CommanderM
30-09-2012, 03:30 PM
Yo Devon: Knight Rider turns 30 :cool2: dont hassle the hoff! :cool2:
From: news.com.au
September 26, 2012 1:18PM .
http://resources2.news.com.au/images/2012/09/25/1226481/111130-knight-rider.jpg
Knight Rider was the template for the family friendly action shows that dominated the TV schedules during the 80s. Picture: Supplied Source: Supplied
FOR a family show, the set-up is kind of sinister.
A reclusive billionaire finds a detective who's been shot and left for dead, and instead of sending him to the nearest hospital, takes him to his mansion, nurses him back to health, gives him a new face and a new identity and hires him be the sharp end of a private police force, the scary-sounding Foundation for Law and Government.
Throw in a military-grade, talking car that has artificial intelligence and you have the makings of a dystopian nightmare.
But Knight Rider was never about the dark side of life. It wasn't RoboCop or the Terminator; it was, in the worlds of its creator, Glen A. Larson, the Lone Ranger in a car, with the car playing the role of both Silver and Tonto.
The show, which ran for four years, turns 30 today, and its influence on TV and popular culture cannot be overstated.
It was the template for the family-friendly action shows that dominated the TV schedules during the 80s and, more importantly, it introduced the world to The Hoff.
Knight Rider's popularity can be attributed to the easy-going charm David Hasselhoff brought to the part of the lone crusader who "champions the cause of the innocent, the helpless, the powerless, in a world of criminals who operate above the law".
A man talking to his dashboard each week could have been disastrous viewing but Hasselhoff's bond with K.I.T.T. (voiced by veteran stage actor William Daniels) is not only believable but moving.
The show's light tone was much copied; The A-Team, MacGyver and Airwolf all pulled their punches. Villains in 80s TV shows didn't die violent deaths - they were arrested - and henchmen always managed to walk away from car crashes unscathed if a little dazed.
Hasselhoff said of the show's success: "It's because it was about saving lives, not taking lives, and it was how one man really can make a difference. And we had a blast making it, and we made sure nobody died."
Ten things you might not know about Knight Rider:
- The show's creator, Glen A. Larson, had his hand in the biggest TV show of the 70s and 80s. On his CV are: Battlestar Galactica, Buck Rogers in the 25th Century, B.J. and the Bear, Quincy, The Fall Guy and Magnum, P.I. An impressive list but critics have accused him of producing cheap knock-offs of successful movies.
- Hasselhoff's stunt double in the fight scenes rarely looked like him - a problem that was obvious to most viewers.
- K.I.T.T. is a modified 1982 Pontiac Trans-Am. The flashing red scanner on the bumper was inspired by the helmets worn by the villains in Battlestar Galactica.
- K.I.T.T.'s tyres would screech whenever he was getting out of a tight situation - even when he was driving on sand or gravel or grass.
- Due to the popularity of the show, Pontiac was inundated with requests for talking Trans-Ams with a flashing red light on the bumper. A lot of people were disappointed with their reply.
- The show's pulsing theme was composed by Stu Philips, who also did the music for Battlestar Galactica.
- William Daniels said of his role: "My duties on Knight Rider are very simple. I do it in about an hour and a half. I've never met the cast. I haven't even met the producer." He requested that he didn't get a screen credit.
- The voice of K.I.T.T. the revived Knight Rider that aired between 2008 and 2009 was Val Kilmer. How the mighty have fallen.
- Richard Basehart, who played billionaire Wilton Knight in the pilot show, provides the voice for the show's opening narration: "Knight Rider, a shadowy flight into the dangerous world of a man who does not exist. Michael Knight, a young loner on a crusade to champion the cause of the innocent, the helpless, the powerless, in a world of criminals who operate above the law."
- K.I.T.T.'s evil doppelganger was K.A.R.R. (Knight Automated Roving Robot). He was voiced by Peter Cullen, who also provided the voice for Transformers' Optimus Prime.
Read more: http://www.news.com.au/news/yo-devon-knight-rider-turns-30/story-fnejlvvj-1226481801468#ixzz27vLeav3U
http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=Mo8Qls0HnWo
From: news.com.au
September 26, 2012 1:18PM .
http://resources2.news.com.au/images/2012/09/25/1226481/111130-knight-rider.jpg
Knight Rider was the template for the family friendly action shows that dominated the TV schedules during the 80s. Picture: Supplied Source: Supplied
FOR a family show, the set-up is kind of sinister.
A reclusive billionaire finds a detective who's been shot and left for dead, and instead of sending him to the nearest hospital, takes him to his mansion, nurses him back to health, gives him a new face and a new identity and hires him be the sharp end of a private police force, the scary-sounding Foundation for Law and Government.
Throw in a military-grade, talking car that has artificial intelligence and you have the makings of a dystopian nightmare.
But Knight Rider was never about the dark side of life. It wasn't RoboCop or the Terminator; it was, in the worlds of its creator, Glen A. Larson, the Lone Ranger in a car, with the car playing the role of both Silver and Tonto.
The show, which ran for four years, turns 30 today, and its influence on TV and popular culture cannot be overstated.
It was the template for the family-friendly action shows that dominated the TV schedules during the 80s and, more importantly, it introduced the world to The Hoff.
Knight Rider's popularity can be attributed to the easy-going charm David Hasselhoff brought to the part of the lone crusader who "champions the cause of the innocent, the helpless, the powerless, in a world of criminals who operate above the law".
A man talking to his dashboard each week could have been disastrous viewing but Hasselhoff's bond with K.I.T.T. (voiced by veteran stage actor William Daniels) is not only believable but moving.
The show's light tone was much copied; The A-Team, MacGyver and Airwolf all pulled their punches. Villains in 80s TV shows didn't die violent deaths - they were arrested - and henchmen always managed to walk away from car crashes unscathed if a little dazed.
Hasselhoff said of the show's success: "It's because it was about saving lives, not taking lives, and it was how one man really can make a difference. And we had a blast making it, and we made sure nobody died."
Ten things you might not know about Knight Rider:
- The show's creator, Glen A. Larson, had his hand in the biggest TV show of the 70s and 80s. On his CV are: Battlestar Galactica, Buck Rogers in the 25th Century, B.J. and the Bear, Quincy, The Fall Guy and Magnum, P.I. An impressive list but critics have accused him of producing cheap knock-offs of successful movies.
- Hasselhoff's stunt double in the fight scenes rarely looked like him - a problem that was obvious to most viewers.
- K.I.T.T. is a modified 1982 Pontiac Trans-Am. The flashing red scanner on the bumper was inspired by the helmets worn by the villains in Battlestar Galactica.
- K.I.T.T.'s tyres would screech whenever he was getting out of a tight situation - even when he was driving on sand or gravel or grass.
- Due to the popularity of the show, Pontiac was inundated with requests for talking Trans-Ams with a flashing red light on the bumper. A lot of people were disappointed with their reply.
- The show's pulsing theme was composed by Stu Philips, who also did the music for Battlestar Galactica.
- William Daniels said of his role: "My duties on Knight Rider are very simple. I do it in about an hour and a half. I've never met the cast. I haven't even met the producer." He requested that he didn't get a screen credit.
- The voice of K.I.T.T. the revived Knight Rider that aired between 2008 and 2009 was Val Kilmer. How the mighty have fallen.
- Richard Basehart, who played billionaire Wilton Knight in the pilot show, provides the voice for the show's opening narration: "Knight Rider, a shadowy flight into the dangerous world of a man who does not exist. Michael Knight, a young loner on a crusade to champion the cause of the innocent, the helpless, the powerless, in a world of criminals who operate above the law."
- K.I.T.T.'s evil doppelganger was K.A.R.R. (Knight Automated Roving Robot). He was voiced by Peter Cullen, who also provided the voice for Transformers' Optimus Prime.
Read more: http://www.news.com.au/news/yo-devon-knight-rider-turns-30/story-fnejlvvj-1226481801468#ixzz27vLeav3U
http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=Mo8Qls0HnWo