"Force III" - The Forgotten, Never-Aired "Knight Rider" Inspired Action Adventure Show from 1987!

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  • Опубліковано 2 жов 2024
  • In the fall of 1987, a new action/adventure show featuring three tricked out cars (including a Trans Am!) was all set to debut in syndication. And then it....disappeared. Discover exclusive Knight Rider content at / knightriderhistorians or click ❤️‍ Thanks under the vid to keep this channel in full pursuit mode 💥
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КОМЕНТАРІ • 397

  • @KnightRiderHistoriansOfficial
    @KnightRiderHistoriansOfficial  7 місяців тому +160

    UPDATE! The Force 3 Trans Am has been FOUND! More details soon...

    • @leonkernan
      @leonkernan 7 місяців тому +9

      Well that happened quickly!

    • @AngelosWorkbench
      @AngelosWorkbench 7 місяців тому +6

      I’m gonna guess it’s in NY since that’s a recently used NY plate on it. 😊

    • @MegasXLR
      @MegasXLR 7 місяців тому +2

      wow you act fast haha

    • @SayAhh
      @SayAhh 7 місяців тому +3

      ​@@leonkernan Sometimes crowdsourcing works

    • @microbusss
      @microbusss 7 місяців тому +1

      yay

  • @Graytail
    @Graytail 7 місяців тому +173

    Those vehicles look so M.A.S.K
    I wonder what the badguys would have driven?

    • @Gangster88232
      @Gangster88232 7 місяців тому +11

      M.A.S.K was actually reincarnated in Team Knight Rider.

    • @williammitchell4417
      @williammitchell4417 7 місяців тому +13

      True... MASK was inspired by that show. What Joe mentioned was a kind of "Charlie's Angels" thing going on.

    • @northprime_unlimited
      @northprime_unlimited 7 місяців тому +5

      Took the words out of my mouth 👍🏽

    • @85Stang331
      @85Stang331 7 місяців тому +3

      You beat me to it

    • @scottsutorka6398
      @scottsutorka6398 7 місяців тому +4

      Giles Mayhem. Twin to Miles. 😂

  • @mr6johnclark
    @mr6johnclark 7 місяців тому +125

    3 vietnam vets and 3 tricked out cars...
    Did they just do a mashup of Charlies angels + A-team + Knight rider?

    • @waterup380
      @waterup380 7 місяців тому +4

      and mask

    • @davidcarrol110
      @davidcarrol110 7 місяців тому +2

      The A Team only lasted half a season in 1986/87. It fell to 61 in the weekly Nielsen's.

    • @rayf2145
      @rayf2145 7 місяців тому +4

      +1. Three Vietnam vets and a boss never seen: A-team and Charlie´s. Only thing missing is a bountyhunter

    • @w1ll3m.
      @w1ll3m. 7 місяців тому +5

      A-team van colors on the Trans Am make it look like Kitt for B.A.

    • @mikel.7968
      @mikel.7968 7 місяців тому +5

      Sounds so unoriginal and a complete rip-off A-team (season 5) with tricked-out vehicles. No wonder it was never green-lit.

  • @thaknightryda4971
    @thaknightryda4971 7 місяців тому +17

    Wow, Force 3, that show became the blueprint for Team Knight Rider.

  • @davepine5068
    @davepine5068 7 місяців тому +36

    Hi, I know where the hero Transam car is, have done a bit of work on it a few years back and can put you in touch with the owner of you want to know more.

  • @scottyktho
    @scottyktho 7 місяців тому +45

    The scanner was added after production - you are correct it is indeed the JCW scanner. Paul Sher Jr owned this car as recently as 2002, he brought it and a few other cars (a convertible KITT, the Black Beauty from Green Hornet, and some MegaForce dune buggies) to a car auction at the Mandalay Bay in Las Vegas where I met him there. If I recall correctly, he mentioned to me that the scanner was installed sometime between production and before he acquired it.

    • @KasumiKenshirou
      @KasumiKenshirou 7 місяців тому +7

      I noticed the scanner wasn't present in some of the artwork shown in this video.

    • @Spamsmoothie1701
      @Spamsmoothie1701 7 місяців тому

      When I saw it for sale on eBay, I don't recall seeing the scanner but it must have had it as I probably saw it around 2011 or 2012. (Rough estimate.)

  • @ChrisSmith-po3zu
    @ChrisSmith-po3zu 7 місяців тому +19

    As you and others have stated, this looks suspiciously close to M.A.S.K. My guess is that they got into a copyright or trademark lawsuit, since M.A.S.K came first in 1985, and they had to destroy all of the filmed Force 3 episodes. I'm hoping it still exists because that show sounds awesome.

    • @KasumiKenshirou
      @KasumiKenshirou 7 місяців тому +3

      I guess that's possible. There was a cartoon in the 1980s called Mighty Orbots that had its accompanying toyline cancelled due to legal action from Tonka, claiming that the name Mighty Orbots was too similar to their GoBots' tagline, "Mighty robots, mighty vehicles". The cartoon still aired, though, so maybe there's hope for Force III.

  • @vprjls102075
    @vprjls102075 7 місяців тому +26

    three vietnam vets - A-Team .. driving tricked out vehicles - Knight Rider .. that receive assignments through a liaison - Charlie's Angels .. it's like an 80s mashup of action adventure shows

  • @Ecosse57
    @Ecosse57 7 місяців тому +20

    I seriously would have been interested in this show. Great investigative work!
    Something I would have absolutely loved to have seen done, and maybe still could be done, is a Knight Rider prequel where Devon was the first K-R and drove around in a gadget filled but pre-compter KITT 1960s black Trans Am. Imagine a young Devon in a 1968/69 setting!

    • @1977TA
      @1977TA 7 місяців тому +7

      Prequels have a way of diminishing things. Do we really need to know how FLAG started? We got enough backstory in 'Knight of the Phoenix.' It has been well established that KARR was the first vehicle FLAG developed. Creating a protype that existed before KARR just for the sake of seeing a young Devon Miles as the first FLAG driver fighting crime in the late 1960s is fool hearty. The established canon told us Michael Knight is the first FLAG driver. The Foundation for Law and Government was not operating as we know it in the 1960s. It is possible the project that became KITT was being developed during that decade and continued through the 1970s. Anyway, my point is prequels are never a good idea when you have a story that is already established.

    • @DamianTaylor-b3m
      @DamianTaylor-b3m 7 місяців тому +1

      ​@@1977TA, I ask you this respectively what was the inspiration for flag, what led up to oldman knight (sorry forgot his first name) what was the insperation, the previous op maybe has a thing there yes we know the story of flag,KITT& KARR, But maybe Devon was the original avenging driver of a analogue car, with manually operated gadgets something similer to lets say James Bonds Aston for instance, but in a 72 Trans-Am, maybe itcould of been the precurser for Flag and old man knight saw what the future could be and how flag could be developed in to what it was, every great oak tree starts as an acorn

    • @KasumiKenshirou
      @KasumiKenshirou 7 місяців тому +1

      @@DamianTaylor-b3m If it was done well then I would watch that. But if it were made today they would screw it up.

    • @1977TA
      @1977TA 7 місяців тому +1

      @i4wv5yi5d I don't like prequels because they not only create plot hole conflicts, but they also create a bunch of unnecessary events that were not mentioned in the existing canon. For example, Princess Leia never mentioned meeting Kenobi when she was a little girl. The Kenobi series made a mess of what was established in 'A New Hope.' I don't want to see Knight Rider ruined with a dump of made-up information we did not need to know.
      What we need is a creative way to bring Knight Rider back that continues the legacy, building on what has been established in the original series.

    • @saferiderrules
      @saferiderrules 7 місяців тому

      One thing never explained was did the foundation use Michael Longes car to build KITT or was it a coincidence that Michael Judy happened to have an 82 Trans Am when he was recovered from the desert. KARR was an 82 Trans Am and was in development before Michael Longe was shot.

  • @TheRealMrCods
    @TheRealMrCods 7 місяців тому +32

    I would have loved this in 1987, What a shame it didnt happen.

  • @PeterVC
    @PeterVC 7 місяців тому +20

    Strange that a press kit would not mention the names of the actors.

    • @EmperorKonstantine01
      @EmperorKonstantine01 7 місяців тому +1

      Assuming Legal Conditions. Disclosure statement would of got them payed out up front before the show got advertised or even went to air. ie. We never heard of you, you never worked here.

    • @danmurphy9173
      @danmurphy9173 7 місяців тому

      And in pilot world, the show isn’t a thing till it’s a thing…why promote unnamed actors when you might change them anyway (if the show gets picked up)? My guess is they filmed a pilot and that’s it. No network bought it, Kenner (toy company for MASK) was pissed, end of story.

  • @Rogueshollow
    @Rogueshollow 7 місяців тому +30

    I'm pretty sure Doc Lon Tan is Jeff Imada who is a stunt coordinator that worked on The Golden Child back in the 80's as well as countless other films and series.

    • @mathuetax
      @mathuetax 6 місяців тому

      Certainly looks possible.Looking at IMDB he did the acting rounds of shows such as Air Wolf, Knight Rider, T.J. Hooker. Not to mention doing stunts on a tons of other shows in Knight Rider's era. 👍

  • @MrMan-ol4ic
    @MrMan-ol4ic 7 місяців тому +5

    Yes, Mask! I had the C.O.E. KW! THE cab flipped back, tuned into a tank! It was blue! I had to cut 3 yards to get that truck. But there was also a red KW Tractor, too! Mask was the shit back in the day!

  • @rafaelfiallo4123
    @rafaelfiallo4123 7 місяців тому +4

    MASK was the first thing that came to mind to when I saw the cars.

  • @tryksta7247
    @tryksta7247 7 місяців тому +5

    Reminds me of The A-Team meeting Team Knight Rider.
    The Trans Am had a NY license plate on it, at least before its auction. Also in the promo photos for some reason it doesn't have the scanner.
    I figure NBC made their typical boneheaded decisions to axe a sci-fi show. Those 65 episodes gotta be sitting in a vault somewhere.

    • @mwjones71
      @mwjones71 7 місяців тому +3

      Unlikely NBC had anything to do with it. In the 1980's the big three networks had very limited in-house production, typically only producing studio shows (The Tonight Show, game shows, soap operas, etc). Everything else was dependent on the dozens of production houses to produce. Shows like Knight Rider and A-Team came from Universal, Dukes of Hazzard from Warner Brothers, and so on. Now NBC is part of Comcast, which also has Universal, just like CBS is part of Paramount and ABC Disney. Even though each network now has their own studio, they still rely on the other production houses for content.
      Being this was slated for Syndication and was already in production, something else had to scuttle the program. Orbis Communications has gone through a number of hands (including being acquired in 1987 - a possible clue to the reason the show got yanked) but most of the programs they produced is now owned by NBCUniversal. Could somebody with inside knowledge at NBCU search the archives?

  • @idletime
    @idletime 7 місяців тому +23

    G'Afternoon from the high desert of southwest ID 🤠 . I'm a 49 yr old 80's kid, fellow archiveist & an 80's & 90's TV junkie 🤓 . I clearly remember watching the promo / intro for the F3 trailer. After Knight Rider, the A-Team, Airwolf, Hardcastle & McCormick, The Master, the Dukes, Macloud, banacek, Colombo Cannon & many other tv legends, even for me Force lll was just too much & seemed so goofy at the rime I couldn't get behind it & apparently no one else did either. I remember the Jeep sliding to a stop and the cowboy dude jumping out with a Lariat in hand and the ninja car but not so much the other. After the martial arts guy pulled a katana out of the grill and a sai out of a front wheel well I started laughing hysterically and I'm not surprised it went over about as well as a screen door on a submarine but that's just my 02¢ 🤓 ..

    • @davidcarrol110
      @davidcarrol110 7 місяців тому +3

      Paul Robinson from Neighbours had a cool Mitsubishi Starion.

    • @nascargas
      @nascargas 7 місяців тому

      Now that you mention it... ..hmmmmm. My memory aint what it used to be. 🤦‍♂️

    • @georgeerhard1949
      @georgeerhard1949 7 місяців тому +3

      @@davidcarrol110 The Mitsu Starion was the "Supercar" that Japan entered into the second Cannonball, crewed by Jackie Chan and Richard "Jaws" Kiel.

    • @davidcarrol110
      @davidcarrol110 7 місяців тому

      @@georgeerhard1949 I didn't know that. The Starion was only made in the 1980s. No new models were made in the '90s!

    • @deluxepressure
      @deluxepressure 6 місяців тому

      @@georgeerhard1949 that was ugly car

  • @KRHExclusives
    @KRHExclusives 7 місяців тому +2

    11:26...AH, Code One...thank you, Paul Sher for this gem!

  • @StormsparkPegasus
    @StormsparkPegasus Місяць тому +1

    Even today, if you google "Force III TV show", the only result you get that's actually for that show, is this video.

  • @DiabLow0
    @DiabLow0 7 місяців тому +10

    The actor portraying "Joe Willis" bears a resemblance to the late Brad Johnson. Notably, Brad Johnson's filmography shows a gap between his 1986 "Dallas" appearance and the 1989 film "Nam Angels," potentially allowing for him to have filmed part or all of a series.

    • @cyberhawk99
      @cyberhawk99 6 місяців тому

      This is who it looked like to me as well, but couldn't remember his name or what he played in. Thanks for saving me from pulling out all of my hair trying to figure it out.

    • @thomasbentley4757
      @thomasbentley4757 6 місяців тому

      Didn't Brad Johnson star in a show called The Gemini Man?
      I know it's unrelated to Force 3 but I'm just curious.

  • @BearMtPerf
    @BearMtPerf 7 місяців тому +4

    The Jeep in the pictures is a YJ Wrangler. The XJ with no # 7 was the code for the Cherokee SUV at the time. The predecessor to the YJ Wrangler was the called CJ7. Whoever wrote the information on that Jeep did not get it correct.

    • @dodgeramsport01
      @dodgeramsport01 7 місяців тому

      and you are the final word how?

    • @BearMtPerf
      @BearMtPerf 7 місяців тому

      Because I have several jeeps over the last 40 years. There was never an XJ7. @@dodgeramsport01

    • @chrislongbeard
      @chrislongbeard 7 місяців тому

      All easily looked up online. And common knowledge to a Jeep guy. ​@@dodgeramsport01

  • @chosenman08
    @chosenman08 7 місяців тому +4

    Would it be too daring to ask Jack Gill...Just thinking. Very interesting and I bet you had to dig very deep to get this!

  • @HangoverTelevision
    @HangoverTelevision 7 місяців тому +6

    that female actor looks familiar to me.... COULD BE: Marcy Walker, later known as Eden Capwell in Santa Barbara!

  • @LongestRunningSuperHeroRPG
    @LongestRunningSuperHeroRPG 7 місяців тому +19

    As I was watching I was thinking of M.A.S.K. and then a second later you mentioned it, lol. great minds think alike! The jeep also reminds me of Gator from M.A.S.K. and the TransAm (aside from the obvious associations with K.I.T.T.) reminds me of a TranAm toy I had in the 80's, where you pushed a button and wings popped out the sides. I think it was black, blue, red, and silver... but I could be remembering it wrong.

    • @johnnyforriester7325
      @johnnyforriester7325 7 місяців тому +4

      The M.A.S.K. Camaro.....was well....a IROC Camaro.

    • @bluecollarbuddha948
      @bluecollarbuddha948 6 місяців тому +1

      Switch Force was the toy you're thinking of.

    • @darrell9832
      @darrell9832 6 місяців тому

      For MASK toys, there was a camero that the doors would flip up like wings and the exhaust side pipes looked like guns and something flipped on the back to reveal exhaust jets, meaning it was to take to the sky's.😁

    • @LongestRunningSuperHeroRPG
      @LongestRunningSuperHeroRPG 6 місяців тому

      @@bluecollarbuddha948Yes! Thank you! I couldn't remember what it was called. Now I'll have to hunt one down on eBay, lol

  • @nathanm8242
    @nathanm8242 7 місяців тому

    I was today years old learning about this show 😅😂. I hope Knight Rider Historians can find out more about it, thanks for sharing this!

  • @thedude8046
    @thedude8046 7 місяців тому +8

    They should make a real life M.A.S.K tv show.

  • @alman54
    @alman54 4 місяці тому

    Force 3 looks like a TV show designed just to sell toys. If I watched the show, I might have wanted the jeep or car. And the action figures! What fun playing Force 3 at home.

  • @gnws6
    @gnws6 7 місяців тому +13

    Interesting. Like a cross between Team Knight Rider and MASK. If Jack Gill is still alive, definitely reach out to him. Odd that they shot up to 65 episodes worth of footage, and never aired one. Sixty-five episodes is roughly 3-4 seasons with of shows.

    • @waterup380
      @waterup380 7 місяців тому +1

      they did that back then but they shot one or two shows then someone backs out last minute and nothing is ever seen again

    • @gnws6
      @gnws6 7 місяців тому +3

      @@waterup380 usually, just a pilot. They'd shoot a pilot episode, it wouldn't get picked up for whatever reason, then that would be it. To shoot a pilot, then another 64 episodes to never air it is asinine to me. Then for them to do car stunts and all of that, there would have to have been SEVERAL copies of each of the vehicles. Everyone's time, pay, production costs, etc... 3-4 seasons worth of episodes is 3-4 years worth of content. They typically would renew one year after another, depending on ratings of the previous season, and THEN shoot the episodes.

    • @KasumiKenshirou
      @KasumiKenshirou 7 місяців тому +1

      It was actually quite common back then for CARTOONS to have 65 episodes created for their first seasons to run every weekday in syndication. MASK's first season had 65 episodes, as did many others. Even cartoons for toys that weren't successful still ended up with a 65 episode season, like Jayce and the Wheeled Warriors.

  • @barrysmit7180
    @barrysmit7180 7 місяців тому +5

    M.A.S.K

  • @Bohemiahotrodandcustom
    @Bohemiahotrodandcustom 7 місяців тому +6

    I remember reading about " Force 3 " in an issue of High Performance Pontiac in 87 or 88.

  • @FirstDan2000
    @FirstDan2000 7 місяців тому +6

    At first it sounded lile a cross between Team Knight Rider and The A Team (ATKR ?)
    Until i saw that Trans Am. That thing is awesome.
    I would love to see this show.
    The guy on the left resembled Jim Carrey.

  • @CadillacM
    @CadillacM 7 місяців тому +8

    It would be awesome if it was k.i.t.t, airwolf and A-team van.

  • @RedPolarBearRanger
    @RedPolarBearRanger 7 місяців тому +8

    The plane reminds of me the homing robot that's in the Mach V from Speed Racer, if it is Jack Gill Joe you and the other historians should reach out to him and talk about Force III with him. This is a piece of tv history that needs to be unearthed and shown to the public for the first time ever.

  • @johnbigboote8900
    @johnbigboote8900 7 місяців тому +7

    One small note: The M134 itself is not a "chain gun." Maybe the creators of the show have invented a variant that is, but it would be a major redesign. Oh, and to answer your question, we would say "Wow, Joe, that's amazing. Once again you've found a Knight Rider related topic that is both fascinating and entertaining. Thank you." Or words to that effect.

  • @ClarkeMarek
    @ClarkeMarek 7 місяців тому +9

    Force III Historians.

  • @iblackfeathers
    @iblackfeathers 7 місяців тому +4

    entities involved with the show:
    edward j. lasko - producer, writer
    stanford blum - producer
    avi arad - creator, supervising producer
    chuck bail - pilot director
    fm entertainment, inc. - edward s. feldman and charles r. meeker
    the saul group - neil b. saul, president
    lewis galoob toys, inc.
    mask came before force iii. maybe they ditched the show to avoid potential lawsuits? could be a question to ask them if any of them are contacted for more info about this show.
    cowboy could be brad johnson, who passed away on feb 2022.

  • @Loner2012AT
    @Loner2012AT 6 місяців тому

    Always interesting learning about lost media. Neat show! I think the cowboy Jeep guy is the actor, who played in that TV movie, about that thing, that they made that time.

  • @1977TA
    @1977TA 7 місяців тому +2

    They would have been better off getting the license to make this a M.A.S.K. live action series. The brand recognition from the cartoon was already in place along with the toy line. Force 3 looks to have been inspired by M.A.S.K., not Knight Rider. This could be the reason the decision was made to pull the plug on it to avoid potential lawsuits. The studio spent money building the custom vehicles and went as far as filming several episodes. Something serious must have happened for production to just shut down without a single episode airing. It is almost as if an attempt was made to erase Force 3 from existence. My theory is someone from M.A.S.K. got a hold of them and issued a cease-and-desist order.

  • @KRHExclusives
    @KRHExclusives 7 місяців тому +2

    9:18 "Also similar to KITT"...wait...KITT never had a Cheap JC Whitney Scanner installed...THAT was reserved for us poor schmucks who didn't know how to do any better for our replicas and tribute cars...

    • @dodgeramsport01
      @dodgeramsport01 7 місяців тому

      you do know that kitts scanner was a hodge podge of glued together parts, Right?

  • @rafaelfiallo4123
    @rafaelfiallo4123 7 місяців тому +5

    Another forgotten car show I just learned about was 1966-67's T.H.E. Cat with Robbert Logia where he plays reformed cat burglar that is now helping the downtrodden get justice. He has a modified Corvette in the show, someone said the majority of the episodes have been lost.

  • @IowaBudgetRCBashers
    @IowaBudgetRCBashers 7 місяців тому +1

    I’m pretty sure I remember a pilot being shown, but nothing more. I remember that car

  • @Mythbuster3808
    @Mythbuster3808 7 місяців тому +9

    Alright internet get to work. We need to find this stuff.

    • @WyteXLighting
      @WyteXLighting 7 місяців тому +1

      Get it from the producer I bet he got it he needs to put them 65 episodes out.

  • @pokest225
    @pokest225 6 місяців тому

    The japanese series "Jiban", also had a Pontiac Firebird as the hero car.

  • @davidcarrol110
    @davidcarrol110 7 місяців тому +2

    The original 1982-86 Knight Rider became one of the most successful syndicated shows of all-time.

  • @WyteXLighting
    @WyteXLighting 7 місяців тому +4

    Woah never Aired someone needs to put it out this is legend this is like a whole new show from the 80s time I wonder how many good 80s shows didn't make it

  • @rickr442
    @rickr442 7 місяців тому +4

    Ah yes, I recall seeing the dopey corvette in Barris' showroom. It just DEFINED awful.
    Not the first time that Barris licensed and got paid for toy and model production. For shows that either flopped or never reached air. I'm bettin' Gill has copies...

    • @KnightRiderHistoriansOfficial
      @KnightRiderHistoriansOfficial  7 місяців тому +2

      Interesting Rick! Roughly what year did you see it? I do wonder if it and the Jeep are still out there

    • @rickr442
      @rickr442 7 місяців тому +2

      @@KnightRiderHistoriansOfficial now that I think of it, I think the T/A was at GB's shop then as well.
      Woulda been '88 or so. They were cartoony in the use of oversized armaments, no structure to support the operations of the weapons. Maybe that's just me, I hated SPM as well.
      I really think Gill would have copies. Stuntpeople are notorious about putting together demo reels that can sell them for new work. Then again, if the show was as lame as the cars I saw...

    • @tryksta7247
      @tryksta7247 7 місяців тому +1

      Nah the Vette looks slick. Those bodies were never too dissimilar to the Trans Am 3rd Gens to begin with.

    • @rickr442
      @rickr442 7 місяців тому

      @@tryksta7247it was a fifty footer, looked awful up close.
      And what the hell is a 'vehicle of justice'???

  • @kimjongoof5000
    @kimjongoof5000 7 місяців тому

    I also wanna mention that Toei also make a Knight Rider-like show called Jiban back in 1989. Despite taking olace in Japan, it actually uses a 1987 Trans Am in KARR colors

  • @Nintendofan2024-e7y
    @Nintendofan2024-e7y 7 місяців тому +4

    I don’t know if you’ve ever spoken about the show on this channel or should I say movie. It was a spinoff from Knight Rider. It was called code of vengeance and it was originally aired on ABC. The gentleman who played David Dalton was supposed to be kind of like a Michael Knight. I wonder why the show was never released with the Nightrider box sets.

  • @Spamsmoothie1701
    @Spamsmoothie1701 7 місяців тому +3

    I saw this car on eBay Motors many years ago. The listing mentioned it was built for some unaired pilot, but didn't go into any real detail. I can't recall what it ended up selling for.

  • @Petertronic
    @Petertronic 7 місяців тому

    This is a revelation, wow. Maybe they made a pilot episode and it bombed at test screenings, or there was a lawsuit for similarity with something else. Hope more info gets unearthed. At least the TransAm exists, yay!

  • @LowStar55
    @LowStar55 7 місяців тому +4

    I believe the actor to be that of Michael Dudikoff, not Jack Gill. Michael has done a list of B movies and television

  • @markc5111
    @markc5111 7 місяців тому

    It sounds like it could have been an awesome series ❤. The elements sound like they were incorporated into the short lived Highwayman tv series which starred Sam jones. Also the chain guns are very similar to the ones installed in the 2008 KITT Mustang. This series needs to be found 😁❤😎

  • @stevelapierre4776
    @stevelapierre4776 3 місяці тому +1

    Unreal.. they never even aired the show. looked great,, way better then Team Knight Rider, that didn't make sense.. gosh.. Would have been amazing.. wish could find anything but , just says MASK and seen the pictures gosh.. really.. no.. THIS would have been the perfect start after Knight Rider ended.. thank you for sharing and showing this.. seeing all what the cars have, jeepers, like what most movies have now.. so.. Hollywood. gosh.. just saying!!! thanks again.. !

  • @philmartinez1872
    @philmartinez1872 6 місяців тому

    One part ATeam, One part Knight rider, One part M.A.S.K.and one part Speed Racer…… All 80’s. Love it to bad you can’t . Find it. I seen The Female lead on some 80’s show as well as the cowboys.

  • @Graytail
    @Graytail 7 місяців тому +2

    Huh, the jeep is XJ7? hmmm where have I heard that before?
    Ohh yeah, thats the model of fighter jet from Captain Power and the soldiers of the future

  • @Screamers85
    @Screamers85 7 місяців тому

    Reminds me a lot of the "Switch Force" toy line by LJN.

  • @Robert-S-World
    @Robert-S-World 6 місяців тому

    If the scripts are ever found it would be awesome to make the show today

  • @marklewis-hh2bc
    @marklewis-hh2bc 7 місяців тому +2

    Looking like a cool show shame it's lost

  • @mdeslaur
    @mdeslaur 7 місяців тому +3

    The red joystick is from a Super Zaxxon arcade game.

  • @RollerCoasterLineProductions
    @RollerCoasterLineProductions 7 місяців тому +1

    I’ve never heard of this “show” before. The trans am sounds cool and I think they stole some ideas from the Mach 5 😂

  • @warrengee-f9l
    @warrengee-f9l 7 місяців тому +1

    amazing so much Time & money was invested in something that just went pooof ?

  • @carlos64030
    @carlos64030 7 місяців тому

    🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣
    OH. MY. GOD...
    Someone's brain gained some clarity after coming down from a year's long cocaine binge, sobered up and realized how horrible this show was and how embarrassingly bad it would have flopped had it been released to the public. Seriously, this LOOKED extremely cheesy and HOR-RI-BLE!!! This wouldn't have survived even as a cartoon. 🤣🤣🤣

  • @Pyrotech56
    @Pyrotech56 7 місяців тому

    Random, but I always felt like the "Pole Position" cartoon also borrowed very heavily from Knight Rider.

  • @arcticfox6808
    @arcticfox6808 7 місяців тому +5

    8:44 Whoa! Drone technology back then? Prophetic.

    • @mmaldonadojr
      @mmaldonadojr 3 місяці тому

      Prophetic? This is literally a rip-off from the 60's anime Speed Racer. The hero's car, the Mach-5, had exactly this contraption.

    • @mmaldonadojr
      @mmaldonadojr 3 місяці тому

      In a way, Speed Racer was the precursor of much we see in KITT: a super-fast, nearly indestructible car that can jump obstacles, that bears lots of exuberant tech. However, the Mach-5 didn't talk, she was more of an equipment than a real character.

  • @nascargas
    @nascargas 7 місяців тому +1

    It is obvious why the Network who ordered the show decided to mothball it. The Trans Am is quite literally a step backwards featuring old tech like a chain gun and missles. As you mentioned there is a JC Whitney scanner in the nose. Kinda proof that there was a budget that kept the high tech gadgets at a bare minimum. The chinese star launcher seems to be the most unique feature out of all three cars. Otherwise this seems to be a sorry attempt at recreating the magic of Knight Rider. The Network head may have come to grips with this and cancelled in favor of whatever was trending at that point.
    Quite literally it could have been the cheap scanner and tv on the dash that held them back.
    Now if you ar certain Jack Gill was involved (who am I to argue? Looks like him to me...) couldnt you use your power as TKRH to make contact and delve deeper?
    I dont recognize the other 3. But Im trying to look at the faces on my phone. Ill put it up on my TV at home and see if they look familiar. Im certain if this community can help find a truck sitting in a farmers field and a trailer out on someones back forty....we can suss out what show this was and maybe get at least an online release of the show......if it still exists....
    I dunno. "The Russians are gonna find that sub before we get anywhere near it" ~ "Admrial Painter" 'Hunt for Red October'
    Meaning....its probably already lost forever. Of course Ryan found the sub in the end so maybe...maybe....we find a cool show?

  • @rubendelgado8216
    @rubendelgado8216 7 місяців тому

    Paul Sher has documentary on the blue Trans Am from Code One.

  • @rickb8353
    @rickb8353 7 місяців тому +2

    The cowboy I think that’s actor Brad Johnson

  • @uliwitness
    @uliwitness 7 місяців тому +3

    Seems weird that they would have recorded 3 seasons' worth of episodes and not aired a single one. Especially given how expensive we know Knight Rider was to make. Did you maybe mix things up and it was something like "shot for 65 days" or "shot 65 scenes" or so? Also, having several stunt coordinators as actors seems an odd choice. If I had to guess I'd go for 65 days and maybe this was a proof-of-concept for an SFX company that they shopped around to pull in contracts or so? Or maybe 65 episodes of 15 minutes, or so? I mean, even if they got in a lawsuit, they would have stopped after one season if the lawsuit hadn't been resolved.

    • @KnightRiderHistoriansOfficial
      @KnightRiderHistoriansOfficial  7 місяців тому +2

      Definitely said 65 episodes

    • @KasumiKenshirou
      @KasumiKenshirou 7 місяців тому

      A lot of syndicated cartoons from the 80s that aired every weekday had single seasons with 65 episodes, including M.A.S.K. I wonder if this was intended to be a kids' show? (Having a toyline doesn't indicate one way or the other, as there were toylines based on R-rated movies.)

    • @ClunkerSlim
      @ClunkerSlim 7 місяців тому +2

      That's absolutely no way there's 65 episodes of this. That's not possible. Time and moneywise it's just not possible. Anybody remember Photon? That was the absolute cheapest you could do a show and they still only managed to produce 26 episodes. Plus if you were sitting on 65 episodes of content then I believe you'd sell them off to USA's Up All Night or however you could to earn at least a bit of money back. I believe there's probably a 65 MINUTE pilot out there. But no way are there 65 episodes.

  • @adamturner54
    @adamturner54 7 місяців тому +1

    One of the cars is in the same paint scheme as the a team van plus three Vietnam vet’s that sounds a bit like the a team too and as others have said don’t the cars look like they have just come from M.A.S.K

  • @jediknightjairinaiki560
    @jediknightjairinaiki560 7 місяців тому +2

    I bet Funko will make a 4-pack of POP! figures.

  • @l____bugc____l
    @l____bugc____l 7 місяців тому +3

    This would have been amazing !!

  • @mikekozi-lester3887
    @mikekozi-lester3887 7 місяців тому +1

    Hi Joe talk to KITT Nice video 📹 and workmanship!!!

  • @Fenris30
    @Fenris30 8 днів тому

    If KITT is Iron Man, this could have been like War Machine. Something Wilton through together to keep the Government out of his hair.

  • @MickTheMage
    @MickTheMage 7 місяців тому +1

    Ninja car... yeah that sounds like the 80s ;)

  • @danieljimenez4087
    @danieljimenez4087 6 місяців тому

    Knight Rider + A Team + Charly's Angels.

  • @chevylandt.v
    @chevylandt.v 7 місяців тому

    Would be cool to see. Maybe a remake would be cool too.

  • @lexx2847
    @lexx2847 3 місяці тому +1

    Well this was certainly an eye-opener! I just trawled through what details I could find on ProQuest, and it’s even less than you have. Normally I can find cast and crew information in old issues of Variety and The Hollywood reporter, but I can’t even find that. There are a handful of syndicated television state of play articles in Variety around 87-88 which mention the show as being available for airing with 24 episodes completed. The later reports list the show as “Force III (Three Vets Right Wrongs)”, and one article mentions a lot of interest from international buyers. Maybe it got sold to a few countries outside the US?
    From what I understand, the productions of Orbis (later part of Carolco) are now controlled by a Paramount subsidiary called Melange Pictures. If I can find out how to contact them, I’ll let you know.
    Thanks for sending me down this rabbit hole!

  • @Thunderwing88
    @Thunderwing88 7 місяців тому +1

    From the description it sounds like Knight Rider meets Charlie’s Angels.

  • @vijayantgovender2045
    @vijayantgovender2045 7 місяців тому +2

    Very interesting thank you for sharing your experience and knowledge watching from South Africa

  • @MrTwincam316
    @MrTwincam316 7 місяців тому +3

    I have a JC Whitney scanner new in its box 😎

    • @KnightRiderHistoriansOfficial
      @KnightRiderHistoriansOfficial  7 місяців тому +3

      If you ever want to sell it, hit us up! Knightriderhistorians@gmail.com

    • @MrTwincam316
      @MrTwincam316 7 місяців тому +1

      @@KnightRiderHistoriansOfficial thanks for the offer, but I’ve been wanting to put it on a car for years just waiting for the right car to fit it to

  • @kevinmacdonald6546
    @kevinmacdonald6546 7 місяців тому

    This FORCE III I will sounds like CHARLIE’S ANGELS if you think about it. They work for somebody that they’ve never seen and never will.

  • @timothyfromwisconsin
    @timothyfromwisconsin 7 місяців тому +1

    If ycan get into contact with the studio, maybe you can talk about the show, and if they still have tapes, props, or even it's soundtrack ANYTHING!

  • @MrCale
    @MrCale 7 місяців тому

    The actress playing Barbara Wales to me looks alot like Kristian Alfonso who played Deborah in a couple of MacGyver episodes in the late 80s.

  • @mattnik
    @mattnik 7 місяців тому +2

    How could they go to the expense of filming these and not even try to recoup the money by showing it?
    This tickles something in my memory. I wonder if i saw something on television mentioning this series? My mind says it was something on early Saturday or Sunday morning.

    • @rickr442
      @rickr442 7 місяців тому +2

      Production company formed specifically for the project, with a credit line from investors or a studio. Project tanks, principals take a bankruptcy- but only after everyone takes their paycheck. Happens all the time.

  • @EmperorKonstantine01
    @EmperorKonstantine01 7 місяців тому +1

    I sense Copyright, Legal Permissions and Royalties here, The Similarities of Plots, Characters and Cars compared that of A-Team, Knight Rider and Charlies Angels around the time makes me think it would of had some legal atrocities. So they axed it before it even went onto air. The actors would of got payed out with a disclosure statement obviously, Also Assuming that Universal Productions And G.A Larson would of wanted royalties and permissions for the show which they probably didn't accept in their agreement, so they cut their losses, which in my opinion would of been a smart move for the Force III.

  • @RagicaltheUnhallowedKnight
    @RagicaltheUnhallowedKnight 7 місяців тому

    Kinda reminds me of a live action version of Hot Wheels Battle Force 5, without the interdimensional battle zones. Mostly the car ideas

  • @JohnSmith-un9fy
    @JohnSmith-un9fy 7 місяців тому

    You need to check out a toy line called Switch Force. Trust me! They were made by Rough Riders.

  • @Guyver50005
    @Guyver50005 7 місяців тому +2

    sounds like a cross between Knight Rider and Charlies Angels meet the A Team

    • @EmperorKonstantine01
      @EmperorKonstantine01 7 місяців тому

      Exactly, And all those Shows would of wanted their Royalties and their copyright permissions from Force III, which is why they axed the show before it even went to air.

  • @alecj3454
    @alecj3454 7 місяців тому +1

    The whole show reminds me of MASK. That cartoon with vehicles that were all tricked out like the Force III cars. I wonder if the toys got repurposed into MASK toys considering how close some of those designs seem to be. The best part of the MASK cartoon was the character who spoke in a Jack Nicholson voice and rode a motorcycle...it was very memorable. He would say "Stiletto Fire!" in an exaggerated Jack Nicholson impression that was seemingly common with lots of mediocre comedians in the 90's.

  • @Rex_Stuph
    @Rex_Stuph 7 місяців тому +1

    I think I might of seen an advertisement for this in a Marvel comic about that time. I wish I could back this up, but that Jeep and the Trans Am and name are really familiar.

  • @FrankKnight8846
    @FrankKnight8846 3 місяці тому +1

    Three amazing adventure cars, That’s AWESOME!!!!!…Its a shame that they didn’t air it at the time. Now I really wanna see this show.

  • @KasumiKenshirou
    @KasumiKenshirou 7 місяців тому +1

    I don't know if the show would've been any good, but I bet it was a million times better than the stuff they make today, like Star Trek Discovery, Rings of Power, Star Wars: Book of Boba Fett, Star Wars: Asoka, etc.

  • @townleyjames
    @townleyjames 7 місяців тому +1

    I noticed the trans am has a newer NY state license plate on it in one of the newer photos of it. It maybe still in NY?

  • @albertolunghi4947
    @albertolunghi4947 7 місяців тому +1

    The name of the show could be a tribute to "Force Five". American viewers of the very early '80's should understand.

  • @hollywood3695
    @hollywood3695 7 місяців тому +1

    Why don't you guys interview Jack Gill on it

  • @Gangster88232
    @Gangster88232 7 місяців тому +1

    With AI capabilities sooner or later we will get some iteration of this.

  • @jetknight7562
    @jetknight7562 7 місяців тому +1

    And fast and the FURIOUS was born..😂

  • @jay-quinthunder7967
    @jay-quinthunder7967 6 місяців тому +1

    👋😳😲 Sounds like The A Team + Knight Rider + M.A.S.K = Force 3!

  • @Indians-dl3to
    @Indians-dl3to 7 місяців тому

    Someone should make one of those AI generated "as an 80s action tv series" video based on this lost TV show.

  • @Mrdorf14
    @Mrdorf14 7 місяців тому +1

    The show seems like it was inspired by Knight Rider, The A-Team and M.A.S.K.

  • @robertpresley6414
    @robertpresley6414 7 місяців тому +2

    It would really be something if those vehicles still existed

    • @EmperorKonstantine01
      @EmperorKonstantine01 7 місяців тому

      Would of also been a legal Knightmare, Becasue G.A LArson and Universal Pictures owned the designs and the copyrights to KITT