Why I think KITT should be put in a new car
Posted: Wed Jan 11, 2006 11:27 pm
I know people have their own opinions as to KITT for the KR movie. Most have their opinions about what type of car that KITT should be put in, and many see KITT in many of vehicles. As you guys know, I wouldn't mind seeing KITT in a 2002 Pontiac Trans-Am or a 2005 Ford Mustang. And I know a lot prefer that KITT remain in a 1982 Trans-Am. However, not many people explain why they think that KITT should be put into a new car or why he should remain in the Trans-Am body.
I understand why many would prefer KITT to come back in the 1982 Trans-Am body. It's the same reason why the General Lee remained an orange 1969 Dodge Charger, even down to the rebel flag. For the Dukes, the General Lee had to be a '69 Charger. If it had been a newer car or a different year model, it wouldn't have been the General Lee. It's nostalgia. We see a certain car, we expect the car to represent what it means. When a car is a star, people expect the car to remain the same. It is, therefore, an icon. And in my opinion, that's okay.
Now, here comes the part that many of you may hate. The reason why I think KITT should be put into a new car is the fact that KITT has an ability that no other star car can: to evolve. And KITT did. He was "as human" as the human counterparts. So, why not have him change like the human counterparts (namely Michael) have?
One thing to keep in mind is that KITT wasn't ALWAYS a 1982 Trans-Am. As we all know, KITT was performed by many 1982-1985 Pontiac Trans-Ams, much like the General in the original Dukes. So, that would mean that KITT was, in fact, a 1985 Trans-Am when the show ended (though it may have been a similar body style, it was still a newer model). But I think by putting KITT into a new car would stick true to KITTs evolution. And I know you're thinking, "But KITT was put into two other cars and they sucked!" It's understandable. But you have to take into account that KITT being put into the '57 Chevy was probably meant to be part of the joke about how out-of-date KITT was suppose to be in KR2000. And KIFT, though meant to be a major improvement over KITT's technology, was ridiculous for the fact that the car was ugly and unbelieveable in design.
In that thought, I came to realize why KIFT's body failed to attract most fans: The fact it was too far out. One of the advantages that KITT had back in the original show was the fact that he was not only a "one of a kind car", but the fact that he was also a common car. "What do you mean 'common'?" The fact that he was referred to as a Trans-Am during the first series, which meant that there were probably LOTS of them running around in the KR universe (Heck, we know that Michael owned and drove one in the pilot epiosde before KITT came into existence). The advantage of there being a lot of Trans-Ams of the same make and model made him blend easier into his surrounding cars, which means the odds of him being noticed were slimmer. Let's compare that situation to now: How many 1982 Trans-Am-1992 Pontiac Formulas are out on the road today? Not a whole lot. That means that if KITT was a 1982 Trans-Am, then people would notice him if he were to trail a suspect vehicle or park across the street from the bad guys hideout. In other words, he'd stick out like a sore thumb. By placing him into a new or recent car, he would be able to still have that ability to blend into traffic should he need to follow a suspect.
"But the Team Knight Rider vehicles were common cars and motorcycles. And some fans disliked them!" Maybe many fans dislike the cars because none of them were KITT. They were all different personalities, but none of them were KITT. I bet that if KITT had been installed in one of the vehicles as the "leader" car, the show would have been more enjoyable and probably would have lasted more than one season. Not only that, those same fans were expecting the familiar '82 Trans-Am. But not many realize that the reason why the '82 Trans-Am didn't come up in the show as the leader vehicle was the fact that a series has a set amount of money for the budget. Not only that, do we want to put the Trans-Am on the short numbers list like how the '69 Dodge Charger was put on the short numbers list due to "The Dukes of Hazzard"? The original KR show had the advantage of the Trans-Am line still being in production, much like how "Team Knight Rider" did with those particular Ford models. So, by using '82 Trans-Ams-1992 Formulas would further lower their numbers.
"But what about '2 Fast 2 Furious'? They feature two muscle cars and they had many of them!" For those who are unaware, that rebuild cars from the frames up. "Year One", as seen on the Camero's license tag on the front of the car, is a restoration and performance company. Besides, due to the limited scenes that the cars are feature, three of both the muscle cars in the film were probably needed (including one that was a shell the could be launched for the big jump at the end). But seeing that a KR movie would require a lot of stunt driving that would probably be even more extreme than seen in any of the "Fast and the Furious" films. Even the General Lee for the Dukes movie, 26 Chargers were purchased. Who knows how many of them were destroyed for the making of that movie (look at the ending credits and look at the "How to Launch a Muscle Car 125 Feet in 4 Seconds" feature on the DVD if you need a clue about what kind of damage the cars took). With this in mind, it would be easier and a lot less painstaking to just use newer cars.
Of course, this is just my opinion and interpretation of what I know. You guys can disagree if you like, but these details are why I think KITT should be put into a new car. The Admins are welcome to delete this post, should it be offending to anyone.
I understand why many would prefer KITT to come back in the 1982 Trans-Am body. It's the same reason why the General Lee remained an orange 1969 Dodge Charger, even down to the rebel flag. For the Dukes, the General Lee had to be a '69 Charger. If it had been a newer car or a different year model, it wouldn't have been the General Lee. It's nostalgia. We see a certain car, we expect the car to represent what it means. When a car is a star, people expect the car to remain the same. It is, therefore, an icon. And in my opinion, that's okay.
Now, here comes the part that many of you may hate. The reason why I think KITT should be put into a new car is the fact that KITT has an ability that no other star car can: to evolve. And KITT did. He was "as human" as the human counterparts. So, why not have him change like the human counterparts (namely Michael) have?
One thing to keep in mind is that KITT wasn't ALWAYS a 1982 Trans-Am. As we all know, KITT was performed by many 1982-1985 Pontiac Trans-Ams, much like the General in the original Dukes. So, that would mean that KITT was, in fact, a 1985 Trans-Am when the show ended (though it may have been a similar body style, it was still a newer model). But I think by putting KITT into a new car would stick true to KITTs evolution. And I know you're thinking, "But KITT was put into two other cars and they sucked!" It's understandable. But you have to take into account that KITT being put into the '57 Chevy was probably meant to be part of the joke about how out-of-date KITT was suppose to be in KR2000. And KIFT, though meant to be a major improvement over KITT's technology, was ridiculous for the fact that the car was ugly and unbelieveable in design.
In that thought, I came to realize why KIFT's body failed to attract most fans: The fact it was too far out. One of the advantages that KITT had back in the original show was the fact that he was not only a "one of a kind car", but the fact that he was also a common car. "What do you mean 'common'?" The fact that he was referred to as a Trans-Am during the first series, which meant that there were probably LOTS of them running around in the KR universe (Heck, we know that Michael owned and drove one in the pilot epiosde before KITT came into existence). The advantage of there being a lot of Trans-Ams of the same make and model made him blend easier into his surrounding cars, which means the odds of him being noticed were slimmer. Let's compare that situation to now: How many 1982 Trans-Am-1992 Pontiac Formulas are out on the road today? Not a whole lot. That means that if KITT was a 1982 Trans-Am, then people would notice him if he were to trail a suspect vehicle or park across the street from the bad guys hideout. In other words, he'd stick out like a sore thumb. By placing him into a new or recent car, he would be able to still have that ability to blend into traffic should he need to follow a suspect.
"But the Team Knight Rider vehicles were common cars and motorcycles. And some fans disliked them!" Maybe many fans dislike the cars because none of them were KITT. They were all different personalities, but none of them were KITT. I bet that if KITT had been installed in one of the vehicles as the "leader" car, the show would have been more enjoyable and probably would have lasted more than one season. Not only that, those same fans were expecting the familiar '82 Trans-Am. But not many realize that the reason why the '82 Trans-Am didn't come up in the show as the leader vehicle was the fact that a series has a set amount of money for the budget. Not only that, do we want to put the Trans-Am on the short numbers list like how the '69 Dodge Charger was put on the short numbers list due to "The Dukes of Hazzard"? The original KR show had the advantage of the Trans-Am line still being in production, much like how "Team Knight Rider" did with those particular Ford models. So, by using '82 Trans-Ams-1992 Formulas would further lower their numbers.
"But what about '2 Fast 2 Furious'? They feature two muscle cars and they had many of them!" For those who are unaware, that rebuild cars from the frames up. "Year One", as seen on the Camero's license tag on the front of the car, is a restoration and performance company. Besides, due to the limited scenes that the cars are feature, three of both the muscle cars in the film were probably needed (including one that was a shell the could be launched for the big jump at the end). But seeing that a KR movie would require a lot of stunt driving that would probably be even more extreme than seen in any of the "Fast and the Furious" films. Even the General Lee for the Dukes movie, 26 Chargers were purchased. Who knows how many of them were destroyed for the making of that movie (look at the ending credits and look at the "How to Launch a Muscle Car 125 Feet in 4 Seconds" feature on the DVD if you need a clue about what kind of damage the cars took). With this in mind, it would be easier and a lot less painstaking to just use newer cars.
Of course, this is just my opinion and interpretation of what I know. You guys can disagree if you like, but these details are why I think KITT should be put into a new car. The Admins are welcome to delete this post, should it be offending to anyone.