Earlier today, I posted the Greatest Picture, EVER!
There was much discussion about Knight Rider, and I have wondered this all day: Am I the only person who was crestfallen upon finding out that the voice of KITT was not, in fact, the voice of the car, but was, in truth, the voice of actor William Daniels?
When Bill was president of SAG, I had lots of meetings with him, because I am on the Board of Directors, and was part of our TV and Theatrical negotiating team. When I would have a meeting with Bill, I’d call Anne, and tell her, “I won’t make it for dinner tonight. I have a meeting with KITT.” And she’d say, “Is it in his office? Or is he meeting you around back in 5, buddy?”
Continuing the trip down Knight Rider lane…back in the old days, when there was only one Universal Studios, and the main focus of the whole experience was the tour, not the damn animal shows and gift shops…well, okay, it was the gift shops, but not as transparently as it is now…
But I digress.
Back in the day, at Universal Studios, they had a KITT car parked in this area where you could go and sit in it, and, I am not making this up, talk to KITT!
You could ask KITT all sorts of questions, and while you waited in line, you could hear the questions asked, and the answers given out by none other than KITT HIMSELF!
So people would sit in KITT, and ask all sorts of questions about the show, and “what did you do in episode [whatever]?”, and all sorts of technical questions about the specifics of his design, etc.
I so badly wanted to get into the car, and say, “Hey, KITT, I was wondering, do you ever cut loose when the people go home? I mean, tell me the truth. You can kick the A-Team Van’s ass, right? Do you ever just head on over to the backlot and do donuts, just because you can?”
But I totally chickened out, and, when I got up there, I froze, and asked, “What’s your top speed, KITT?”
The sad thing is, I can’t even remember what the answer was.
update: 8:41 PM PST: Cherish, a cool girl and helpful soapbox mod, just sent me this picture of her, sitting in KITT!
Second. Best. Picture. EVER.
Rock.
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The classics always come up.
What was that one about the people flying through space and they had to play the electic guitar to make it work? Something with birds in the name, I think…
Dang, I remember COLLECTING and trading those Garbage Pail Kids!! We’d like collect two hundred of them and then they’d come out with another series and we’d collect those too.
Yep, I had tons and tons of them!
And Jenn, I’m drawing a blank on your show.
Back to reading about CGI scripts (I too am teaching myself web design – for work.)
ymous_annon: It was only -29 if you were in a really windy area like waiting for a bus at Hurdman Station (brr). The straight temp was around -18 I think. I like having seasons but once winter gets below -15 I’ve had enough. I was born in July and I love the summer.
Brrrrrrrr. I remember the few days a year it would get that cold in WI. No one went anywhere. Hence, the large number of babies born the end of September/beginning of October……
I remember when I went with my friend back in… 91-93?
We sat in Kitt and while she laughed her ass off, I asked Kitt all kinds of questions about how much of a slut was Hasselloff and did Kitt ever get any?
I remember we went back and the car said something like “I remember you… skedaddle!!” even before I had gotten started again. Wonder how often the guy behind the curtain got those kinds of questions… 😛
I may have been a girl but I certainly had a one track mind as well *evil grin*
Herbie the Love Bug! Man, I remember when I was a kid, I entered some contest where if you win; they would bring you a go-cart replica of that car. I SO wanted that! It was hell on the other kids at school when I didn’t, the only thing left was to beat up the kids that asked me about it.
Ah, that felt so much better.
I loved growing up in the 70-80’s. All the great shows. And the cartoons. I remember getting up on Saturday morn @6am and watching cartoons til noon. Most of the cartoons on now are crap. Does anyone rememeber the show Powers of Matthew Star with Peter Barton?
btw…I reside Minnesota.
underdog
KJB you suck… Yancy RULES!! (loved her in Mann & Machine + Drop Zone)
A-Team…. imagine my surprise when on exploring the ms Maasdam (went on a Caribbean cruise a few weeks ago, my first) I disocvered that this was also “Dirk Benedict’s first caribbean cruise” His fan club had managed to organize a tour group on the cruise… I didn’t see him til I walked by him in the immigration lines on the last day but my SO pointed out the pictures of him with his fans in the photography booth, and man he looked wacked out. Either he’s sick or he’s seen too many nights of booze or coke is what my SO said and I had to agree. He did seem slightly better later on but he’s no longer as photogenic as he was in the days of Face…
I forgot to put what Kitt answered to my questions… mainly I was trying to get an answer and he kept sidestepping the issue… re: Hasseloff and re: himself, something about not being capable of it? Well duh but I was a typical teenager yukking it up anyways.
I bet if I tell my friend, Remember When… she’ll pee her pants laughing just remembering….
Man I miss those days…
Hey Wil,
Oy Vey, i used to have to watch Knight Rider every single Friday when I babysat this little bratty kid named Bradley. I guess he’d be around your age now (ugh!). After Knight Rider (I thought David Hasselhoff was sooooo gorgeous) I’d be subjected to the Incredible Hulk. Gawd, I hated that show. There was too a guy in the R2D2 get-up, I think it was Kenny Baker (I think, that was a long friggin’ time ago).
And to the person who asked, that Legolas guy is totally a cutie pie. Somehow I always pictured Aragorn MUCH more handsome though. I can’t wait to see who they cast as Faramir.
She-ra!!
I remember that it was that show that I figured out that you could tell what parts of the scene would animate because it’d be colored differently than the rest of the background. They did some kind of “where’s waldo” every episode which is what got me thinking about it…
but Thundercats was WAYYYY better… (but that shouldn’t be a surprise to anyone, considering my net identity) Drooling Mumm-RA! I’m impatient for it to be released on DVD. Anyone remeber Silverhawks? I loved the theme song for it and would watch it cause it shared the hour with Thundercats in the afternoon.
now fess up… anyone masturbate while watching these shows (any of the ones mentioned here or above)? I know I did but mainly I didn’t need an excuse… I was a horny bugger.
Powers of Matthew Brady?? No…. Underdog, yes.
SILVERHAWKS! That’s the one I was referring to earlier. That show was trippy!
Ummm…sorry, Megalion. Can’t help ya there…
On the subject of shows that spawned action figures, though… I SO wanted to have He-Man and She-Ra and GI-Joe and Star Wars action figures… what did I get? My Little Ponies!!!
OK, so I DID play with the MLPs, but usually it involved taking them down the street to use them as battle stallions for the He-Man and GI-Joe action figures that the boys had….
Oh wait… I DID get some Buck Rogers action figures… AND the ship! (Thank goodness for that one uncle who realized that I wasn’t one of those froo-froo type girls…) I have no idea where they are now, though. Prolly worth something.
I had a crush on Witchy Poo.
Oh yea I remember My Little Pony… I got one of those too and it wasn’t too bad…
Everyone learned though NOT to give me dolls… I wouldn’t play with them (except Barbies.. go figure)
Trying to remember the name of the show but there was another really cool cartoon where it was like Transformers except that it was 5 mechanical cats manned by 5 people that could assemble into one big “man” machine for super ass kicking.
I got a toy that was the black cat (leader that was always the body & head) and I was excited at first but it was a disappointing toy and was the toy that really soured me on the “merchandising” because all it did was just walk forward… you couldn’t manipulate it like the transformers/gobots.
What fun is that? this block of plastic that walks forward… sure it LOOKS like the cat but back then it wasn’t enough for me.
Ever since then I’ve looked at the toys in the toy stores with a super critical eye to how well the toy matches up to the show (or whatever).
I also miss the saturday morning Ewok cartoons. But I’m reaching back to an even younger age for that.
Your right, that was the best picture ever!
As far as I know, they still have Kitt sitting there near the food court right out side the castle theatre. (Where the Conan show was back in the day.)
At least, Kitt was still there back when I worked at the Castle Theatre on “Beatleguse’s Rockin’ Graveyard Review” about… Heh, wow, that was like 5 or 6 years ago… Huh.
The Beatleguse show isn’t there anymore I hear, so Kitt may also be in moth balls. (Damn kids have no sence of history.) But at that time, he was still there, but you couldn’t sit in him. Which made me sad.
Magalion!!!!
How could you forget VOLTRON???!!!
That’s like forgetting G-Force or Robotech.
Unforgivable, turn in your Geek card and blazer. 😉
Since this topic has really taken off, and spawned numerous 80s discussions, I have made a new forum in the Soapbox, called “The 80s”.
Have fun.
VOLTRON! OMG!!!!
Easy…. 4 straight years of clinical depression will turn anyone’s brain to mush.
But thanks much for the Name… I’m gonna go right over and add that show to my list right next to Thundercats (http://www.tvshowsondvd.com a mass petition site for requesting tv on dvd)
Hmm what about the old cartoon, Dungeons & Dragons?? I remember liking that show though I have to confess that I can barely remember much of it. That was another saturday morning must watch for me.
I used to make Silver Hawkes action figures out of my GI Joes. Tin foil paper, man! Of all the shows, I liked GI Joe a bit better. Thundercats always scared me for some reason.
Think it’s because I’m a dog person?
so did you like the Pound Puppies then? *evil grin*
Ermm… no. I think that was on cable. Either way, I never saw much of that except for a single episode my sister had on take. Oh my god, she played it all the damned time. *bangs his head against the wall*
Oh memories… Gotta talk about this with my therapist.
Oh how convient! That site just added “Jayce & the Wheeled Warriors” which is the Sat Morn Cartoon that always made me think later of my first exposure to anime
Anyone remember that? I can’t remember it clearly enough now to say for sure if it was anime or not. If it wasn’t though… it was heavily influenced by it.
Bugger… I don’t feel like going to the soapbox since I’m supposed to be working and that’ll really get me distracted…
Remember Wheelie and the Chopper Bunch????
Anyone remember the Bionic Six?
Ovaltine rules!
Okay, now that I got my pointless comment out of the way…going back to A Christmas Story…
The kid who got his tongue stuck to the pole
I liked that mannequin leg lamp… that was the thing I remembered best about that movie.
just thought i’d add to the ‘saying where we’re from’ conversation.
I live in Nottingham in England, and don’t see a lot of the things that you are all talking about…. although i have been to Universal Studios in Florida!!
Just thought I’d add that….. and no, i don’t know Robin Hood! (I always get asked that!LOL)
Love Donna
just wanted to know, seeing as we’re talking about the old things we used to watch, if anyone remembers the gummi bears?? with their gummi berry juice?? or am i totally sad?? LOL
I am a fuel-injected, suicide machine!
I’m hotter than a rollin’ die! Step right up and watch the kid ride a rubber road right to freedom!
You should see the damage bronze…metal damage, brain damage…you listening bronze? I am the Night Rider!
—
The Night…Rider…that is his name. Remember him when you look at the night sky.
—
Hm? What? What’s everyone looking at? What do you mean “off-topic”?
OK-now I’m freaked…there’s another Jon here?
We can do a lot of damage to each other…
right…… i’m off to watch toy soldiers, cos it just started on cable!!!
nice shorts wil!!
LMAO
On the way home for lunch today I saw a Thundercats sticker on a Gran Prix Pontiac.
I heard a voice inside my head say, “Don’t look back, you can never look back.”
I kid you not.
Yea Donna I rmemeber them… they were the first main show of the Disney Afternoon and also the first show to get bumped out.
I used to watch the Disney afternoon a lot since I didn’t like anything else what was on at the same time and thundercats was long gone by then…
Ducktales… Chip N Dale Rescue Rangers… Talespin… Darkwing Duck
http://www.markscustomkits.com
Get yourself a *real* *live* KITT 🙂
Jenn-LOVED the Henley reference!
I’m not reading all 90,000 of these comments, just posting one of my own.
I used to think Knight Rider was the coolest thing in the world! I LOVED that show. David Hasselhoofensteininator was sooooooooooooo hot.
Now, when I watch it, I think “wtf? what is this sh*t?” It’s soooooooooooooooooo corny!
Plus, David Hasselhoofensteininator had done Baywatch & kind of ruined Michael Knight for me. Yeah, Mitch was sexy! hahahahaha 😛
Laurie
I know what you mean Froggy… I think I’d like KnightRider more now (still have respect for it I mean) if David hadn’t gone on to Baywatch… but hey the guy’s got to make a living since I think his singing career didn’t take off here (though he was a hit over seas but I don’t think he wanted to move to Japan!)
Live Long and Prosper
In this endless sea of comments I have just this
to say..wil you have created a monster with all
this remembering going on here..OK ..another
thing..I collect and sell action figures..my fav
is 3 3/4 GI Joe…Snake Eyes rules.
Just wish there was one of Spudnuts out there
somewhere….sighs wistfully.
bluecat/redblanket said: “Just wish there was [an action figure] of Spudnuts out there somewhere….sighs wistfully.”
Oh, don’t give me any ideas.
That knight rider picture is the best, I remember when I was at school many years ago, a rapper came out with a rap and the under tune was the kightrider theme tune, we took that tune, recored via a dictaphone out head of sixth forms pet sayings, then someone sliced and siced it so it was our head of year rapping over the knightrider theme tune. We got into a lot of trouble for that one especiallt since we played it at full volume on the last day of school for the whole school to hear it. Neither the head of sixth form nor the head teacher were much impressed!
We thought it was very funny and so did the rest of the pupils at my school.
Knight Rider rules though, I wanted, and still do want, KITT as my car. The best car in the world, although the off shots of knightrider (ie team knightrider and knightrider 2000) sucked. I also was a big fan of the a team and airwolf. There was also thunder in paridice with hulk hogan, thundercats, Terrorhawkes, He Man, She Ra.
Of course there was UFO and Battlestar Gallatica (who had Dirk Benadict in it who played Face in the A Team, and in the later seasons Barry Van Dyke who was in late seasons of Airwolf), I could spend hours going down memory lane talking baout programes I watched as a kid but I’m wondering how many you guys would know ‘cos I’m from England so I’m thinking yu wouldnt have had some of the programes we had.
Does anyone remember a program that was with puppets, and there was an evil woman and she had like a matalic scorpion over her eye. I can’t remember wehat it was called but it’s something like Star Fleet or something???? Someone tell me what it was called cos it’s driving me up the wall, but before anyone says it, it wasn’t terrorhawkes ‘cos that was Jerry and Sylvia Anderson thing, This Star Fleet thing was not an Anderson production.
Wow this has to be the worlds longest post, if you got to the end of this without getting bored, congradulations!!! Either that or you need to get a life 🙂
Art: I’m from Durham, England
Spike
9.20pm GMT
SA still won’t load for me. I get the AutoSearch message from IE when I try and load it. What am I doing wrong?
Jenn, the mere mention of Thundercats sent my mind thundering back to the 80’s. I so wanted to be Cheetarah! I used to run up and down the garden so fast thinking I was approaching cheetah-like speed (not likely in Hi-Tec trainers!). What a geek. I won’t even go into those sunny afternoons galloping around pretending to be Champion the Wonder Horse. I hope my baby son hasn’t inheirited my tremendous dorkiness!
Art-I am from Ayr in Scotland but currently staying in a village just outside it called Tarbolton. From my window I can see sheep, fields, and never-ending rain.
There couldn’t have been that many good things around in the 80’s role-model wise, or else why was I running around pretending to be a cartoon cheetah/person or a well-trained chestnut horse? Or was it just me?Hmmm…
HOW CAN YOU FORGET CITIES OF GOLD!!!!
man, that show was cool… that and Ulysses of course
Tish–
Milo is the BEST stuff ever! It beats out Ovaltine by a long shot!
Heheh, I brought a tin of it back from Ghana with me…
Kate
For obvious reasons I am posting here.
Remember when you had to look up your name when you were a kid and see what it meant? And you had to ask your parents why they named you what they did?
Well my mom told me it was because of some stupid soap opera star in the late 70’s.
I always tell people I’m named after the white haired guy, Devon, on Knight Rider.
I get awesome responses from people about it.