What is Knight Rider?

[Kaine]

although i was very supportive from the beginning of Knight Rider 08 (i liked the pilot and thought it had great potential) i was dissappointed lately be the newest episodes. sure there were some scenes that had the classic Knight Rider feeling to it, but those were rare!
the latest episodes and the recently released KARR pictures make it obvious, that this show is a cheap mock of Ocean's 11, Transformers, James Bond, Fast and the Furious and other series and movies, but definately not related to Knight Rider.
My recent posts all contained the line "Knight Rider is not..." in some form or another, because what we're getting right now simply isn't Knight Rider to me.
So, since this show isn't Knight Rider, the question is:

What exactly IS Knight Rider?

I guess everyone has his own answer to this question, and i want to encourage you to share it.
maybe those elements we all agree on can give the producers an idea what makes Knight Rider so special and help to bring the new show back onto the right track (propably nobody from the producers is listening to us anyway, but one can hope, right?).

so, what is Knight Rider to me?
in general i'd say Knight Rider is a cop & buddy series... in a way similar to "Tequila & Bonetti" or the movie "K-9". the only difference is that the buddy is a car and not a dog.
the typical plot line for such a series is, that the cop has to solve a case and his buddy is essential to the solution.

what also is distinctive for Knight Rider is helping the poor, the innocent and the helpless. that's reminiscent of Robin Hood or the A-Team.
FLAG and respective Michael Knight helped those who couldn't get help from the police, lawyers or whoever would be the first adress to go to.
that's why the bad guys in many episodes of Knight Rider were big corporates, the organized crime and corrupt cops/sheriffs. those were very powerful and couldn't be touched by normal means. Michael Knight was almost always outgunned and outnumbered, still he faced the bad guys anyway which made him heroic to me.
to compensate the money and power of his enemies and to win the day, there was KITT: essential to the story! KITT was what made the difference from a man, propably as helpless as his clients, to the man who really could make a difference. and while Michael got the girl and was celebrated, KITT was the real hero, unsung and quiet.

that is the essence of what Knight Rider is to me.
i don't care if KITT is a mustang or rides in a plane instead of a semi... but this essence shoudln't be tampered with when retooling, rebooting or redisigning Knight Rider. this is what i expect when a series is labeled Knight Rider!

[Knight-Armen]

Knight Rider can be various things for various people. We've had different versions of the show over the years ever since it aired for the first time on NBC, 1982. TOS was the first version of it which is probably why most people including myself consider it to be the real deal. After that we were presented to a couple other 'vintages' of the show, the Knight Rider 2000 (in 1991), the Knight Rider 2010 (in 1994), Team Knight Rider and Knight Rider 2008. All of which had different producers, writers and creators with only one thing on their mind - to create a show based on their own interpretation. Another way of looking at this is the Bond movies were we had 7 actors acting as 007 and they all did their own version of it. They added their own personalities and charisma which gave each Bond character a unique mark. The very same thing is being applied to the Knight Rider franchise! TOS is a classic no matter what KR08 will accomplish.

[Surfer_D]

@Kain
I couldn't have said it better myself. This is not Knight Rider. I am and will be looking at it every episode, but this is just not it.

[Kram061-1]

I wonder if this new shows ratings weren't so poor, if they hadn't needed to reboot it, if it would still have gone on hiatus for a month and a half through the holidays.

[Faithful Car KRO]

I wonder if this new shows ratings weren't so poor, if they hadn't needed to reboot it, if it would still have gone on hiatus for a month and a half through the holidays.

Most shows go thru a hiatus during the holidays...sometimes shows go away from dec to march withouth a new episode..

we're just taking this hard because of ratings and the "reboot, blah blah".... because it's KR in its first season and we dont dont want it to die.....sigh

[Kram061-1]

WHAT IS KNIGHT RIDER?

That's the problem......How many people watching today actually watched (or remember) the original?? Probably not many.....And how many people who remember the original went out and bought and/or rented the DVD sets.....Probably not many.
So all they know is what they see, and that ain't much!

(so far)

[PHOENIXZERO]

I'd imagine they would still go on hiatus because a lot of show do around this time of year.


Kaine, I pretty much agree, as I've said in another topic, the KITT/Mike relationship should be the center focus of the show, because "message" aside, Knight Rider at its core, is a buddy cop/odd couple show with a little Lone Ranger thrown in where KITT is both Tonto and Silver. I had no problems initially with the government involvement as I expected it would result in their getting ousted in a show down within the first 13 episodes and we'd eventually get to the ideals of the original series is if it made it past the initial 13 run. I understood the idea behind not having really much of the original series mythology in the initial episodes because they needed to attract new viewers and not just fans of the original series. I also didn't mind so much there being a bigger cast though it's clearly been too big.

Well, it did get a full season and IMO the potential for the story behind it has been totally squandered by largely horrible writing and too much wanting to do things "their way" instead of even really putting in any effort to make this feel like natural and a successor to the original series in any way not to mention an apparently awful budget. I guess maybe we get answers in episodes 10, 11 and maybe also in 12/13 but the damage might already be done. Deep down I knew they were going the wrong way after the first episode but I kept holding on to hope that it'd get better and I mostly stood up against some of the dissing of the show, but I think it took Knight of the Living Dead to finally snap me out of it, see the light and how bad it was and how cheap it was also then the last two episodes really hammered it home with a jackhammer.

If they took that idea and updated it then that idea could certainly be relevant today with what's going on with just how corrupt our government is at all levels as well corporate corruption, don't know how Ford would feel about the last one but oh well, screw'em. They also had their share of "stop the terrorist, save the world" type episodes as well. But it was basically the idea of helping the little guy when no one else would or when there was some grave misjustice, not some covert government operation that has the worst security ever and a "classified" location that everyone seems to know of and if they didn't know then hey, they'll take you there, no problem! The terrorist of the week formula in this glorified branch of Homeland Security that has stories that are even more redundant and restrictive than those of the original series with writing that in most cases has been so bad that it makes even the worst of the original series look Emmy worthy..

They have two strikes with me right now, one more and I'm probably just going to give up so I hope these retooled episodes don't let me down. I like the cast, especially Deanna Russo and Justin Bruening from all the interviews we've seen with them, they seem like a cool bunch and if there's anyone I'd feel the least bit sorry for this show completely bombing, it'd be them. I also hope this show can rebound, even with the same writers and people behind it but I dunno what the chances are of that happening. Especially if these episodes still employ the same awful writing and excessive reliance on T&A and sex in a collective black hole of creativity and originality that we've seen in most of the episodes.. I do think the higher ups get how bad it has been. I do think at least to some extent the shifting around and moving Knight Fever (second episode filmed) to a time and day where no one will see it is proof of that.

[Kram061-1]

I'm glad you used the word cheap.
I've been looking for an accurate description of this show from the beginning and couldn't come up with it; cheap is the most accurate word used to describe the show yet. That's been the difference between this show & TOS all along. KOTP was action packed from the start, it captured the audience's attention all they way through it. This pilot didn't; you could accept that, because it was a pilot and maybe the actually didn't have a budget, but I don't believe that was the reason. The show as well has been cheap, and again they've cited a poor budget, but I doubt that too! How is it that TOS did more car stunts and action sequences in the first 2 hour movie alone, than this show has had in the entire season thus far? I find it hard to believe that there is so little budget that they can't have a couple of car chases in each episode, even without a Turbo Boost sequence... Then, what little actions sequences are in the show are done by insulting our intelligence by shoving a weekly transformer storyline down our throats, which has NOTHING whatsoever to do with TOS, and they use crappy CGI to do it....How come they didn't just make a Transformers TV series, like the adventures of BumbleBee or something??????

...........So my answer is this, not only is the show cheap, but the production crew is lazy!!!! That is the only thing I can possibly think of!! The reason I say they are lazy is this:

The TV Show is made in a cheap manor not because of the budget, but because the producers are lazy. Why? It is easier to fill a 15-20 minute segment with some ridiculous sexual innuendo, that never ever goes anywhere (In regards to the storyline), but only wastes time that could be filled with something useful in which contributes to the storyline.
Not so much a car chase, but an action sequence or something that at the very least contributes to the damn story!!!!!!!!

I also am one of the people who thinks the damage is done, and it is too late to save the show. It's doomed. I think we won't see a 2nd season.

[knightprobe89]

i totally agree with you guys, this is defanitely not knight rider, there are no stunts or real car chases like tos. and the relationship between michael and kitt just isnt there like it was in the original series, there is not enough alone time for mike and kitt and too many people driving kitt, mike should be the only one driving kitt, and another thing i understand they couldn't change the dash on the mustang, but they could have at least given us a cool steering wheel like the one from the pilot. too many inmature sex scenes, the producers and writers didn't put any effort into kr08 at all to make it worth while watching.

[Garthe Knight]

How come they didn't just make a Transformers TV series, like the adventures of BumbleBee or something??????

Hey, this way they could even use the Camaro...

But sarcasm aside you are right. All of you.
I so much wanted to like the show, I kept watching and defending it, hoping for the best. Knight of the Zodiac finally opened my eyes. No KITT, cheap terrorist dancing, this wasn't the first time I got the "they can't be serious"-feeling, but it was the first time it sticked with me through the whole episode.

The show had some good moments, especially:
- KITT speeding off (1-04. A HARD DAY'S KNIGHT)
- KITT drinving and Michael climbing on the hood (1-04. A HARD DAY'S KNIGHT)
- KITT absorbing the explosion of the bomb (1-07. I WANNA ROCK AND ROLL ALL KNIGHT)
- Michael on the party arrested by two guys who bring him into the room, shortly after he leaves the room alone (1-01. A KNIGHT IN SHINING ARMOR)

But that's nearly it. Those are the scenes that I have positive memories of. I don't start collecting the bad moments, because this would take alot longer.
So please give us more of the stuff above and less cheap stuff.

[Sky_Blue_Civic]

It's time we got more KI3T.I mean all he does is do one or two small things and that's it.He is merely a background character.He is is only a tool,and nothing more,which is what irks me the most.The only good thing about Knight of the Zodiac was KI3T going through the wall!

Instead of randomly throwing around useless innuendos,give KI3T more screen time.KI3T is the best part of the show,you know!

[NeoRanger]

The only thing that defines Knight Rider -and the new show lacks- is the focus on the relationship of the man and car, the rider and his horse, as they go alone up against outlaws. Everything else people bitch about, be it Tn'A or action, is the least of my concerns. I'm not going to say no to action, but I know enough about TV to realize that shooting action scenes with a car is costly in pretty much every way. So long as I see the focus shifted on Mike and KITT and I see character exploration there, it's Knight Rider enough for me.

[Stealthwalker]

I also think that another reason why they are "retooling" this show are also for "political reasons" involving "the war in Iraq & etc." since the show does have that connection with MT's past life as a "soldier" & I think that certain "NBC Executives" are afraid of the backlash that they might get from the "powers that be", if an episode were to air of "KR'08" finally revealing the truth behind "MT's past".
Which is why, I feel in my opinion the show is "being watered down" like "TOS in late Season 3 & parts of Season 4", because this series is "being held back from its true potential of what it could be".

[NeoRanger]

^^ I don't think Mike's military past is being rebooted; worst case scenario, they flesh it all out in the transitional episodes and they no longer need to revisit them in the future. At least, that's what I assume.

[maxwellmilian]

What is knight rider..... "One man...CAN make a difference...." So far, in all of history, that has been the norm rather than the exception, when you look at it, from a removed pespective. Look at the most prominent people in history. Solomon was an exceptionally skilled leader, not a ruler, for example. Changed the way everything worked, then the big guys figured that if one guy could do it, more can do it better. Welcome to Rome, now defunct and in ruins. We say "How great they once were", but we never learn from their mistakes. A mysterious man on a black horse, he never needed a massive goverment run team, he was fighting the government! He needed hidden friends that he could trust, conservative folks in a liberal world. (Zorro) Michael Knight/Long only needed a few people around. A mechanic to yell at him and fix the damage, and a person with connections and cash. No Big Brother involvement, only their approval and permission. Too many cooks.....
The car is sweet, its learning, its a boon to the cause. But... The car is supposed to be the workhorse, like KITT originally was, the computer that had very few limitations, and could be counted on to be there and not make stupid mistakes like trying to transform in a minefield.
Lose the soap opera, and keep the car and Mike, maybe keep the girl, too. Lets see some of the old fashioned leg work like Michael Long used to do. He was a cop before a secret agent. Traceur skipped the cop step, and has wound up as a bull in a china shop, doing anything to get to the end of the story.
Lets see a real challenge, like getting the guy thats so far under the radar that he takes the story in an unexpected direction, like maybe a super thief, or a computer hacker that is on par with the team they have now. A lone terrorist that wants to rub a small town of the map to strike real fear, but there's the rub. How do you go about collecting a guy as elusive as the Unibomber with a supercar? Where do you start?
Lets get with it, writers! We want your characters to at least APPEAR to have brains!
Throw something out there to make US think!