” is that the UK or US release you’re working with?

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Thanx for the info. I basically understood it all except a few details. I just bought the A-Team complete series on Blu-ray from the UK and am sad to report it also has a few edits. Not many, but enough to need restoration as well. Otherwise, the episodes look fantastic!

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Yes I have the A-team set too, and agree the picture is great. I knew that some of the episodes are missing the pre credits teasers, but are there other cuts as well? I am happy to attempt a restoration at some point but would need to know what the affected parts are as I’m not as familiar with the series as I am with Knight Rider.
I was planning to wait and see if any future releases had the pre credits teasers included as it would be quite a time consuming task to reinsert them in HD. There is a re-release planned in the UK at some point featuring some commentary tracks, but no idea when or if there will be other differences to the current version.
Surely it must be due out in the US at some point?!

crampedmisfit1990 said:

Thanx for the info. I basically understood it all except a few details. I just bought the A-Team complete series on Blu-ray from the UK and am sad to report it also has a few edits. Not many, but enough to need restoration as well. Otherwise, the episodes look fantastic!

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I was researching edits to the A-TEAM series and a user named jeremy223 compiled a list of the changes as follows:

SEASON 1
Mexican Slayride: “Jumpin’ Jack Flash” has been replaced with new music and footage of Murdock singing along has been cut. Columbia House VHS has this scene intact.
The Columbia House DVD spanish soundtrack plays “Jumpin’ Jack Flash”, but the scene with Murdock singing along is still missing.

A Small and Deadly War: A scene with Murdock singing “Satisfaction” has been cut. Columbia House VHS, Itunes, VUDU, and Google Play have this scene intact.

SEASON 2
When You Comin’ Back , Range Rider?: Part of Hannibal’s dialog is cut. In the line “Now you tell Mr. Carter he’s out of the rustling business.” all words are missing except rustling business. This scene is intact on Netflix.

SEASON 3
Cup A’ Joe: The song “Cheeseburger in Paradise” has been removed.
Beverly Hills Assault: The songs “The Heat is On” and “Dedicated Follower of Fashion” have been replaced with new music. “The Heat is On” can be found intact on VUDU and Google Play.

SEASON 4
Teasers are missing from several episodes. The missing teasers can be found on Netflix and Amazon digital downloads.

SEASON 5
No changes that I know of.

Keep in mind that this was compiled before the Blu-ray release and some may be fixed, but I checked the pilot and it still has Murdock singing cut out with replacement music instead of “Jumpin’ Jack Flash” as intended. I believe most of these are still edited even on the Blu-ray.

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That’s a good list to be getting on with. I’d like to think I’ll get around to a restoration project for The A-team in the future,but like I said before, I’m waiting to see what any future releases might correct first. In whatever case, the Blu-ray will be the Base I start from.
When the time comes I’ll probably create a new thread, as I may need help in obtaining sources for the edited scenes.

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Ok great. I will help as much as I can when you are ready. A-Team is in my top favorite tv shows and I hope one day we can see them all uncut and original. 👍 The cut Murdock scene on the pilot is definitely the most important fix we need. I believe that is the only missing scene on the blu ray set. The music fixes is important as well, but I’d want the missing scene fixed first.

PS: Thanx for all your hard work on Knight Rider, that is also a favorite of mine.

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Glad you like the Knight Rider fixes. I feel I’m so close to a complete definitive collection. Just need to try and try down the elusive stereo soundtracks to “Knight of the Juggernaut” and “Burial Ground”.

Regarding the A-team, although I’m not in a position to tackle the whole thing at the moment, I could sort out the pilot, but would need a good copy of the missing scene from somewhere. I can see from above it was released on VHS a while back, but has it been on any of the DVDs? Country of origin wouldn’t matter, or even the language. Sound tends to be a lot easier to patch than visuals,so getting a good visual source would be the first hurdle.
They are showing the A-team in the UK at the moment, but the channel quality is not great (no HD and heavy compression) but I will see what version of the pilot they show, if they start from the beginning again after the current run finishes (they’re on season 5 at the moment and it’s on 5 days a week).

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Baobab Archiver said:

Glad you like the Knight Rider fixes. I feel I’m so close to a complete definitive collection. Just need to try and try down the elusive stereo soundtracks to “Knight of the Juggernaut” and “Burial Ground”.

Regarding the A-team, although I’m not in a position to tackle the whole thing at the moment, I could sort out the pilot, but would need a good copy of the missing scene from somewhere. I can see from above it was released on VHS a while back, but has it been on any of the DVDs? Country of origin wouldn’t matter, or even the language. Sound tends to be a lot easier to patch than visuals,so getting a good visual source would be the first hurdle.
They are showing the A-team in the UK at the moment, but the channel quality is not great (no HD and heavy compression) but I will see what version of the pilot they show, if they start from the beginning again after the current run finishes (they’re on season 5 at the moment and it’s on 5 days a week).

I am not 100% sure if the missing scene in the A-Team pilot has ever been released on DVD. I will try to find that out by researching releases. I’ve only owned the US Season 1 set that had the pilot and it was cut. It would be nice to have a good looking source, better than VHS anyway… but could prove hard to find. I am going to see what I can do and find out. I am going to look all DVD releases and digital versions up to find out if we can get a matching quality (or pretty close) source. I’ll write back asap.

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Thanks. I might start a new thread now and copy this content across. Might help to engage any other forum members who wouldn’t think to look for the A-team in a Knight Rider thread!

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Knight Rider is currently airing on Forces TV and Spike also looks set to air it imminently.

It’s not in HD but still might be worth checking out in case they’re using the sources you need.

“Logic is the battlefield of adulthood.”

  • Howard Berk
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JayArgonaut said:

Knight Rider is currently airing on Forces TV and Spike also looks set to air it imminently.

It’s not in HD but still might be worth checking out in case they’re using the sources you need.

Yes thanks for that. I was aware it was on forces TV but not that it might be on Spike too. Forces TV are showing 2 episodes a week so it’ll be a while (if ever) until we get to season 4!

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Forces TV today reached the first KR that was cut on Blu-Ray. Unfortunately the broadcast was also cut.,making it likely that the episodes in Season 4 will be recently struck from the masters and therefore lacking the stereo sound.
We’ll wait and see I guess.

There is of course a chance that the stereo soundtracks simply don’t exist any more 😞

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Have you checked the Spike transmissions? 😃

They’re showing the first season daily and S1 EP3 is set to air at 11:45 this morning.

“Logic is the battlefield of adulthood.”

  • Howard Berk
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JayArgonaut said:

Have you checked the Spike transmissions? 😃

They’re showing the first season daily and S1 EP3 is set to air at 11:45 this morning.

I’ve got them recording, yes ☺️
However I think it’s more than likely they are using copies from the same source as both channels are under the same umbrella company (at least that’s my understanding anyway).

Thanks for the idea though!

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Baobab Archiver said:

However I think it’s more than likely they are using copies from the same source as both channels are under the same umbrella company (at least that’s my understanding anyway).

You’re thinking of the other channels (5STAR, My5 etc.) under the 5 umbrella that all belong to Viacom.

Forces TV is owned by an entirely different organisation. http://www.ssvc.com/#about-ssvc 😃

Since you’ve been recording, I have a question, does the TV airing of Knight of the Phoenix contain the Willie Nelson rendition of, “Always on my Mind” that apparently was omitted from the DVD version?

“Logic is the battlefield of adulthood.”

  • Howard Berk
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I deleted the pilot from my PVR last night, but I think I can restore it to check.
Do you know roughly which part of the episode it’s supposed to be in as I can’t remember the track off hand.