This show started with such promise. The pilot nailed it as a continuation of the original series. Too bad the producers pulled a bait and switch when the show got going and turned it into a reboot.
What made Knight Rider so awesome was the relationship between Michael and Kitt. The fact that Kitt was a very awesome looking car was a very major part also. The original will never be duplicated no knock on these reboots but in this case the classic car is the better choice.
Someone said at a meeting: So I was thinking for this new Knight Rider show, we should just forget everything about the original show and just make it like Tranformers.
Which is ironic since in this version KARR is basically a Decepticon with Optimus Prime's voice: ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-INvMbH4mJGU.html
@@TheRealKaiProton It bears mentioning that it was originally supposed to be Will Arnett but the show used Ford cars and he had a noncompete clause in his contract with GM.
it's probably the coolest car on the market. the actor says. is he kidding KITT as a Pontiac Trans-Am is the coolest car around back in the 1980's and still today.
I really liked this show and wish it had gone on longer. My only complaint is I wish they toned down the transforming capability bit - seeing Kitt turn into a van and pickup truck is silly - it made more sense in the pilot where all he could do is change colors and minor body features.
@@GESSO217 In the classic version, KITT did not need to transform into other vehicles, he used his ingenuity to fool criminals. Otherwise, Bonnie or April would update it with some improvements.
Ron Nothrop I say the same thing.i thought the pilot was badass with somewhat believable tech in kitt.then it just went full transformers but in a bad way.very corny.the hell was up with that super pursuit mode?!?
I love the 2008 KR, I wish they continued it. But talking abt the pilot it use to be on Netflix a couple years ago but I can’t find it anymore. Do you guys know anywhere?
That whole scene with kitt parts laying around. Then the chick saying hope you didn't use a Pontiac again. Pissed me off and left a bad taste in my mouth. So disrespectful
@@ryansellers2581 | It kind of broke my heart when I saw that brief scene. You would think FLAG would simply put the original KITT in indefinite storage after retirement, not stripped for parts. (Unfortunately in the Knight Rider 2000 version, they done the same thing.)
Not sure why neither Knight Rider (2008) or the Knight Rider 2000 movie never addressed the reasons properly in-universe, but the behind the scenes reason we didn't have the Trans-Am is that the majority of the cars that served as the various models of K.I.T.T. & K.A.R.R. were part of a train derailment in 1982...and after the series was finished, they had to be destroyed. And since the surviving cars were sold off, they simply didn't have anything else to use that was similar. Which is a bit weak, actually, if they wanted to, the studio could've very easily secured a fifth-generation Chevy Camaro (assuming that the 2009 model year had started production & sales) for the 2008 reboot, and MAYBE got either a late run third-gen or early fourth-gen Camaro/Trans-Am for the Knight Rider 2000 movie. 🤷🏽♂️
I liked this show overall. It respected the original continuity and tried to be a legitimate continuation. But there was a HUGE missed opportunity. They should've implied, that despite the "new body", KITT was still the same AI, just with upgraded hardware (the different voice actor could've been excused as part of the upgrades). The car should've recognized Hasselhoff as Michael Knight during his cameo. All it would've taken is ONE LINE. "Your new driver is my son, buddy...take care of him for me."
That had already been done in the Knight Rider 2000 movie where they plugged the original AI into the 4000 model: ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE--LHCjE6RSKI.html
@@blackjac5000 What does that have to do with my suggestion that KITT in the 2008 series should've been the same KITT even if the car and voice actor were different? It would've just taken one line from Hasselhoff.
@@StormsparkPegasus As previously stated, it had already been done. Hell, even the notion of Michael's illegitimate kid getting involved in it all had been done in the '90s show Team Knight Rider.
It's just Knight 4000, it was never referred to as the Knight Industries Four Thousand. Many people forget there was a car between KITT and the K4000, which was KRO, the Knight Reformulation One, interestingly KRO and the K4000 share something in common with KARR, and that's strong self preservation programming, and a lack of empathy.
I like how no one brings up David Hasselhoff in that one shot saying " "where am I" almost as if the crew just abducted him and told him to do an interview
I recently watched both series again and I've come to like the 2008 version as well. The feel is of course different from the original 1980s KR but the world has changed too. It's unfortunate that it only lasted one season.
I got better after they cut the cast, and got back to the root of what made the original series so special. One man can make a difference. Not one man and a team of unimportant people to add PC fluff for the modern age can make a difference. That’s where they failed. After they killed off the excess “fluff”, I actually really enjoyed the show. Besides KITT only being able to convert into other Ford vehicles, I think they got the formula right. But it was too late by that point.
Two steps forward and one step back ! I’ll explain why I say that . Yes the Pilot was incredible to start the show. I remember the first time I saw the pilot, . I thought wow (actually f.... me) if only all cars could morph and change colour. It was inevitable that that someone would update the franchise and bring it forward but it suffered from bad ratings, just because people were so stuck on the original. Yes some episodes were ... camp! I agree with most people on here that in the series there was way too much CGI, although saying that I love Val Kilmer as the “Creepy Guy” KITT in this series. I like cars with attitude that look menacing! KITT should look menacing! Dodge Demon perhaps.
In my opinion, KITT 2000 would be highly concerned about his descendant. The Creepy Guy feeling is NOT a good look. "Is that really MY descendant? Good God, he sounds like he baited your poor son into this."
@@abbyknight7899 No, it's because the reboot was dross, nothing to do with being a car guy or not being one. The original Trans Am was and still is miles better, I'd take one over the Mustang any day of the week. Over time, I'm willing to bet that the Trans Am if kept in good condition would be worth far more down the line than the Mustang as a relevant collector item.
Best scene in Pilot was David coming to the cemetery. Good acting by him, but everything after Knight Rider 2000 was a big failure. KR2000 started good and if they had choosen another way to the end, it could have become a new, better series as this one.
Good acting for someone who was still recovering from a long drinking problem at that time. David looked and performed way better in his short scene in the 2017 Baywatch film than he did in this version of Knight Rider nine years earlier.
That was a Sunday night movie. They were trying to see how it would do in ranking before doing a new series based on it. It was called Knight Rider 2000
Bruce Davison and Yancey Aria leaving the show early on - two actors, who throughout the first few episodes had been established as main characters - were early warnings of the quality of the show... or lack thereof.
Just here to say the Knight 2000 was a '82 not a '83. Atleast lore wise. They used many Firebirds, some TA's some just standard, one Manual Transmission and many others.
We went from the sleek unassuming but powerful Trans-Am with a major body kit to an over amped brick on wheels that sticks out like a sore thumb and then to overcome the objections on this during the series they made in transform into larger vehicles without any explanation of the mass, wheel base extension, and engine change. All fiction, no science. The original KITT had tech that was emerging at the time and potential for the future and he could connect to the net which is how he was hacked one episode and a bullet proof she’ll, new kitt takes damage but repairs himself to a certain limit. Mostly seems like a downgrade!
Fair enough and not a criticism of your comment. But the plot of the pilot of this Knight Rider is that Grayman knew how to replicate Kitt's technology but lacked the three-person recipe to replicate the molecular bonded shell.
Their morphing idea (on top of just being stupid) lost their co-star, KITT. We wouldn't be able to embrace Michael as a character if they kept changing out his actor for another who looked different every scene. Same reason you can't keep swapping KITT out from a basic looking Mustang, to a tricked out Mustang, a F-150, a SUV, and the fleet of other Ford products they had on standby to be 'KITT' depending on the scene.
Reasons like this are why I prefer Team Knight Rider as the successor series, although I did enjoy the 2009 series, it wasn't as good as the 2008 pilot, although I should mention that neither TKR, or KR2008 can beat the original 80s series, and only Knight Rider 2000 can come close to it, tbf it is the last hurrah of the old team, Michael, Devon, and KITT.
honestly it was bad till they killed Sarah's dad then it started to go back to the original formula with just mike and kitt with out the scc but by that point the damage has already been done, and show was cancelled.
@@ojraven8093 , if David Hasslehoff as Michael Knight... in the new show in a Devon Miles type roll it might have helped the show but he was only seen in a Cameo in the pilot episode...
@@patrickperalta59 I don't think even that would have saved the show. Let's break it down. In the original F.L.A.G was honestly a very well funded detective agency it wasn't really any official government agency so Mike literally had free reign on how he conducted his investigations much to the chagrin of Devon. Here they are part of a government agency with a lot of people in the back calling the shots I felt like it wasn't just Mike and KITT anymore verses the bad guy of the week. However like I said by the end of the run the show started to fall back on that original formula but by then it was just too late. Also I understand KITT is supposed to be a hight tech piece of machinery but come on even the old show wasn't that fantastic sometimes this show just breaks reality. I can suspend disbelief for so much. KITT turning into pick up truck KARR becoming a transformer etc. I hope the new movie learns from this and gets it right
@@ojraven8093 Agreed, though the original show got equally silly when they did the whole convertible thing (which also led to its cancellation as well).
I'm used to Bill Daniels as the Voice as {KITT} I'm my opnion the Down Fall of this Show was the actor who did the voice as {KITT} Bill Daniels just had this connection with the fans of Knight Rider but Val Kilmer as the voice of {KITT} Val Kilmer Just never connected with the Fan's of Knight Rider like how Bill Daniels did he just did not have that Chemistry with the Fan's of Knight Rider perhaps Val Kilmer is better off sticking to {TOP GUN} Some movies or Tv show's are not mint for some actors. ? But every time I noticed when Knight Rider tried to come back I noticed they failed every time and I know why and the answer is very easy if they look hard enough. ? They Keep on changing the Car {KITT} KITT is a lot like the General Lee from The Dukes of Hazzard the car is the STAR OF THE SHOW ? And you only can make very small changes to the car and not major changes and that is what Knight Rider done wrong. ? Look at the first Knight Rider {Knight Rider 2000} Why did it fail because of the HUGE CHANGES TO KITT ? Perhaps a Newer Trans-Am was the better fit for {KITT} and the show should not have gone for fair based in the future because the show can only get so high tech then the show fails with the viewers watching because {NOW} The show is no longer realistic. But This is my opinion why Knight Rider failed every time.
I could have dealt with the new car and cast except for Val who seemed to be doing his version of a robot with the personality of a speed bump Bill aka Kitt 2000 talked like a person which would have made even more sense now given that this was a newer Knight rider
If I could drive and I had my own K.I.T.T. I would have a pilot nose and scanner, a S1/2 dash with S2/3 features and then add the C button and make K.I.T.T. a convertible like in S4. That'd be awesome 🙂
I think the two things the ruined it after the pilot as others have said, Transformers came out and someone decided they had to get some of that and being sponsored by Ford they had to showcase other new Ford models so transforming into trucks and other silliness overtook the coolness,
I love the show I think I could have went on Four Seasons and Seasons I love the old Knight Rider but this was a really cool version of Knight Rider wish it lasted longer
Love how we had the two thousand then the red four thousand in the tv special or movie whatever it was, then went backwards to the three thousand for the new series
The original was awesome , love the concept, .. if you did a remake today it should be a Corvette .. having Kitt in a mustang is like putting him back in that 57 Chevy !! Kitt didn’t like the bulkiness .
The car's ability to morph itself with the nanites into different forms and colors in the pilot episode was cool. The ability to transform into entirely different vehicles didn't work for me.
And worst of all, GM did not revive the Firebird with the new Camaro look at the time and that could of saved Pontiac from it's inevitable end, well would likely, not highly likely, Imagine if GM allow Pontiac to use the new Camaro concept design at the time to make a new Firebird, but no, they use the Camaro concept for a certain movie about space robots at the time and probably did not allow Pontiac to do a new Firebird because it might overshadow the Camaro, so yeah
@@bradwhite5884 I remember watching that particular movie in theaters and when that concept car appeared I immediately thought it would make a great KITT.
The writing on the show was so bad, it was like they never seen an episode of the original Knight Rider or just simply didn't care!!! I am not a writer, but even I could have written something better!!!
They took away kitt‘s human like soul and let him come back in the style of the strange voice on our old PCs that said: you got mail!....and I guess a charming thing about the original show was, that they always had to invent and come up with new stuff and technology to help Michael and Kitt on fulfilling their case. Now we got a car with the personality of a potato that knows everything can virtually do anything and can even change into a truck (so poor) when needed. This was way toooooo much. I liked the attack and non attack mode, I like the changing colour option...but the rest is way over the top! Where is the adventure? The team spirit? And the lesson we could learn in every episode? Instead of this we got a „men“ style spoiler and a louder brrrrum if you start the car...to many male ppl with bo**rs involved in the project!
The thing about the voice is that William Daniel's said that he wouldn't do the voice of the K2,000 if his voice would end up sounding robotic like how the K3,000s voice actor wound up being, good move on his part.
I blame the writers strike at the time when this show was in production. I swear no one saw any original episodes and had no clue about KR. I had high hopes when they did the KARR episode but that was just stupid when KARR was a transformer.
id love to see a spin off of the old knight industries 2000, or even a film, sure there were the knight rider 2000 film, but I want the original one, could have it where its years in the future and k.i.t.t is in a box, just forgetting the 2000 movie, knight industries has shut down, and years on has a new buyer who wonders what they have and put it back together.
What I didn't like was that the car was a transformer. What didn't make sense was that the car had to heal itself when it was shot. The original K.I.T.T. body was coated with new age chemical polymer making K.I.T.T. nearly industructable and was bullet proof.
@DAVID AYLING it's probably also forgotten that K.A.R.R. was built with the concept of self preservation into his programming. Where K.I.T.T. 's programming was to protect Human life
Not entirely. The problem mainly boils down to the fact that by the time they understood what made the original show work (the “One man can make a difference” theme), they were already cancelled.
@@MrPAULONEAL i did and i tried to be as forgiving as possible , but the cast didn't even have good chemistry , the whole show had that Hawaï 5 0 , and mcgyver kinda vibe to it that killed the knight rider vibe to me , that said i didn't mind the tech guy and the asian girl i think it was a good step forward , when it comes to KITT it was physicly painfull to watch and hear his voice it sounded like an early developpement prototype , and i'd rather not talk about KARR who became a fuckin transformer in this serie , overall it was a *bad* reboot and i'm just being nice.
I imagine you probably did see the initial movie, but towards the end, David did happen to show up, Justin did ask him (David) if he'd ever show up, it's too bad he (David) didn't.😔
The writing was all over the place, some good, some bad. KARR felt like Transformers, and I think there was history behind that, which is why KITT was a Mustang instead of a Corvette. Knight Rider doesn’t work as a show today, because virtually everything KITT has is in cars today, GPS, maps, AI, taking phone calls in your car, et cetera. The only other reason this show failed is because the writing wasn’t consistent.
Most cars are not driven by a specialist in hand to hand combat doing secret missions with a bulletproof car that has acces to all the databases and weapons show could still work
was i the only one who actually watched the Knight Rider 2008 - THE MOVIE- that was only availible to watch on an online website before they actually watched the TV series?! seriously! i want to know if i was the ONLY ONE ON EARTH WHO DID. IT HAD CLEAR, DIRECT EVIDENCE IT WAS NOT A REMAKE AT ALL BUT A CONTINUATION! Original KITT everyone knows and loves, was in a garage! that to me was CLEAR RIGHT THEN! I bet 500$ if ALOT of people saw it, the show would have NEVER BEEN CANCELLED for WRONGFULLY being a ramake!
I don't know- if I had to chose a car to house a smart technological and futuristic wonder weapon, I surely wouldn't have thought of a retro design muscle car, which is meant to be a throwback...
In the '90s there was a show called Team Knight Rider that had five vehicles: a haughty SUV, a flirty convertible, an angry pickup truck, and two motorcycles--one neurotic, the other speaking only in vague pop culture references that only his driver understood.
Useless characters, terrible premise of the organization running K.I.T.T., horrible sequences of transforming into every ford vehicle on the market, and making it too much like the awful Team Knight Rider is what killed this show for me. Butnto hear these actors and staff just gush over K.I.T.T. being able to "access the internet" really made me roll my eyes.
Exactly. The female fbi agent who they made a huge point of being gay was a waste and redundant some there was already a male fbi agent in charge of the entire thing.... in addition to the tech team they had monitoring kitt. It was like TKR all over again. And what tf was the purpose of kitt being latched onto a spinning gamble while he was at the base?!! Why did they get rid of the very simple semi? They always had to drive allllllll the way back to the secret base? Lol. I see why Conan O'Brian roasted this show while it was still on the air...
At first I had trouble getting into this version, but by the end of the first season, I was sad it was ending. What show doesn't struggle some in it's first season?
If they hadn't focused so much on the love story at the beginning of the reboot, the series probably wouldn't have had such a hard time with viewers at the beginning. Towards the end, the series became much better. But by then it was already too late and the network pulled the plug...
S1writing was in it's infancy, with KARR episode very bad, but the show had a lot of potential. Needed less Transformers, more man+machine stories, expanding the KR universe. Ended way too soon.
idk if it's just me, but from the design perspective, it's just very hard for me to accept a ford mustang as a cool candidate and worthy successor of the original kitt! closest thing that comes to mind is a c5 corvette, i think in black color it would be a perfect update for kitt
