knight rider online

In the episode, "Trust doesn't Rust" KARRs scanner was bright red, until he was rediscovered on the beach in "KITT vs KARR", where his scanner turned yellow. I guess the script writers had decided on changing KARRs scanner color so they wouldn't get him mixed up with KITT, for they probably thought we would forget that KARR once had a red scanner. I also noticed KARRs voice modulator had been changed to yellow, where it used to be light green in "Trust Doesn't Rust".

The voice display was always yellow.

As for the scanner, there is no official explanation, just us fans best interpretations. I've heard that the salt water corrosion turned it yellow but since that didn't come straight from Glen Larson it's no more valid than the guy that says it was changed out by who ever left his 1984 Laura Brannigan tape in KARR's deck (he went into the sand in 1982).

This has been brought up a lot on this site in many different threads, and there are many theories by fans as to what accounts for this inconsistency. The basic belief is: During the two years at the beach and in the salt water, the salt water and sunlight had bleached the red lens of the scanner making it yellow.

In "Trust Doesn't Rust," K.A.R.R. also states, "Also, the fiber-optics in my scanners have suffered a 20% reduction in opacity." In English, that basically means that his scanner was fading from his incarceration. So this fact, coupled with the sun and salt water no doubt would have accounted for the color change due to further incarceration at the beach. In reality however, it seems the producers figured that fans wouldn't remember or care about the inconsistency (as seems to be the case in many instances).

As for KARR's voice modulator being light green, I believe it was always yellow and simply the quality of the film or the actual electronics that make some people not clear about the color. Some people also believe that KARR's scanner is also amber, but the reality is that this is only the case on some replica KARR vehicles and toys and not the one in the series.

Sorry Army_F_Body, we must have posted at the same time.

That was my original guess about KARRs scanner turning yellow, but wasn't certain if it really was caused by salt water or sunlight. Thanks for the info Lost Knight.

So why didn't they keep the same guy for KARR's voice?

The producers wanted to go with a more sinister, manipulative voice. Peter Cullen made K.A.R.R. sound like an immature, clueless, bitter teen-ager, while Paul Frees made him sound like an intelligent, manipulative, evil, and creepy personality. I like the Paul Frees personality and voice much better.

That was my theory about KARR's scanner, as well.
As for KARR's voice, I think Paul Frees did a much better job than Peter Cullen. Paul's KARR was mor sinister while Peter's KARR sounded strictly logical and mechanical. In short, Paul made KARR more evil than Peter ever did in "Trust Doesn't Rust".

To me KARR's voice in KITT Vrs. KARR sounded a little bit like Darth Vaders.

Taking a avatar from a poster in this thread, I wanted to point out a new theory I had just pop into my head. Here is the avatar:




You know how you see cars with panel, or parts that are a differernt color? One day I asked someone about that and they said they had repair work done to the car.


Maybe K.A.R.R. flipped out and did something violent that damaged his "earlier" version of the molecularly bonded shell, that cuased him to be locked away.

Maybe his light was originally redlike K.I.T.T., but it got messed with during the accident.

And of course the beach erusion.


Nice, huh?

KARR was locked up and shut down cause he was not programed to protect human life. His was self preservation.