knight rider online

A while ago I posted some observations on "Knight of the Phoenix" here are some more for all you nitpickers out there!

(14:23) – How much time has elapsed since Michael Long arrived at Wilton Knights house? Michael obviously needed some time to recover and when we see his new face Devon and Wilton are discussing that K.I.T.T. will be done within the month. Then what seems like the next day, during a discussion on the balcony Wilton comments that he wants K.I.T.T. to be completed in the next 48 hours. Devon acts as though this is not enough time. Hasn't he been working on K.I.T.T. for a while now?

(17:52) – Whose car is transformed into K.I.T.T.? At the beginning of the episode, Michael Long has a Black/Gray Trans Am. Does Wilton Knight take his car or is it coincidence that K.I.T.T. is also a Trans Am? Obviously Michael Knight thinks this car is his. The ensuing conversation leads one to believe that it is just coincidence but it’s hard to tell if Devon just means they’ve made some many changes to Michael Long’s car that the resemblance is coincidence.

(27:39) – What’s with the rocket engine whine that you here all the time?

(29:46) – The first time we hear the voice of K.I.T.T., the visual that goes along with his voice is a flashing red box, not the vertical red lines we see in later episodes.

(31:04) – When K.I.T.T. is trying to wake Michael up it appears that “Normal Cruise” off-center, has this been super-imposed into the picture?

(31:11) – When K.I.T.T. switches from “Normal Cruise” to “Auto Cruise” the words “KNIGHT 2000” are visible on his red voice box, this must have been done in a mock up since the words don’t appear when K.I.T.T. is talking!

(35:20) – Nice! The two would be car thieves pull up inches away from K.I.T.T. One asks the other “Do you see what I see?” Then we switch to the view from inside the thieves car and K.I.T.T. seems to be several feet away!

Nitpicker wrote:(29:46) – The first time we hear the voice of K.I.T.T., the visual that goes along with his voice is a flashing red box, not the vertical red lines we see in later episodes.

Well, in the first 12 or 13 episodes of the 1st season KITT's voice modulator was a flashing red box, but then KITT get's his voice modulator upgraded during the middle of the 1st season to the three vertical red flashing lines. I forgot what was the name of the episode when KITT's voice modulator was upgraded, but I think it was the 13th episode of the 1st season.

Oh and I have one more nitpick for you. Right after KITT drops off the two car thiefs KITT is seen driving alone with no one at the wheel. As KITT cruises into the gas station and aproaches Michael you can totally see the hidden driver's arms come off of the steering wheel as he stops in front of Michael

[quote="Nitpicker"]

(27:39) – What’s with the rocket engine whine that you here all the time?


i've often wondered the same thing, cause in a lot of scenes where michael is driving you can hear a nice rumbling V8 engine, yet most distant or passing shots have the turbine sound, was KITT gas turbine powered? or is it just a weird mistake?

rulloa81 wrote:

Nitpicker wrote:(29:46) – The first time we hear the voice of K.I.T.T., the visual that goes along with his voice is a flashing red box, not the vertical red lines we see in later episodes.

Well, in the first 12 or 13 episodes of the 1st season KITT's voice modulator was a flashing red box, but then KITT get's his voice modulator upgraded during the middle of the 1st season to the three vertical red flashing lines. I forgot what was the name of the episode when KITT's voice modulator was upgraded, but I think it was the 13th episode of the 1st season.

Oh and I have one more nitpick for you. Right after KITT drops off the two car thiefs KITT is seen driving alone with no one at the wheel. As KITT cruises into the gas station and aproaches Michael you can totally see the hidden driver's arms come off of the steering wheel as he stops in front of Michael

The episode was Hearts of Stone.

And another thing: Does Knght Industries have some superior medical technology, something far more advanced than anything we see on ER? I mean, when the doc cuts the bandages from Michael's head, good old Larry Anderson is transformed to the handsome David Hasselhoff with immaculate features, not even a scar or a bruise. This is impossible even oday in the 21th century. Completely rebuilding a face is impossible, there'll be always some minor disfigurements. Maybe Wilton had a Dermal Regenerator from Star Trek (as he had a Cylon eye from Battlestar Galactica )

And what's with the scene where the helicopter carrying Michael arrives to The Mansion? We can see Kitt zooming past in the background. Maybe they were testing his engine.

During the scene where Michael is awaken by Kitt and the cops, we can see that Kitt's blackout rear lights are replaced with a stock TA part. Kitt even has some normal licance plate, not the KNIGHT one.

At the demolition derby scene, we can see Kitt in a mirror shot, the lic plate is clearly mirrored.

And what's with those weird controls? There is no Turbo Boost button, yet there are switches labelled 6RM, 2DLA and other stupid codes. What do they mean?

The reason why there are a ton of little mistakes throughout this episode is because I guess they were putting the scenes together in a hurry

First they filmed a demo episode of Knight of the Phoenix so that they could present it to Universal. So then they filmed it again and they combines scenes from the demo and from the second time that they filmed it. In some scenes you can easily tell which scene is from the demo and which is from the second version. For example each scene that has the regular T/A front nose on KITT is from the demo. I don't mind KITT with the regular TA front nose, it looks pretty cool.

Also, Michael has a regular chrome watch for the first half of the episode, then without any explanation, it suddenly becomes the comlink.

There was a Knight Rider comic strip that was posted in a thread here recently, and in it, it says that Michael receives a chip implanted in his brain so that he can communicate with K.I.T.T. There was some speculation if this concept was taken from the first drafts of the pilot, and if the concept was eventually scrapped for the comlink.

I wonder if this discrepancy has anything to do with some of these scenes being filmed before a script change (i.e. like that weird-looking front nose that was used for the demo).

I'm gleaning some of the things I'm assuming from both the pilot plus the Knight Rider novel (first one, based on the pilot).

Nitpicker wrote: (17:52) – Whose car is transformed into K.I.T.T.? At the beginning of the episode, Michael Long has a Black/Gray Trans Am. Does Wilton Knight take his car or is it coincidence that K.I.T.T. is also a Trans Am? Obviously Michael Knight thinks this car is his. The ensuing conversation leads one to believe that it is just coincidence but it’s hard to tell if Devon just means they’ve made some many changes to Michael Long’s car that the resemblance is coincidence.

Since KARR is another T/A exactly like KITT and apparently created before KITT, it is possible that the car that Michael Long had was left in the desert with a body to be found by the police. I think I vaguely recall Devon saying in a later episode that they left a body for the police to find. It was in a 2nd season episode I forgot the name of, where they dig up Michael Long's grave and KITT is forced to shut down. The one where Michael gets a medallion to press to summon KITT back into activation. So, the car in the pilot was another T/A. And thus it was a coincidence that Michael (Long) owned a T/A as well.

Nitpicker wrote: (27:39) – What’s with the rocket engine whine that you here all the time?

KITT is not run by a normal eninge, but rather supposedly a Turbine engine, thus the whine you (only sometimes) hear. Later in the seasons, they used more and more of the V8 engine sounds that originally came with the T/As and less of the turbine engine, but only if the effect would make it somehow cool or sound like KITT was super-fast when they needed to convey it.

Nitpicker wrote: (29:46) – The first time we hear the voice of K.I.T.T., the visual that goes along with his voice is a flashing red box, not the vertical red lines we see in later episodes.

As mentioned, it was changed in a later episode. I think after Trust Doesn't Rust where they first battled KARR (which had the 3-bar version) they decided to make KITT that way as well.

FuzzieDice wrote:Since KARR is another T/A exactly like KITT and apparently created before KITT, it is possible that the car that Michael Long had was left in the desert with a body to be found by the police. I think I vaguely recall Devon saying in a later episode that they left a body for the police to find. It was in a 2nd season episode I forgot the name of, where they dig up Michael Long's grave and KITT is forced to shut down. The one where Michael gets a medallion to press to summon KITT back into activation. So, the car in the pilot was another T/A. And thus it was a coincidence that Michael (Long) owned a T/A as well.

I personally believe that K.I.T.T. was a separate car and not built out of Michael Long's Trans Am. However, the whole coincidence aspect always bugged me. So, a simple theory I came up with to explain the similarities in cars is that Wilton Knight decided to use the Trans Am for K.A.R.R. after keeping an eye on Michael Long.

I think maybe until less than a year before KITT was created, KARR was deactivated and placed in storage. I think the idea for KARR and his development began as far back as the late '70s, where the military was interested in KARR and wanted him to be built as a tank. So, after Wilton had chosen the 1982 Trans Am for KARR's body inspired by Michael Long's car, he used the same for KITT.

Script from http://www.screentalk.biz/moviescripts/ ... oenix1.pdf

MICHAEL:
What're you talking about. That's my Trans Am. I left it out in the desert.

DEVON:
No, it may look like your car, but in actuality, that vehicle is now probably the most expensive car in the world.


I always thought that Devon was saying that it used to be Michael (Long)'s car but NOW ML doesn't exist and they've heavily modified it, it is no longer his car. Also, he doesn't correct him on the ownership when Michael complements the 'new paint job'. At that point, it may have been his car, but later on they had to alter some details and leaving the body in the desert may indeed have meant with his car.

But looking back at te script, it does appear that it may be a different car, which fits in better with the origin of KARR.

It's a longshot, but maybe FLAG had chosen Michael in advance and modelled the car on his. They couldnt have foreseen the fact he happened to survive when he got shot but it would have more convenient.

Also, i'm not sure what advantages this would really have except maybe make him feel more at home whilst driving.

Wizster wrote:It's a longshot, but maybe FLAG had chosen Michael in advance and modelled the car on his. They couldnt have foreseen the fact he happened to survive when he got shot but it would have more convenient.

Also, i'm not sure what advantages this would really have except maybe make him feel more at home whilst driving.

That's what I'm saying. I was also thinking of why Wilton would be intent on modeling the Knight Automated Roving Robot off of Michael Long's Trans Am. Why couldn't we conclude that it was for the same reasons Glen Larson picked the Trans Am? Maybe Wilton simply liked the look of Michael's car? That, coupled with the fact that Michael may have been more comfortable operating a vehicle that was very similar to his previous one. Wilton's choice in picking Michael was a personal one, and given the fact that he had the money to make K.I.T.T. just about any car he wanted, maybe his choice was based on Michael's best interests; in other words: he might have thought Michael would be most effective the more comfortable he was. Just a thought...

i like the way you concluded lost knight well done.

Lost Knight wrote:I personally believe that K.I.T.T. was a separate car and not built out of Michael Long's Trans Am.

That's what I was saying. But I don't know much about KARR (not many do) so I don't know if he was going to be another vehicle or what? Maybe he wasn't going to be anything other than a T/A but they built him with too simple a mind - follow instructions. From the Trust Doesn't Rust novel, it seems that is the case. Maybe all KARR did was follow orders and someone got in the way so Wilton Knight shuts him down since everyone present saw it and he didn't want repercussions from others.

But why they didn't remove the CPU from KARR and store it for later use, and add KITT's CPU instead of building a whole new car is a mystery. Seems KARR would have been more complete and thus all he needed was a new CPU. Would have been quicker.

Unless KARR didn't quite fit Michael's "specifications" as Devon mentioned in the pilot, that KITT was designed to fit Michael perfectly.

The Trans Am Michael Long had is not the same car as KITT.

You can see the proof of this in a second season episode (don't remember the name just now...) where April is looking for something from the computer. There's a picture of a news paper with the headline "Michael Long's car found" or something like this.

End of line.

would that have been the episode "knightmares" after michael forgets who he is, after getting concussed by a grenade, april shows him the newspaper page on the computer, at FLAG headquarters, to try and jog his memory.

Here it is and yes it says his car was found.
THE DEBATE IS OVER KITT IS A NEW CAR END OF STORY.

LightForceKittFan wrote:The Trans Am Michael Long had is not the same car as KITT.

You can see the proof of this in a second season episode (don't remember the name just now...) where April is looking for something from the computer. There's a picture of a news paper with the headline "Michael Long's car found" or something like this.

End of line.

Wow. Nice find! Will have to watch that one soon.

lol i have the same avatar as lost knight i found mine on google images

Good find! That explains it right there. And explains a bit why KARR is also a T/A and not something else.