K.A.R.R (why did'nt they just fix him?)

[KARR_RULES]

Hi all,
Ive just got back into Knight Rider for the first time since i was a kid,
and i just have one small point of confusion,

We all know that KITT's CPU could be removed from the car so presumably KARR's could as well why would wilton knight have built another car from scratch instead of say putting KITT's CPU in KARR's shell?

This may be a question a n00b would ask but i really would like to know the answer IF anyone knows,

Peace out

[TurbomanKnight]

Welcome to the Board!!!!!
And about your question, That is exaclty what I wondered. Maybe he had other plans for KARR's shell if he had lived on.

[Knight of Sweden]

he had self preservation, and could not be used

i think that the cpu has something to do with that also

[FuzzieDice]

Welcome to the forum! I'm glad to see another KARR fan here too. I love KARR as much as I love KITT!

As to your question, from what I gathered from the pilot episode, Trust Doesn't Rust and the book Trust Doesn't Rust (which goes into a little more detail), Tanya's gang was hot after Wilton Knight trying to steal his technology or get after him. Michael got caught up with the same crowd in a sting but Wilton knew of him and already chose him to be a driver for the new vehicle. Well, from the book, there aparently wasn't enough time by the time Wilton had to move operations from where he built KARR to his mantion. So, Devon thought Wilton had KARR dismantled before the move and thus didn't realize KARR was simply stored and left behind. Apparently there was no time to lose and they had to move out quick, not taking KARR with them. Which I think is dumb because supposedly they took everything else. So, Devon himself endeavors to create KITT, with a little help from the dying Wilton Knight. After Michael got shot, this is why they had to rush to get KITT together. Devon didn't know KARR was still in existance then and Wilton needed a car for Michael. I guess Wilton never told Devon that KARR was left behind intact. Or, the technicians were SUPPOSED to dismantle KARR but there was a lot of confusion during the move and neither of the older men realized KARR was still intact. Thus KITT was created specifically for Michael's use after Wilton had his doctor save Michael's life and give him a new face - that of Wilton's errant son, Garthe!

So that is why they didn't do any rebuilding or further work on KARR. From what I got from the episodes and book, apparently it was a misunderstanding in communication during a quick pullout that led to KARR not being dismantled. Apparently I guess maybe they WERE going to rebuild him (or maybe KITT) from scratch anyway, but with Michael getting shot just after the quick pull-out, plans went all awry.

WHY Wilton would order KARR dismantled instead of reworked is beyond me. In TDR, Bonnie said that KARR was "before my time" meaning she was not on the original Knight Industries team that put KARR together.

Of course, the writers have left a lot of holes in the story in many areas, not just with KARR. I guess they used KARR as an interesting episode a couple of times (the second time creating one of Knight Rider's most popular and best episodes ever). I wish they had developed KARR's character more too. I loved the KITT vs. KARR version of KARR the best!

I'm hoping to see KARR in a new Knight Rider movie some day (if they really make one) and have him return as a bad guy that turns into a good guy and works with KITT.

Of coure my explaination may not be sound either. But perhaps others may shine some light on the subject. It's one of the Mysteries of KARR that intrigues me.

[KARR_RULES]

Yeah i guess that makes sense, thanks, its nice to be somewhere that appreciates the prototype as well as the final model all i ever hear from my m8s is "KARR go BOOM!" LOL

[FuzzieDice]

Well, check out the Knight Rider wallpapers at my site: http://fuzziedice.com/knightrider/wallpaper/ - I have one that says "KARR Lives" that I think you'll like.

BTW, I LOVE your avatar!

[KARR_RULES]

Thanks i got bored last night and made it

[Lost Knight]

WHY Wilton would order KARR dismantled instead of reworked is beyond me. In TDR, Bonnie said that KARR was "before my time" meaning she was not on the original Knight Industries team that put KARR together.

Perhaps, as with most other technologies, it was more feasible to simply build a brand new car as opposed to refurbishing a flawed prototype. What I gather from the fact that K.A.R.R.'s label is a prototype is that he was never intended to be the final product to begin with. By definition, a prototype is a pre-production model. It seems that Russ Maddock used the same reasoning when he made the decision to have K.I.T.T. dismantled in order to build the Knight 4000, rather than simply refurbishing him or placing his A.I. in the Knight 4000's body. KARR was used and then discarded, and ultimately KITT had shared the same fate.

Why KITT was always rebuilt after his various destructions throughout the series (as opposed to the Foundation simply building a different car) may be because by that time, to the Foundation, KITT was just like another member of the family.

[andy-kitt]

Thanks guys things starting to make sense.

You notice that in the Pilot Micheal Long drives a stock TransAm, and they had to build KITT quickly is why they used his TransAm because thought KARR was destroyed.

They had probably already decided to base it on a TransAM and it was because they'd already designed the nose, dash etc they stuck with the original design due to time deadlines, but used different programming etc. on KITT.

Yes I too love KITT vs KARR and they show life in his CPU at the end, so they could have used KARR again in a different body, imagine Goliath with KARRs CPU!!

[FuzzieDice]

Yikes! LOL!

Anyway, KITT being like a member of the family is probably a good explaination why Michael transplanted him into KIFT.

I think that Wilton, and the rest didn't realize KARR had a personality and ability to possibly grow. Now why they kept trying to destroy him instead of fixing him after KITT was built and they realized how KITT's AI could develop, is also questionable. I realize KARR was programmed to be "self-preserving" but still, so are most HUMANS based on that! And KITT, he did have some qualms about certain parts of missions that might affect his existance, esp. in Goliath and Junkyard Dog. You'd think especially after Goliath they'd try to talk KARR out of his intent to destroy them, or have a bit more sympathy. But I guess by then KARR (and who could blame him) was already too abused and abandoned. Since that's all he knew...

I dunno... I guess while I still love KITT, I just wish there was a way to put KARR in a more positive light.

[jup]

FuzzieDice...that was an excellent description of why KARR was never dismantled.

There is a little bit hinted at as to why KARR was turned off in the first place. There's a tidbit here and there about some other factors who had some say in Wilton's dream car...that being KARR. And, even though Wilton financed the company that built KARR, these other voices had enough power to force Wilton to deactivate KARR. I doubt there's any cleaner facts as to whom these people ever where. And, I've always felt that Wilton intentionally found loop holes to keep KARR from being dismantled. In fact, I bet he had plans on coming back for KARR, once the situation had been resolved. But...that's the way plans go when life makes sudden turns. Wilton's health went south and Devon Miles enters the picture. Through Devon's methods, a brand new car is built (KITT) and ready to allow the project to go forth. Of course, we all know that Wilton dies, right along with many of his secrets.

I've thought alot about how this situation might have gone as I was working on my one and only fan fiction, Knight of the K.A.M.O., which was about a second team racing to make Wilton's dream a reality...yet, KARR (sort of) won the race.

[Fantine]

Good lord, fix him? Although, I'm all for decreasing the surplus AI population, I think it'd be really difficult.

I mean, first you'd have to get close enough to--

Oh...fix him....not fix him.

I gotchya now.

(Sorry. DVM daughter humor.)

[KARR_RULES]

Goliath with KARR's cpu what a thought!

If garthe was behind the wheel god help FLAG cause only he could LOL

But thanks for the .gif idea

[FuzzieDice]

KARR_RULES: Hey, that'd be something - Goliath with a yellow scanner! Go for it! (Now I duck and run here )

jup: That is a cool thought. That would be nice tidbit of info for a fanfic, I agree. Good luck with your story. I have yet to find time between work and my own projects to get back with rewriting my pilot for my series.

Fantine: You're something else! Reminds me:

"You wish to eat. You wish to drink. You wish to reproduce. Which one first?" - K.A.R.R. (TDR)

[jup]

Oh, I finished the Fan Fiction quite some time ago. (*Almost. There was always a fact or two I left unchecked.)

[KnightBuck]

may b we'll see KARR return in the new movie!

BTW, I LOVE your avatar!

how do people get all these cool GIFs past the restrictions?
they are amazing!

[FuzzieDice]

I now changed mine to one of KARR_RULES' avatars he PM'd me.

Well, you can download any of them from this thread or http://fuzzidice.com/knightrider/avatars.html and then save it to your hard drive. Then, you go into your profile here at KRO and go down to the Avatars area and browse to find he downloaded avatar on your hard drive, then click SUBMIT to upload it here and use it.

I have anti-hotlinking in effect on those avatars on my site to prevent bandwidth theft so they won't work if you use the "from URL" spot in the profile.

But there's plenty of Avatars to choose from!

[Wizster]

Great! thanks!

And just to clarify (as if no one knows it by now, or couldn't guess!), I believe that the link is http://fuzziedice.com/knightrider/avatars.html

I certainly love my new avator - I'm a KITT fan through and through

[FuzzieDice]

Thansk Wizster! And nope, I can't even spell my OWN web site right! Thanks, though for posting the corrected link for me. I think I would have completely missed it!

[KARR_RULES]

how do people get all these cool GIFs past the restrictions? they are amazing!

I use a program called aesop to create the gifs frame by frame it also allows color changes to lower levels lowering the size of the overall file.

Other programs i find useful:

Adobe photoshop
Infranview (resizing the original frame pics) 96x96 max

[sjsharp2005]

he had self preservation, and could not be used

i think that the cpu has something to do with that also

I agree KARR had the ability to protect himself from tampering the only way to stop him would have bbeen tro destroy him which was what they did I believe

[cars1106]

I really feel bad for KARR because he was left alone and by him self I wish that he could be happy

[Kaine]

anyone remember the episode where some woman had to trick KITT by disguising as bonnie, just to be able to remove some modules that had KITT's preservation for human life? (don't know what that episode was called)
you can assume that KARR has all the same mechanism to protect himself from anybody making changes to his programming if he doesn't want to. so it'd be near impossible with KARR's original programming to change that, as he wouldn't let anybody near him. so building a new car with a new processor is far easier and less dangerous.

[Wizster]

anyone remember the episode where some woman had to trick KITT by disguising as bonnie, just to be able to remove some modules that had KITT's preservation for human life?

Actually, I don't
Anyone know what the episode was called?

[HungarianKnight]

anyone remember the episode where some woman had to trick KITT by disguising as bonnie, just to be able to remove some modules that had KITT's preservation for human life?

Actually, I don't
Anyone know what the episode was called?

It was Killer KITT, Season 4, Episode #13, original airing date: 10. 01. 1986.