"Forever Knight" Nick Knight (1989)

Director:

Farhad Mann

Writers (WGA):

Barney Cohen (story) and
James D. Parriott (story) ...

TV Series:

"Forever Knight" (1989)

Original Air Date:

20 August 1989 (Season 1, Episode 0)

Genre:

Crime | Drama | Horror | Mystery

Plot:

Detective Nick Knight is investigating a series of murders in which the bodies are found drained of blood...

Plot Keywords:

Police | Failed Pilot | Vampire | Supernatural | Toronto Ontario

Cast

Rick Springfield	...	Det. Nicholas 'Nichola / Nick' Knight / Jean-Pierre
John Kapelos	...	Det. Don Schanke
Robert Harper	...	Dr. Jack Brittington
Richard Fancy	...	Capt. Brunetti
Laura Johnson	...	Dr. Alyce Hunter
Craig Richard Nelson	...	Fenner
Fran Ryan	...	Jeannie
Cec Verrell	...	Janette
Jack Murdock	...	Topper
Michael Nader	...	Lucien LaCroix
Gregory Wagrowski	...	Detective Jessell
David Byrd	...	Guard #2
Irene Miracle	...	Nurse
Al Fann	...	Dedrick
Davis Roberts	...	Dr. Dave

Runtime:

92 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.33 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono

Certification:

Iceland:16 | UK:15

Filming Locations:

Los Angeles, California, USA

Company:

Barry Weitz Films

Trivia:

A failed pilot, although the show was later remade into 'Forever Knight' (1992), with an entirely new cast, except for John Kapelos who reprised his role as Det. Don Schanke.

Goofs:

Crew or equipment visible: Wires are visible when Nick lifts up the bouncer outside the club.

Quotes:

Nick: [Vamped out] What kind of drugs are you on anyway, man?

Movie Connections:

Remade as "Forever Knight" (1989)

Soundtrack:

Endless Summer Nights

Far Better Then the Cheap Toronto Version

"Forever Knight" was a cheesy show, but the TV movie it was taken from -- "Nick Knight" -- with Rick Springfield was brilliant. It had much better production values than "Forever Knight" and it was both hipper and grittier. And it was better than the episode of "Moonlight" -- a suspiciously similar series -- I saw.

Rick drove a big-ass vintage pink Cadillac, because if he was caught when the sun came up it had the largest trunk available for him to dive into and hibernate until night. He was working with a sympathetic coroner to try and wean himself from blood (which in any case he never took from people -- he had blood lab bottles in his refrigerator).

The coroner guy was a cross between a friend, an AA sponsor, and a medical researcher. Rick was often strung out from their regimen, just like a recovering addict. Not only did he have withdrawal symptoms if he didn't get enough plasma, but real food -- which he was trying to break into eating -- tended to make him sick. His relationship with this guy was the central ongoing one in the story. He lived in an apartment carved out of a Grauman-type movie palace (it was the upper lobby or something) so it had all this over the top decor that was both vampire and Old L.A. in feeling.

Springfield gave Nick a troubled rock star feel, hot and somewhat elegantly wasted. He was struggling with his life, and he just happened to have the hottest car, the coolest apartment, and the best jacket. He was such a good detective that the L.A.P.D. indulged his eccentric insistence on working only at night.

They should have simply green lighted the show just the way it was, with Springfield in it, but instead it ended up an under budgeted Canadian series with no realistic underpinnings, a lot of costume flashbacks, and Geraint Wynn-Davies's somewhat actorish performance. What's more, the minute Wynn-Davies got the part he started putting on weight and kept putting it on. I hated, hated, hated that show.