Sept. 26: “Knight Rider” brings KITT to Americans’ TVs on this date in 1982

How is it that a guy fighting crime with a talking Pontiac Trans Am became one of the favorite TV shows of a generation? I was watching "Knight Rider" when it debuted on this date in 1982, and as a kid I remember caring almost not at all about whatever David Hasselhoff was up to, but when the next appearance of KITT would show. Creator Glen Larson said he wanted to do a sci-fi version of "The Lone Ranger" with Tonto as a talking car, but the masterstroke was having William Daniels as the voice; as NBC would prove with its ill-fated relaunch, the concept goofs itself to oblivion without Daniels' intelligent voice coming through the speakers. If I'd only held onto the toy KITT I bought a few months later...