Houston Knights

Houston Knights
Created by	Michael Butler Jay Bernstein
Starring	Michael Beck Michael Paré
Composers	Dennis McCarthy George Doering
Country of origin	United States
No. of seasons	2
No. of episodes	31
Production
Running time	60 minutes
Production companies	Jay Bernstein Productions Columbia Pictures Television
Original release
Network	CBS
Release	March 11, 1987 – June 10, 1988

Houston Knights is an American crime drama set in Houston, Texas. The show ran on CBS from 1987 to 1988 and had 31 episodes.

Summary

The core of the series is the partnership between two very different cops from two different cultures. Chicago cop Joey LaFiamma, played by Michael Paré, is transferred to Houston after he kills a mobster from a powerful Mafia family and a contract is put out on him. Once there, he is partnered with Levon Lundy, played by Michael Beck, the grandson of a Texas Ranger.

Although as different as night and day, and after a rocky beginning (the two engage in a fist-fight) they form a successful partnership and become friends. This is aided to a certain extent by an event where a hitman from Chicago who holds the contract to shoot La Fiamma arrives in Houston and is ultimately killed by Lundy.

During the series, it is revealed that both La Fiamma and Lundy have their own personal demons. La Fiamma's Chicago partner had been killed when the partner went into a crime scene while La Fiamma had waited for backup to arrive. Lundy's wife had been killed by an explosion that was intended to kill him.

Music

The theme music for the series was Texan blues-rock style, opening with a steamy saxophone then featuring slide guitar work and a heavy bass line. Dennis McCarthy and George Doering composed the music for the series. Lee Ritenour is also credited as a major contributor to the music featured in the series.

Features

One of the key features of the show was the car driven by La Fiamma, an ice-blue 289 AC Cobra "replicar", credited as being provided by "North American Fibreglass". The car was yet another way to demonstrate that La Fiamma didn't "fit" in Texas, as most other characters on the show drove pickup trucks (including Lundy).

The wardrobe for La Fiamma consisted of well-cut and stylish Italian label clothing, another contrast to Lundy, who was always attired in stereotypical Texas "cowboy" clothes (which are not, in fact, common attire in urban Texas).

Episodes

The titles of the 31 episodes are listed below, along with their original TV air dates. Although they are listed separately, the first two episodes were originally screened as a movie-length pilot. The first 9 episodes comprised the first season, the remaining 22 episodes formed season two. The first season ranked 34th out of 79 shows with a 15.1/26 rating/share.

Season 1 (1987)

No. overall	No. in season	Title	Directed by	Written by	Original air date
1 2	1 2	"Mirrors: Parts 1 & 2"	Gary Nelson & Richard Lang	Michael Butler & Eric Blakeney & Gene Miller	March 11, 1987 (1987-03-11)
3	3	"North of the Border"	Mike Vejar	Clyde Phillips & Stan Berkowitz	March 18, 1987 (1987-03-18)
4	4	"Houston's Hero"	Unknown	Unknown	March 25, 1987 (1987-03-25)
5	5	"Single in Heaven"	Richard Compton	Michael Ahnemann	April 1, 1987 (1987-04-01)
6	6	"Yesterday's Gone"	Unknown	Unknown	April 8, 1987 (1987-04-08)
7	7	"Bad Girl"	Georg Sanford Brown	Michael Ahnemann	April 15, 1987 (1987-04-15)
8	8	"Scarecrow"	Unknown	Unknown	April 22, 1987 (1987-04-22)
9	9	"Colt"	Thomas J. Wright	Paul Diamond	April 29, 1987 (1987-04-29)

Season 2 (1987–88)

No. overall	No. in season	Title	Directed by	Written by	Original air date
10	1	"Moving Violation"	Paul Krasny	Stan Berkowitz	September 15, 1987 (1987-09-15)
11	2	"Heads, I Win - Tails, You Lose"	Dale White	Teleplay by: Nancy Ann Miller Story by: Jay Bernstein	September 22, 1987 (1987-09-22)
12	3	"Desperado"	Reza Badiyi	Teleplay by: Valerie West Story by: Deborah Arakelaian	October 6, 1987 (1987-10-06)
13	4	"Gun Shy"	Unknown	Unknown	October 13, 1987 (1987-10-13)
14	5	"Lady Smoke"	Unknown	Unknown	October 20, 1987 (1987-10-20)
15	6	"God's Will"	Unknown	Unknown	November 3, 1987 (1987-11-03)
16	7	"Diminished Capacity"	Unknown	Unknown	November 10, 1987 (1987-11-10)
17	8	"Home Is Where the Heart Is"	Unknown	Unknown	November 17, 1987 (1987-11-17)
18	9	"Secrets"	Unknown	Unknown	December 8, 1987 (1987-12-08)
19	10	"Somebody to Love"	Unknown	Unknown	December 22, 1987 (1987-12-22)
20	11	"There's One Born Every Minute"	Unknown	Unknown	January 2, 1988 (1988-01-02)
21	12	"Vigilante"	Unknown	Unknown	January 9, 1988 (1988-01-09)
22	13	"The White Hand"	Unknown	Unknown	January 16, 1988 (1988-01-16)
23	14	"Sins of the Father"	Unknown	Unknown	January 30, 1988 (1988-01-30)

1. The White Hand January 16, 1988
2. Crime Spree June 2, 1988
3. Cajun Spice February 13, 1988
4. The Stone February 20, 1988
5. Burnout February 27, 1988
6. Love Hurts April 26, 1988
7. Bad Paper March 5, 1988
8. For Caroline October 5, 1988
9. The Jungle Fighter July 6, 1988

External links

• Houston Knights at IMDb
• Template:Tv.com show
• Houston Knights at epguides.com