I’ve always wondered this. I suspect that it did. When the cars came they probably liked the look how the black transitions to the gold and simply adopted the effect.
Can you imagine what it must have been like in that room watching the pilot. I know these are seasoned tv executives but even they must’ve been excited by what they were seeing. It’s futuristic but it’s relatable, it’s tough but it has heart add to that all the humour and how likeable Michael and Devon were. They knew they had a hit.
6:33 "In fact we talked to Michael Long many years ago..." Haha lovely innocent slip of the tongue there that shows how real these characters are to us!
When the 1982 T/A came out it was like no other car. (Besides the 1981 Deloren) Unless you grow up in the 70s you would not understand .Truly futuristic
Hi joe, I've been a fan of Knight Rider ever since I was a kid and I enjoyed reading Knight Rider Legacy and the Episode guide you wrote. I'm also having fun watching the great videos you guys make on the Knight Rider Historians channel. Watching your video 'Where is Michael Long's Trans Am' and this new one, raised the following question. In the video you state that Larson & co. shot a presentation footage in three days to show to the network. They showed the showreel a day after the weekend. When NBC okayed the series, they finished shooting the pilot. However, in Knight Rider Legacy on page 5 you quote Larson saying 'We didn't have time to finish a pilot, so we made a 40 minute presentation, and I chose the scenes that best showed the people in New York what we were trying to sell. [...] " What they mocked up for the presentation was7-10 days worth of shooting.." I also recall Larson saying something similar in a documentary on Knight Rider. So, the question is: was Larson remembering it wrong and have you guys since discovered they only shot the presentation reel in three days? Developed and edited the material fast that a day after shooting they could show the showreel? Or did you make a mistake writing the video? Also In one video you guys said it was about 15 minutes and this time 30 minutes of footage. Hope you can clear this up. Thank you very much!
This is very spectacular breakthrough and opportunity to reveal some evidence of the never before seen footage of the Pilot. I am so pleased that no today would be able to realize what may have happened in the entire Pilot, but luckily, Joe has the heartfelt moment to deliver it to us. Thanks Joe!👍
Kit is now here at a rest home in Northern Alabama right now he got a confederate flag tattoo on his roof when we accepted him. Right now at thee moment he is fishing off some river dock with Michael doing well. We never reveal where our car patients R at moment to moment due to privacy issues.. But Kit is getting better & better at fishing every day much better than Michael whom only seems to catch a buzz every trip..
The most common standing set for 6MDM and Bionic Woman was Oscar's office, which would really be ironic given Richard Anderson was playing "Doctor Miles". Other than that, I'm not certain what other set it might be although the bionic shows had a lot of scenes shot in somewhat generic "bad guy" mansions as it were. Chances are Columbo and Quincy made heavy use of a set like this.
6MDM ended in 1978, but I could see a nondescript room set being passed around the Universal lot from 6MDM/BW to Columbo and Quincy and then to Knight Rider with minimal redressing.
@@Quacks0 Watch it again, he explains that in the original script and on his name tag it says Dr. Miles, because Devon was originally called Devon Shire and not Miles.
If you've ever seen Don Colie's reproduction dash, he made the switch pods numbered like the pilot presentation and in smaller text gave them their functions
I have a great idea, why don't the knight rider historians do there own remake of a few of the knight rider scenes and make it into a small series, and try to re-nact them at the places they where filmed at all those years ago, and maybe try to bring a few actors on board, bet it would be great fun to do.
You ask about the possibility of reusing a set from The Six Million Dollar Man. I don’t know if that is what they did, but at 10:32 you show the doctor. That is obviously Richard Anderson, who played Oscar Goldman on that previous show. It looks like there is more than one connection here to the past. I’m surprised you didn’t mention the actor by name.
Joe! Great job with this video. I like the attention to detail on the sideburns lol. I think it’s worth doing a video on the Hoff’s hair style changes from season to season. I can literally tell what season I’m watching based on his hair alone lol.
Thanks for taking the time to give us this information. I've always been interested in the behind the scenes information about the show. This really was a cool tv show. Kind of ahead of it's time really. "A shadowy flight into a dangerous world of a man who does not exist". Cool theme song and lyrics. The premise of the show was neat. A good guy who had plastic surgery after being shot coming back to get the bad guys, so to speak.
This is incredible. This show means so much to me, having people ensuring its legacy warms my heart. Thank you for using your precious time to do this. I wish you would spawn clones to tackle the other shows of my childhood... But I'll take what I can get. 😁 💙 From 🇫🇷.
Do you have access to the commercial that played before the show aired? It may have been AJ Foyt standing by a General Lee look a like, except it had the numbers 00 on the door, and Kitt was next to it, and he was saying there was a new car in town.
I think it would be cool for you to analyse the blooper reel. A video on all the surving KITT's. I think you've only covered 4/5? (Original Hero, Back up to original Hero / S2 insert car/ S3/4 trick car, your S4 stunt car / Universal theme park car and the convertible KITT) Thanks!!
AT 14:14 in the back round would those computers 🖥 be actually the one's that would be added to the semi ? And at the end of the Derby crash contest kitt has a knight plate Columbo 1976 in NOW YOU SEE HIM ...looks familiar to Devon Miller office.
Great video Joe. These types of information are really cool to know for us knight rider geeks. I've got a pretty keen eye when I watch the show. Explains a lot. Again thank you my friend 👍
This was hands-down one of your best videos (and that's saying a lot -- you've produced some amazing videos over the past couple years). I really appreciate your sleuthing on this. I've always been fascinated by the pilot presentation (I think I was one of the people begging you to do that video on the stock nose), and this really pulled together a lot of the stuff I was curious about. I hope you're able to score an actual copy of it someday!
This is like the TV show version of Jean-Michel Jarre's "Music For Supermarkets" (private pressing) This was an Album/LP which only had one copy ever made by the French musician as it was commission for a private art installation exhibition. This was also played on AM radio once at the time and any surviving recordings doing the rounds were more than likely recorded from that broadcast (& hence the scuzzy sound quality) The original recordings were apparently deleted at the insistence of Jarre but remnants of that LP did make it onto his subsequent 1984 Album "Zoolook" so a similar reconstruction effort could be attempt as you guys are doing for the KnightRider presentation film!
That was brilliant Joe,so well done,stupid TH-cam algarithym..anyways maybe one day we might see the presentation in all it's glory..i confess in my geekiness i knew about 90% of the info,and where would we be without gaffers tape? ...as always Joe,a great video...
I really like these deep dive features. Is there enough information to do a deep dive on the two (or possibly more) 83 Thunderbirds from Knight of the Drones?
Great! Greatest! Fantastic! All my compliments, guys! Am I the only one who thinks that the font for the writing "Knight Industries" on the semi trailer is the same used in the first tv promo? 🤔🤔🤔🤔🤔 It might explain why that particular (ok, I should say "quite standard") font was used in the promo... Just an idea, of course!
Great presentation it would have been interesting if you had actually had the physical pilot promo 👍 really enjoy the indepth information on knight rider
I think there was a mention of the pilot presentation in Larson's dvd commentary, but this is fascinating. Joe, are there many other shows sold on just a pilot presentation vs an entire pilot? I've never heard of this with another series.
I am reasonably certain that the set of the foundation headquarters is a redressed one from The Six Million Dollar man, I have been saying that for years. I have the complete series on DVD and I will look closely for that set in the episodes when I watch the show again.
Wow, big big thanks for putting this together. I've long wanted to see the footage, and I never knew how tricky it would be to put it together. Could you somehow make it available as a download somewhere, that bypasses youTube? Perhaps if it was a Digital Sale item?? But nicely done, and I never knew about the switching of phone/arms. I knew about it, but not the reason for it. Love when Glen describe Michael as "got some kid from Mattel" as well.
Brilliant dive into the pilot presentation. Love to see more of this stuff.. I wonder if you know was William Daniels voice used in the presentation, or would that have been added after the series got the green light? Always wondered if they used someone else for kitts voice for the presentation?
I wish TH-cam let you upload your version of the pilot presentation. Hopelly when you find actual footage of the pilot presentation TH-cam will let you show it to us.
I have long time wondered that Nevada license plate... KITT has a Nevada license plate, either because Michael was a police officer in Reno or because Knight Industries was located in Nevada. If I remember correctly, the first Knight Rider novel referred to both points. If KITT was built from Michael Long’s own car it would explain the license plate in the first case and if the car was made entirely by Knight Industries in the second case. Apparently the Knight Foundation was located in California, so it would be logical to register a car later there.
It wasn't build from Long's car. In lore reasons; 1. If they used Long's car, it would have been KARR, not KITT. 2. Devon's statement pretty much clarifies the two cars share only superficial resemblance, plus the part 'between this car and yours', also strongly suggest those were two different cars. 3. In 'Knightmares', Michael is shown a newspaper stating that Long's car was found in the desert, and 'proven' that Long must have been dead. Outside lore reasons; Even though Knight Rider wasn't exactly made with care for even remotely realistic depiction of technology or physics, it's hard to swallow the idea they would build KITT from Longs car. One reason is the development process must have been well under way for at least months, more probably years before Long was shot. At this point the car's appearance was most probably already chosen. Realistically, any machine that complicated would have been complete at least months before it was sent into action, and only tested and patched later on, given that it wasn't showing any technical issues once deployed. Another reason is in general engineering rules; if two things are built for completely different intents and purposes, it makes no sense to convert one into another as the amount of changes will be so large, the base machine will only become and obstacle. This is as true for physical machines as it is for computer codes. The second reason is that KITT was supposedly almost indestructable because he was made of 'a new substance'. If a standard car is made of steel, use of substance different to steel would require a complete redesign of the entire structure, as the different material will have different resilience, flexibility, and will transfer forces differently. Even if the car was supposed to perform exactly the same tasks as the standard car it would still need to be fully redesigned. And KITT was supposed to do things very different to those a normal car would do. So, as long as we assume that what isn't shown or otherwise clarified in the show, remains the same as the real world, we would have to assume that the foundation built KITT from scratch. The reason KITT resembles Trans Am was that it had to look like some contemporary car for blending in and provocation and confrontation purposes. In the show many characters don't even expect KITT to quick for a car, let alone his other abilities. That's why Michael can easily rely on the fact others don't even suspect that KITT can make some special advantage and often uses this advantage. The reason why the Foundation decided to pick Trans Am's design is also simple; they probably just read the new T/A would have drag coefficient of 0,29 (which is much better than most cars made up to this day), so this way they had wind tunnel sorted by someone else, while the car could still blend in. It's even possible the show makers actually thought this way, because figure of 0,29 was achieved with the hubcap rims specifically, and KITT would keep till the end of the series, although Pontiac went for different wheels in 1984.
Was Knight Rider heavily marketed pre and post pilot at this point ?? Ertl toys brought out the Trans Am models with a stock nose and a decal for the front scanner there was also comics,lunch boxes,annuals etc that all feature the car with a stock nose. I think Corgi toys here in the UK also made stock car models
John Ward? I thought John Schinella, head of Pontiac's design studio, designed the general overall appearance of KITT's nose for Harker Wade by way of a rough sketch at a meeting held at the office of Vista Group, Pontiac's West Coast public relations agency in CA.
Ward borrowed from most of the stock T/A nose. With only a few weeks to do the work, I like the job - It made the T/A even sleeker. I am one of very few who actually prefer the snub nose over Scheffe's. I like Scheffe's 1st season only with the grill covers over the fog lights, but with the pilot presentation's fit and finish, the car itself and the dash on a stage will always be my favorite - Daniel's almost robotic voice from the presentation just added to it for me
Love it!! We’ll done!! I was curious if you have a way to show what the dash looked like in the last scene of K.I.T.T being towed? I’ve always was curious to see a zoomed in picture of that. Thank you again for a wonderful video!👍
Loved it would like to see the pilot preparation also would love to see the promo for the knight rider 2000 TV movie in full. Also the teaser card kinda looks like the opening of kr 2008. Love the channel thanks
I remember noticing when the full pilot episode was shown on TV here in the UK the end titles stated (c)1978. I thought at the time that there must have been a four year gap after they produced the pilot before it was picked up for the series. Now I know that wasn't the case, I wonder why it has (c) 1978 at the end?
@@Markver1 a). I have a very good memory, it definately had 1978 in the end titles. b) We would need someone in the know to look into that. c) That would be Dyscalculia rather than Dyslexia :)
Thanks for sharing this great story! Maybe only in Japanese translation version, Devon is called "Devon Shire", not "Devon Miles" through the entire season(season 1 to 4). This story gave me one of the hints why he was called Devon "Shire"!
11:30 Speaking of the Six Million Dollar Man, This actor (Richard Anderson) playing Doctor Miles (10:30) played Oscar Goldman, a regular on SM$M. So it wouldn't be a surprise that the set was reused.
Mmhh🤔🤔🤔 the Actor that played Dr. Miles also had a Part in the 6 Million Dollar Man. Maybe this is a connection to the reused Set in the pilotpresentation?
Y'all should contact NBC and ask them if they could turn your version of the pilot presentation into a DVD which I would buy Here's hoping the actual pilot presentation surfaces someday
Great job. I know it's hard to find old footage it's was very cool what you showed. Keep up the great job you are doing. By the way where do you live I'm from California but I'm in ohio now A small town called perrysburg oh. Hope to hear from you. Thanks again. Bless you daily
6 Million dollar man. Another great show. Who would've believed Oscar Goldman would leave OSI, change his name, and become a doctor? lol. Lots of neat little details I never picked up on, thanks Joe. I've always respected the hard work that went into putting these cars together, but annoyed at how some stuff got tossed together... referring to how the original dash got hacked back together when reinstalled. 😕 That rubber body looked good on the original pilot presentation car. Now I know why it looked kinda crappy in later episodes. Great video, and great detective work as usual. I love how you pick out all those interesting little tidbits. ❤ Do we obsess over this show too much? 🤣 Who cares, it's fun.
Really good video. I was wondering if you know anything about how the John Ward scanner was fitted to the car, it's size and shape, how many segments. Or if you own one? It's definitely more Cylon looking than the later more famous one. How did they extend the trans am hood to look like that? And how much better would SPM have looked, and been to create, if the presentation scanner and location had been maintained?
29:00 This raises a good question. Are you restoring the semi to the original version here, or the most used version (basically how we saw it 99% of the time)? For the record, I prefer the newer Knight logo a million times more.
Never give up hope on finding footage. "Doctor Who" has missing episodes too, but not as many are still missing. Someone in Africa died, and in going through his estate it turned out he had * 11 * of the missing episodes. (He'd filmed them off TV with an 8mm camera, I remember (might be wrong), so the quality is poor but at least they're something.) That's been the biggest find so far, but occasionally one or another keep showing up.
that made me cringe when I saw them towing that car by the front wheels (both times, once when the bad guys took KITT to "examine" it and then the second time when Devon and Michael get out.)
Not only was K.I.T.T. ahead of his time. But the ideas and design were too. Michael says that car can't hit anything. Now not only do we have these sensors in cars, nearly all the new dashboards look like K.I.T.T.s with the TV screens and the displays. He really was something special. And the Hoff wasn't bad either.😁👍
I've also noticed continuity errors switching back and forth between Michael having a normal wrist watch and his Comlink. Pretty obvious which footage is which in regards to that. I know there is a comic strip/novelization where Michael communicates with K.I.T.T. via a brain implanted microchip. Was this ever the original concept Glen Larson had for the script and it was later dropped entirely in favor of a Comlink? Or was this just another writer's interpretation of the Pilot script?
I wonder if the original black and gold color scheme of the Trans-Am influenced the paint scheme of the FLAG semi trailer.
I’ve always wondered this. I suspect that it did. When the cars came they probably liked the look how the black transitions to the gold and simply adopted the effect.
Can you imagine what it must have been like in that room watching the pilot. I know these are seasoned tv executives but even they must’ve been excited by what they were seeing. It’s futuristic but it’s relatable, it’s tough but it has heart add to that all the humour and how likeable Michael and Devon were. They knew they had a hit.
Iron Man must have done exactly that. Because I got the same goose bumps like I did when I was 6.
6:33 "In fact we talked to Michael Long many years ago..." Haha lovely innocent slip of the tongue there that shows how real these characters are to us!
When the 1982 T/A came out it was like no other car. (Besides the 1981 Deloren) Unless you grow up in the 70s you would not understand .Truly futuristic
It totally made every single car in the first episode look old.
You both nailed it 👌
That generation LOOKED great but mechanically it was waaay weaker than the earlier-gen F-cars. Many enthusiasts were disappointed.
Very cool. Let's hope the real Pilot presentation will be found one day :)
Hi joe,
I've been a fan of Knight Rider ever since I was a kid and I enjoyed reading Knight Rider Legacy and the Episode guide you wrote. I'm also having fun watching the great videos you guys make on the Knight Rider Historians channel.
Watching your video 'Where is Michael Long's Trans Am' and this new one, raised the following question. In the video you state that Larson & co. shot a presentation footage in three days to show to the network. They showed the showreel a day after the weekend. When NBC okayed the series, they finished shooting the pilot.
However, in Knight Rider Legacy on page 5 you quote Larson saying 'We didn't have time to finish a pilot, so we made a 40 minute presentation, and I chose the scenes that best showed the people in New York what we were trying to sell. [...] " What they mocked up for the presentation was7-10 days worth of shooting.."
I also recall Larson saying something similar in a documentary on Knight Rider. So, the question is: was Larson remembering it wrong and have you guys since discovered they only shot the presentation reel in three days? Developed and edited the material fast that a day after shooting they could show the showreel? Or did you make a mistake writing the video?
Also In one video you guys said it was about 15 minutes and this time 30 minutes of footage. Hope you can clear this up. Thank you very much!
This is very spectacular breakthrough and opportunity to reveal some evidence of the never before seen footage of the Pilot. I am so pleased that no today would be able to realize what may have happened in the entire Pilot, but luckily, Joe has the heartfelt moment to deliver it to us. Thanks Joe!👍
Kit is now here at a rest home in Northern Alabama right now he got a confederate flag tattoo on his roof when we accepted him. Right now at thee moment he is fishing off some river dock with Michael doing well. We never reveal where our car patients R at moment to moment due to privacy issues.. But Kit is getting better & better at fishing every day much better than Michael whom only seems to catch a buzz every trip..
6:37 You talked to Michael Long who played Larry Anderson?
Joe talked to Michael Long many years ago.
The slips are part of the appeal.
Joe, AWESOME!!!👍👍👍😎 Greetings from Helsinki, Finland 🇫🇮🇺🇸🇫🇮🇺🇸🇫🇮🇺🇸
Got my WHITE WIRE fix at 26:10 Very cool video, I hope the presentation turns up one day.
you Joe and the entire KRH team are THE MAN!!! Thank you!!! 🙂
The most common standing set for 6MDM and Bionic Woman was Oscar's office, which would really be ironic given Richard Anderson was playing "Doctor Miles". Other than that, I'm not certain what other set it might be although the bionic shows had a lot of scenes shot in somewhat generic "bad guy" mansions as it were. Chances are Columbo and Quincy made heavy use of a set like this.
6MDM ended in 1978, but I could see a nondescript room set being passed around the Universal lot from 6MDM/BW to Columbo and Quincy and then to Knight Rider with minimal redressing.
@@cardinalbiggles Exactly my thoughts. I can't exactly recall what other Universal shows were in production at the time other than Quincy.
Actually, Richard Anderson's character was "Dr. Ralph Wesley", not "Dr. Miles".
@@Quacks0 Watch it again, he explains that in the original script and on his name tag it says Dr. Miles, because Devon was originally called Devon Shire and not Miles.
If you've ever seen Don Colie's reproduction dash, he made the switch pods numbered like the pilot presentation and in smaller text gave them their functions
I sure hope everyone appreciates how much work it must have been to put this video together, thank you, most enjoyable.
I have a great idea, why don't the knight rider historians do there own remake of a few of the knight rider scenes and make it into a small series, and try to re-nact them at the places they where filmed at all those years ago, and maybe try to bring a few actors on board, bet it would be great fun to do.
I would help with this. This would be awesome.
If you think this idea is practical, and can get others on board, I would be happy to help towards some of the funding.
You ask about the possibility of reusing a set from The Six Million Dollar Man. I don’t know if that is what they did, but at 10:32 you show the doctor. That is obviously Richard Anderson, who played Oscar Goldman on that previous show. It looks like there is more than one connection here to the past. I’m surprised you didn’t mention the actor by name.
Joe! Great job with this video. I like the attention to detail on the sideburns lol. I think it’s worth doing a video on the Hoff’s hair style changes from season to season. I can literally tell what season I’m watching based on his hair alone lol.
That pilot presentation was great.Thanks for this JoeVery interesting.
Glad you enjoyed it
Thanks for taking the time to give us this information. I've always been interested in the behind the scenes information about the show. This really was a cool tv show. Kind of ahead of it's time really. "A shadowy flight into a dangerous world of a man who does not exist". Cool theme song and lyrics. The premise of the show was neat. A good guy who had plastic surgery after being shot coming back to get the bad guys, so to speak.
This is incredible. This show means so much to me, having people ensuring its legacy warms my heart. Thank you for using your precious time to do this. I wish you would spawn clones to tackle the other shows of my childhood... But I'll take what I can get. 😁
💙 From 🇫🇷.
Do you have access to the commercial that played before the show aired? It may have been AJ Foyt standing by a General Lee look a like, except it had the numbers 00 on the door, and Kitt was next to it, and he was saying there was a new car in town.
Yes, we posted an entire video devoted to that commercial called "Competition is no Competition". Check it out!
I think it would be cool for you to analyse the blooper reel.
A video on all the surving KITT's. I think you've only covered 4/5? (Original Hero, Back up to original Hero / S2 insert car/ S3/4 trick car, your S4 stunt car / Universal theme park car and the convertible KITT)
Thanks!!
Maybe Oscar Goldman came with the Six Million Dollar Man set. Thanks for another fascinating video.
Hands down, the Doctor was Oscar Goldman, wasn't he.....
It would be great to see the original pilot presentation. Keep up the good work!!
Thank you for sharing this, Joe. 👍
you really know your stuff about kitt .good eye detail. ididnt know how much cars and work .that this show was doing keep making these .good work ...
Excellent breakdown, Joe. I'm hoping someone has all 30 minutes of this Pilot Presentation. It would be a great present for the 40th anniversary.
Excellent work, Kind Sir! Break a leg on the pilot and the Six Million Dollar Man footage!
Awesome awesome awesome video. I've always wondered what the pilot presentation was showing. Really appreciate you documenting this.
AT 14:14 in the back round would those computers 🖥 be actually the one's that would be added to the semi ? And at the end of the Derby crash contest kitt has a knight plate
Columbo 1976 in NOW YOU SEE HIM ...looks familiar to Devon Miller office.
Looks good I don't remember the trailer good for the show that's coming out along with the plate and the plastic glass for that part of the season
Great video Joe. These types of information are really cool to know for us knight rider geeks. I've got a pretty keen eye when I watch the show. Explains a lot. Again thank you my friend 👍
Well done Joe! Your videos never disappoint! Keep up the creative work and we'll keep watching! ✌️😃👍
This was hands-down one of your best videos (and that's saying a lot -- you've produced some amazing videos over the past couple years). I really appreciate your sleuthing on this. I've always been fascinated by the pilot presentation (I think I was one of the people begging you to do that video on the stock nose), and this really pulled together a lot of the stuff I was curious about. I hope you're able to score an actual copy of it someday!
Always cool to know more about this history.
This is like the TV show version of Jean-Michel Jarre's "Music For Supermarkets" (private pressing) This was an Album/LP which only had one copy ever made by the French musician as it was commission for a private art installation exhibition. This was also played on AM radio once at the time and any surviving recordings doing the rounds were more than likely recorded from that broadcast (& hence the scuzzy sound quality) The original recordings were apparently deleted at the insistence of Jarre but remnants of that LP did make it onto his subsequent 1984 Album "Zoolook" so a similar reconstruction effort could be attempt as you guys are doing for the KnightRider presentation film!
That was brilliant Joe,so well done,stupid TH-cam algarithym..anyways maybe one day we might see the presentation in all it's glory..i confess in my geekiness i knew about 90% of the info,and where would we be without gaffers tape? ...as always Joe,a great video...
Bet the KRH can make a file and torrent it.
Gods algorithm is always online 🙏 🙌 before utube can.
I really like these deep dive features. Is there enough information to do a deep dive on the two (or possibly more) 83 Thunderbirds from Knight of the Drones?
Great! Greatest! Fantastic! All my compliments, guys! Am I the only one who thinks that the font for the writing "Knight Industries" on the semi trailer is the same used in the first tv promo? 🤔🤔🤔🤔🤔 It might explain why that particular (ok, I should say "quite standard") font was used in the promo... Just an idea, of course!
Great presentation it would have been interesting if you had actually had the physical pilot promo 👍 really enjoy the indepth information on knight rider
You guys are awesome! thanks for clearing that up
You did GREAT work putting this together. Thank you. I loved this and watched it in its entirety. Best, Steve Bralver
Ps, was Bill Catching the stunt coordinator on the presentation? Do you have crew info from the presentation vs the pilot?
I think there was a mention of the pilot presentation in Larson's dvd commentary, but this is fascinating.
Joe, are there many other shows sold on just a pilot presentation vs an entire pilot? I've never heard of this with another series.
Speaking of Knightrider 2000-what do you know about the old Chevy used in it?
60k congratulations 🎊 brother 💙 👏
Great Presentation, I enjoyed it very much....
I am reasonably certain that the set of the foundation headquarters is a redressed one from The Six Million Dollar man, I have been saying that for years. I have the complete series on DVD and I will look closely for that set in the episodes when I watch the show again.
“In that jiggle” best Freudian Slip ever. 🤣
'As interesting and informative as ever Joe. Thanks for sharing. :)
Wow, big big thanks for putting this together. I've long wanted to see the footage, and I never knew how tricky it would be to put it together. Could you somehow make it available as a download somewhere, that bypasses youTube? Perhaps if it was a Digital Sale item??
But nicely done, and I never knew about the switching of phone/arms. I knew about it, but not the reason for it. Love when Glen describe Michael as "got some kid from Mattel" as well.
We will see what we can do!
@@KnightRiderHistoriansOfficial the internet archive site will store the video
I love Knight Rider I have a box set Knight Rider I will forever treasure it I am loyal Knight Rider I wish I could see
Awesome Joe, as always, informative and interesting throughout! 😎👌
Brilliant dive into the pilot presentation. Love to see more of this stuff..
I wonder if you know was William Daniels voice used in the presentation, or would that have been added after the series got the green light?
Always wondered if they used someone else for kitts voice for the presentation?
I wish TH-cam let you upload your version of the pilot presentation. Hopelly when you find actual footage of the pilot presentation TH-cam will let you show it to us.
Love this commemtary!❤ Very informative!
It looks like your number of subscribers has grown a ton since since I came across your channel 5 months ago, congratulations!
yep, please do more... this was cool
Thoroughly enjoyable. Love your work.
I have long time wondered that Nevada license plate...
KITT has a Nevada license plate, either because Michael was a police officer in Reno or because Knight Industries was located in Nevada. If I remember correctly, the first Knight Rider novel referred to both points.
If KITT was built from Michael Long’s own car it would explain the license plate in the first case and if the car was made entirely by Knight Industries in the second case.
Apparently the Knight Foundation was located in California, so it would be logical to register a car later there.
It wasn't build from Long's car.
In lore reasons;
1. If they used Long's car, it would have been KARR, not KITT.
2. Devon's statement pretty much clarifies the two cars share only superficial resemblance, plus the part 'between this car and yours', also strongly suggest those were two different cars.
3. In 'Knightmares', Michael is shown a newspaper stating that Long's car was found in the desert, and 'proven' that Long must have been dead.
Outside lore reasons;
Even though Knight Rider wasn't exactly made with care for even remotely realistic depiction of technology or physics, it's hard to swallow the idea they would build KITT from Longs car.
One reason is the development process must have been well under way for at least months, more probably years before Long was shot. At this point the car's appearance was most probably already chosen. Realistically, any machine that complicated would have been complete at least months before it was sent into action, and only tested and patched later on, given that it wasn't showing any technical issues once deployed.
Another reason is in general engineering rules; if two things are built for completely different intents and purposes, it makes no sense to convert one into another as the amount of changes will be so large, the base machine will only become and obstacle. This is as true for physical machines as it is for computer codes.
The second reason is that KITT was supposedly almost indestructable because he was made of 'a new substance'.
If a standard car is made of steel, use of substance different to steel would require a complete redesign of the entire structure, as the different material will have different resilience, flexibility, and will transfer forces differently. Even if the car was supposed to perform exactly the same tasks as the standard car it would still need to be fully redesigned. And KITT was supposed to do things very different to those a normal car would do.
So, as long as we assume that what isn't shown or otherwise clarified in the show, remains the same as the real world, we would have to assume that the foundation built KITT from scratch.
The reason KITT resembles Trans Am was that it had to look like some contemporary car for blending in and provocation and confrontation purposes. In the show many characters don't even expect KITT to quick for a car, let alone his other abilities. That's why Michael can easily rely on the fact others don't even suspect that KITT can make some special advantage and often uses this advantage.
The reason why the Foundation decided to pick Trans Am's design is also simple; they probably just read the new T/A would have drag coefficient of 0,29 (which is much better than most cars made up to this day), so this way they had wind tunnel sorted by someone else, while the car could still blend in.
It's even possible the show makers actually thought this way, because figure of 0,29 was achieved with the hubcap rims specifically, and KITT would keep till the end of the series, although Pontiac went for different wheels in 1984.
@@piotrmalewski8178Great and thorough comment! I got new information. Thank you, sir!
Was Knight Rider heavily marketed pre and post pilot at this point ?? Ertl toys brought out the Trans Am models with a stock nose and a decal for the front scanner there was also comics,lunch boxes,annuals etc that all feature the car with a stock nose.
I think Corgi toys here in the UK also made stock car models
I was wondering were all the scenes with the metallic'y K.I.T.T voice a part of the pilot presentation or done afterwards
John Ward? I thought John Schinella, head of Pontiac's design studio, designed the general overall appearance of KITT's nose for Harker Wade by way of a rough sketch at a meeting held at the office of Vista Group, Pontiac's West Coast public relations agency in CA.
Ward borrowed from most of the stock T/A nose. With only a few weeks to do the work, I like the job - It made the T/A even sleeker. I am one of very few who actually prefer the snub nose over Scheffe's. I like Scheffe's 1st season only with the grill covers over the fog lights, but with the pilot presentation's fit and finish, the car itself and the dash on a stage will always be my favorite - Daniel's almost robotic voice from the presentation just added to it for me
That was a cool episode I enjoy the deep dive into this .
Is it just me...or when Devon is getting out of K.I.T.T. at the end....is the sill step is a beige colour???
Excellent stuff. Definitely liking this kind of deep dives like this. When do we get to tie in "The Highwayman" to Knight Rider? 👀😁
Love it!! We’ll done!! I was curious if you have a way to show what the dash looked like in the last scene of K.I.T.T being towed? I’ve always was curious to see a zoomed in picture of that. Thank you again for a wonderful video!👍
Pretty nutty that the copyright police are holding your nuts to the fire on a four decade old pilot. Thanks for what you were able to show.
That’s Universal for you always been corporate and very greedy when it comes to copyrighting same with Warner Bros as well
Loved it would like to see the pilot preparation also would love to see the promo for the knight rider 2000 TV movie in full. Also the teaser card kinda looks like the opening of kr 2008. Love the channel thanks
Yeah so good. Stuff that i have always wondered about answered. Brilliant.
I remember noticing when the full pilot episode was shown on TV here in the UK the end titles stated (c)1978. I thought at the time that there must have been a four year gap after they produced the pilot before it was picked up for the series. Now I know that wasn't the case, I wonder why it has (c) 1978 at the end?
was it in roman numerals?
@@magnum3.14 hi, no it wasn't roman numerals, just listed 1978 in the end titles. Hope Joe can clear that one up, I've always wondered!
Also consider
a. faulty memory
b. entry error/typo
c. dyslexia
@@Markver1 a). I have a very good memory, it definately had 1978 in the end titles. b) We would need someone in the know to look into that. c) That would be Dyscalculia rather than Dyslexia :)
@@TezzAtari That would be an interesting bit of trivia to know. And please excuse my Lysdexia. LLO 🙃
Thanks for sharing this great story!
Maybe only in Japanese translation version, Devon is called "Devon Shire", not "Devon Miles" through the entire season(season 1 to 4).
This story gave me one of the hints why he was called Devon "Shire"!
11:30 Speaking of the Six Million Dollar Man, This actor (Richard Anderson) playing Doctor Miles (10:30) played Oscar Goldman, a regular on SM$M. So it wouldn't be a surprise that the set was reused.
Bravo Joe, always fascinating to see and listen to this sort of information and analysis 👍👍
Mmhh🤔🤔🤔 the Actor that played Dr. Miles also had a Part in the 6 Million Dollar Man. Maybe this is a connection to the reused Set in the pilotpresentation?
This is really great footage. Yes, would like to see more, love these details. Preserve a little bit of history. 😉
Y'all should contact NBC and ask them if they could turn your version of the pilot presentation into a DVD which I would buy
Here's hoping the actual pilot presentation surfaces someday
Great job. I know it's hard to find old footage it's was very cool what you showed. Keep up the great job you are doing. By the way where do you live
I'm from California but I'm in ohio now
A small town called perrysburg oh.
Hope to hear from you. Thanks again.
Bless you daily
They used Oscar's office from the Bionic Woman!!!😁
Question,
I remember Knight rider 2000 kitt had an eye which allowed him to see.. Did he have this in the original series?
No he didn't, that was only in the movie
@@KnightRiderHistoriansOfficial Thank you,
The eye was so cool !!!
Great job. Fantastic. 👍. Thank You.
I really loved the Knight Rider Series as well as my roommates in College
Best episode of entire series.
6 Million dollar man. Another great show. Who would've believed Oscar Goldman would leave OSI, change his name, and become a doctor? lol. Lots of neat little details I never picked up on, thanks Joe. I've always respected the hard work that went into putting these cars together, but annoyed at how some stuff got tossed together... referring to how the original dash got hacked back together when reinstalled. 😕 That rubber body looked good on the original pilot presentation car. Now I know why it looked kinda crappy in later episodes. Great video, and great detective work as usual. I love how you pick out all those interesting little tidbits. ❤ Do we obsess over this show too much? 🤣 Who cares, it's fun.
All that's done is made me want to see the show again
Really good video. I was wondering if you know anything about how the John Ward scanner was fitted to the car, it's size and shape, how many segments. Or if you own one? It's definitely more Cylon looking than the later more famous one. How did they extend the trans am hood to look like that?
And how much better would SPM have looked, and been to create, if the presentation scanner and location had been maintained?
Another sure way to tell if it is presentation or reshoot is watch Hasselhoff - If he has longer bushier sideburns, it's reshoot
6:36 You talked to who? 🤯
29:00 This raises a good question. Are you restoring the semi to the original version here, or the most used version (basically how we saw it 99% of the time)? For the record, I prefer the newer Knight logo a million times more.
Never give up hope on finding footage.
"Doctor Who" has missing episodes too, but not as many are still missing.
Someone in Africa died, and in going through his estate it turned out he had * 11 * of the missing episodes. (He'd filmed them off TV with an 8mm camera, I remember (might be wrong), so the quality is poor but at least they're something.)
That's been the biggest find so far, but occasionally one or another keep showing up.
Hi lads. Amazing channel.
Was Michael wearing a knight industries “adidas” tracksuit in the pilot.
Where he “has to get in shape real fast”
??
14:12 - "Devon introduces Michael to KITT, he hits him with a hammer..."
Well, that escalated quickly. ;P
12:00 come to think of it does look familiar but when you have eliminated the impossible what remains must be true.
I know you guys said you have a lot of lost footage but do you have the deleted karr scene where he gets painted?
There is no deleted scene for that...it was never filmed
that made me cringe when I saw them towing that car by the front wheels (both times, once when the bad guys took KITT to "examine" it and then the second time when Devon and Michael get out.)
I can’t believe I missed this series 📺 🏎
Not only was K.I.T.T. ahead of his time. But the ideas and design were too. Michael says that car can't hit anything. Now not only do we have these sensors in cars, nearly all the new dashboards look like K.I.T.T.s with the TV screens and the displays. He really was something special. And the Hoff wasn't bad either.😁👍
And Musky boi went as far as replacing the steering wheel with a Yolk.
I like how the trailer was painted
What brand tire did KITT use? Did they use multiple brands?
Mainly Goodyear Eagle GTs, the same tire that came on the 82 Trans Am from the factory
the orginal trans am was a special edditon model black/gold recaro edition 1982 Pontiac Firebird Trans Am.
I've also noticed continuity errors switching back and forth between Michael having a normal wrist watch and his Comlink. Pretty obvious which footage is which in regards to that.
I know there is a comic strip/novelization where Michael communicates with K.I.T.T. via a brain implanted microchip. Was this ever the original concept Glen Larson had for the script and it was later dropped entirely in favor of a Comlink? Or was this just another writer's interpretation of the Pilot script?