The experts at TV Squad weigh in on Knight Rider
click above to watch the Knight Rider movie
I did not watch the Knight Rider made-for-TV movie last night. Instead, I checked out Alex's liveblog during the show, which took less time to get through and, from what I've been told, was a lot more entertaining. I have KITT's return to the small screen waiting for me on DVR, but for those of you who don't, our sister-site TV Squad has the entire thing, all 120 minutes, hosted within its review. We'll direct you here to view it and check out Joel Keller's review of the remake that actually dissects the many issues that kept the show from being entertaining, engaging, exciting and, well, any other adjective one would use to describe something good.
NBC earned a 6.9/10 ratings share at 9PM for the Knight Rider movie according to our friends at knightrideronline.com, who – big surprise – happened to love it, which was second only to an episode of Extreme Makeover: Home Edition (Damn that Ty Pennington!). Now it's up to the peacock network to decide the fate of new KITT and his band of merry vigilantes. Our bet is that 13 episodes have already been ordered, 'cause the ratings share was pretty good and, more importantly, the demographic for this show falls within a sweet spot for most advertisers.
Gallery: The new KITT - OFFICIAL PHOTOS
[Source: TV Squad]
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 3)
wrussi 5:38PM (2/18/2008)
not bad i hope they improve on the acting and cgi for the series. and please we do not need to see a minute long focus commercial on every break
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Mike 5:49PM (2/18/2008)
"second only to an episode of Extreme Makeover: Home Edition (Damn that Ty Pennington!). "
KITT should just drive itself off a cliff now and spare us any further stories about 'Knight Rider'.
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Torrent 5:50PM (2/18/2008)
it was ok, but i hated the ford commercials on every break. They were meant to be, but weren't-funny.
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Seoultrain 6:00PM (2/18/2008)
ugh, I hope American Top Gear won't be as sponsor-neutered as Ford Rider.
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MemphisNET 6:03PM (2/18/2008)
The things people were bitching about last night were so petty and small it was unreal.
There are elements that will hopefully be changed (Mike is a man whore, lesbian FBI agents, everyone owns a ford) but overall I liked it, at least enough to give it a shot for a full season.
There was also a slight campy feeling not unlike VIP in the first hour, but the second hour was much better.
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sitruc 7:25PM (2/18/2008)
Sorry I was one of those people bitching last night about petty and small things like acting, dialog, the script, production.... It was pretty bad.
Part of the problem is that it wasn't a pilot. It was a standalone television movie. The ratings were pretty good, so I'm sure it will get picked up. Unless there are a lot of improvements I doubt and hope it doesn't get a full fun though.
Dodge 6:15PM (2/18/2008)
I liked it, the ford saturation was a bit extreme at times, but thats nothing a little TIVO magic cant fix ;).
But I thought the actors were well placed.
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TriShield 6:19PM (2/18/2008)
Why on Earth are we putting Knight Rider under a microscope? It's Knight Rider, not high-art, high-brow cinema or entertainment.
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Cornholio 11:02PM (2/18/2008)
+1.
It was a crappy show 20 years ago, and all accounts are that it was a crappy show last nigth as well. Why all the scrutiny?
I'm tired of Autoblog whoring the Night Rider thing.The show came, a few saw, it sucked. Can we PLEASE move on to something else? Surely Lutz must have mouthed off about CAFE again, or Toyota issued another recall....
John 1:41PM (2/19/2008)
The issue is that it is about Ford. Ford is the brand everyone is allowed/required to bitch about. No one carries on about anything GM (too many fans), Chrysler (the little guy with the Hemi), or Asian (too much prejudice), but Ford is in a sweet spot inviting continual abuse.
I swear if Knight Rider was a Challenger, Camaro, or GT-R and everything was twice as bad, we would already be moved on.
TwinTurbo3000GT 6:23PM (2/18/2008)
i agree for the most part with what's been said. Could it have been better? absolutely. But all in all, it was better that i thought it would be. I will give it another episode or 2 before giving my final thought. It's always tough to say after the first episode, because theres so much framework to lay that they really can't get into it.
7.5 out of 10. It's still better that almost all the other crap on NBC.
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zombyboy 6:24PM (2/18/2008)
Certainly not entertainment...
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Anik 6:39PM (2/18/2008)
it was alright. Everything looked fake. Like most of the driving scenes. Acting was mediocre. they are going to have to do a lot better. I just HOPE they BRING TOP GEAR TO AMERICA SOON!!!!!!!!!!!!
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John 6:39PM (2/18/2008)
I didn't see it and frankly I don't think I missed much. To make KITT anything besides a Trans Am won't cut it for me.
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Tolly 6:43PM (2/18/2008)
The only problem I had was how in the hell did a Ford Edge keep up with the fastest, most technologicaly advanced car in the world on that mountain road for so long?
Overall I liked it. It was a good effort, and I'm sure I will watch it again. I would just like to not see the whole show Flooded with Fords.
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Purifoy 6:53PM (2/18/2008)
Can you spell C-A-N-C-E-L-L-A-T-I-O-N?
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wally 7:11PM (2/18/2008)
Need new voice for KITT!!!!!!!!!!
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Cameron 7:15PM (2/18/2008)
America, please just turn the TV off and go outside and do something.
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Montana 7:18PM (2/18/2008)
I love how basically every car was a ford, minus the one GM which had no logos on it...which got totaled.
The product placement was worse than Transformers, and the show was excruciatingly cheesy, but I did like it enough to give a season a shot.
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DesiAuto 7:29PM (2/18/2008)
KITT was the best thing in the show. Everyting else was without any emotion, looked too fake, too commercial.
Things like threesome, lesbian hint, shooting the motel guy, car chase, shootings were extremely dry ...
Overall this was one of those shows where everybody acted horrible.
BTW, all four of my answers were correct, where do I pick up my Mustang?
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