Knight Rider's KITT Was Inspired By These '70s Sci-Fi Movie And TV Show Villains

There's little doubt that in the pantheon of cool cars from TV shows in the '80s, KITT from "Knight Rider" definitely makes the list. The panel of buttons on the dashboard offered Michael an endless array of tricks and gadgets, the car had a sleek design, and we can't forget about KITT's witty, sarcastic voice. Even though KITT was one of the good guys on the show, his inspiration actually came from several prominent television and movie villains.

William Daniels, who voiced KITT, gave it a dry humorous personality, but the voice was initially modeled after HAL the computer from "2001: A Space Odyssey." In his autobiography, "Don't Hassle the Hoff," David Hasselhoff confirmed that connection. He wrote that the main difference between HAL and KITT was that KITT was designed to protect humans and can't even kill villains.

If there's one feature that separates KITT from other crime-fighting cars, apart from its ability to talk, it's the band of red lights on its hood. If you're a fan of '70s science fiction TV, you might notice the similarity between those red lights and the red lights on the Cylons of "Battlestar Galactica." That's no coincidence — the same man, Glen Larson, created both shows and liked the design so much he wanted to use it again. Some fan communities have dubbed the concept the "Larson Scanner."

When it came to bringing KITT to life, creator Glen Larson originally had another car in mind completely. He envisioned a Datsun 280zx at first, but a deal was struck with GM to use their new Pontiac Trans Am instead. Of course, the car would still need to be tricked out to make it look unique. That's when Larson turned to someone who was an expert in building sleek cars for television. According to David Hasselhoff's autobiography, Larson brought in George Bariss, whose company had helped build the Batmobile for the '60s show "Batman."

But Batman wasn't the only hero Larson used as inspiration. In an interview with the American Television Foundation, Larson said "Knight Rider" is a modern retelling of a classic western. "'Knight Rider' is 'The Lone Ranger,'" Larson said. "It's one man comes into a town and he has a little more going for him than people think and that's a great theme. I didn't make that up, it's what it is."

Larson said he saw KITT as the Silver to Michael's Lone Ranger and that, together, they could take down the bad guys. In the same interview, he said it's one of the things he hasn't liked about the various attempts at rebooting the original show. "Right now we have people doing a show that don't understand it," Larson said. "They think it's a team." Even if reboot attempts in the past haven't been successful, "Knight Rider" remains an '80s show that fans say deserves another chance.