Surfing The Channel

Archive for November, 2011

There are a few things for which the majority of the mainstream population in the United States are obsessed. Some of these include sports, their cars and television shows. These are lifestyle related, though we could include emotional, mental and even belief system aspects like religion and politics; however, the majority of people veer toward the above items as part of their ongoing habits and activity obsessions. And referring back to the top three mentioned above, some people even combine them. Of course the majority of sporting events are viewed on televisions, whether from one’s home or at a sports bar. And for those who prefer their NBA action live, they’re more than proud to pull up at the sporting arena with their spiffy Cragar wheels on their hot new sports car.

Meanwhile, it’s also true that many people are fascinated by certain television shows due to the cars that frequently star in them. Magnum P.I. and Knight Rider are just two examples, though they are definitely significant ones. However, for any great auto enthusiast, of which there are many, they happen to know the make, model and year of almost every vehicle in every show. And they can sometimes describe characters more by the car they drive than say for their profession. This might not be true when the show revolves around a particular profession, such as Boston Legal or Grey’s Anatomy. For these shows and others like them it’s anyone’s guess if the star happens to use toyo tires or buys them from a discount store.

Meanwhile for shows like Magnum P.I. and Knight Rider, the cars as much of the program’s stars as are the human characters. The Knight Rider is most famous for David Hasselhoff and KITT, the two main characters. While Hasselhoff played David Knight, a modern day crime fighting knight, KITT is the show’s modified Pontiac Trans Am, and received as much as or more attention as the car’s human counterpart. The car featured an assortment of extremely attractive and fascinating features. These included the durable shell frame and infamous artificial intelligence. Knight and KITT had communications that related to human connections, and in most ways the car served as Knight’s most trusted friend. This is a personification of the metaphoric relationship many people have with their own cars. Regardless of the combinations of obsessions, television, sports and cars go hand in hand in living the American dream.