Vital Knight Rider Elements

[Cobra]

Hi everyone,

This is my first post here but I have been a frequent visitor to this forum for many years now.

Anyways, moving on to what this thread topic is about.

Knight Rider (the series) to me had many vital elements that made it a success which were missing in everything that tried to replicate it (ie. Viper) or anything else attached to the franchise (Knight Rider 2000, TKR, etc.). Much like these failures, the present success of Knight Rider depends on its ability to revive that lost soul that none have so far succeeded in accomplishing.

Knight Rider (the series) had it all. The perfect car, the perfect hero, the perfect theme song, the perfect voice of KITT, a pilot that did a great job of showcasing all these elements in one episode to garner enough support for a full prime-time series, and a perfect theme (one man with a sleek and awesome car making a difference). It all blended in so well. It hit so many of the right tunes with children, teens, and many adults which led to its success. This (to me and many others) was art at its peak.

If you look at why the others were failures, it was because it was missing not one but many of these vital elements. You can't buy success, you can only build it with passionate hands. That is what Knight Rider (the series) was. A show that was built with artistic hands that was fueled with a passion to create something no one had yet tried. The creator, director, actors, cast and crew, etc. were all passionate about this project and poured their heart out on it. That is why in the end they carved out a show that caused wave upon wave of fans around the world to flock to their TV's to watch every airing (or re-run) of it, from Africa to the Middle East. How many TV shows spanning 4 seasons can say that about themselves?

I was first introduced to Knight Rider accidentally (as a 5 year old boy) while sitting in front of the TV playing with some toys when a mysterious black car with its beautiful theme song glided towards me across the desert, a black dot coming closer and closer, the mystery slowly unwinding of what this black object in the distance was.....I was glued to it, and from then on I have never found a show that struck a cord so deep in me since Knight Rider. The deep voice in the background "One man can make a difference Michael", the scenery, the car, the hero, the theme song.

Growing up, it has been very hard for me to expect anything less when the word Knight Rider is attached to it. I don't expect today's shows to carry the purity and soul that Knight Rider had. Today many shows run off a business that is more keen on making a quick buck and less keen on allowing creative hands to take control. This is what in the end can kill a show with potential. I hope that the new Knight Rider series and the movie do not go that route.

That said, the new series unveiled the Mustang as the new KITT. I would be lying if I didn't say I was disappointed. The car played a vital role in the series, the curved lines, the red glow of the scanner, the black sleek body, the voice, the relationship between Michael and KITT....it was all a formula guaranteed to be successful. I don't know if I would have looked at KITT the same had he been a car that lacked those curves and sleek body and looked like a shiny box with a front resembling a vehicle from the 60s (a move backwards in terms of futuristic design). To me this was a strike 1 for the show. It can still live on with 2 stikes to go. If the shows fails in building that mysterious aura that KITT had when it was first introduced on TV, if it fails to properly build the main characters and properly carve out the type of relationship Michael had with KITT with the new KITT and new Michael (Tracer), if it fails to create a character within the car that allows us to love the new KITT like we did the old KITT, if it fails to give us a hero that we can feel for, that we can each see a tiny bit of us in him maybe even picture us being him, then this series will go the way of the dinosaurs, much like Viper, TKR, and anything else that tried to capitalize on an idea with corporate hands guiding rather than creative and passionate hands.

At the end of the day, the show Knight Rider was much like KITT.......one of a kind.

Regards,
Cobra

[seeker78]

Cobra, we're probably close to the same age, when Knight Rider ended in 1986 I was 8!!! So yeah, I agree with you, there's something visceral about the feeling invoked by Knight Rider.

That's what a lot of people who like the mustang seem not to understand. It's not that it has to be a 1982 Trans Am, (although that would be ideal), but it has to have the essential elements of KITT: it has to be streamlined, futuristic, mysterious, aerodynamic, high tech. That Trans Am was basically nothing but black curve, with that mysterious red light on the front.

The problem with this current car is not that it is not a GM or it is not a Trans Am (Ford makes cars that look more kitt-esque, like the Focus for example), the problem is that it is a "muscle car" and that is NOT KITT. Knight Rider was not really a "muscle car person" show. It was not "The Fast and the Furious". It was more of a science fiction/geek show.

Now, the outside look of the car alone will not ruin the show, the other elements can make up for it to some extent, as Cobra said. A high tech dashboard will help a lot too.

A big part of the problem is, I remember when they first said a while back that they were in initial planning for this show (before the more recent announcement) and they said it would appeal to people who liked "the fast and the furious". That is the WRONG take on Knight Rider!!!

The fact that David Hasselhoff is talking to the actor playing the main character helps, maybe he can help the guy be a better Michael Knight type character. We'll see.

--Brian

[HungarianKnight]

I was five years old when Knight Rider was aired for the first time in Hungary and I became a fan since the first episode I ever saw (Trust doesn't rust). For me, the most important elements, as of which I love the series, are the good combination of action, adventure and humour, the overall concept if Kitt the living car, the interaction between the characters. Oh yes, Glen A. Larson presented us characters who are loveable, who we grow to like because of what they are. Who could ever forget the wittiness of Kitt, the attitude of Michael, the charm of Bonnie, the "Englishness" of Devon and the street-wisdom of RC3?

Second of all, let us not forget about the episodes themselves. There are certain ones which were beyond the quality of the traditional 80's television and that of even today. I'm talking about Race for Life in Season 2. For me, it is the episode I remember the most as it is the most humane episode. You see, we have a little girl who is terminally ill and at the opposite side, a computer which claims not to have any human emotions. As your friendly neighborhood KR fan is struggling with his tears, we see Kitt's highly logical attitude shatter as he learns the value of human life.

And at all occasions, we see our heroes help those who need help the most, those who are too much like us. Those who are too small to take a stand, those who don't fight back because they can't fight back. Here we are, hoping that one day our unsolvable problems will be solved by an unknown stranger, and even though we know well that it is imposible, we still keep up the high hopes. As Knight Rider is not only about the car or the pilot. Knight Rider is about hope.

[JJSoCrazy]

Hi everyone,

This is my first post here but I have been a frequent visitor to this forum for many years now.

Anyways, moving on to what this thread topic is about.

Knight Rider (the series) to me had many vital elements that made it a success which were missing in everything that tried to replicate it (ie. Viper) or anything else attached to the franchise (Knight Rider 2000, TKR, etc.). Much like these failures, the present success of Knight Rider depends on its ability to revive that lost soul that none have so far succeeded in accomplishing.

Knight Rider (the series) had it all. The perfect car, the perfect hero, the perfect theme song, the perfect voice of KITT, a pilot that did a great job of showcasing all these elements in one episode to garner enough support for a full prime-time series, and a perfect theme (one man with a sleek and awesome car making a difference). It all blended in so well. It hit so many of the right tunes with children, teens, and many adults which led to its success. This (to me and many others) was art at its peak.

If you look at why the others were failures, it was because it was missing not one but many of these vital elements. You can't buy success, you can only build it with passionate hands. That is what Knight Rider (the series) was. A show that was built with artistic hands that was fueled with a passion to create something no one had yet tried. The creator, director, actors, cast and crew, etc. were all passionate about this project and poured their heart out on it. That is why in the end they carved out a show that caused wave upon wave of fans around the world to flock to their TV's to watch every airing (or re-run) of it, from Africa to the Middle East. How many TV shows spanning 4 seasons can say that about themselves?

I was first introduced to Knight Rider accidentally (as a 5 year old boy) while sitting in front of the TV playing with some toys when a mysterious black car with its beautiful theme song glided towards me across the desert, a black dot coming closer and closer, the mystery slowly unwinding of what this black object in the distance was.....I was glued to it, and from then on I have never found a show that struck a cord so deep in me since Knight Rider. The deep voice in the background "One man can make a difference Michael", the scenery, the car, the hero, the theme song.

Growing up, it has been very hard for me to expect anything less when the word Knight Rider is attached to it. I don't expect today's shows to carry the purity and soul that Knight Rider had. Today many shows run off a business that is more keen on making a quick buck and less keen on allowing creative hands to take control. This is what in the end can kill a show with potential. I hope that the new Knight Rider series and the movie do not go that route.

That said, the new series unveiled the Mustang as the new KITT. I would be lying if I didn't say I was disappointed. The car played a vital role in the series, the curved lines, the red glow of the scanner, the black sleek body, the voice, the relationship between Michael and KITT....it was all a formula guaranteed to be successful. I don't know if I would have looked at KITT the same had he been a car that lacked those curves and sleek body and looked like a shiny box with a front resembling a vehicle from the 60s (a move backwards in terms of futuristic design). To me this was a strike 1 for the show. It can still live on with 2 stikes to go. If the shows fails in building that mysterious aura that KITT had when it was first introduced on TV, if it fails to properly build the main characters and properly carve out the type of relationship Michael had with KITT with the new KITT and new Michael (Tracer), if it fails to create a character within the car that allows us to love the new KITT like we did the old KITT, if it fails to give us a hero that we can feel for, that we can each see a tiny bit of us in him maybe even picture us being him, then this series will go the way of the dinosaurs, much like Viper, TKR, and anything else that tried to capitalize on an idea with corporate hands guiding rather than creative and passionate hands.

At the end of the day, the show Knight Rider was much like KITT.......one of a kind.

Regards,
Cobra

I understand you completely. I wish they would have used at least a Camaro for the car but too bad it isn't in production yet nor does GM want to make a Trans Am again. I am really hoping to see the original KITT and Michael Knight once again in Feburary and can not wait.

However regarding your statement about the connection between MK and KITT, when Hasselhoff was filming with Bruening he told him the biggest thing is to be the closest with your car because its only you and him out on the road, thats what made the original show and that is what they need now!

BTW Welcome to the Forum!