Evil twin storylines have been around forever. Soap Operas use them at least once a year, and sometimes, the evil twin becomes more popular than the good twin. Star Trek: The Original Series introduced the Mirror Universe, where evil Spock had a goatee, creating a simple visual language for when someone is evil. Star Trek isn’t where you can find the best evil twin storyline though, that would be the 1982 hit series, Knight Rider, starring David Hasselhoff. It’s the best because not only does Michael Knight have an evil twin, Garthe, they even made an evil counterpart for K.I.T.T.: K.A.R.R., complete with an evil goatee.
Knight Rider Has The Best Evil Twins
Both K.I.T.T. and K.A.R.R are modified Pontiac Firebird Transams loaded with all sorts of weapons and gadgets, except one AI is designed to save people, and the other was damaged and corrupted to only pursue self-preservation. K.A.R.R. was the original prototype that resurfaces in the Season 1 episode, “Trust Doesn’t Rust,” after some thieves recover it from deep storage. Michael Knight (David Hasselhoff) and K.I.T.T. stop his rampage by taking advantage of the self-preservation instinct with a game of chicken. It’s an 80s action series, and it’s incredible.
In that first appearance, K.A.R.R. resembles K.I.T.T., except he’s voiced by Optimus Prime (Peter Cullen, who returned in the 2008 series), instead of Mr. Feeny (William Daniels). When K.A.R.R. resurfaced in Season 3, he was modified to include a two-tone paint job: black on top, and silver on the bottom. The result? K.A.R.R. has the evil goatee.
K.A.R.R. should have been in more than the two episodes. The concept of an evil car is incredible and could have been milked for at least one episode a season. Knight Rider video games have done the evil car justice, and in every iteration of the show, K.A.R.R. eventually shows up at least once. K.I.T.T. wasn’t the only one on the show to have an evil twin, which annoyed David Hasselhoff.
David Hasselhoff Put On The Evil Facial Hair
Hasselhoff’s Michael Knight isn’t actually Michael Knight: he’s Michael Long with a surgically constructed face that we learn was modeled after Garthe Knight, the son of Knight Industries founder Wilton Knight. You know he’s evil because he’s played by David Hasselhoff with a thin mustache and a soul patch. Well, that, and he straight-up murders a man who was going to squeal about his plan to use his modified big rig, Goliath, to steal missiles from the U.S. government.
Garthe appears in Season 2, first in “Goliath” and again in the aptly named “Goliath Returns,” and he likely could have appeared more times except Hasselhoff has been vocal over his dislike of playing Garthe Knight. In a moment of delightful honesty, he’s explained in interviews that playing both roles meant he was always on set for those episodes and couldn’t take breaks in his trailer during production. That’s the best reason yet to drop a character from a show.
Knight Rider isn’t a particularly deep series, but it doesn’t have to be. It’s from a time before the concept of a mythology arc was needed in every show. Weekly adventures were good enough for audiences of the 80s to make it one of the most popular shows, and there’s always a chance that it could come back. Knight Rider (2008) may have crashed and burned, but the concept of someone trying to do good and battle crime with a superintelligent car is never going to be out of style. Unlike Garthe Knight’s soul patch.
This past weekend, Freddie and I sat in the park and played cards. The game was fun, but you know what was even more compelling? People watching. Couples, families, and a gazillion Knicks fans walked by us, and I realized that there’s a definite print of the summer…
Gingham! Do you wear it? It looks so cool and summery. Here are 15 pretty pieces — including the gorgeous shirt above — in partnership with Nordstrom…
Thoughts? If money were no object, this sundress is beautiful — and don’t forget about classic picnic baskets. 🙂
(Gingham shirt at top by Döen. This post is sponsored by Nordstrom, a retailer we’ve loved and worn for decades.)
By now, most audiences are aware of Liam Neeson’s status as an action thriller star, best known for taking on hordes of enemies at once in non-stop thrill rides such as Taken, The Grey, and The A-Team. In 2014’s mystery thriller A Walk Among The Tombstones, Liam Neeson stars as a private investigator hired by a drug kingpin to solve a mysterious crime. The film is available to stream on Amazon Prime Video.
A Walk Among The Tombstones combines two of Liam Neeson’s best qualities as a performer, allowing him to show off his impeccable fighting skills as a physical powerhouse while making great use of the actor’s unflinching humanity.
One Of Neeson’s Best Action Flicks
A Walk Among the Tombstones follows Liam Neeson’s Matt Scudder as he pays his bills performing private detective work in New York. As a disgraced former detective, Scudder is willing to work outside of the law with a number of unsavory characters, including a local drug dealer named Kenny Kristo. Kristo explains to Scudder that his wife has been kidnapped and subsequently murdered despite having paid the ransom that the kidnappers demanded.
In A Walk Among The Tombstones, Liam Neeson’s Matt Scudder is joined by a street-wise homeless youth named TJ (Brian Bradley), who assists him in making connections among the criminal underworld. Scudder and TJ begin to follow ledes that uncover corruption within the DEA, as well as a conspiracy by international drug trafficking rings that threaten to start an all-out gang war on the streets of New York.
As tensions continue to rise, Scudder brings TJ under his wing after learning that the boy has sickle cell anemia and is in declining health.
From there, Scudder and his team set up a sting in order to catch the kidnappers in the middle of a handoff with their next victim. When a shootout ensues, A Walk Among The Tombstones becomes an all-out gunfight, featuring one of Liam Neeson’s most gripping action sequences to date. The conclusion features a revolving door of gunshots that ring out, killing hordes of thugs, leading to the police finally taking down the drug traffickers.
Matthew Scudder’s Novelized Legacy
The film was written and directed by Academy Award-nominated filmmaker Scott Frank, best known for screenwriting the hit 2017 film Logan, starring Hugh Jackman. Frank later went on to create, write, and direct the Netflix mini-series The Queens Gambit, starring Anya Taylor-Joy.
A Walk Among The Tombstones stars Liam Neeson alongside a number of big-name actors such as Downton Abbey‘s Dan Stevens, The Predator‘s Boyd Holbrook, and Stranger Things‘ David Harbour. The film is based on a 1992 novel of the same name written by American crime writer Lawrence Block and serves as the second time the character of Matt Scudder has been brought to the big screen, according to IMDb.
Before the character appeared in A Walk Among The Tombstones, Matt Scudder was portrayed by Jeff Bridges in the 1986 film 8 Million Ways To Die. Block has penned 20 novels in the long-running series, the most recent of which was released in 2023. The events of A Walk Among The Tombstones adapt the tenth book in the long-running series as a standalone adventure.
Though A Walk Among The Tombstones did very well at the box office, the film received mixed reviews from critics.
The Liam Neeson-led movie made over $62 million at the worldwide box office against an estimated production budget of only $28 million, opening at number two at the box office behind The Maze Runner. The film holds a solid 68 percent score on the review aggregate site Rotten Tomatoes, though the audience score clocks in at only 53 percent.
To this day, A Walk Among The Tombstones remains one of Liam Neeson’s most underrated movies, which fans of the Northern Irish actor would surely be elated to check out. Though modern film fans have largely forgotten the over decade-old movie, it holds some of the best action sequences in Liam Neeson’s long and storied career while still giving the actor room to perform as a deep and nuanced character.
Chef Emily Susman Shares Her Secrets for a Healthy Girl Summer
Healthy girl summer is officially on the menu!
Chef Emily Susman is telling ET about the feel-good habits she’s embracing this season, from alcohol-free sips and easy weeknight dinners to the simple hosting philosophy she swears by.
With more than 25 years in the food and beverage industry, Susman knows a thing or two about bringing people together. Her latest venture, Navi Mocktails, was inspired by a personal shift that changed the way she approached gatherings.
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“I stopped drinking in 2021, and what caught me off guard wasn’t the decision itself, it was how weird social situations suddenly felt,” Susman shares.
“You show up to a party and someone hands you a water or a Shirley Temple, and you feel like a footnote. I wanted something that actually belonged at the table and something you’d be excited to drink.”
The result is a line of functional mocktail blends in take-anywhere sachets that give everyone something festive to raise a glass with.
“As a chef and someone who cares deeply about wellness, I’m always thinking about what food and drinks can do for you,” she explains.
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“The collagen and protein add nutritional value, and I love L-theanine because it promotes a sense of calm without leaving you feeling foggy the next morning. You can be present, enjoy the moment, and wake up feeling good.”
That balanced mindset doesn’t stop at happy hour.
“I used to treat healthy choices like I was white knuckling my way through something, and it was exhausting,” Susman recalls. “Once you stop framing it as restriction and start framing it as taking care of yourself, it stops feeling like a sacrifice.”
When it comes to summer eating, Susman is all about keeping things fresh, flavorful, and low maintenance.
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“I grill everything,” she shares. “It’s my summer philosophy. The flavor is incredible, it’s naturally lighter, and it requires almost no fuss.”
This year’s warm-weather lineup includes grilled skirt steak with bright chimichurri, grilled shrimp tacos topped with mango salsa, and Mediterranean chicken bowls loaded with fresh herbs and roasted vegetables. On the side, she’s serving up watermelon feta salad, grilled corn, and cucumber salad with lemon and dill.
But summer isn’t all backyard barbecues and outdoor dinners. For days packed with errands, travel or beach trips, Susman keeps easy staples within arm’s reach.
“Healthy eating becomes so much easier when you make it convenient,” she notes. “I always keep hard-boiled eggs, Greek yogurt, cottage cheese, grilled chicken, and quality deli turkey on hand. For snacks, I love fresh vegetables with hummus, fruit or something protein-based that actually keeps me full.”
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When entertaining, her approach is equally relaxed.
“Have great food, great drinks, and make sure every person there feels included,” she recommends. “Set up a drink station with options for everyone and lean into simple, seasonal dishes. Summer produce is so good that you really don’t need to do much to it.”
For Susman, the secret to a great summer gathering has less to do with what’s on the table and more to do with who’s around it.
“The parties people actually remember aren’t about being perfect. They’re about the people.”
