K.I.T.T. Dashboard/Voice Modulator Blunders

[peterp&j]

This one is very funny from Burial ground:
Missing switchpod and dash electronics, but the steering wheel is working by remote control:

this is stunt car your referring to in burial ground this scene is from deadly knightshade if you look closely in the first pic you can just see an orange arm coming out of the seat thats the blind driver the second shows the stunt wheel on the passenger side and the third you can see his hand



if you look at the scene in scent of the roses when kitt comes for michael when he leaves hospital look closely when he gets into kitt you can see the arms (again in orange) coming through the seat ill try to get pics up when i can

[simon_a6]

That's the one.
But checkout the pilot episode. I guarantee you, it beats that one for cockups!!

[peterp&j]

That's the one.
But checkout the pilot episode. I guarantee you, it beats that one for cockups!!

heres the scene in scent of the roses i was alking about you can see the arms coming through the seats and the canopy


i have to say for all thatwe are nitpicking i was pleased they made the auto-cruise2 it made it look better having micheal just jump right into kitt in one shot instead of having him open the drivers door look to sit and then cut to him then sitting when another car is put in place also looking at the scene above you can tell its a stunt caras in season4 only the hero car had split rear seats all the other car didnt

[simon_a6]

Oh wow!!! I'm going to put that on right now and watch it.
I take it that's straight after the killing of Stevie?

I still say the Pilot error at the phone booth is the best. But this is a very close second.

GOT IT - WHEN HE LEFT THE HOSPITAL.

[peterp&j]

Oh wow!!! I'm going to put that on right now and watch it.
I take it that's straight after the killing of Stevie?

I still say the Pilot error at the phone booth is the best. But this is a very close second.

tis is the scene your refering to yes its bad heres what i think blind driving was i think quite a new concept (it was done for herbie in the films)what was different here was the blind driver was the seat as the series progressed they simply placed the driver behind the existing seat and covered him with a canopy if you watch earlierepisodes only the blind drivers seat had a blackout and the passenger seat didnot another thing they improved on




again you can see that they simply placed a mock curve dash on to of the flat normal dash for close up shots

[simon_a6]

That's exactly the spot. And on the Pilot too - you'd think they would have made it perfect, or just adjust the camera angle so you don't see it.

How did they do it with the driver behind the passenger set then? Did they have it dual control??

And yeah, I noticed years ago when it was on auto, you saw one headrest had the whole, but the other didn't.

And as you show, in the Season 4 they did it auto2, and both were 'plugged in', but when normal, neither were.

And what's with the damn scaffolding when he drives on the beach for a few seconds??
Not one car in the whole series used that.

[peterp&j]

yes the driver had his own controls very much like a learner car the instructor hashis own foot pedals i asume it was much the same for autocruise 2 only had the steering wheel great idea btw what do you mean by "plugged in "

[simon_a6]

The holes in the seat were plugged in - like a plug in a sink. "Filled in" may be a better term.

Be good if someone could find an image of the second steering wheel?!

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This isn't a Dash Blunder, but is about that episode.
when they are in the semi and trying to get the guys image - they go to the length of getting a reverse images from a reflection.

Thing is - 10 seconds before that image, there is a CLEAR view from KITT of the guys face. Why did they go to the extent of doing it such a hard way! haha

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This one is very funny from Burial ground:
Missing switchpod and dash electronics, but the steering wheel is working by remote control:

this is stunt car your referring to in burial ground this scene is from deadly knightshade if you look closely in the first pic you can just see an orange arm coming out of the seat thats the blind driver the second shows the stunt wheel on the passenger side and the third you can see his hand



if you look at the scene in scent of the roses when kitt comes for michael when he leaves hospital look closely when he gets into kitt you can see the arms (again in orange) coming through the seat ill try to get pics up when i can

Can I please ask why people keep uploading to imageshack, yet wheni click on it I have to create a damn account just to see the images?
Wouldn't it be easier to load them to here?

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Sorry - I do see the steering wheel image - only just, but it's there.

Wierd really - for years before we found out these things, we all thought it was just damn amazing. Back then, DH, Jack Gill and co knew it ALL, and i bet from sitting in that car doing all the shows it seemed like a completely different apperance to how it did for us.

[peterp&j]

That's exactly the spot. And on the Pilot too - you'd think they would have made it perfect, or just adjust the camera angle so you don't see it.

How did they do it with the driver behind the passenger set then? Did they have it dual control??

And yeah, I noticed years ago when it was on auto, you saw one headrest had the whole, but the other didn't.

And as you show, in the Season 4 they did it auto2, and both were 'plugged in', but when normal, neither were.

And what's with the damn scaffolding when he drives on the beach for a few seconds??
Not one car in the whole series used that.

when michael waves kitt to turbo on the beach you can see the driver and steering wheel the car used in my opinion is a mock up fiberglass kitt hence the antiroll bar cage for stability they used such a car in season 1 and 2probably to save on costs of wrecking real cars hope this helps
on a footnote it would have been so muvh better using auto-cruise2 in the scene below but i suppose they couldnt take all the kitts to locations





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The holes in the seat were plugged in - like a plug in a sink. "Filled in" may be a better term.

Be good if someone could find an image of the second steering wheel?!

the best one i can find is the one above from knightshade


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the blackout
holes in the seat were one way smoked glass or perspex i would think pal
I MUST STRESS EVEN THOUGH I MIGHT BE AND INDEED AM GIVING AWAY SECERTS OF THE SHOW IT IS STILL THE GREATEST TV SHOW EVER AND I WILL STILL ENJOY WATCHING IT FOR A LON TIME TO COME

[simon_a6]

Absolutely.
I never tire of watching them. And even now, sort of like seeing the 'errors'.

[Reissuleipa]

The countless errors, blunders, mistakes, whatever don't matter the slightest bit. This show was and will remain the best show of all time. This thread is priceless though.

[KITTfan]

I really don't think these as errors or mistakes, tv-shows's aren't meant to be watched frame by frame even from DVD When it's watched in normal speed, these moments where a stunt driver's hand is visible is only a fraction of a second and not really visible unless you're looking for it.
Besides, how else they could've done these amazing stunts but real driving? CGI was in it's infancy at the time and astronomically expensive. I'm not sure if CGI can beat real driving even today as there's reflections, lightning or physical behaviour which reveals it.
They could've wear tan/light brown coloured jacket though for blending in KITT's interior colour instead of such a visible colour as orange

Another thing is of course for example things like the voicebox in Just My Bill, definetely a mistake. Unless of course it was suggested that KITT could change the colour of those lights in some situtations but as it never occurred before of after that, I don't think so.

I agree this show is the best ever even the "magic" has been revealed with modern technology (DVD screenshots), I never noticed these things when I watched it in the 80's

[peterp&j]

here's another example of cost cutting and using scenes from other episodes this scene is from "knight flight to freedom" it clearly shows the black arms and gloves of the blind driver in auto-cruise1(i noticed this 25 years ago before dvd pausing)it would have been so much better if auto-cruise2 was used and have lisa jump in the drivers side but it was done this way as the used footage from "no big thing"when kitt crashes through the doors
but as people have said and i agree the stunt people and special effects team made the show what it is a real car jumping a ravine or smashing into a plane beats cgi hands down in my book ive watched knight rider for nearly 30 years know almost all the faults'errors call them what you will but it will never stop me watching for another 30 years (and im 42!!!)

[simon_a6]

Wow look at that.
I must admit I have seen that error before, but forgot about it.

I remember looking at the woman thinking she is getting into KITT seeing how it is all done!!

Can anyone beat this? I think this one, the Scent of Roses, and the Pilot episode at the phone booth are the best we have found where the arms and steering wheel are clearly seen.

Any better offers???

I am not trying to make fun out of the show, coz I love it. So much so that very soon I'll be buying the Knight Rider jacket on ebay. Sadly I have never seen a 'live' KITT or sat in one. But one day, I hope I will.
I have met DH for about 2 mins before tho.

[simon_a6]

Lost Knight - they made a stupid mistake right at the end.
When Doug is in KITT at the end, it's so clear it's the old 2-dash car.

Even when you see MK drive off at the end, you see the old RED lights below the dash, yet the whole episode is with the new dash.

Why would they use the old car during a new car episode??

[peterp&j]

as they had a fair amount of cars by the 3rd season transporting all of them to a location would have been difficult and costly so i omagine they only took what they needed certainly a stunt car auto-cruise car and a hero car i am also speculating that they were on several locations at the same time so some cars may have gone to one and certain amount to another as you can see in the pics below in "kitt vs karr" they used the hero car (now auto-cruise1) for the interior shots possibly as the 3rd season hero car was elsewhere and couldnt be used hence i think the shot of the season2 hero car in "lost knight"

[simon_a6]

Seems more like laziness to me. When it's so clear from the shot that it's the old car.
I can understand what you mean about having them all the in locations, but surely when they start filming, they KNOW the camera shot will pick up the old dashboard.

She was so pretty in that shot.

[peterp&j]

at the end of the day it probably didnt occur to anyone back in the early 80s how far tv and video now dvd would come in picture quality and the ability to freeze frame.im no computer genius but all i have is a pc and a dvd player installed and a photobucket account
here in the pics below a prime example of what i mean this is the scene in "short notice" after micheal wins the fight he thanks kitt the shot shows kit respond
it maybe hard to see but if you watch it on dvd you can clearly see a pair of hands wave and lift up the front of the seat on video (albeit recorded on the tv)the quality of the video does not show the movement if there was not the advancement of picture quality then this thread would have never been started

[simon_a6]

Not so much a odd dash shot but in "Silent Knight" K.I.T.T is doing 200 RPM when he is crusing

And why is absolutely everyone looking the car, and all in a crowd??
Could they not close the road when they filmed? Coz it looks like they got word that "The Knight Rider is in town", so waited till the car went past.

I love the errors with the voice mod. In the opening credits and other places where it's white or it says "Knight 2000" on it, yet when you get the closeup of KITT talking, no words there. Such a huge error.

But I still think the best dashboard blunder of them all - is one shown on every single episode of the show, from season 1 to 4. right at the end. KITT drives into the desert and Wilton speaks.

The dash is 'straight'..................... for that major scene, almost KR iconic scene, couldn't they have used at least a stunt car with the curved dash??

btw thanks to the guys and gals who found the filming location for that area. Such an amazing find.

[simon_a6]

A little off subject, I was watching an episode the other day, I can't recall which one... Season 1 topaz connection I think and Kitt had a huge hole or some kinda gash in his right side drivers seat. it can be seen clearly in a few shots. It's amazing how many things you can overlook over the years. Some of the pics were really good. Especially the stickered dash.

Not only can we see the round steering wheel, but also a single monitor instead of doubles. Clearly it's not the Hero Car. Later in Seasons 3 & 4, the stunt cars still had the 2-monitor dashboard:


I'd have posted a shot of that weird-looking Turbo Boost button, but I don't know where to look for it.

Well I'll be damned, never saw that before. MK even puts his hand on the wheel when he gets out of the car. you'd think David would have said "guys, that camera is going to put up this steering wheel so badly".

[simon_a6]

A NEW GOOF!
Slammin Sammy's stunt show.
At the very start of the episode when KITT is driving on auto cruise, it's happening in daytime. It's within 10 seconds of the start of the show (after the opening sequence).

It's daytime, and you see the steering turning itself.

TWO ERRORS:
1) 22 RPM.... yet it's the RIGHT few diodes that are lit... not the left few where it should start.
2) a bigger error.... you can see above the voice mod - the top of the dash. It's pitch dark! where's the sun??

[simon_a6]

Same episode "Sammys"....
There is the scene where KITT jumps the moving vehicle in a performance with him covered in stars.

Afterwards, the bad guy goes up to him to congratulate him. And you'd think it was the 'hero car' on show there.

But watch when they turn.... a clear shot of a round steering wheel with three spokes. And the dash is very shadowed, but jet black.

What an error.

[simon_a6]

Anyway, the Convertible Mode trailer car was always parked during the convertible transitions as I said, so therefore there would be no reason to install fully functional electronics in a car that was supposed to barely be used throughout Season 4. To be safe, I would assume the production crew stickered the dashboard just in case it happened to slip into a shot or two, which obviously happened in "Knight Of the Juggernaut." But I believe that's the only time it ever occurred. Every other time you can tell it's the trailer car not only because the roof is retracting, but because a red handle can be seen hanging from the roof (check the scene in "Out Of the Woods" as an example).

Furthermore, I believe the actual functioning Convertible Mode Car also didn't have functioning electronics AND had a Seasons 1-2 dashboard. Since it's one of the few original screen-used vehicles from the original series, I've seen shots of it from the Cars Of the Stars museum with the 2-T.V. dash where in currently resides in England.

- Yes you are correct, the convertable version of KITT didn't have real functioning electronics (or tv's for that matter) and you can also clearly see in Knight of the Juggernaut that most of the displays are just mostly stickers and gels. Here is an exclusive shot from behind the scenes of KITTnap on page 559 in The Knight Rider Companion which gives you a clear idea of just how cheaply constructed the convertable dash really was. Keep in mind that the camera didn't usually focus on the dash itself on screen, mostly as you said the stationary transforming roof effects.



Enjoy and do not repost this image to any site without my expressed permission.

(psst is that a Comtron trailer I see? *grins*)

=VK=

Apart from that end scene on KOTJ, was there any other time people know of when the decals were seen?

[simon_a6]

I've read in many places here about Season 1 only having one hero car, and a few stunt cars.

But - why have I seen two different monitor setups?
One is where the surround of the monitors are hexagonal. And one where they sort of 'bulge out' of the dash, with pretty much no surround.

In fact, the KOTF version when he sits in KITT for the first time has the bulgy monitors. But I just watched Inside Out, where Michael break into a building and you see him walking around as a little character, and clearly it is on the main dash, but the monitors are hexagonal.

One or two hero cars...??

[Knight Racer]

Just Thought I'd help you out with visual aids: