while in college in the mid 80s, my girl friend had an all black Firebird. people always yelled out "Knight Rider!"

I was obsessed with Knight Rider as a kid. Never missed an episode. Got to the point where I could draw KITT in every detail completely from memory. In the UK, we don't often see many Trans Am's, although I did pass a KITT replica on the way to work one morning, complete with the pulsing red LED light. Tempted to re-watch Knight Rider with my 7 year old 👍

@hugonubario

11 ай бұрын

me too! I was so obsessed with KITT that it became the very first car I dreamed to own! at some point every trans-am/firebird I saw on the street I thought it was KITT! I actually own 3 knight rider diecasts 2 ertl in 1/18 KITT and KARR and one hotwheels elite KITT

@Flint_Westwood

11 ай бұрын

@@hugonubario Yep. Those toys even made it over the pond. I've still got one that I've passed on to my kids. Before Knight rider, I had a thing for the Firebird from Smokey and the Bandit 👍

@DedenSadar

10 ай бұрын

wow great, can you share where you can see the series, i want to watch it also

@LLYoutube565

10 ай бұрын

Yep. Yep. !!!!! All this!!!!

@pg1171

6 күн бұрын

Go ahead! They would probably love it, and it was a lot better than much of what is on nowdays.

I built the first screen accurate replica of KITT starting in 1985 and finishing in 1989. A lot of people in the 'bulid it yourself" or turnkey KITT world are long aware of Louisell Enterprises in Michigan who began building & selling KITT components to those who want to build their own. The original KITT's had no working dashes LED's of the day washed out in daylight. I was told they used reflective tape in the LED parts that lit up when the movie lights hit them. They did have a couple of fully functional dashes set up on a stage to film and they could offscreen control the displays to get what they wanted to film for the show. You can tell these shots as they only show the dash straight on or from an angle that never shows the driver. Shot from the left like through the door window, you can see a telltale blueish white light filling that bit of the left corner of the windshield screen as well. This effect was used in both day and night. Mine had all working an ACCURATE dash and a nose scanner that had the correct fading light tail effect I'm told the originals did not have. That dragging 'tail' I was told was the result of the way TV cameras of the day filmed bulbs. Mine had working TV screens and screen accurate "batwing" or fighter pilot yoke steering wheel too. I had watched that show from when it came on for 2-3 years and wondered; COULD I actually BUILD that? I',m in Louisiana. To say those LEDs weren't just laying around is an understatement. But I built everything from the nose to the dash and entire interior. (One or two of the parts sellers even late as 2015 still sold my overhead between the "T" console and noted it was built by "Dwayne Larriviere") I visited Louisell in Mi in 1989 and even bought a TA from him to use once my components were ready. Mine would auto start by remote control and had the dashboard Igniter sequence and the two rows of lights beside the voice display that operated just as the TV one did. One thing different I have to say, I called Universal and the KR people when I was in the middle of all this and THEY claimed George Barris created the KITT car. I subsequently called Mr. Barris and spoke with him. He did CLAIM to have done the car, but he gave me little guidance on how to build it. And of course NOTHING was for sale. BTW: if you ask Rob Louisell he claims he will tell you in his talks on the origins of all this that before he did it it there was a 'guy in Louisiana who was doing it better than he was" I have him a steering wheel and he gave me one of his dashes which was really roundy curvy at the time. I sold my copy in 1992 to a guy who did shows at malls of TV cars in Canada. At the time when I advertised it NO ONE did this kind of thing (now you can buy a Batmobile. ALL versions of them) and if I had built three more KITTs I could have sold them like party favors.

I have been to the car museum in Orlando, FL on purpose to see the convertible KITT there, and had a nice personal show of the car in all details, by the very helpful guy in charge of that museum. As a huge Knight Rider fan, that was a great experience!

41 years. Man, I can't believe it was that long ago. Best thing about BJ and the Bear was the Landers sisters. 😁 I was 12 in 1982, and Knight Rider was a got-to-watch every week. Now I work on automobiles and computers partly because of that inspiration. Nobody ever gets the extreme stress placed on a vehicle's driveline when they roll out the back of a moving trailer onto a roadway. Zero to sixty in no seconds to those tires.

@oldermusiclover

Ай бұрын

I know

There was also the 1983 episode of The A-Team where Hannibal and Face were driving the "Kitt" transam. Both the A-Team and Knight Rider revived NBC's fortunes in the early 1980s so it was good coverage for both shows!

@tirvengadummarsee560

11 ай бұрын

The name of the épisode please ?

@johndrake2729

11 ай бұрын

Ah, yeah, I remember that.

@adamantium_1

11 ай бұрын

Wow really that's so cool. I missed that episode 😅

@mrmactknife

10 ай бұрын

There's another A-Team/Knight Rider crossover in the series Steven Spielberg's Amazing Stories. In an episode which featured a magical television set with a 3D button, which caused TV shows to come to life, Dirk Benedict playing the character of Face, is rescued by KITT. I'm surprised this wasn't mentioned in this video, as it was great coming together of two iconic 80's shows.

@michaelmarshall9705

10 ай бұрын

What was the episode's name? I don't remember it at all.

out of South Africa.. cant get enough of your show. Thank You.. Yes , even in Africa Knight Rider was/is still 80's icon.

This was great, Joe! Really would love to see more top ten lists. 👍

I’m 55 yrs old when Knight Rider came out I fell in love with the trans am. I loved this show. I’m a car lover by nature. Please keep the content coming and thank you.

I've been a fan of Knight Rider since it first aired. It has given me a lot of great feelings growing up watching the show and all the episodes. Although I'm too old now to fall into and crawl out of one now, in my hay day I've been known to come home with a few in my lifetime. 10 to be exact. My first car I bought was an 82 Firebird. The styling is beautiful to me. The last one owned was an 89 GTA . It was my daily driver. Pass everything but a gas station ⛽. I appreciate the channel and ALL THE INFO. Thanks Joe.

@lo1bo2

11 ай бұрын

Definitely know what you mean about not being able to get in/out of them anymore. I had a 2000 TA new, then much later a used one as a fun weekend car. Sold it after a couple years. Tall guy with limited mobility is not a good combination.

@edwardaustin740

11 ай бұрын

@@lo1bo2 . I hear you 😃.. Every couple of months I'd come home with a new ( to me) one. Mom would just shake her head... Another one ?? My answer was always " As many as I could afford " All you needed was a 10mm socket and a Phillips screwdriver 🪛 and you could basically take apart the car.

A minor note on the flivver car. The idea behind a dune buggy is mostly that it is very light. It then does not really need strong engine or particularly heavy-duty suspension and that keeps the cost down.

@andreasu.3546

11 ай бұрын

I imagine a dune buggy is rear heavy, which should come in handy when doing jumps.

@ShogunAutoworks

11 ай бұрын

Could do a bug kit car. Literally Kitt... Lol. A fake GT40 kit or something

@malcolmberke4862

11 ай бұрын

Awesome! Lol! It’s a K.I.T.T. Car!

Miles exclaiming that the face given 2 Michael uncannily looks like Milton in his younger yrs fully knowing that Milton's given Michael the face of his own sons, unforgivable..

I never realized that so many of the TV shows that I enjoyed as a young kid were created by the same person; Battlestar Galactica, Buck Rogers in the 25th Century, The Misadventures of Sheriff Lobo, B. J. and the Bear, The Fall Guy, and Knight Rider. The list goes on, but these are the ones I liked.

@celuiquipeut6527

10 ай бұрын

Bartlestar galactica is a masterpiece!

@75aces97

10 ай бұрын

If you look back at those years most of the 1 hour action shows were produced by either Glen A Larson, Stephen Cannell, or Aaron Spelling.

@mekkimaru2365

10 ай бұрын

​​@@75aces97- Steven "J' Cannell

@ShadowAngel18606

7 ай бұрын

@@mekkimaru2365 "Stephen"

Thank you Pontiac for making such a handsome car, I wonder would a graphic novel of the original pilot script work, Joe & company, you're doin' GREAT work!!!

@oldermusiclover

Ай бұрын

my first 4 wheel love as a kid was with a Pontiac GTO

I actually met Greg Evigan two weeks ago. At the Gear Jammer truck show in Massachusetts. Its sad that BJ didn't get the in on the DVD tv series like every other show ever on tv.

In 1985 Nissan brought out the 300ZX and I can still remember the first time seeing one as a 12yo with the T-tops, digital dash and semi-concealed headlights. This thing was beyond futuristic in my young eyes. We never got the Trans Am in Australia and I thought then, this was the closest thing I would ever see to what could be a KITT. Even today I'm still convinced that in the 70s, Toyota based their Celica on the Mustang and Nissan/Datsun based their Z cars on the Fisher bodies from GM

@appleiphone69

11 ай бұрын

You are correct that the Celica was based on the Mustang formula. Torquey engine,RWD, light body. Having the option of a hatchback and notch back. The Celica Supra later renamed just Supra in the US was to compete with the Z, Corvette, Porsche 944,928.

@mekkimaru2365

10 ай бұрын

Toyota have stated over the years that the MK3 Supra was inspired by the Pontiac Trans-am looks

It's truely a shame to think that theres less than a hundred thousand that remember that the 70's/80's gave us the best TV shows, the best stunt performances and the best actors.

@robertcamble3543

10 ай бұрын

All I can say is " the 80s was a blast !!!! ". The best decade as a teen & early 20s .

Stuff that would never help me on anything. But I grow up watching the show. And the narrator is so smooth. Hey thank you so much 👍

@KnightRiderHistoriansOfficial

11 ай бұрын

Glad you enjoy it!

I was such a Knight Rider fan that I built the 1/16 scale model trans am from MPC with opening doors and hood and t-tops and converted it visually into kit with the proper - and the proper front and rear. The only thing I was never able to determine because we didn't have a VCR at the time was how many lights were in the front scanner so I had to guess at 7.

I would love to see a Top 10 from each episode. 🙂👍

@sashamountainwater9322

11 ай бұрын

I agree that would be an awesome series on this channel!

@themobseat

11 ай бұрын

Some of the last season episodes might have just a "Top 2." 😁

@tardiscommand1812

11 ай бұрын

That would be awesome

@257796

11 ай бұрын

Too much???

@kevinhabets1979

10 ай бұрын

@@257796 No, it would be really awesome! 👍

Did you know that Hasselhoff and Paul Reubens aka Pee Wee Herman were room mates in acting school and remained friends their whole lives

@billymadison8036

4 ай бұрын

Paul Reuben was a national treasure

The fact that you have the car that drove in the amazing opening sequence is the ultimate nostalgia bonus. Loved the vid, thanks. Time to bust out the dvd box set and revisit after I push the button for the KITT LEDs!

Top 10 things about each episode would be awesome but undoubtedly a staggering amount of effort.

@KnightRiderHistoriansOfficial

10 ай бұрын

We MAY attempt that in the future!

This was GREAT and informative! Big fan of the series since day 1.

Ultra cool. Watching a lot of 5 minutes clips of the show on KZread and enjoying it. Thanks for posting these top 10 lists. I subscribed.

@KnightRiderHistoriansOfficial

6 ай бұрын

Glad you like them!

This was terrific and I'm so glad you're doing more of them !

Brilliant as ever Joe..yes top 10 on each episode sounds great..keeps these coming!!..

I generally love "Top 10 things ... " videos, and this one was particularly rich in information and insight. Yes, I want to see more.

I’d love to see a “Top ten biggest belt buckles”! Some of them made Michael Knight look like the current WWF Champion!!

Thank you so much for this content it has made my day so good to see new stuff after all these years

Amazing Top 10... Great work! Love the channel! I wonder how may REAL attempts to bring back/revive the show were made throughout the years... ignoring all the mediocre "spin-offs".

I think "Don Johnson in a Datsun" would've made a neat show too.

Thank you very much! I watched K2000 when I was very young in France. Gave me the bug to get my Masters in Culinary so I could be cool, just like in the show and live in the US. 4 kids later in the US and thriving for 23 years. K2000 did this! I will subscribe.

Awsome countdown. Summer of 82 I was in the Army in Korea. Got into it in 83 been hooked ever since. Do a top 10 on mess ups they left in the production. Kitt driving past Kitt lol, that kind of stuff. Love what you guys do. 👍

@KnightRiderHistoriansOfficial

10 ай бұрын

Fantastic idea!

I actually once came up with my own design of a KITT redesign based on a Japanese car, I actually used a Subaru SVX, since the futuristic design and grille shape, to me, played well into the aesthetic.

I so much remember the talk about using the 280 ZX! In fact that might have been one of my first comments on your channel, Joe (when I was using my old WannaBeatle channel)! But, that was definitely part of the reason why I bought an '84 300ZX a long time ago. The '84 and '85 model Z was very similar to a T/A...and it talked, too! So, it was the best of both worlds!

Man, this is probably my favorite video you put out so far. I learned quite a bit here!

@KnightRiderHistoriansOfficial

11 ай бұрын

Awesome, thank you!

Would definitely love more of these videos, the top 10 of what you didn’t know about each episode is a great idea..

Even though I'm a regular viewer I really liked this well presented summary of things!

I would love to see more top 10 things you didn't know about Knight Rider. Thanks Joe!!

Little bit of trivia, as this video mentioned BJ and the Bear. Similarly, as you are planning to have the names of the contributors to the Knight trailer put in the trailer, my uncle was part of the people who built a Kenworth K-100 Aerodyne, for the BJ and the Bear show. I do not know if the original hero truck was the one they built, but the one they did build was purpose built for the show. As they knew it was going to be for the show, all the builders signed their names on the inside of a panel somewhere...not sure which though. It was built at the Kansas City, MO plant.

@KnightRiderHistoriansOfficial

11 ай бұрын

Wow, very cool info!

@75aces97

10 ай бұрын

Wouldn’t there be multiple similar trucks built for photography and stunt sequences?

@krbruner

10 ай бұрын

@@75aces97 of course there were multiple trucks. When I said I did not know if it was the original hero truck, I meant that it may have been like a second season hero, one not used for anything destructive. I do remember one episode when the truck was driven into a building, which would not have been the hero truck, just one painted quickly to look like it. The truck my uncle helped build was a hero truck, but may have not been first season one...not the original. Of course there would have been insert trucks too.

Lots of amazing info! Great top ten with way more than ya bargain for coming in. You guys do the best content.

This is absolutely awesome. I will watch all you have created. Thank you for this.

One of my favorite shows as a kid and maybe of all time. Great video.

Yes this is a good idea! Top 10 villains Top 10 guest actors Top 10 Fighting scenes Top 10 KITT features Top 10 Turbo boosts Top 10 funny KITT lines

Thank you I really did like this count down and yes you should do lots more of them. I loved that show and watched every week on the TV in Australia man this count down brought back a lot of really cool memories thank you again Loved it

How about the 10 most unrealistic things about the car? Like weighing 10 tons and still able to get 500mpg and go 200+ mph and jump.

This was my favorite TV show as a child. I used to run around the house pretending I was driving KITT. Great show!!

Great video Joe!! I learn something from each one!

Glad I found this channel, been a Knight Rider fan since i was a kid in the 80s

@KnightRiderHistoriansOfficial

11 ай бұрын

We are glad you are here!

Problem with a 1982 280ZX: Michael: "KITT, approach in stealth mode" KITT: "On my way, Michael!" Michael opens the door, and a voice eminates, saying "Please Turn off the Lights" 😂 (the 1982 Datsun 280ZX was the second talking car on the market in the USA, the first being the 1981 Datsun Maxima)

Very cool, I enjoyed it thoroughly, would love to see more!

Awesome 👍 , I loved this thank you for all the neat info 😀

This is so interesting Joe,thankyou.Yes I would love you to do a top 10 of each episode,it would be so interesting.

Wow. Glen Larson. Richard Lindheim. Eric Dahlquist. Bill Hoglund. All Swedish - Americans. You should follow this up. Greetings from Sweden 😁 Glen Larson had a Swedish mom who found a Swedish American. Fun🎉

One of the few 'things you didn't know' that was actually accurate :) All ten were new information to me, well done :)

I can't get enough of it! Exciting and thoughtful articles of info and facts! t.a.t.t😂

I love KITT's outwitting of the security guard attempting to report KITT's illegal parking to get the vehicle towed in "Just My Bill" - when KITT self drives out of the current parking spot to outwit the tow truck driver. I also love the way KITT handled the driver of that garbage truck who refused to move his truck to allow Michael and KITT to leave the restaurant in "The Final Verdict." Congrats your pending 100k subscribers. Further validation that the original show was deeply loved by fans around the world.

That was fun, Noticed Frankenstein's Deathrace 2000 car beside KITT in the museum.

This show drove me (no pun intended) as a kid to admire the Pontiac Trans Am. When I was 17, the fourth gen Trans Am with the LS1 debuted. I still own one in black.

Thanks for the upload. Your videos are a great source of info for all the Knight Rider enthusiasts and lovers for sure. I would forward this video to my nephews who live in Tustin and would be very happy to go and have a look at KITT which is on display in Marconi Museum in Tustin California as they live in Tustin. Cheers for you.

Awesome stuff. I sat in Kitt in 1996 at Universal Studios when it was on display, it was awesome to be able to do that back then.

Yes, yes, definitely more Top 10 for us please! It is awsome! Thank you!

Great video. I also love the knight Rider soundtrack.

I just shared this video on my Facebook and X for any of my friends and followers who might be Knight Rider fans

Awesome video!! Top 10 things about each KR Episode would be awesome!!

Great video Joe, I personally would like to see more of these. 👍

A shadowy flight into the dangerous world of a subscriber who does not exist.

15:50 NICE placement of the NBC jingle followed by our recording of William Daniels...it actually gave me chills!

Really enjoyed this one. I would enjoy seeing more Top 10 videos.

I enjoyed the info. That show was one of my favorites. Thanks for the content. Good information.

Love these types of videos

Loved it!! Keep up the good work

Thank Thank for sharing every single minute of this episode love watching from South Africa

Great job on this list. I remember the show BJ and the Bear, but had no idea it was inspired by a single episode from that. Glen A Larson I was more familiar with from producing; The Six Million Dollar Man.

Great video and to see more of this top 10

As always I love your content

More top10 videos like this would be interesting, but I would for sure also love to know more about those 30min syndication episodes.

I Love this!!!! Im so glad I found this. I was a huge fan and it drove my grand parents nuts lol. My grandmother used to buy me all the knight rider toys and I’d be jumping them down the stairs and she’d flip lol.

"I am the Night Rider!" (strange upside down out back voice) Re-subscribed as YT thinks I'm the Night Bot.

Interesting facts :-) Thank you for this video!

That was great ! These Top !0's are great, digestible nuggets of info ! Great for reference

I loved it!!! Great job

I will admit that is one 10 facts about Knight Rider I didn't expect but I am glad I watch it, incredible fact I never thought about but cool as well.

Left me hanging with the suspense that a train wreck car exists somewhere.....do tell please.

Much more informative then watching Eric seal the roof on the trailer 😂😇🤷

I grew up watching knight rider in the 1980' s

Great video, and I liked the graphics too.

I found this video interesting. Please make more like it. I've loved Knight Rider ever since it originally aired on NBC. I have seen it in syndication as well in the years afterwards, but I don't recall ever seeing a 1/2-hour version of any episodes. I didn't know they did that.

I enjoyed it Joe it was great and Knight Rider was my favorite TV show and KITT was awesome.

These type of videos are my FAVORITE

@KnightRiderHistoriansOfficial

10 ай бұрын

Then you'll love a similar one we have coming up!

That's a great idea. Keep up the great work.

This I believe is the first top 10 post on KZread where I knew none of the top 10, and I am a former voice of KITT, for Universal Studios. Well done. They were a couple of lines could have used another check. I would welcome a top 10 per episode.

@KnightRiderHistoriansOfficial

11 ай бұрын

Wow, thanks for the compliment!!

Love it, captain. Keep them coming.

I didn’t know any of those facts. Thanks for the video!

I'm from Germany and I visited the Petersen museum yesterday. I was very suprised to see one of your KITT cars there, because I thought they are not on display at the moment. Big thanks to you. So I saw the screen used KITT and the DeLorean time machine at the same time... what a wonderful day 😊 Btw, I also spottet the Comtron trailer during the Universal Studio Tour. Without your work I could not make those great experiences. Thanks you.

I was a huge fan of the show Growing Up as a kid in the 80s. I even had the toy car and Michael Knight action figure where you push down on the license plate in the back and K.I.T.T. said a couple phrases from the show. Memory serves, that car was close to 10 to 12 inches long(?) and the Michael Knight figure was pretty big and it still fit inside the car, of course I could be mistaken as I was a kid and smaller back then so of course the car in action figure looked bigger to me.

Loved this as an 80’s kid!

Loved this show as a kid I'm 43 now love whatch your videos of the semi truck and trailer resterration

No better voice could have been used than William Daniels! His voice really carried the emotions that K.I.T.T. Portrayed. Anything to add as a video on that if not already covered?