Knight Rider 2008: The Thread

[wiegeabo]

They're pulling a "Jericho"?? jeezus....this whole sending objects to the studio thing is out of hand. Nuts, Mars Bars, Baby Booties....whats' next....it hasnt really worked....Jericho got a third of a season, Veronica Mars is dead and buried....Things end it happens and I am moving on and finding other stuff to watch....Ive got BSG starting this month and Life will be back as well..

If Jericho got it's second season, then how can you say it doesn't work?

And it was worth it to get Jericho back. The second season was great and had some of their best stuff. Plus it left the series with a much better and more satisfying ending. And CBS is actually shopping the show around, which they didn't even consider the first time.

 

[BlackLantern]

If Jericho got it's second season, then how can you say it doesn't work?

And it was worth it to get Jericho back. The second season was great and had some of their best stuff. Plus it left the series with a much better and more satisfying ending. And CBS is actually shopping the show around, which they didn't even consider the first time.

Jericho got a THIRD of a season....a full second season would have been a full order of 13 or 14 episodes. Unless scifi channel picks it up, id consider the show dead at this point. ABC doesn't need it, FOX can't afford it, and NBC saw what happened with Bionic Woman and journeyman, so they won't bother with it. Maybe USA might pick it up, that'd be a good spot for them.

 

[the_icon_007]

Hey,

Knight Rider HAS BEEN PICKED UP BY NBC!!! Starting this Fall Knight Rider will air 8pm on Wednesdays.

http://www.nbc.com/Primetime/index.shtml

 

[Lighthouse]

Seems as though the new Knight Rider show runner hated the 2 hour tv movie.

http://shadowyflight.com/news/2008/04/exclusive-interview-with-gary-scott-thompson-part1.php

“They said, ‘Would you take a look at this Knight Rider [TV-movie]?’ And I did, and they asked my opinion, and I said, ‘Do you really want my opinion?’ Because that's always a loaded question in Hollywood when they ask your opinion. Most of time it's like we want to hear how good it was. And I told them, ‘If you really want my opinion I'll tell you what I think, OK?’ And so I told them, it didn't really look like you advanced anything. You need to reinvent this. If you're going to go to series, you need to reinvent it. It's really got to be something cool. And something cool every week. So we started talking about what to do, and they really kind of just said how would you make this a series? And I said this isn't making a series.

“We're dealing with a sophisticated audience that's seen a lot of car movies and as my kid said to me when we're sitting watching the 2-hour, he goes ‘big deal, our car can talk.’ And I'm like ‘OK, well you got me there’ and then I said ‘OK but can your car do THIS?’ And that's the thing that we're going to bring to the series and it's going to be really cool.”

"There was the original Knight Rider series which we all love, there was the 2-hour movie, and now there's the new series. And they share in common a car named KITT, different car in some cases, and there's going to be some people from the 2-hour movie who are carrying over to the new series. And we're going to see some new faces too. That's sort of what I told NBC when I came in. I said look, if you're going to do the 2-hour again this isn't for me and if you're going to do that on a weekly basis I'm not your guy. I'm the guy who wrote The Fast and the Furious, I have a reputation, and that reputation's going to be on this show so I need to make it cool."

"We sort of had to backpaddle, and the good thing about what they did - and by the way I had nothing to do with the 2-hour, I was brought in afterwards to do the series - the good thing about what they did with it is they left it almost a blank slate. There are a few things, but everything that was there we can either fill in and embellish or basically discredit in some way and say no that's not the truth"

I admit that I was fairly surprised at how many people on here liked the TV movie, which I thought was absolute boring dreck. I never liked Fast and the Furious, but now I've actually regained some hope for this series.

 

[Prison Mike]

wow that guys has some balls. to think that fast and furious movies = good reputation? they were entertaining to an extent but nothing great. I liked the 2 hour movie though.

 

[KenK]

How reviled was the pilot movie? And since when is blatantly ripping off Point Break the benchmark for success?

 

[the_icon_007]

The Fast and the Furious was cool the first time that you see it especially if you aren't into the import scene. After that it was flat, dull and just not worth repeated viewing.

The Knight Rider pilot wasn't all bad. Just too much of a Ford commercial and not enough action.

 

[Immortalfire]

Knight Rider begins next Wednesday, Sept 24! 8pm.

 

[lou2099]

I still think the original KITT is cool.

 

[Gold Samurai]

BTW, NBC.com, iTunes, Hulu, IMDB, and Amazon Unboxed all have the premiere on streaming or downloadable video as of today.

http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B001EXVQQO

 

[TheCorpulent1]

Sweet, I gotta watch that when I get home.

 

[ultimatefan]

So, anyone watched that? What did ya think? (can´t watch it, I´m not in US, and I´m not finding a torrent)

 

[KenK]

It wasn't necessarily bad, but nothing really happened. I know it's the first episode and everything, but we came into with Mike and Sarah in the middle of a mission, and a vague mission at that, and then it's just a whole bunch of hulabaloo about Mike's past that he can't seem to remember, to which the resolution is to fake his death. I suppose it's meant to be an homage to the original series, but it's flawed in the fact that Mike's obviously going to cross paths with these shadowy black ops guys again, as none of them were captured let alone killed, AND I don't think Mike's getting his face changed like Michael Knight in the original series. As publicized as Mike Traceur's death has been, how long can he walk around with his face before some random person notices?

And if there's one thing I hate, it's TV shows and movies that completely misrepresent what the DC subway stations looks like. They get points for announcing actual DC metro stations over the PA system, but that's about it. DC subway's still relatively young (only about 30+ years old), and has to be one of the most unique, when it comes to the look of the stations, in the country.

This is the interior of most DC/MD/VA metro stations:

I know budgets are limited for TV shows, but I figure, if you can't do it right (and this was so far from right that calling it wrong doesn't do justice to how wrong it was), don't do it at all.

 

[TheCorpulent1]

Very, very uneven episode. KITT kicked all kinds of ass and is essentially the only real reason to watch the show, but everything else... meh. The plot felt insanely rushed--we start off with the characters already in the middle of a mission, but we don't actually get to know what the hell the mission's about until way later and even then only vaguely. Then a whole bunch of other stuff basically throws itself at us without any explanation or exploration. The episode's plot ended up feeling like a jumbled mess with too much stuff going on at once. The fact that the actors still mostly suck didn't help, either.

Mike gets to use the Michael Knight identity, which is a nice nod to the original series, but they kind of forgot that Michael Long was able to use that identity and have the world believe he's dead because he did one other thing... what was it... oh yeah, he got a new face. Mike Traceur, on the other hand, fakes his death, takes the name Michael Knight, and... still looks like Mike Traceur. How is that gonna fool anyone? They could've drawn the identity change out a bit, too. It felt pretty rushed.

I like the various mysteries they've introduced. Mike's past, how the FBI overseer ties into it, what that tattoo really means, etc. But it was pretty clumsily handled in this episode. I'm willing to give the series the benefit of the doubt, since this was just the first episode and first episodes are notoriously crappy. It's gonna have to get itself a bit more organized and devote the proper time to each element it introduces over the next few episodes.

Oh, and I hope Billy and Zoe both die horribly. God, what an annoying couple of *****ebags.

 

[KenK]

Oh, and I hope Billy and Zoe both die horribly. God, what an annoying couple of *****ebags.

What a waste of a hot Asian chick, I swear to god.

Another thing that gets me is how cheap the show looks. Viper looked like it had a better budget than this, which is sad, 'cause Viper was like 15 years ago!! Not to mention the new Knight Rider having to compete with other action-themed shows that, nowadays, look more and more like mini-movies, with some high-quality cinematography and everything.

And is Val Kilmer still doing the voice of KITT?


PS - Bruce Davidson's hair borders on "magical"! t:

 

[TheCorpulent1]

Oh man, Davison's hair really was way too pretty.

I felt the show looked a little cheap too. I doubt it is, but there were a few moments where I was like, "This is the best they could do?" I do like the fact that KITT's windshield can display video and data all over it, but I found myself wondering how the hell Mike was driving with that video playing right dead center in his field of view. Not that he really has to drive anyway, but it was odd. Also, while I like the transformation ability, I'm not sold on the need for KITT to be able to transform into a pick-up truck. I'm sure Ford could use the product placement to boost its truck sales with everyone going green these days, but KITT as a truck is just weird.

 

[KenK]

Like on Viper, how EVERYONE drove a Dodge!!!

 

[TheCorpulent1]

Haha, well, you've gotta just accept that part. Auto industry sponsors = people driving that company's cars in the show. I don't mind it usually. People have to drive something, and I can ignore the fact that they all seem to have identical taste in car makers.

 

[Gold Samurai]

it's like everyone on heroes driving Nissan cars and smallvilles blantant product advertisements

"Nissan Versa!"(hiro)

"Acuvea to the rescue"(Chloe)

"My Yaris may get good gas mileage........" (Chloe)

then lois advertising the Ford and Tom driving a toyota tundra

 

[carrrnuttt]

it's like everyone on heroes driving Nissan cars and smallvilles blantant product advertisements

"Nissan Versa!"(hiro)

"Acuvea to the rescue"(Chloe)

"My Yaris my get good gas mileage........" (Chloe)

then lois advertising the Ford and Tom driving a toyota tundra

You can't get any more blatant than Eureka and Right Guard.

 

[TheCorpulent1]

Degree, actually. But at least it was funny in Eureka.

 

[KenK]

it's like everyone on heroes driving Nissan cars and smallvilles blantant product advertisements

"Nissan Versa!"(hiro)

"Acuvea to the rescue"(Chloe)

"My Yaris my get good gas mileage........" (Chloe)

then lois advertising the Ford and Tom driving a toyota tundra

You overlooked the most blatant one of all, though!! The episode of Smallville where Pete came back, and he got powers from kryptonite-infused Stride Gum, while being a roadie for One Republic, while they played a show at the Stride Club?!? The WHOLE EPISODE was a Stride commercial!

 

[wiegeabo]

Degree, actually. But at least it was funny in Eureka.

It's quickly getting old though.

 

[TheCorpulent1]

I've missed the episodes since Stark's death.

 

[wiegeabo]

I've missed the episodes since Stark's death.

It was funny until then. But now, it's getting bad. Characters like Fargo now have lines that are right out of the commercials.