Sci-Fi Knight Rider (2008)

Kevin

Code Monkey
Staff member
Title: Knight Rider

Genre: Drama, Action & Adventure

First aired: 2008-09-24

Creator: Glen A. Larson

Cast: Justin Bruening, Deanna Russo, Bruce Davison, Sydney Tamiia Poitier, Yancey Arias, Paul Campbell, Smith Cho, Val Kilmer

Overview: On the heels of NBC's hit movie, the iconic 1980s television classic comes roaring back to life as a reinvented, updated and super-charged action series showcasing the new KITT (Knight Industries Three Thousand). Absolutely the coolest car ever created, KITT is equipped with an "AI" (artificial intelligence) that is capable of hacking almost any system. Its weapons systems match that of a jet fighter, and its body is capable of actually transforming into other vehicles and using sophisticated holographic imagery to elude villains.
Knight Rider (2008)
 
So, did anybody else watch the new Knight Rider premiere last night?

It wasn't awful, wasn't that good either. Reminded me a bit of a made-for-TV Sci-Fi Channel movie.

- "Blackriver" security agency? A thinly veiled reference to the Blackwater firm doing security work for the US Military in the Middle East. I wonder how their company execs' like being portrayed as a bunch of mercenary killers for hire who want to be able to stage a US coup?

- If you blinked you missed the name of the Vegas casino that they go to... the Monticeto. That just happens to be the casino from NBC's show about Las Vegas. Makes me wonder if it was just supposed to be subtle advertising, if the shows will be crossing each other at some point, or if the name will be used as the generic casino name to avoid copyright issues (kind of how "Oceanic Airlines" is used as an airline name in movies & TV).

- They showed the steering wheel from the original KITT. If they really wanted to capture more of the nostalgia fans they should have included a bit more homage.

- So is the KITT 3000 personality supposed to be an entirely new creation or is it the KITT 2000 reborn?

- Did they really have to use the same cheesy generic 80's music for the background music? The could've at least used something that sounded like it was a bit more recent?

- They never, never, never should have given the new KITT two sensors on the hood instead of the original one.

Ah, I could go on but you get the idea. Yeah, I'll watch it again if it does get made into a series but definitely not as a "Must see!" show.
 
Well, it wasn't too bad I suppose, if you can instantly blank out the bad acting on behalf of the bad guys, the restriction in action for audience (they aimed this one at a younger audience for some reason, considering the main viewership would be the 30 somethings!)

Production value was pretty low, but I wonder if the writers strike had something to do with bumping this up the filming schedule and not doing it perfectly?
 
Production value was pretty low, but I wonder if the writers strike had something to do with bumping this up the filming schedule and not doing it perfectly?
Good point. The writers strike might be to blame since the only thing that was allowed to be filmed during the strike was pre-written scripts with no rewrites or other tweaks permitted.

Either that or they dusted off an unused script from the original Knight Rider series and penciled in different character names.
:eek:
 
'Knight Rider' pilot is ratings success

Tuesday, February 19 2008, 14:41 GMT
By Ben Rawson-Jones, Cult Editor
The new two-hour Knight Rider pilot was a ratings success on the NBC network when it screened on Sunday night.

Sci Fi Wire reports that the attempt to reboot the iconic 1980s show delivered impressive figures in the key demographics range for adults aged 18-49. The pilot, which has yet to be picked up for a full series, was the best rated television movie on NBC in that demographic bracket since March 2005.

Knight Rider managed to scoop an average of 12.7 million viewers between 9 and 11pm on Sunday. It starred Justin Bruening and featured David Hasselhoff in a cameo appearance. Val Kilmer also supplied the voice for the talking car KITT.
 
It wasn't bad nor was it great, but upon entrance of the Hoff and the end when the Mike and Kitt backed out of the cargo plane...it made me reminscent and felt a little bit like the old Knight Rider...BEST PART...it's a sequel, not reimagined so maybe a little bit of the Hoff from time to time

www.flexfiles.blogspot.com
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It wasn't bad nor was it great, but upon entrance of the Hoff and the end when the Mike and Kitt backed out of the cargo plane...it made me reminscent and felt a little bit like the old Knight Rider...BEST PART...it's a sequel, not reimagined so maybe a little bit of the Hoff from time to time
If I recall correctly, the producers of the show & NBC have "Knight Rider" rights for sequels but not to the original series. Glen A. Larson, the creator of the Knight Rider universe, retains rights to the original series yet and supposedly is working on a KR movie set in the original time line.

Because of the rights the new KR will be relying upon continuance more from the Knight Rider 2000 TV movie and the Team Knight Rider series from '97.
 
I enjoyed it overall. As someone already stated some of the acting could have been better. I thought it was a nice touch relating the current story to the original. I think Hoff's appearance at the end was just fine. I look forward to a series, if that happens.
 
Looks like NBC likes the results of the new series enough to order a full season...
NBC TO PICK UP NINE ADDITIONAL EPISODES OF "KNIGHT RIDER” TO COMPLETE FULL-SEASON ORDER FOR 2008-09

UNIVERSAL CITY – October 21, 2008 – NBC will pick up nine additional episodes of its the freshman drama series "Knight Rider” (Wednesdays, 8-9 p.m. ET) to provide the series with a full-season order for 2008-09, it was announced today by Ben Silverman, Co-Chairman, NBC Entertainment and Universal Media Studios.

"Gary Scott Thompson and the great cast and crew of 'Knight Rider' continue to deliver fun, action packed adventures every week,” said Silverman. "Kitt and Michael will continue to travel across the country on their fun, escapist ride pursuing bad guys and saving the day.”

"Knight Rider” premiered its new season on Wednesday, September 24 (8-9 p.m. ET).

The series is averaging a 2.4 rating, 7 share in adults 18-49 and 7.4 million viewers overall so far this season in "live plus same day" averages. "Knight Rider" is the #1 regular series in its competitive time period in all key adult-male demographics and won the slot in adults 18-49 with its most recent telecast on October 15.

On the heels of NBC's hit movie, the iconic 1980s television classic comes roaring back to life as a reinvented, updated and super-charged action series showcasing the new KITT (Knight Industries Three Thousand). Absolutely the coolest car ever created, KITT is equipped with "AI” (artificial intelligence) that is capable of hacking almost any system. Its weapon's systems match that of a jet fighter, its body is capable of actually transforming into other vehicles and it uses sophisticated holographic imagery to elude villains.

"Knight Rider" stars Justin Bruening ("Cold Case"), Deanna Russo ("NCIS"), Sydney Tamiia Poitier ("Veronica Mars"), Paul Campbell ("Battlestar Galactica”), Yancey Arias ("Kingpin”) and Bruce Davison ("Breach"). Smith Cho ("Blades of Glory”) recurs. David Bartis ("Heist," "The O.C."), Doug Liman ("Mr. and Mrs. Smith," "The Bourne Identity"), Matt Pyken ("Las Vegas”) and Gary Scott Thompson ("Las Vegas,” "The Fast and The Furious”) are executive producers.

Based on characters created by Glen Larson, "Knight Rider” is from Universal Media Studios and Dutch Oven Productions.
 
Personally, I've been impressed with the shows thus far. But I'm not sure if that's a matter of the show itself being good, or just being better than most of the felgercarb that's on Wednesday nights.

:)
 
Personally, I've been impressed with the shows thus far. But I'm not sure if that's a matter of the show itself being good, or just being better than most of the felgercarb that's on Wednesday nights.

:)
I know exactly what you mean. I have been watching the new Knight Rider record on the DVR but I have not decided yet whether I am watching it because it is good entertainment or because there is nothing better.

Although I will grudgingly admit... the 'techno' theme song grows on you a bit after watching several episodes. Plus some of the banter between Zoe & Billy is quite entertaining, sometimes even more than the 'main' characters of Mike & Sarah. I also noticed some references lately to some pop culture references like Reservoir Dogs.

OK, I take it back... I watch it on the DVR because it is entertaining. Very 'campy' entertainment, but still entertaining.
 
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