Knightwatch

*Knightwatch*
Knightwatch
Genre	Drama
Created by	Kevin Rodney Sullivan
Starring	Benjamin Bratt; Calvin Levels; Don Franklin; Paris Vaughan; Joshua Cadman;
Composer	Stanley Clarke
Country of origin	United States
Original language	English
No. of seasons	1
No. of episodes	9
Production
Running time	60 minutes
Production companies	Astor III Productions; MGM/UA Television;
Original release
Network	ABC
Release	November 10, 1988 –; January 19, 1989

Knightwatch is an American drama television series that aired on ABC from November 10, 1988 until January 19, 1989 as part of its fall 1988 lineup. It had been promoted as an original series in light of summer reruns continuing into the fall due to the 1988 Writers Guild of America Strike.

Summary

Knightwatch centers around the activities of the "Knights of the City", a volunteer group set up to assist law enforcement. It was largely made up of ex-gang members (and was modeled after a similar real-life group, the Guardian Angels); the program focused on its charismatic leader, Tony Maldonado (Benjamin Bratt). Operating out of donated space in the basement of a church, the group practiced martial arts and other unarmed techniques since they were not commissioned police officers and did not use firearms. Keeping young people with violent pasts from reverting to this pattern in their new-found calling was a constant challenge to Tony, as were the interpersonal relationships constantly developing among his young colleagues.

Knightwatch was a Nielsen ratings failure. It struggled in its timeslot, airing against NBC's The Cosby Show and A Different World and CBS's 48 Hours. It was cancelled after 3 months on the air.

Cast

Benjamin Bratt as Tony Maldonado
Don Franklin as Calvin Garvey
Paris Vaughan as Leslie Chambers
Joshua Cadman as Jason Snyder
Ava Haddad as Casey Mitchell
Calvin Levels as Mark 'Burn' Johnson
Samantha Mathis as Jacquline 'Jake' Monroe
Harley Jane Kozak as Barbara 'Babs' Shepard

Episodes

No.	Title	Directed by	Written by	Original air date	U.S. viewers (millions)
1	"Knights of the City"	Unknown	Unknown	November 10, 1988 (1988-11-10)	10.4^[1]
2	"Friday Knight"	Unknown	Unknown	November 17, 1988 (1988-11-17)	10.3^[2]
3	"Codes"	Unknown	Unknown	December 1, 1988 (1988-12-01)	9.1^[3]
4	"Knight Before Christmas"	Unknown	Unknown	December 8, 1988 (1988-12-08)	8.8^[4]
5	"Hard Day's Knight"	Unknown	Unknown	December 15, 1988 (1988-12-15)	6.9^[5]
6	"Repo Man Blues"	TBD	TBD	N/A	N/A
7	"Lost Weekend"	Unknown	Unknown	January 5, 1989 (1989-01-05)	8.5^[6]
8	"Cops: Part 1"	Unknown	Unknown	January 12, 1989 (1989-01-12)	9.2^[7]
9	"Cops: Part 2"	Unknown	Unknown	January 19, 1989 (1989-01-19)	8.8^[8]

References

^ "Nielsen ratings". Life. USA Today. November 16, 1988. p. 3D. ProQuest 306140699.
^ "Nielsen ratings". Life. USA Today. November 23, 1988. p. 3D. ProQuest 306124674.
^ "Nielsen ratings". Life. USA Today. December 7, 1988. p. 3D. ProQuest 306146398.
^ "Nielsen ratings". Life. USA Today. December 14, 1988. p. 3D. ProQuest 306143538.
^ "A very 'Brady' ratings hit". Life. USA Today. December 21, 1988. p. 3D. ProQuest 306159082.
^ "NBC, laughing all the way". Life. USA Today. January 11, 1989. p. 3D. ProQuest 306165080.
^ "NBC clinches season's ratings title". Life. USA Today. January 18, 1989. p. 3D. ProQuest 306171627.
^ "NBC scores super ratings". Life. USA Today. January 25, 1989. p. 3D. ProQuest 306147740.