Episode 12: 'Knight to King's Rook' Spoilers

[LeslieGruffod]

Just had a thought. What if Karr in Kitt's body, decides to TRANSFORM into the pontiac transam he used to be? Surely he can do that.

I don't buy all the speil that they need permission from car manufacturers to do that. Fair enough, Kitt's main Mustang body as a central show character for sponsorship, but do they really have to have permission from their sponsor or other car manufacturers every time they feature a different make of car in the show? I find that seriously unbelievable if they do.

Here's a bit of trivia, not many may know, but in the original Star Trek series, Desilu studios was sponsored by Marlboro cigarrettes. They wanted Kirk and co to smoke cigarrettes. But thankfully, Roddenberry over-ruled it.

Anyway, GST mentioned it was his hope to have the two cars, Kitt and Kilmer Kitt, working side by side. He said nothing of, we will have to get car manufacturers permissions.

[Faithful Car KRO]

Just had a thought. What if Karr in Kitt's body, decides to TRANSFORM into the pontiac transam he used to be? Surely he can do that.

I don't buy all the speil that they need permission from car manufacturers to do that. Fair enough, Kitt's main Mustang body as a central show character for sponsorship, but do they really have to have permission from their sponsor or other car manufacturers every time they feature a different make of car in the show? I find that seriously unbelievable if they do.

Here's a bit of trivia, not many may know, but in the original Star Trek series, Desilu studios was sponsored by Marlboro cigarrettes. They wanted Kirk and co to smoke cigarrettes. But thankfully, Roddenberry over-ruled it.

Anyway, GST mentioned it was his hope to have the two cars, Kitt and Kilmer Kitt, working side by side. He said nothing of, we will have to get car manufacturers permissions.

GM was fed up with KR back in the 80s. Why do you think they stopped calling it a trans-am and started calling it a T-Top.
And in all honesty, i think they do have to get permission to use cars....

[LeslieGruffod]

Think about how many cars you see in one episode of Knight Rider tho. To have to ask permission from all car manufacturers would be insane. Just the ones parked up in car parks for one. I can only think it would be necessariy if you are blatantly advertising one form of transport over there other: eg the central car, which is a main character ie Kitt.

They don't sell any Transams like that any more do they? There would be no competition for their main sponsorship in doing so.

Anyway it's all guess work and conjecture. If the Hoff can use Kitt in his low budget music videos, I see no reason why the Knight Rider crew can't.

[Trendane]

If the Hoff can use Kitt in his low budget music videos, I see no reason why the Knight Rider crew can't.

Heh! I can just see the tsunami of letters and call-ins that would be generated if Mr. Hoffman said that GM would not allow him to use 'KITT' in his videos.

The "Knight Rider" crew, on the other hand......there is still a massive back and forth shift in the like/dislike of this new show. They do not yet have the kind of public support that Mr. Hoffman could generate. If the show makes it through this.....puberty.....and gains a solid fanbase that continues to grow, then they might have some clout.

[Kram061-1]

Why would GM have a problem using a Trans-Am when they haven't been made (especially KITT's model year) in 5-10 years or so. I can't see why they'd object to a discontinued early '80's model car.

[Trendane]

Why would GM have a problem using a Trans-Am when they haven't been made (especially KITT's model year) in 5-10 years or so. I can't see why they'd object to a discontinued early '80's model car.

Discontinued or not, Ford would be 'beating' GM when KITT defeated KARR. Then there's also the fact that a GM car would have to represent a 'threat' to a Ford vehicle......and we can't have that, can we?

Also, please bear in mind that I think such mentalities are childish, purile, and stupid.....but somewhere, some executive is thinking that. I'm just playing devil's advocate.

[Kram061-1]

Either way, no matter which car they use, I anticipate this episode to be a HUGE disappointment to everyone IF KARR is installed inside KITT's Shelby body. It'd be one thing if it is a different Shelby Mustang, because then KITT can duel KARR. So I don't get the whole concept of 'stealing' KITT.......are they going to put his CPU into Billy's SUV or some crap? And I wouldn't count on the Hoff and Bill Daniels being in this episode, or we'll be even more disappointed

[Raycerx96]

okay, lets try to get things in line with show now.
If you go back to the two hour pilot, when the bad guys first meet the new KI3T. one scene shows TWO Trans Ams intact and one partially disassembled(maybe). Therefore one can assume, that KITT was only deactivated and Graiman was working on replacements, upgrades or back up bodies for KITT and/or one of those is KITT. Then again NOTHING has ever been said about what happened to KITT or where hes at, so one can say that maybe none of them are KITT. So it is possible for KITT to come back. After all if the new KI3T gets stolen and brainwashed/switched what else would they have access to compete with him(just the old KITT). Also the old show left a lot of open ends, so why not try to close some them with the new series.

on that note
GM never supported the original series. Hence the reason KITT was called a Trans Am only a few times in the first season, GM threatened the producers.
Peter Cullen could voice KARR if he wants to and the producers want him, hes under no contract with GM.

Lets ponder this question.
Whats better KITT/KARRs molecular bonded shell or KI3T nano tech shell? Who would win in a fight?

[msKEN]

GM was fed up with KR back in the 80s. Why do you think they stopped calling it a trans-am and started calling it a T-Top.

GM never supported the original series. Hence the reason KITT was called a Trans Am only a few times in the first season, GM threatened the producers.

Seriously where do you guys get your "misinformation"?

[Raycerx96]

Seriously where do you guys get your "misinformation"?

Glen A. Larson himself.

[FordFilly82]

GM was fed up with KR back in the 80s. Why do you think they stopped calling it a trans-am and started calling it a T-Top.

GM never supported the original series. Hence the reason KITT was called a Trans Am only a few times in the first season, GM threatened the producers.

Seriously where do you guys get your "misinformation"?

I seem to remember hearing that GM (though I did not know the company at the time) was unhappy about "knight Rider" though the specifics were not made clear to me.

[JJSoCrazy]

GM was fed up with KR back in the 80s. Why do you think they stopped calling it a trans-am and started calling it a T-Top.

GM never supported the original series. Hence the reason KITT was called a Trans Am only a few times in the first season, GM threatened the producers.

Seriously where do you guys get your "misinformation"?

I seem to remember hearing that GM (though I did not know the company at the time) was unhappy about "knight Rider" though the specifics were not made clear to me.

The reason while GM didn't Knight Rider to use the "Trans Am" moniker is because people would go to the Pontiac dealership and ask for cars just like KITT with the scanner and everything and it would piss them off.

IDK why because it would boost sales, they should of made a deal with someone to get the nose and scanner at least.

Joe

[HisNameisGarth]

GM was fed up with KR back in the 80s. Why do you think they stopped calling it a trans-am and started calling it a T-Top.

I seem to remember hearing that GM (though I did not know the company at the time) was unhappy about "knight Rider" though the specifics were not made clear to me.

The reason while GM didn't Knight Rider to use the "Trans Am" moniker is because people would go to the Pontiac dealership and ask for cars just like KITT with the scanner and everything and it would piss them off.

IDK why because it would boost sales, they should of made a deal with someone to get the nose and scanner at least.

Joe

Well, the problem is....
The Trans Am with the Fiberglass nose and scanner would never pass the federal crash safety standards.
Thus, the car couldn't be sold by Pontiac dealers. Its a shame...... Other manufacturer's had produced TV cars over the years -- Ford produced their special edition Gran Torino for Starsky and Hutch..... But KITT would never fly with the D.O.T.

[Knight-Armen]

But how can a fiberglass nose not pass the safety standards? Suffice to say that they would compare a trans am with the original nose vs. the one with a custom built fiberglass nose, how big of difference are we talking about?
I mean, the engine bay along with the overall structure of the car is very critical... but the nose? I'm not sure...

[n1elkyfan]

IF the made it out of plastic it would have worked. The bumper has to withstand a 5mph hit with out any damage. Thats something fiberglass wouldn't have been able to do.

[PHOENIXZERO]

I remember hearing or reading that there were also apparently a lot of Darwin nominees wrecking their cars and nearly killing themselves pretending they were Michael Knight and their car was actually KITT. You know, like little kids in the 50s thinking that George Reeves could actually fly and they wanted to too, so they went on the roofs of their homes with towels around their neck and preceded to injure themselves by jumping. Actually, it was perhaps the same people, just "grown up" and still unable to tell the difference between fantasy and reality?

Either way, Pontiac didn't care for all the publicity they were getting.

[Kram061-1]

It would be cool if KARR was installed in the K4000 body

[Knight-Armen]

The K4000 had the shape of a boat! Doesn't matter now anyways because the car isn't what it used to be. After making its first appearence in Knight Rider 2000 it was stored away only to come back 7 years later in a tv show called CHiPs 99. The car was stolen shortly after. After the recovery it appeared in a third tv show called Black Scorpion episode "Armed and Dangerous" and this time they equipped it with various weapons such as missiles and other firearms. Shortly after that they had the car painted like a squad car with sirenes on top, Power Rangers Time Force. Finally it was used in Scare Tactics, aired august 1, 2003 and thats about it.

Even if the car exists today I bet it wouldn't hold together for more than two episodes, if even that!

[Amir]

Well, I have a video from a few years back where Larson said GM actually thought of selling KITT-like cars, but someone tried to jump a train with the trans am he had, so they figured it would just be too risky, and that's where it ended.

I'd agree though. If the whole 'KARR returns' thing will end up with him being installed in the Knight 3000 car rather than have a true duel between two fantastic cars, it would be a huge disappointment. Hopefully they've got something extra planned...

[pheonix_knight]

Think about how many cars you see in one episode of Knight Rider tho. To have to ask permission from all car manufacturers would be insane. Just the ones parked up in car parks for one. I can only think it would be necessariy if you are blatantly advertising one form of transport over there other: eg the central car, which is a main character ie Kitt.

They don't sell any Transams like that any more do they? There would be no competition for their main sponsorship in doing so.

Anyway it's all guess work and conjecture. If the Hoff can use Kitt in his low budget music videos, I see no reason why the Knight Rider crew can't.

Ford, although no longer one of the top 2 car manufacturers (think they are 3rd now behind GM and toyota but not sure on their order...) have certainly been a formidable force in the industry and to my knowledge have quite a diverse stable of manufacturers under their management, including at one point or another Volvo, Jaguar, Masda, Jaguar and Aston Martin although I'm not sure who owns who now.

Suffice to say we did see Volvo's (having being pollished to within an inch of their lives) on screen in the pilot and they were noticeably MISSED by the blackriver guys who were tailing Kitt with Sarah... and the cars remained shiny enough for the camera to focus (pun intended) on the badges

Back to my original point, replying to this text. Ford have enough marques under their control to fill any car park with vehicles...

[FordFilly82]

Think about how many cars you see in one episode of Knight Rider tho. To have to ask permission from all car manufacturers would be insane. Just the ones parked up in car parks for one. I can only think it would be necessariy if you are blatantly advertising one form of transport over there other: eg the central car, which is a main character ie Kitt.

They don't sell any Transams like that any more do they? There would be no competition for their main sponsorship in doing so.

Anyway it's all guess work and conjecture. If the Hoff can use Kitt in his low budget music videos, I see no reason why the Knight Rider crew can't.

Ford, although no longer one of the top 2 car manufacturers (think they are 3rd now behind GM and toyota but not sure on their order...) have certainly been a formidable force in the industry and to my knowledge have quite a diverse stable of manufacturers under their management, including at one point or another Volvo, Jaguar, Masda, Jaguar and Aston Martin although I'm not sure who owns who now.

Suffice to say we did see Volvo's (having being pollished to within an inch of their lives) on screen in the pilot and they were noticeably MISSED by the blackriver guys who were tailing Kitt with Sarah... and the cars remained shiny enough for the camera to focus (pun intended) on the badges

Back to my original point, replying to this text. Ford have enough marques under their control to fill any car park with vehicles...

Yeah don't forget the Land Rovers lol
Though I think they sold their LR stocks,, not sure......

[Knight316]

Well if they do go with a storyline of KARR being installed in KI3T's body, I owuld hope we'd see the Knight 2000 and MK Sr come back and have KI2T somewhat sacrifice himself to take the car out of commision. With the Nano tech, they could do some sort of story where they have to basically knock out KITT's computer and take somewhat of a page from Terminatro and say after 60 seconds, the computer will reboot and the Nano's will fix the car so they have to get that 60 second window to shut down the computer and get in there to change KARR's CPU with a new KITT CPU or something along those lines. But chances are if they're going to bring back KARR, it'll be KARR vs KI3T.

[WIBoomer1]

OK, let's work out the Pilot Movie thing...

I think that it's safe to say that the majority of the Pilot information has been tossed out the door. Cases in point...

1. We haven't seen a color change on KITT since the pilot.
2. The world plots have not come through...aka KITT being dropped off in Germany, etc...
3. No talk about Graiman's past...there's been no character development.
4. Sarah must have given up on teaching.
5. Mike says his Father's name was Michael Long...not Knight...where did he get the information from? Did Mike dig up an old file, one that would be very very classified? betcha he just talked to his dad.
6. Mike's buddy from the pilot is he new Chuck Cunningham (from Happy Days)...MIA.

and most importantly...

Pieces of the K2000 hanging on the wall. I think it's very telling that there was all this old technology, and no KI2T AI to help Graiman. Undoubtedly, KI2T was not there. But why? Is he as some are saying with the Hoff, enjoying Sunday morning fishing excursions? KI2T was a computer. Even though we all agree that he was the most sophisticated AI to exist, FLAG and Knight Industries must have done something else with him. Regulated to a desk, i bet...

(If we want to go even further, why didn't the producers get a knight replica, vs. a old F-body with no t-tops? Someone mentioned that there was 2 TAs with the Mustang in the garage...i only count the one TA. I just checked my DVR copy, there's one shot overhead of the garage, very dimly lit, that shows one of each.)

One more nail, If Graiman was in seclusion, then do we believe that he built the K3000 all by himself? Come on, there's a small army maintaining him; it'd take the same amount or more to create him. Anyone ever watch Overhauled?...KITT's A-Team...yeah!!!

Let's go back to the GM thing...at the end of each episode, it stated that vehicles were provided by Pontiac. Pontiac was the division that made the Firebirds, the base model of the Trans-Am. So yes, GM was involved, and did receive promotional consideration for the use of the cars. They weren't happy about customers asking for the KITT option, so hence the car was called a Black T-Top. I remember the accidents being mentioned on the news. GM didn't want to be held liable for those deaths. I do want to ask, have we seen any GM vehicles in this new show?

I also want to hear when KI2T was in the Pentagon before he was installed in the K2000...this did not happen.

Someone also wrote about Graiman feeling sorry for KARR. So you think that Graiman, who was placed in hiding to protect his knowledge, would have found the pieces of KARR, and fixed him? Do you think that Charles thinks that KARR is his failed science project, and that he wants to make him right? I don't buy it. Why fix a broken prototype when the production version has been improved and road tested?

Yellow lights...maybe when KARR gets intergrated into the K3000, his programming changes the lighting from soothing blues and reds to ambers and yellows? Maybe it also changes the lower paint to match his old shell?

The fiberglass nose thing...the real reason that the TV car could not be sold and used on real US roads is that it was (and to my knowledge still is) illegal to have a red light working on the front of a vehicle unless it is a firetruck or ambulance. It's not hard to foam fill a fiberglass nose to meet safety regulations. Corvettes, by the way, have always had fiberglass noses, and they obviously pass the DOT regulations on the matter.

I think that what will happen in Episode 12 is that we'll get introduced to the bad guy, who steals the K3000,tosses out the AI, and downloads KARR into the K3000, and goes on a rampage. The Kitt Cave techs then install KITT into some other vehicle for this mission, and then figures out a way to get the K3000 to shut down, (ala laser to the scanner via TDR). KARR is wiped from the K3000, and KITT is reinstalled...but KARR's prime (Alpha?) code still exists, and has received new information regarding the wherabouts of Michael Knight Sr, to gain his own revenge...

to be continued...

ONE Man CAN Make a Difference!

Michael Knight, a lone crusader in the dangerous world, the world...of the Knight Rider.

[JJSoCrazy]

I remember GST stating that where the pilot left KITT in the garage in pieces is where it will stay at until they decide to bring him back.

As for Graiman, his charchter will evolve and we will see his connection to TOS as GST stated on the NBC site.

FLAG, episode 13 we will have to wait for.

Joe

[n1elkyfan]

The fiberglass nose thing...the real reason that the TV car could not be sold and used on real US roads is that it was (and to my knowledge still is) illegal to have a red light working on the front of a vehicle unless it is a firetruck or ambulance. It's not hard to foam fill a fiberglass nose to meet safety regulations. Corvettes, by the way, have always had fiberglass noses, and they obviously pass the DOT regulations on the matter.

The corvette does not have a fiberglass nose it is a uarthane nose. And you are right that they wouldn't have been able to use a redlight on the front.