Steering this thread back on track...
Skav wrote:Michael Pajaro touched upon an interesting point.
How many of you actually consider KR2000 "canon"? I think that's an interesting question considering the movie contains Michael and KITT.
KR2008 was the best attempt at reviving the franchise (IMO!) and I do now consider that "canon". I'm not fond of the Mustang, and in retrospect, that car is quite ugly, especially it's dual scanner. I don't consider TKR "canon". I remember quitting watching the show after about 3 or 4 episodes.
My opinion of "canon"? What is heard of and seen on screen.
I agree with the assessment that what is canon is what is seen AND heard on screen. But it does become a very tricky and slippery slope when you think about it. For instance, the difference between revisionist history and an extension/continuation of the facts established in the Pilot. On one hand, it sounds simple to say that as long as no previously established facts are contradicted or 'overwritten,' then it is canon. But as was mentioned earlier, this did occur with K.A.R.R. remaining intact after he exploded in "Trust Doesn't Rust," among other examples.
I do consider
Knight Rider 2000 canon despite the fact that most of us don't like the movie. And the reason is because it's a logical extrapolation of the series, and it does not contradict any previously established facts in the original series (nevermind the bizarre future technology and laughably inaccurate predictions right now). But simply having Michael, K.I.T.T. and Devon in the story isn't enough in and of itself to make the movie canon. I've said it many times in the past so I'll try not to repeat myself too much, but I liked the attention to detail on how Michael inevitably burnt out, and how he decided to pick up a '57 Chevy which was his car as a teenager (probably because of a mid-life crisis). Devon's role became even more important and the Knight Foundation grew to be a much larger organization. Michael and K.I.T.T. couldn't ride forever, and ultimately the Knight 2000 became obsolete and K.I.T.T. got shelved in moth balls for a decade. Yep, as far as these characters are concerned, this movie always felt like a sequel to me.
The 2008 backdoor pilot, on the other hand, I mostly consider revisionist history. Why? Well mainly my problem is with the Charles Graiman character although ALL the characters are a problem, really. We can always say he was lurking around in the background in the Pilot (maybe one of those scientists running in and out of the warehouse for all we know), but it just didn't make any sense to me why he would be an original designer/creator of K.I.T.T. when it was clearly established that Wilton Knight was. The Jenny character fits in absolutely nowhere, thus Mike Traceur can't exist without rewriting history, either. So we are left with no choice but to assume that she and Michael met off-camera, and given Traceur's age, it still doesn't fit well with Michael being engaged to Stevie. And don't get me started on the subsequent series which even rewrites the backdoor pilot, let alone the original series.
Team Knight Rider and
Knight Rider 2010? Although I've never seen either of these, everything I've heard and read about them seems to either have nothing to do with the original series, or makes their own revisionist history. This forces us to either pick and choose which incarnation of the universe is canon, or not to accept any of them. As they all contradict each other, I don't see how they all can exist in the same universe. In fact, the entire
Knight Rider universe seems better suited as a time-travel story, with all the incarnations ignoring each other.
Going back to my original point, what are really the grounds that separate revisionist history with proper canon? The original series contradicted itself a few times, but it's considered canon. Glen Larson, the creator, only wrote the first episode and supervised the remaining twelve leaving it to other writers, yet their stories are considered canon. So canon isn't dependent on one writer, including original characters in a story, or even contradicting its own facts. I guess the problem with the backdoor pilot then is the fact that NOTHING added up at all, as opposed to a particular fact here or there that can possibly be overlooked.