History Trivia / KnightRider

* ItWillNeverCatchOn: Edward Mulhare expected it would be a ShortRunner (not an unreasonable prediction given the setup and its primary timeslot competition was only [[Series/{{Dallas}} one of THE biggest shows of the decade]].

* TechnologyMarchesOn: Averted. Back in 1982 a car hitting 200 MPH was the realm of Formula 1, although production car companies like Ferrari and Porsche did break the 200 MPH barrier a few years later. Even now, while KITT's acceleration is still pretty startling - if the speed of the ticking digital speedometer is anything to go by - its assumed top speed (300 MPH/480 KPH) is still above hypercar standards, with even the likes of the Bugatti Veyron (252MPH/407KPH) unable to surpass it.

* TheOtherMarty: Larry Anderson plays the part of Michael Long [[https://www.nbc.com/classic-tv/knight-rider-original/video/knight-of-the-phoenix-part-1/n3667 at the start of the pilot]]. He's seen briefly for a few scenes, though Michael's face is hidden by shadow when he's shot- this was due to the casino scenes being filmed much later as a way to explain the plot (Hasselhoff initially filmed the shooting scene with his face obscured by shadow). The initial airing had Anderson's own voice, later copies had Hasselhoff dub over the lines.

** In France, people know it as "K-2000", from the car’s codename.

* FanNickname:
** "[=KI2T=]" for the KITT from the original series, "[=KI3T=]" for the new KITT in the 2008 series.
** KARR-E is used for the 2008 Knight Automated Roving Robot; its additional acronym "Exoskeleton" is absent from the 1982 KARR incarnation. Although this may have been retconned back to just KARR in the episode "Knight to King's Pawn".
* TheOtherDarrin: Peter Cullen voiced K.A.R.R. the first time. Paul Frees did the voice of K.A.R.R. the second time (albeit uncredited, leading some to speculate that it was actually Cullen).

* InspirationForTheWork: According to Brandon Tartikoff, the head of programming at NBC during the 1980s, the inspiration for the series came about when NBC executives started complaining about the problems of casting handsome leading men in television series, because many of them couldn't act. Tartikoff and his assistant came up with a concept for a television show called, ''The Man of Six Words''. Each show would begin with the leading man getting out of a woman's bed and saying, "Thank you". Occasionally, throughout the show, the leading man would say, "Okay", when receiving orders from his boss. Then he would chase down some villains and say "Freeze!" Finally, when the people he had saved from death would thank him, he would say, "You're welcome". For the rest of the show, the car would do all the talking. Although Tartikoff had meant the pitch to be a joke, the NBC executives liked the idea of a television show about a man with a talking car, and approved it for development.

* RealLifeRelative: Catherine Hickland, who played Stevie Mason, was David Hasselhoff's then-fiancée.

* StarMakingRole: Creator/DavidHasselhoff.

* WhatCouldHaveBeen: Earlier drafts apparently had the movie connected to the series' continuity, with KITT now as a female.

* TheOtherMarty: Larry Anderson plays the part of Michael Long [[https://www.nbc.com/classic-tv/knight-rider-original/video/knight-of-the-phoenix-part-1/n3667 at the start of the pilot]]. He's seen briefly for a few scenes, though Michael's face is hidden by shadow when he's shot- this was due to the casino scenes being filmed much later as a way to explain the plot(Hasselhoff initially filmed the shooting scene with his face obscured by shadow). The initial airing had Anderson's own voice, later copies had Hasselhoff dub over the lines.

* TheOtherMarty: Larry Anderson plays the part of Michael Long [[https://www.nbc.com/classic-tv/knight-rider-original/video/knight-of-the-phoenix-part-1/n3667 at the start of the pilot]]. He's seen briefly for a few scenes, though his face is hidden by shadow when he's shot. The initial airing had his own voice, later copies had Hasselhoff dub over the lines.

** An original concept was for K.A.R.R. to be white, based on the opposing Knights' colors of chess. The idea was rejected and left black with an alternate color scanner, due to K.A.R.R. being the same type of car used for K.I.T.T., and would require time and cost-consuming paint jobs. It also did not feel right to the producers, that black was good and white was bad, in the colors of the two opposing vehicles.

* TechnologyMarchesOn: Back in 1982 a car hitting 200 MPH was the realm of Formula 1, although production car companies like Ferrari and Porsche did break the 200 MPH barrier a few years later. Nowadays, while KITT's acceleration is still pretty startling - if the speed of the ticking digital speedometer is anything to go by - its assumed top speed is regarded as "pretty good" by hypercar standards, with the likes of the Bugatti Veyron (252MPH/407KPH) now able to surpass it.

** According to Car & Driver Magazine, K.I.T.T. was originally intended to be a modified Datsun 280ZX, but General Motors' recently introduced F-Body Firebird Trans Am was substituted in pre-production.

* TechnologyMarchesOn: Back in 1982 a car hitting 200 MPH was the realm of Formula 1, although production car companies like Ferrari and Porsche did break the 200 MPH barrier a few years later. Nowadays, while KITTs acceleration is still pretty startling - if the speed of the ticking digital speedometer is anything to go by - its assumed top speed is regarded as "pretty good" by hypercar standards, with the likes of the Bugatti Veyron (252MPH/407KPH) now able to surpass it.

* ActingForTwo:
** Look! It's David Hasselhoff, with a funny voice and very cheesy looking goatee (as Garthe Knight). Justified in-universe as Garthe Knight was the estranged biological son of Wilton Knight. Wilton deliberately reconstructed Michael Long's face via MagicPlasticSurgery to resemble Garthe's (because at the time Garthe was in prison somewhere in another country).

** Although widely believed to have never appeared on screen, Creator/WilliamDaniels, the voice of KITT, does appear briefly in the pilot episode as an uncredited car thief.

** In Spanish, the series was known in Spain as ''El coche fantástico'' (''The Fantastic Car''), and in Latin America as ''El auto fantástico'' (''The Fantastic Car'')[[note]]Both "''coche''" and "''auto''" mean "car" in Spanish, but the former is more popular in Spain while the latter is more popular in Latin America.[[/note]] except in Mexico, where it was known as ''El auto increíble'' (''The Incredible Car''). The 2008 revival used the ''El auto increíble'' title for all of Latin America.
** In Portuguese, it was known in Portugal as ''O Justiceiro'' (''The Justice Maker'') and in Brazil as ''A Supermáquina'' (''The Super Machine''). The 2008 revival was known in Brazil as ''A Nova Super Máquina'' (''The New Super Machine'').
** In Greece it was known as ''O ippotis tis asfaltou'' (''The Knight of the Asphalt'').
** In Italy it was known as ''Supercar''.

** In Portuguese, it was known in Portugal as ''O Justiceiro'' (''The Justice Maker'') and in Brazil as ''A Supermáquina'' (''The Super Machine''). The 2008 revival was known in Brazil as ''A Nova Super Máquina''(''The New Super Machine'').

** In Spanish, the series was known in Spain as ''El coche fantástico'' (''The Fantastic Car''), and in Latin America as ''El auto fantástico'' (''The Fantastic Car'')[[note]]Coche and auto mean car in Spanish, but the former is more popular in Spain while the latter is more popular in Latin America.[[/note]] except in Mexico, where it was known as ''El auto increíble'' (''The Incredible Car''). The 2008 revival used the ''El auto increíble'' title for all of Latin America.