Autoblog

We all know what a disaster the 2-hour Knight Rider movie was (click here for a refresher). Regardless, the return of the series has been green lit for the Fall and Shadowy Flight recently sat down for an interview with Gary Scott Thompson, Executive Producer and Showrunner of the series. Thompson's credentials include creating the show Las Vegas and the original Fast and the Furious movie, and he also points out that he had nothing to do with the 2-hour Knight Rider movie that aired in February. The show's new EP revealed that he and his writers are leaving the 2-hour movie in the past. His new writing staff, which includes writers from Lost, Prison Break and Smallville, but also Walker, Texas Ranger and Charmed, is dealing with some of those plot points introduced in the movie that now can't be ignored, but are basically going to start all over again with the first episode.

You can check out the two-part interview by hitting the source link below, but the major bit of news revealed is that Turbo Boost will again be part of KITT's arsenal, though the technology will be reinvented for this era where fast cars that jump aren't all that mind blowing. Thompson also told Shadowy Flight that the overly winged Attack Mode KITT is being redone and will be different than the one seen in the movie. Finally, Thompson compares his Knight Rider series that's still in gestation to one of our favorite shows on TV, Battlestar Galactica. Both are reinventions of older TV shows, but BG is currently the shining light of modern television, while Knight Rider has gotten off to an extremely rough start. We hope it compares to the weekly trials of Admiral Adama and the crew of Galactica, but we're not holding our breath. Thanks for the tip, Neil!


[Source: Shadowy Flight]

Well, this morning, NBC made it official: Wednesday nights this Fall we'll all be able to say "Hello, Mike", as Knight Rider returns to the weekly schedule. The Peacock network unveiled its Fall lineup today and, despite rumors that it would appear on Friday nights, the new Knight Rider is relegated to the Hump night at 8-9PM EST. Encore showings will also run each week on Saturday night from 9-10PM EST. We're a bit surprised, or perhaps disappointed, that the show will be kicking the night off at 8 o'clock, as it suggests adult themes will not be present. Not that we're looking for lesbian overtures in every episode as was brazenly and inexplicably included in the pilot two-hour movie, but knowing that the new KR is sanitized for my nephew's protection is just one more nail in this show's coffin.

Nevertheless, your friendly neighborhood Autoblog plans to watch every episode until the show gets cancelled. Alex Nunez will liveblog each episode every Wednesday night, just like he did the two-hour movie. You're all invited to follow along as Alex poignantly picks apart each episode. Bring a box of tissues, though. You'll need them to dab the blood away from your eyes.

[Source: Variety]

You'll see more of him this Fall. Click above for a gallery of the new KITT.

The Knight Rider TV movie was not good. The updated, Shelby Mustang-based KITT looked undeniably cool (when not in Ugly... er... Attack Mode, at least), but the acting was wooden and the writing was a horror show. Still, the ending completely set up a potential ongoing story. Today comes word that the ratings were apparently good enough for the suits to give a thumbs-up for a new weekly series starting this Fall. Early reports suggest a Friday night timeslot is in the works, but that's subject to change; all will be known on Wednesday when NBC presents its early upfronts.

We'll assume that at the very least, stars Justin Breuning (Mike Traceur) and Deanna Russo (Mike Traceur's Girlfriend) will return to fill our flatscreens with emotionless line reading. And since voicing KITT should be a relatively easy payday for Val Kilmer, we'd expect him to reprise his role, as well. As for the Hoff, who walked on for a brief cameo at the end of the pilot, who knows? The big winner here is Ford, which now gets an hour-long weekly showcase for the Shelby GT500KR KITT. Based on the stupendously lousy pilot, however, we're going to put on our prognostication hats and set the over/under for this Knight Rider reboot at 10 episodes. Unless NBC ups the quality in a big, big way, the under is a lock.

I am ordering Alex to live blog every single episode like he did the pilot, which probably won't be a long-term commitment considering. - John


[Sources: AICN via FARK, Variety, IGN, Screen Rant]

click above for more images, including a desktop-wallpaper of above shot

We'd be proud too if we were Ford. Somehow the Blue Oval managed to convince NBC that the voice of Will Arnett and its Shelby GT500KR would make a perfect fit for an updated KITT on the boob tube. Today we found a couple new pics of the Fordified KITT and higher-resolution versions of the ones we showed yesterday on Ford's media site. To recap, there will three versions of KITT in the new Knight Rider TV show: a standard KITT Hero car, a more combative and winged KITT Attack (shown above), and KITT Remote for when the protagonist whispers into his Seiko watch, "KITT, I need help."

We think KITT being a Shelby GT500KR is quite the coup for Ford. The upcoming Chevy Camaro seemed like a better fit, if for no other reason than Pontiac doesn't have a car that would fit the role and the original KITT was at least an F-body. Regardless, we're excited to see the new KITT when the TV show kicks off with a 2-hour Knight Rider movie on February 17th, and while we don't expect it to be, you know, good, we'll tune in to see if the GT500KR has got any acting chops.

[Source: Ford]

UPDATE: Ford's official press release added after jump.

UPDATE: TV Squad has live coverage of the unveiling.

click either image for high-res gallery of the new KITT on Knight Rider

NBC held a press conference today officially announcing the return of Knight Rider to network TV. The new show will debut as a two-hour movie on February 17th with a cast that includes Justin Bruening, Deanna Russo, Sydney Tamiia Poitier and Bruce Davison. Also confirmed is the return of David Hasselhoff in the role of an elder Michael Knight. Finally, the character we care about most, KITT, has been officially confirmed as a Ford GT500KR. The voice of KITT will also be none other than Will Arnett, husband of Saturday Night Live's Amy Poehler and ex-alum of the TV show Arrested Development.

There will actually be three versions of KITT in the show: a 540-hp standard version of the character named KITT Hero, a super high-speed version that's heavily modified for combat called KITT Attack (click here to view his body changes), and a driverless version called KITT Remote. According to NBC, KITT in the modern era is a supercomputer capable of hacking anything that plugs into a wall, and thanks to progress made in the area of nanotechnology, its body can shift both its shape and color.

Follow the jump for the official press release from NBC, including a brief rundown of the premier's storyline.

[Source: NBC]

The rumor that K.I.T.T. will be played by a Mustang in the upcoming Knight Rider TV series appears to be true. That is, assuming someone with a lot of time on his hands didn't mock up a Hoff-ified Mustang just for the hell of it. That's extremely doubtful, as the car you see above is actually wearing the body kit of a Shelby GT500KR, which isn't easy to come by for weekend projects. Nope, if we take the pic at face value, then the only conclusion possible is that K.I.T.T. will be played by a 550-horsepower Shelby GT500KR in black with silver racing stripes.

K.I.T.T.'s trademark running red light bar has been relocated up and into two nostrils that sit atop the GT500KR's hood. It's a natural fit, though we have to question the silver stripes that, while a trademark of the GT500KR, are totally harshing on K.I.T.T.'s blacked-out super stealth persona.

General Motors is probably a bit bummed that one of its cars wasn't tapped to play the part. But unless show creators agreed to a four-door K.I.T.T. and used the Pontiac G8, the car was definitely not going to be a Pontiac (we hear the Hoff can't fit in a Solstice). And GM is no stranger to stealing acting roles away from other automakers. Volkswagen is probably still pissed off that a Camaro played Bumblebee in Transformers.

Click the Read link to view a couple more pics over at Jalopnik.

[Source:Jalopnik]