Knight Rider Movie
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Train derailment was kind of the final decission maker... T/A was an consideration along with a several other vehicles. I have yet to find out what the other vehicles were during the consideration process. I'm sure someone here knows what they were.Michael Pajaro wrote:Which came first, the decision to use a Trans Am or the train derailment?Stargazer wrote:He asked if I knew how the T/A came to be the vehicle choice for the show and he was just as suprised that I knew that it had to do with a train derailment full of T/As...[/b]
I believe they already decided to make KITT a Trans Am and then later on Universal was able to take advantage of a derailment that ruined a bunch of Trans Ams from Pontiac.
Accident? Or Sabotage?
Mike
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I still don't think that's true... If you can give a source that specifically mentions the train derailment as a deciding factor then we can figure out how it fits in with other information we have. But everything I have seen points to the idea of the Trans Am being chosen very early in the development phase of the show, based entirely on its styling.Stargazer wrote:Train derailment was kind of the final decission maker... T/A was an consideration along with a several other vehicles.
Mike
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I would need proof that they had already chosen the T/A before the derailment... The article was in Starlog or one of those kind of magazines that the T/A was chosen after a mishap that lead to the final desion for the car to be used in KR.... I'm not going to go around buying old magazines to prove a point that you may or may not believe in the first place.Michael Pajaro wrote:I still don't think that's true... If you can give a source that specifically mentions the train derailment as a deciding factor then we can figure out how it fits in with other information we have. But everything I have seen points to the idea of the Trans Am being chosen very early in the development phase of the show, based entirely on its styling.Stargazer wrote:Train derailment was kind of the final decission maker... T/A was an consideration along with a several other vehicles.
Mike
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Fortunately we do have people on the board who can go back and get the actual info- people like me, for example.Stargazer wrote:I would need proof that they had already chosen the T/A before the derailment... The article was in Starlog or one of those kind of magazines that the T/A was chosen after a mishap that lead to the final desion for the car to be used in KR.... I'm not going to go around buying old magazines to prove a point that you may or may not believe in the first place.
February 1984 issue of Starlog:
"Buying and then destroying expensive items, such as cars, places a strain on even studio budgets. Luckily, Knight Rider was able to take advantage of Pontiac's unfortunate experience when a trainload of new Trans Ams derailed, damaging most of the cars. Universal now employs those vehicles as stunt cars, using special body sections molded to transform them into KITT's".
Note that is says absolutely nothing about the accident having anything to do with choosing the Trans Am.
From "Hollywood TV and Movie Cars" by William Krause:
"He said he was working with Glen Larson (The Fall Guy) on a new action-adventure show that starred a computerized talking car. A Datsun Z car was written into the original script, but Hanker wanted to know if GM had anything hotter coming out that would work in this role. Of course: the all-new Trans Am! Pontiac's general manager, Bill Hoglund, had told me at a meeting just days before that he would like to see his brand new baby in a James Bond kind of movie or TV show.
....with the help of UAW, the GM Van Nuys assembly plant, and a lot of good people at Pontiac who wanted to see this happen, the first four black Trans Ams that rolled off the line were driven to a waiting car carrier that whisked them off to the Larson Production set where the crews were literally poised to start shooting."
That article clearly shows that the decision to go with the Trans Am was made without any regard to a train derailment.
So, based on these objective facts, I maintain my original position that you are mistaken.
QED.
Mike
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My most pressing question about the first KR show that was aired (forget the name of that episodes) is that M. Long (before becoming Knight) was seen driving a black T/A... can't remember if it had a two tone gold line bottom or not... but was that suppose to fit into the show as how the T/A was used for KITTs body or what was the deal with that particular car? Was that car supposed to have been used for KITTs body after being modified ?
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Ok, let's answer this one again as much as we can.
It has never been totally proven that KITT was made out of Michael Long's car. While Larson intended it on the side, the final script points in a vague direction.
Logic says that it's not really that possible, specifically in the KR Universe, because of the existance of KARR.
KI
It has never been totally proven that KITT was made out of Michael Long's car. While Larson intended it on the side, the final script points in a vague direction.
Logic says that it's not really that possible, specifically in the KR Universe, because of the existance of KARR.
KI
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The KARR issue is what I was going to ask next if KITT was put into MLs T/A.....knightimmortal wrote:Ok, let's answer this one again as much as we can.
It has never been totally proven that KITT was made out of Michael Long's car. While Larson intended it on the side, the final script points in a vague direction.
Logic says that it's not really that possible, specifically in the KR Universe, because of the existance of KARR.
KI
I missed this thread before
I do recall something about MK looking at the paint job of KITT when he was first introduced to KITT (even though KITT didn't talk to MK until after a while he was driving it and I think it was after he was pulled over for sleeping at the wheel and KITT had assumed control and the police officer did not understand what was going on).
I think some shows, when first aired, are a bit dry, however that was one interesting beginning of KR I think.
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wrong, in the first episode you hear michael saying, "now whats this with my car", and when he commented on his new paint job, and how it feels like baby skin. . So you know right then, that is was his car they re did. with no time frames in mind we arn't sure how long mihceal was actully there for, so we can't judge that they didn't use michael longs car.
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*sigh* I am starting to feel an overwhelming sense of deja vu here....
It seems that you have forgotten Devon's part of the conversation, he was actually there.
This is from the script: (once again, thanks to the Knight Rider Archive)
MICHAEL
But I'm legally dead, remember? I
don't even know me with this face.
Now what is all this I'm supposed to
know about my own car.
DEVON
Any resemblance between your car and
this one is purely superficial.
Michael walks closer to the machine.
MICHAEL
What're you talking about. That's
my Trans Am. I left it out in
the desert.
DEVON
No, it may look like your car, but
in actuality, that vehicle is now
probably the most expensive car in
the world.
The wording for the most part made it into the episode.
For those who do not know what superficial means:
superficial:
1.Of, affecting, or being on or near the surface: a superficial wound.
2. Concerned with or comprehending only what is apparent or obvious; shallow.
3. Apparent rather than actual or substantial: a superficial resemblance.
4. Trivial; insignificant: made only a few superficial changes in the manuscript
So from there, take an educated guess as to whether it is Michael Knight's car, and in the KR Universe, also take into fact that KARR existed BEFORE Michael Knight, and you can't just make these cars overnight, contrary to popular belief.
KI
It seems that you have forgotten Devon's part of the conversation, he was actually there.
This is from the script: (once again, thanks to the Knight Rider Archive)
MICHAEL
But I'm legally dead, remember? I
don't even know me with this face.
Now what is all this I'm supposed to
know about my own car.
DEVON
Any resemblance between your car and
this one is purely superficial.
Michael walks closer to the machine.
MICHAEL
What're you talking about. That's
my Trans Am. I left it out in
the desert.
DEVON
No, it may look like your car, but
in actuality, that vehicle is now
probably the most expensive car in
the world.
The wording for the most part made it into the episode.
For those who do not know what superficial means:
superficial:
1.Of, affecting, or being on or near the surface: a superficial wound.
2. Concerned with or comprehending only what is apparent or obvious; shallow.
3. Apparent rather than actual or substantial: a superficial resemblance.
4. Trivial; insignificant: made only a few superficial changes in the manuscript
So from there, take an educated guess as to whether it is Michael Knight's car, and in the KR Universe, also take into fact that KARR existed BEFORE Michael Knight, and you can't just make these cars overnight, contrary to popular belief.
KI
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honestly i never said anything about over night.
First off where does it say how long michael was actullyat the flag estate for, healing from his surgery and getting back to his old self. Mind you that michael driving the same model that karr is is ironic. but don't you find it a little hard to beleive they didn't use michael longs car, and kitt just happened to be the same exact car? from your logic i see whats your saying, im not saying your wrong either. But isn't there a chance that kitt is michael longs car?
First off where does it say how long michael was actullyat the flag estate for, healing from his surgery and getting back to his old self. Mind you that michael driving the same model that karr is is ironic. but don't you find it a little hard to beleive they didn't use michael longs car, and kitt just happened to be the same exact car? from your logic i see whats your saying, im not saying your wrong either. But isn't there a chance that kitt is michael longs car?
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3 months.
That is the magical time frame that appears in the script between Michael being shot, and returning as Michael Long. Four months max. That's the time it took for Tanya to go from a fill-in girl to Executive Assistant at Comtron. It is also the time they specify in the episode that 'up to three months ago, Michael Knight didn't exist."
Now, in three months, you could probably transplant an already existing set of technology into a car. (JYD was a miracle, and Knight of the Juggernaut was just a repair job) But KITT wasn't already existing. They started from the ground up, and went in the other direction from the already existing KARR, who was by this time, sitting in a warehouse.
Wouldn't it be a whole lot easier to think that Wilton had taken a fancy to that particular car while watching Michael Long (which he seemingly did) and he set out to building the car to fit that model? That makes a whole lot more sense than reducing KITT down to a lego model, which is what he would have to be to put him in Michael Long's car. It would have taken more than three months just to hone down all the parts to fit within that particular car. Imagine if Wilton had designed it to fit in a Corvette, and suddenly they toss a Trans-Am at him.
KI
That is the magical time frame that appears in the script between Michael being shot, and returning as Michael Long. Four months max. That's the time it took for Tanya to go from a fill-in girl to Executive Assistant at Comtron. It is also the time they specify in the episode that 'up to three months ago, Michael Knight didn't exist."
Now, in three months, you could probably transplant an already existing set of technology into a car. (JYD was a miracle, and Knight of the Juggernaut was just a repair job) But KITT wasn't already existing. They started from the ground up, and went in the other direction from the already existing KARR, who was by this time, sitting in a warehouse.
Wouldn't it be a whole lot easier to think that Wilton had taken a fancy to that particular car while watching Michael Long (which he seemingly did) and he set out to building the car to fit that model? That makes a whole lot more sense than reducing KITT down to a lego model, which is what he would have to be to put him in Michael Long's car. It would have taken more than three months just to hone down all the parts to fit within that particular car. Imagine if Wilton had designed it to fit in a Corvette, and suddenly they toss a Trans-Am at him.
KI