KITT:s Voice

[fredrik40]

Doesn't KITT:s voice change during the seasons: in the first episode he talks more like a computer than normal and in the fourh season he talks more clearer than in the other seasons.

[Scott Kirkessner]

It could be either two things - the type of equipment used to record and play back William Daniels' voice, or the producers/writers strived to make KITT more human sounding than machine sounding.

The greatest difference can be heard when comparing the Pilot to other first season episodes, and even then, you can hear some subtle changes in the pilot as well in the re-shot and added scenes.

[Lost Knight]

Well, in the case of "Knight Of the Phoenix," there were clearly newly shot scenes mixed in with older scenes (i.g. the "Knight 2000" text on K.I.T.T.'s voice modulator; the front nose changing back and forth; and the sound of K.I.T.T.'s voice, among other things), but K.I.T.T. sounded the most computer-like in that episode because he was brand new. Other than that, I believe it was a conscious effort by the writers to have K.I.T.T. grow to be more and more human throughout the seasons of the show.

Although his voice sounded clearest and most human-like in Season 4, it still had that tinny pitch, as if it was actually coming from the inside of the Knight 2000. K.I.T.T. became the most human in Knight Rider 2000, and his sarcasm and humor were at an all-time peak. This time, however, they were coupled with bitterness, which was something K.I.T.T. rarely conveyed (if at all) during the series. But this would make perfect sense and is consistent with the show, as the year 2000 would be 14 years since we last saw Michael and K.I.T.T. in "Voo Doo Knight." That would have given K.I.T.T. plenty of time to further develop his personality. (On a side note, this is also my theory on why K.A.R.R.'s personality changed from being naïve and robot-like, to becoming intelligent and manipulative 2 years later.)

But one thing (out of countless examples) the movie got wrong, I believe, was that there was no tinny pitch to K.I.T.T.'s voice anymore. In the warehouse, fine; he was not yet placed inside of a vehicle. But in that '57 Chevy? Come on, it should have sounded more tinny than ever! I can believe it would sound clearer in the Knight 4000 because, well, it was supposed to be a far more advanced vehicle and I'd imagine it would have a better sound system. It would have been nice if the movie paid attention to that tiny detail, but it probably wasn't important enough to be noticed by the writers of the film.

One aspect of the movie that I did like was that as advanced as the Knight 4000 was, it lacked any humanity/personality. Perhaps if "K.I.F.T." had a chance, "he" could have ended up developing a personality, too? The same can be said about Shawn and Michael, where she was obviously smarter in almost every way, yet Michael was still superior because he had experience (as Shawn herself admitted). "Older and wiser is superior to younger and faster" almost seems to be a subtle theme of the movie, whether it was intentional or not. Ironically, I believe the same thing can be said about the movie compared to the original series. As bigger of a budget that it had, and as fancier as the car was (well, as fancier as it was intended to be), the movie had no fun, excitement, or that inexplicable Knight Rider "magic" that made us all love the show. OK, rant over.