I saw the new KARR

[Michael Pajaro]

I visited the set yesterday and our friends at Master Key Films showed me a very brief clip of the new KARR.

When I first heard that KARR was going to be a transforming robot, like many of you I thought "this just isn't right." We can (and will) debate for months "is this Knight Rider?" but I think the more important question should be "is this cool?" And from what I saw, yeah, it's pretty damn cool.

The fx team normally spends about a week working on an episode. They're spending a month a KARR. The level of detail on the 3D model is fantastic. I saw it composited in a scene and I think it looks theatrical. (and let's be honest, with all due respect I don't think the turbo boosts we've seen so far were "theatrical".)

NBC apparently is very excited about the episode as well, and are not planning on hiding KARR in their previews. They want to start advertising the return of the show, and KARR specifically, as early as this weekend during the NFL games. That is not locked in stone yet, but I would watch the game just to be safe.

If NBC can generate enough interest in this episode, then oddly enough it may be KARR who saves KITT.

[Faithful Car KRO]

I visited the set yesterday and our friends at Master Key Films showed me a very brief clip of the new KARR.

When I first heard that KARR was going to be a transforming robot, like many of you I thought "this just isn't right." We can (and will) debate for months "is this Knight Rider?" but I think the more important question should be "is this cool?" And from what I saw, yeah, it's pretty damn cool.

The fx team normally spends about a week working on an episode. They're spending a month a KARR. The level of detail on the 3D model is fantastic. I saw it composited in a scene and I think it looks theatrical. (and let's be honest, with all due respect I don't think the turbo boosts we've seen so far were "theatrical".)

NBC apparently is very excited about the episode as well, and are not planning on hiding KARR in their previews. They want to start advertising the return of the show, and KARR specifically, as early as this weekend during the NFL games. That is not locked in stone yet, but I would watch the game just to be safe.

If NBC can generate enough interest in this episode, then oddly enough it may be KARR who saves KITT.

The more and more i read about the rest of the season the more and more excited I get. I cant wait to finally see KARR! Do you have any other little spoiler info? Like is this the same KARR from before?

And isnt the KR08 staff the coolest ever?

[jeregano]

I think KARR might be able too. I really hope he can. OK, I'm excited

[HOFFABE]

who would have ever dreamed KARR would have been talking about himself when he said...(lo and behold here comes the real target to the rescue...)

[Ontario Knight]

That is fantastic, finally some news that NBC is putting some effort and money into the show especially with the cutbacks that NBC is doing...I still think that its Ford money thats doing this but either way its good news. Did anyone read the yahoo write up on cancelling shows knight rider is on the bottom of the list...

KARR is back.....yahoo.........

[My_Friend_KITT]

Wow, that sounds wonderful. Now I'm looking forward to seeing the commercials.

[weeezl]

I visited the set yesterday and our friends at Master Key Films showed me a very brief clip of the new KARR.

When I first heard that KARR was going to be a transforming robot, like many of you I thought "this just isn't right." We can (and will) debate for months "is this Knight Rider?" but I think the more important question should be "is this cool?" And from what I saw, yeah, it's pretty damn cool.

The fx team normally spends about a week working on an episode. They're spending a month a KARR. The level of detail on the 3D model is fantastic. I saw it composited in a scene and I think it looks theatrical. (and let's be honest, with all due respect I don't think the turbo boosts we've seen so far were "theatrical".)

NBC apparently is very excited about the episode as well, and are not planning on hiding KARR in their previews. They want to start advertising the return of the show, and KARR specifically, as early as this weekend during the NFL games. That is not locked in stone yet, but I would watch the game just to be safe.

If NBC can generate enough interest in this episode, then oddly enough it may be KARR who saves KITT.

Ok ok, Mr Pajaro youve seen the the new Karr,Yeah yeah, Big whoop, good for you, who cares, bleh.

We dont care , no we dont, we dont care at all, Karr? what? who?

Honestly im not jealous, honest?

You big tease you, no spoilers wanted but is new Karr a force to be reckoned with? is he a mean machine?

[knightny]

Was there any footage of him as a basic car? Will we be seeing him as a car at all or is he just going to be a robot?

[KnightINSTINCT]

I'm for one hoping he is just a robot. Prototypes don't deserve nanoskin (KITT's Mustang shell).

[Lost Knight]

It's just a bit strange to me that the whole concept of K.A.R.R.'s acronym was to emphasize the fact that he is a car. No matter how many extra hyphenated words they add in-between the acronym, he should always be a vehicle!

However, what keeps me open minded concept-wise about the likelihood of K.A.R.R. now being in a different “body” is the fact that since I believe this is the original K.A.R.R.'s C.P.U., whoever recovered it would have had a completely different concept than Wilton Knight's vision of an indestructible vehicle. And K.A.R.R. would no doubt want to be new and improved in literally any way, shape, or form.

[Michael Pajaro]

KARR will be both a Mustang and a robot. I have absolutely no idea how much time he spends in either form.

And Lost Knight, sorry but this KARR has nothing to do with the KARR from the original series. It is not the same CPU, not the same software. It is a completely brand-spanking-new entity.

[Lost Knight]

KARR will be both a Mustang and a robot. I have absolutely no idea how much time he spends in either form.

And Lost Knight, sorry but this KARR has nothing to do with the KARR from the original series. It is not the same CPU, not the same software. It is a completely brand-spanking-new entity.

Ah, as Michael said, “so much for wishful thinking.” Then this would lead to a whole new slew of questions, a lot of which might not ever be answered. For one, why would Graiman choose to build another prototype with the same acronym, which coincidentally would also turn out to go bad?

It almost seems criminal to not have ever capitalized on that final frame of “K.I.T.T. Vs. K.A.R.R.,” though...

[BlueChaos]

And Lost Knight, sorry but this KARR has nothing to do with the KARR from the original series. It is not the same CPU, not the same software. It is a completely brand-spanking-new entity.

Ah, yes, just as many of us thought... it's no longer KARR, but KARR-E, just as KITT is now KI3T

[Michael Pajaro]

Then this would lead to a whole new slew of questions, a lot of which might not ever be answered. For one, why would Graiman choose to build another prototype with the same acronym, which coincidentally would also turn out to go bad?

I think you're missing the point. In this version of Knight Rider, the Trans Am KARR never existed. They are playing with the timeline. Let's not get too hung up on the name, it is what it is. I'm hoping that very soon everyone will be able to see what I saw and nobody will care what the robot is called; they'll just be excited to see a bad-ass villain in an upcoming episode.

[KnightRiderKR]

Then this would lead to a whole new slew of questions, a lot of which might not ever be answered. For one, why would Graiman choose to build another prototype with the same acronym, which coincidentally would also turn out to go bad?

I think you're missing the point. In this version of Knight Rider, the Trans Am KARR never existed. They are playing with the timeline. Let's not get too hung up on the name, it is what it is. I'm hoping that very soon everyone will be able to see what I saw and nobody will care what the robot is called; they'll just be excited to see a bad-ass villain in an upcoming episode.

I severely disagree, the Trans Am KITT was clearly shown in the pilot movie for one and they made references to the Trans Am KITT in episodes calling that Kitt the original prototype. So yes the Trans Am KARR does exist in this version.

[PHOENIXZERO]

It may be what it may be but if that's the case then I hope they stop with calling and selling the show as a continuation and call it what it is.

[Michael Pajaro]

Two things: The pilot movie that aired in February is NOT canon for the series. Gary Scott Thompson has been absolutely clear about that.

And even though the new series DOES acknowledge that there was an original KITT that was a Trans Am, that does NOT automatically mean they acknowledge a Trans Am version of KARR. There is nothing we've seen or heard in the series or in speaking with cast and crew that suggests this KARR is the same character. And the circumstantial evidence overwhelmingly says that it is a brand new character unrelated to the Trans Am.

We can go back and forth forever on this; we'll know for sure in a little over the month. But from my perspective it doesn't really matter whether or not this is the same character. I'm just excited that it looks like they're raising the stakes and bringing some big action to the show.

[KnightRiderKR]

It may be what it may be but if that's the case then I hope they stop with calling the show a continuation and call it what it is.

It is a continuation though, like a sequel. What happens after the original story.

[KnightRiderKR]

Two things: The pilot movie that aired in February is NOT canon for the series. Gary Scott Thompson has been absolutely clear about that.

And even though the new series DOES acknowledge that there was an original KITT that was a Trans Am, that does NOT mean they acknowledge KARR.

Show me where he said the pilot is not canon.

[PHOENIXZERO]

I'd say it's more like what Superman Returns is to Superman the Movie and Superman II, okay maybe not that bad. But instead of trying to fit things in properly and at least somewhat naturally, they're retconning one of the two well known, if not the most known villains of the original series? O_o What's next, bringing in Garthe as Mike's "evil twin"? While still maintaining it's a continuation but that now that character didn't exist either? I hope this KARR's history is kept vague then so things are left open.

Maybe I won't care when I finally see it but there's no good reason to screw with the history of the original series, even if the pilot (which we all should know has little to no influence on the TV series) did its own fair share of that.

[KnightRiderKR]

I'd say it's more like what Superman Returns is to Superman the Movie and Superman II, okay maybe not that bad. But instead of trying to fit things in properly and at least somewhat naturally, they're retconning one of the two well known, if not the most known villains of the original series? O_o What's next, bringing in Garthe as Mike's "evil twin"? While still maintaining it's a continuation but that now that character didn't exist either? I hope this KARR's history is kept vague then so things are left open.

Maybe I won't care when I finally see it but there's no good reason to screw with the history of the original series, even if the pilot (which we all should know has little to no influence on the TV series) did its own fair share of that.

I'd still like to see where it says that the pilot doesn't mean anything to the show's story. Until I see otherwise, KARR is still a Trans Am to me.

[PHOENIXZERO]

April MacIntyre: A - talk at TCA was that the series was going to be in no way, shape or form even resembling the pilot, that everything was scrapped and writers were taking on a completely different mythology and storyline. Do you want to talk about that, and if that's true or not?


Gary Scott Thompson: It's still true. We went back to the original series to look at what made that work and (wrote a word). We went through the pilot and then, you know, we don't want to disappoint some of the fans of the two-hour so there was - you know, we have four characters coming from that.

So we made sure that those four characters clicked into what the new mythology was for the series. Again, it's 25 years later so we have to update the car, update the people and be in touch with the times.

So I think that's really what we did was just try to bring it up to date.

http://knightrideronline.com/news/2008/ ... ng_and.php

Just one example...

But I still don't get, unless there was NBC/Ford interference, did they completely miss the mark on what made the original series work or what?

[Michael Pajaro]

Show me where he said the pilot is not canon.

You can start with an early interview Neil did with GST:

http://shadowyflight.com/news/2008/04/e ... -part1.php

"We sort of had to backpaddle... but everything that was there we can either fill in and embellish or basically discredit in some way and say no that's not the truth. Actually that's open very well for us mythology-wise."

"I told them...it didn't really look like you advanced anything. You need to reinvent this. If you're going to go to series, you need to reinvent it."

And beyond what his literal words are, Neil and I have met him in person. We chatted with him a lot at Comic-Con both on-camera and off. And if it takes a leap of faith, I'm asking you to please trust me when I tell you that GST certainly took a lot of elements from February's movie but the series is NOT bound by it.

[KnightRiderKR]

April MacIntyre: A - talk at TCA was that the series was going to be in no way, shape or form even resembling the pilot, that everything was scrapped and writers were taking on a completely different mythology and storyline. Do you want to talk about that, and if that's true or not?



Gary Scott Thompson: It's still true. We went back to the original series to look at what made that work and (wrote a word). We went through the pilot and then, you know, we don't want to disappoint some of the fans of the two-hour so there was - you know, we have four characters coming from that.



So we made sure that those four characters clicked into what the new mythology was for the series. Again, it's 25 years later so we have to update the car, update the people and be in touch with the times.



So I think that's really what we did was just try to bring it up to date.

http://knightrideronline.com/news/2008/ ... ng_and.php

Just a vague response, who knew. There is nothing stating that the Trans Am versions of the cars never existed.

[knightriderfan80]

OK...so if the Trans Am version of KARR never existed then how would Hoff explain what he faced with KI2T in the original series?? There has to be an existence otherwise you might as well say KI2T never existed... The story has to continue from the original... especially since KI2T and "another KARR" was mentioned in the new series...

I don't get it, this is rather confusing... There has to be some continuity and this doesn't make sense...

I do understand that there is a NEW, totally different KARR now, but to say the 80's KARR never existed completely screws everything up.

How could they even include the HOFF and call him Traceurs father??? They might as well just have forgotten the whole Original Series...