Voice of original KITT

[89IROCNDoug]

I was just wandering: Since William Daniels is not doing the voice of good 'ol KITT for the new TV movie (I thought that's what I read), could it be possible for NBC to use the huge amount of recordings of William Daniels from the original Knight Rider?

Or would that be a violation or something?

They could probably splice together about anything they wanted KITT to say from the old recordings.

[The Shadow]

The car in the new movie is going to be the Knight Industries Three Thousand - it's not KITT from the series.

Will Arnett has been cast to play the voice of the 3000

[89IROCNDoug]

I know that. I said ORIGINAL KITT in the subject heading. I'm talking about the Kinght 2000.

From what I read, the Knight 2000 will be still be making an appearance in the show in some sort of way, so I believe the original Knight 2000 will probably say something!

[Lost Knight]

I doubt it. While it looks as if the Knight 2000 is to make an appearance, I don't believe it's going to be fully intact, or have K.I.T.T.'s A.I. activated.

[Shapeshifter]

Why, on earth, would they do that?

You have to get over what was. This is new.

[Michael Pajaro]

I actually think 89IROCNDoug's question is a fascinating one. They could splice together anything words they wanted to (you only need something like 44 phenomes to speak any english word). Michael used this technique in Goliath Returns to break out of his prison.

But I don't think the technology is there yet to change the inflections enough to match the acting that William Daniels brought to the role. I'm sure by the time they make Shrek 10 they'll no longer need Mike Myers, so voice-over actors need to start looking over their contracts carefully.

[Victor Kros]

You have to get over what was. This is new.

Then why make it a continuation of an older series? Why not just call it the "new" Knight Rider entirely? You can't have it both ways. Wrong approach to take, you set yourself up for disaster when you try to alter what came before to fit what you've created now. Revisionist history is never a good idea when there is a large fanbase behind the original source material, like Star Wars for instance.

As for Daniels reprising KITT's voice, I can't comment on that other then to say having his support/presence involved will always help keep the connections to the past alive.

=VK=

[89IROCNDoug]

Boy, maybe this thread needs a restart!

I am only talking about the original KITT (Knight 2000), which is making an appearance in the NBC movie in one way or the other.

From what I understand, the new KITT (Knight 3000) is different altogether (including the A.I.), so it would make sense for it to have a new voice, which is going to be voiced by Will Arnett.

Since the original KITT (Knight 2000) is making a small appearance, it wouldn't have to say much. All they would have to do is splice some words or even complete phrases together from William Daniel's voice-overs from the original series. No problem! Even my PC could do that pretty well!

I'm just wandering if this would be a violation or if they would need William Daniel's OK to do something like that. Or maybe NBCU has complete ownership over the original Knight Rider media and can reuse any of it at will.

[Shapeshifter]

Boy, maybe this thread needs a restart!

I am only talking about the original KITT (Knight 2000), which is making an appearance in the NBC movie in one way or the other.

From what I understand, the new KITT (Knight 3000) is different altogether (including the A.I.), so it would make sense for it to have a new voice, which is going to be voiced by Will Arnett.

Since the original KITT (Knight 2000) is making a small appearance, it wouldn't have to say much. All they would have to do is splice some words or even complete phrases together from William Daniel's voice-overs from the original series. No problem! Even my PC could do that pretty well!

I'm just wandering if this would be a violation or if they would need William Daniel's OK to do something like that. Or maybe NBCU has complete ownership over the original Knight Rider media and can reuse any of it at will.

NOW I understand! (sometimes I'm a little thick...) to be honest, I haven't heard much about the original KITT at all. It doesn't mean it won't make an appearance...maybe I'll see what I can find out...

[Shapeshifter]

You have to get over what was. This is new.

Then why make it a continuation of an older series? Why not just call it the "new" Knight Rider entirely? You can't have it both ways. Wrong approach to take, you set yourself up for disaster when you try to alter what came before to fit what you've created now. Revisionist history is never a good idea when there is a large fanbase behind the original source material, like Star Wars for instance.

As for Daniels reprising KITT's voice, I can't comment on that other then to say having his support/presence involved will always help keep the connections to the past alive.

=VK=

Victor, you're ghosting my posts. Don't you have anything better to do?

[JJSoCrazy]

Wow thats a good question!

I asked about the original stuff like KITT and Michael Knight all the time for this new pilot b/c I am really excited and can't wait to see them on screen. Shapeshifter please find out about KITT and his scene b/c I really hope he gets to not only be rebuilt but also drive around or what not!

On a sidenoteI gotta say Shapeshifter YOU ALONE have been nothing but kind when supplying us with info, thanks for you time in doing so and can't wait till Feburary.

BTW I have been on the lookout on NBC for the movie promos and what not and yet have not seen much, maybe after the new year?

[Victor Kros]

Shapeshifter you continue to evade the question with excuses. You made the statement, take responsibility for it.

=VK=

[Mango19]

You made the statement, take responsibility for it.

=VK=

So, how about this statement?

I haven't ghosted his (Shapeshifter's) posts attacking everything he has said since the time we made an agreement in private.

By my count, Shapeshifter posted four times last night, and you ghosted two of them.

[Michael Pajaro]

Everybody please remain focused.

The topic here is the voice of KITT. The Knight 2000 and the Knight 3000 are two different characters, so it makes sense that they would have different voices. (Just as KARR had a different voice. (Two different voices, actually!))

It seems that the black Trans Am will have some sort of presence in the movie, but we don't know if it will be actually speaking. Clearly, we would all expect it to sound like William Daniels, but he is not involved with the production as far as we know.

Please direct any personal comments privately.

[Victor Kros]

Mango19 you really shouldn't involve yourself in matters that do not concern you.

Let me clarify the internet definition of the term "ghosting" as it relates to forum posting. It means to watch someone and post directly after they've made a comment consecutively or within a post of the original in the span of at least a minute. I haven't made a comment since 6:01pm, Dec 16th until 6:22pm today.

5:39pm - Shapeshifter - 16th
5:57pm - Pajaro - 18 - 16th
6:01pm - VK - 16th - 18 minutes after
10:44pm- 89IROCNDoug -
10:55pm - Shapeshifter - 16th
10:14am - Shapeshifter 17th
5:33pm - jjsocrazy
6:22pm - VK - 17th

Since that point, 89IROCNDoug, Shapeshifter (x2), and jjsocrazy have made comments before I made any response to Shapeshifter's reply. I've been quite busy dealing with other Knight Rider business and I frankly am weary of you trying to generate conflict with me, I've said it before and I will say it again, your only interest in this matter is to generate conflict. I do my research, I suggest you try doing the same.

You already succeeded in getting my last thread shut down, do not cause another one to fold because of your personal interests. You have a problem with me, leave it in PMs.

My comment to Shapeshifter was a valid question that deserves a valid answer from him alone.

=VK=

[JJSoCrazy]

Lots of controversy here, don't want to get involved so lets get back on topic everyone.

Now the voice to be with KITT, if William Daniels doesn't wish to be the voice again for some reason, I am sure they can come up with something that will duplicate his voice or a special type of transition software using past speakings. I hope that it isn't illegal or anything because it would be nice to have that if KITT does speak, and I hope he does!

[Michael Pajaro]

This is pure speculation on my part, but with some basis in fact.

My guess is that Universal would be free to "repurpose" William Daniels recordings. In the early 80s, the home video market had barely started and actors (in general) didn't retain a lot of rights to the shows. (They would possibly have a standard broadcast & syndication deal.) I have a memory of William Daniels on either the Tonight Show or possibly Merv Griffin (!) saying that he expected Knight Rider to last 1/2 season and his agent said he might as well do it for a little extra cash. So I don't think he spent a lot of time in negotiations, and Universal would own his performance (with restrictions, of course.)

I don't think it will be come down to that (re-editing KITT's old voice). I believe that if William Daniels expressed interest, they would write an episode around him. If not, they would either get a sound-alike actor (usually a bad idea) or just skip the idea completely.

[Lost Knight]

I don't think it will be come down to that (re-editing KITT's old voice). I believe that if William Daniels expressed interest, they would write an episode around him. If not, they would either get a sound-alike actor (usually a bad idea) or just skip the idea completely.

I'm going to have to agree. In fact, I was going to speculate William Daniels' outlook on K.I.T.T. in another thread but refrained to not send it off in a tangent. Anyway, what I was going to say was that frankly I don't think he's even interested in reprising his role as K.I.T.T. (though, I hope I'm wrong). From what I've gathered by listening to a phone interview he gave, he thought of Knight Rider as a side job of sorts, thinking that when he had free time from filming St. Elsewhere, he could step in a booth, record his lines, get no written credit, and no one would ever know it was him. But quite the opposite actually happened, and it turned out that he got a lot of unexpected attention for his role and a lot of people figured it out. What makes me wonder if he's interested, however, is the fact that sometimes he's provided his voice for questionable circumstances. I know he supplied two words for one of The Simpsons episodes, where he said, "door ajar," and that he supplied his voice for some recordings for the Kenner Voice Car toy. I wonder if he'd be willing to reprise his role if the price is right, but I question his outlook on the role and whether he even takes it seriously. But one thing's for sure: he certainly made the character his own and understands it.

[Victor Kros]

I honestly don't believe it's a question of desire or money, at this point it's a question of age that is paramount to his involvement. Keep in mind William Daniels is older then Glen. He did Blades of Glory though, I believe he's still got one more run left in him.

=VK=

[neps]

I used to have an Uncle who was an Actor, and one of his roles in his later years he was a voice actor for a popular Nickelodeon cartoon show. This was in the early 90s and even then he was able to literally "phone it in". So it's possible, that while Daniels can't jump around these days, it's alot easier than traveling to some studio in Burbank.

Wishful thinking I suppose.

[JJSoCrazy]

I used to have an Uncle who was an Actor, and one of his roles in his later years he was a voice actor for a popular Nickelodeon cartoon show. This was in the early 90s and even then he was able to literally "phone it in". So it's possible, that while Daniels can't jump around these days, it's alot easier than traveling to some studio in Burbank.

Wishful thinking I suppose.

Thats a good idea. I'm sure he can just do that or have his voice recorded for a few phrases. BTW what TV show was it?