Nitpicking!

[Knight-Armen]

Hi guys,

Just wanted to start a topic about nitpicking and you are of course more than welcome to share one of your own!

Well then, I was watching Trust Doesn't Rust the other day when I came over this strange dialogue by Kitt:

"I should think so. That other car is going to give Trans Ams a terrible reputation."

What is this and why on earth are they talking about Trans Ams? Kitt is not to be mistaken for a Trans Am in the series if I'm not mistaken?

Any ideas...?

[Michael Pajaro]

KITT was definitely a Trans Am; he was specifically referred to as a Trans Am in the pilot episode. It was only later in the series that they dropped the T/A name and started referring to KITT as a black T-Top.

[Knight-Armen]

I think that we all can agree on the fact that Kitt was a 1982 Pontiac Trans Am; nevertheless, it is not the case that the producers wanted to put the emphasis on that, but rather an idea of the futuristic car.

To put it in simpler terms, the intension was not to make the viewers think of Kitt as a Pontiac Trans Am, but rather a supercar from the future, right?

[FuzzieDice]

Michael is right - KITT's a 3rd gen T/A and was referred to as such for awhile there. But I also heard him referred to as "the Knight 2000" in a few episodes too, making one think he was no longer a Trans Am after the modification but instead now a "Knight 2000" and that the computer inside the car that talked was the "Knight Industries 2000". Soul Survivor also made me assume this.

So I was thinking maybe it was supposed to be a "Knight 2000" but it looked so similar to and was made out of an '82 Trans Am that people also called it that. Then after Pontiac complained, those outside the Foundation was calling KITT just a "black t-top".

I noticed they really didn't call him much in the 4th season after the convertable conversion.

[KITTfan]

In the pilot episode Devon says to Michael when introducing KITT to him: "Welcome aboard to Knight 2000". Perhaps the Knight 2000 was the project (pilot program) that produced KITT since it looked like KITT wasn't quite finished yet.

Devon also said: "Any resemblence between your car and this car is purely superficial.", makes me think KITT only looked like '82 Trans-Am but was in fact completely another kind of vehicle, for example stock '82 TA isn't indestructable

-KITTfan-

[Michael Pajaro]

knight-armen: you wanted a nitpicking discussion and you got it!

In the pilot, William Benjamin says that Michael Knight is in "a black Trans Am with license lettering KNIGHT". So the characters within the show recognize that KITT is a Trans Am. In Trust Doesn't Rust, as Knight-Armen point out, KITT refers to Trans Ams so KITT thinks of himself as a Trans Am. So I think it's pretty clear that the writers wanted the audience to know that KITT was a Trans Am, at least during the first season.

Once they stopped referring to KITT as a T/A, that doesn't mean the writers changed their minds and didn't think KITT was a Trans Am any more. That's just behind-the-scenes production issues.

[Crumbling Down]

In one of the ep's you can see a hand come from the backseat trying to stop the door from completely shutting when michael gets out of KITT.

[Knight-Armen]

knight-armen: you wanted a nitpicking discussion and you got it!

In the pilot, William Benjamin says that Michael Knight is in "a black Trans Am with license lettering KNIGHT". So the characters within the show recognize that KITT is a Trans Am. In Trust Doesn't Rust, as Knight-Armen point ou...

Heh, okay! I always thought that the emphasis was on the fact that Kitt was a talking supercar (which he indeed was), not just a modified Trans Am and that is why I figured the producers/writers didn't want to refer to the car as a Trans Am but there you go!

[Wizster]

I think FLAG purposely made the Knight 2000 look like a regular car and modelled it on the Pontiac Trans-Am. Hence people calling it one and KITT understood that people would associate the behaviour with the Trans-Am car and not some new futuristic one they weren't aware off.

[PA-KnightFan]

If I'm not mistaken, they intended to call it a T/A, but during the first season, fans of the show were being laughed out of Pontiac dealerships for requesting Trans Am's like KITT with the scanner and black wheels. Pontiac contacted the producers of the show, and requested that they stop calling it a Trans Am, and the producers obliged. From that point on, it became a "black T-top".

[J-Knight]

Well seeing as KITTs original name was going to be "T.A.T.T" -Trans Am two thousand- He was clearly supposed to be a trans Am kited out (Pardon the pun) with some super turbine engine and CPU with AI all under the hood of a trans am, With some slight exterior modification.

[FuzzieDice]

Actually, according to Glen Larson in the Season 1 DVD set, the reason they stopped calling it a T/A was because one guy actually HAD one like KITT and then ran a train with it trying to be like KITT and smashed the car up. So Pontiac scrubbed the whole deal I guess. Or something like that...

[Joe Huth]

KITT was last called a "Trans Am" in "Short Notice" (one of the bikers notes that "some guy in a black Trans Am bagged her and took off."). The producers were asked to not refer to the car as a "Pontiac" or "Trans Am" because people were going to their local Pontiac dealers asking for a "Knight Rider" edition T/A - which, looking back, would have probably been smart for Pontiac to offer!

Joe

[KentuckyKITT]

I think the show Knight Rider helped to boost sales of the Pontiac Trans Am and Firebird anyway. I doubt they would have sold as many if that show never existed. Clearly anyone with half a brain could tell it was a Pontiac Trans Am whether they called it a "black ttop or not."

I'm still puzzled as to why Pontiac never came out with a "Knight Rider" edition. Heck, they made "Bandit" edition Trans Ams...why not Knight Rider? Oh, but Pontiac designers decided to "borrow" the KITT nose for their 90's nose design. It's clear as day where they got their "idea" for that nose.lol

Bryan

[Michael Pajaro]

I know the "tribal knowledge" tells the story of Pontiac asking NBC to stop using the name Trans Am in the show. But that really doens't make a lot of sense to me. Getting people into Pontiac showrooms is good business, even if they can't find a KITT. I don't doubt the story, I just think there is more to it. Can anyone point to the original source of information? I'd really like to see a newspaper clipping from the time - something concrete.

[FuzzieDice]

Michael - If you get a chance, listen to the interviews on the Season 1 DVD set. I think Glen Larson talks about that very thing at some point.

I agree... Pontiac let go of a LOT of good cars. The Trans Am is an American Legend! And of course the Pontiac 6000 was a great car too. And let's not forget the ORIGINAL GTO - the 60s GTOs which looked SO COOL!

I miss the old days with all the really cool looking cars. Makes me thankful for the Pontiac 6000 I have (which turned 20 years old this month ) And I'm glad people are restoring Trans Ams and making KITTs, KARRs, and Smokey and the Bandit style T/As anyway.

[remote_jup]

Just a thought. But...does anyone know the legal issues from 1982 about the modifications required to turn a Trans-Am into a K-2000? It just might have been an issue, even back then, that some things were illegal and would have made the whole point of Pontiac selling a Knight Rider version of the Trans-Am hopelessly moot.

I remember earlier postings about illegal modifications. The red light up front, for example. That's an emergency vehicle only color for the front end. This one, I suspect, has been in effect for a long time. The monitor(s)? Provisionally illegal, as it is a distraction to the driver. (Though, some modern day cars have GPS and information screens in plain view of the driver. Also, some campers have rear view monitors. Even modern day radios can get carried away with distractive displays. So, there are obvious exceptions to this rule.) At some point, the black out cover over the tail lights was deemed illegal. No rear view mirror? No street driving. No seat belts? The "Click it or ticket" slips would surely be filling up poor KITT's storage spaces in no time, in this day and age. (Try telling a copper that you have "laser restraints" in place with a believable expression.) Gull wing steering wheel? It's got to be a complete circle. Probably more stuff then I am currently remembering, off hand.

Can you imagine people coming in to purchase a Pontiac KITT and being told they can't drive it and could only tow it home to their private property...where it can just sit there and look nice for...what...$10,000? (Or whatever Trans-Ams went for back then. Probably closer to $8,000...)

[T.A.H.O.E.]

THERE WAS ONE EPISODE WHERE IN AN EXCHANGE B'TWEEN KITT/MICHAEL....Kitt references his appearance as to being a blending in with his surroundings and not wanting to attract attn unto himself...

And sorry about the caps- finger slippage....type almost as fast as I think
not accounting for errors....

[T.A.H.O.E.]

on this side ( east )of the great plains-and appalachians-east....the laws on steering wheels are some what obscured...but if noticed...ya might get a ticket...unless ya got the paperwork for the car/layout,etc.

Sheeeeeesh.