26 years ago today was the original airdate of a pivotal episode of Knight Rider: The Original Series, and Knight Rider mythology. Hearts of Stone was the first show of the 1982-83 season’s “back nine” block of episodes, and the first that was written and produced by Robert Foster.

It’s not the most popular of all the shows, but it remains one of the most important. Foster’s approach to the material was vastly different to the earlier episodes; there was still humour, but the overall tone was less light-hearted. Suddenly, Michael Knight found himself in situations where he was really threatened, and faced fights that he might not be able to win — whether it’s driving into the middle of a hi-tech gang war or being roughed-up by arms dealers.

The show that Foster inherited was on shaky ground. The show was actually on the verge of cancellation until the extremely popular November ’82 episode Trust Doesn’t Rust. It was Foster’s approach that saw the show successfully ride out three more seasons on NBC.

It’s a situation that is being repeated for the most part right now. The current Knight Rider production team dared to try something different for a new audience; some of it worked, a lot of it didn’t. And now that we are entering the business-end of the season — that will see the series either cancelled or renewed — Knight Rider is finally returning to its original premise: a lone crusader championing the cause of the innocent, the helpless, the powerless, in a world of criminals who operate above the law.