Knight Rider, a shadowy flight into the dangerous world of a man who does not exist. Michael Knight, a young loner on a crusade to champion the cause of the innocent, the helpless, the powerless, in a world of criminals who operate above the law….Michael Knight, a Lone Crusader in a Dangerous World, the World of the…KNIGHT RIDER
Knight Rider was an American “crimefighter plus high-tech vehicle” television series that ran between 1982 and 1986, and was broadcast on NBC television. The show starred David Hasselhoff as Michael Knight, an injured detective who is revived by a dying billionaire and selected for the role as a crime-fighter and to manage the Foundation for Law and Government. The rich benefactor provides him with a prototype, one of a kind, indestructible talking car named KITT (voiced by William Daniels), that came loaded with an array of gadgets, as well as a foundation to run everything behind the scenes. The exterior was modelled on a black Pontiac Trans-Am with an interior that Michael Knight referred to as something out of “Darth Vader’s bathroom,” in the pilot episode.
Decked out in alarming ’80s fashions, earnestly spouting some of the worst dialogue in the history of television, Hasselhoff radiates the unique charisma that made him a cult figure. Each episode is pretty much the same as the next one. Criminals make their presence felt, trouble ensues, an adversary for KITT is revealed, solution found, smash through walls, turbo boost over car blockade, crime solved, Michael gets girl.
Here are the opening credits:
KITT, short for “Knight Industries Two Thousand”, was the real star of the show. KITT was reinforced with a “Molecular Bonded” shell, which was resistant to most known weapons, and had artificial intelligence sophisticated enough to deliver dry sarcastic one-liners to Michael while navigating at 300 MPH. KITT could drive himself when Michael was otherwise occupied, keeping in contact via a “comlink” (disguised as a crappy Casio wristwatch). KITT was equipped with surveillance cameras, which were useful for post-chase analysis of the bad guys. But footage from these cameras consisted of clips from the show itself, in which KITT was featured prominently, meaning his surveillance cameras were hovering some distance outside the car.
The car featured numerous amazing special abilities, such as the ability to print money and the overused ‘Turbo Boost’ for jumping over obstacles. For some reason, even though KITT was supposed to be voice responsive, Michael was required to not only yell “Turbo Boost,” to activate it, but also had to push a button on the dashboard. In one episode, KITT was able to escape from being half-buried in loose shale, while in another he was unable to use turbo-boost to escape a 40-foot truck trailer because he couldn’t get a running start. Here is a video of the “turbo boost” sequence:
KITT was a modified Pontiac Trans Am, originally designed by Michael Scheffe. The convertible and super-pursuit versions of KITT were customized by the legendary George Barris. After the show became a big hit, Pontiac dealerships across the country were swamped with calls and visitors looking for the black Trans Am model that had KITT’s features. Many people were practically laughed out of the dealership after learning the car really did not exist. Toward the end of the first season, in a formal letter to Universal Studios, General Motors stupidly asked them to never refer to KITT as a “Pontiac” or a “Trans Am” ever again. From then on KITT was just called KITT, or referred to as a “black t-top.” Knight Rider had a profound effect on consumer expectations, and the motor industry reacted accordingly. Within a couple of years of the show’s runaway success, motor manufacturers began offering vehicles with digital LED instrumentation, and even trip computers and security systems which used electronic voice synthesisers which played back “talking” messages to the driver. Today, the original KITT can be seen at the Cars of the Stars Motor Museum in Keswick, Cumbria, England.
Some of my favorite episodes involved Michael’s physical double (except for the goatee), Garthe Knight (an international criminal who happened to be Wilton Knight’s natural son). Garthe piloted a huge, nearly indestructible truck named Goliath. Goliath also counts as a nemesis of a sort for KITT, since it shared the same Molecular Bonded Shell, although it had no artificial intelligence. Utilizing the same molecular bonded shell used by KITT. Garthe named this truck “Goliath”, and resolved to use it to destroy Michael Knight, which Garthe views as an insult to his very existence. Michael and KITT are forced to battle this behemoth in attempt to destroy Garthe’s evil plans.
Other favorite episodes involve KITT’s evil twin, which was named KARR (Knight Automated Roving Robot), and had yellow sensors instead of red ones. KARR fell into the wrong hands and served as KITT’s “evil twin” during two episodes, “Trust Doesn’t Rust“, and “K.I.T.T. vs K.A.R.R.“.
Here are some clips from the KITT vs KARR episode:
Part of the cheesiness of the show people pick on is the constant use of stock footage, and sometimes, miniatures. The producers found that buying the famous footage from Warner Brothers was actually cheaper than trying to recreate the scene themselves.
David Hasselhoff went on to a singing career, and is actually quite popular in Germany for his music, also. Here KITT makes an appearance in this David Hasselhoff music video for “Jump In My Car” :
In 1983, the show’s producers released a single during the holiday season. Produced by Glen Ballard & Brock Walsh, and released under the performer title “Kitt The Amazing Car of Tomorrow” with narration by William Daniels & David Hasselhoff, but mostly by an unknown performer, the single was titled “A Knight Rider Christmas” (MCA Records 52330). The song features “Michael” rapping over the Knight Rider theme, with car sound effects from the show, and of course a “turbo boost” from KITT, and it tells the story of “the night KITT saved Christmas” by rescuing Santa Claus from a snowbank, and towing Santa’s sleigh so he could finish his rounds.
LISTEN TO MP3:
DOWNLOAD:
KITT_The_Amazing_Car_of_Tomorrow_-_A_Knight_Rider_Christmas.mp3
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Thank you for all the info. You really did your homework well.
Kuddos to you, my friend.