TRIVIA:

Michael mentions in this story that he liked John Wayne, and saw The Alamo "about fifteen times". John Wayne's son Ethan appears in the second season story Speed Demons.

Devon's father's name was Cedric. He uses it as an alias in this episode. K.I.T.T. creates the CB handle "Hot Knight" for Michael and himself.

The image played behind the closing credits is unique to this episode, featuring a distant K.I.T.T. approaching from the desert horizon (see imagebar).

Guest star Guy Stockwell was the brother of actor Dean Stockwell and also appeared in the episode Return to Cadiz. He and fellow guest star Taylor Lacher appeared together previously in a 1982 episode of T.J. Hooker entitled Thieves' Highway, about independent truckers whose shipments are being hijacked!

SCRIPT TO SCREEN:

During production of an episode, the editors would move scenes around for a better sense of story progression and logic. This happened in this segment; the scripted introduction to Michael and K.I.T.T. was cut (a similar scene had been played in the introduction of William Schmidt's earlier script DEADLY MANEUVERS) and two later scenes were merged for this purpose. Watch the episode closely and you will see that Michael's leather jacket and shirt change as Devon calls; as scripted, there is a time lapse between those two scenes explaining the change of clothes.

Terri's speech about people ("Some are mountain people, some are ocean people. I'm a desert person") also appeared in early drafts of William Schmidt's Deadly Maneuvers.

Cut scenes include Michael's first visit to the truck stop cafe (Michael is supposed to meet Rick, and Norma directs him to the Calley garage), Norma in a love scene with Volker at his motel room, and more of Michael and Terri in the F.L.A.G. semi's cab. After Michael leaves Terri at the Calley house, he calls the Foundation, waking Bonnie; she refers to the scene later in the semi when she tells him she is "Sleepless as ever." A tiny clip from the cut scene turns up in the episode's teaser when Michael tells her, "Somebody's declared war on an alliance of local truckers."

Bonnie describes her ideal man as follows: "I'd like him to like classical music, but he should be open to all kinds of different styles. He's definitely got to love books and plays. I think he should have a good sense of humor, witty... kind of sophisticated. It'd be nice if he were athletic, but I don't want him to be a jock. I like a guy who's full of surprises."

Terri's original CB handle was Sister Terri, and it was originally Volker's motel room, not his car, that was rigged to explode. Bonnie and Devon remain in the truck stop cafe to see if any of the truckers make a suspicious move.

SCRIPT - 3RD DRAFT - REV. 2/14/83

NITPICKS:

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FILMING LOCATIONS:

Wagon Wheel Motel:
Sierra Pelona Motel, 12117 Sierra Highway, Santa Clarita, CA 91390

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