Knight Rider Second Series 2008 Why Cancelled?

[Two Three]

Knight Rider Second Series why cancelled?
New series İntro is rock very bad..
But this intro very perefect why make season 2?
Scenario was a terrible but Glen A. Larson how was it allowed?
Michael Traceur Knight - Justin Bruening
Dr.Sarah Graiman - Deanna Russo
Dr.Charles Graiman - Bruce Davison
Billy Morgan - Paul Campbell
and
Michael Knight - David Hasselhoff
Dr.Bonnie Barstow - Patricia Mcpherson
No need for more actors
Knight Rider new concept...Finish! But why cancelled?
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FNLQB5K8EPE
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-ZcV39rR3a8
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wM5I6g9Fxdc

[james olden]

That's a easy question and answer I only got 6 letters for you is the people who messed up g.s.t. (Gary Scott Thompson) and n.b.c.

[Michael Pajaro]

That's a easy question and answer I only got 6 letters for you is the people who messed up g.s.t. (Gary Scott Thompson) and n.b.c.

Oh, I'm going to challenge you a little bit on that one.

Gary Scott Thompson was the guy in charge, so ultimately he was responsible for the final show. Absolutely. But I have to take a lot of the blame away from him. We interviewed him and other production people before the series started and during its run. The show that they wanted to do was very different from what finally made it to air. Do you think GST wanted KITT to morph into Ford's latest SUV or have special eco-friendly subplots? No, NBC mandated a bunch of stuff that really brought the series down.

Having too many characters? OK, that's a little bit more on GST's shoulders.

But here's a very important thing to keep in mind when we wonder why the series never took off - the quality of the show didn't matter in many ways. It was doomed from the start, premiering opposite a 3-part Dancing With The Stars juggernaut. The 2-hour pilot movie did very well in the ratings. In fact, the ratings increased over the 2 hours, which generally means the audience liked it. The series had a huge promotional push during the Olympics, and it had among the highest (if not THE highest) ratio of "intend to watch" / "viewer awareness" of any new program. People liked the 2-hour movie, they knew about the new series and planned on watching. Yet the premiere was a complete dud. Even if the show was absolutely terrible, we would expect the first episode to have high ratings and then a big drop off for episode two. But Dancing clobbered it.

Now if it WAS a really good show and critics liked it, NBC might have stuck with it a bit longer and given it a better chance. But that didn't happen.

The show was cancelled because it didn't get good ratings. It was the correct business decision at the time for NBC. But NBC dug its own grave by trying to go against the family-friendly competition on ABC, and by dictating to GST how to do the show.

[james olden]

I think they shouldn't never had Knight industires work for the FBI that didn't fit

[Michael Pajaro]

I think they shouldn't never had Knight industires work for the FBI that didn't fit

There was a lot of potential for the Torres character. I liked the idea that the guy in charge wasn't exactly a good guy, and they laid the groundwork for some really good conflict with Graiman. But they went too far: they had the FBI involvement AND the CIA involvement and everything was just getting too cluttered.

[Skav]

The ongoing background story was a mess and contradictory. In one episode it was about a "package" and something to do with DNA, the next it was concerning KARR that appeared to have nothing to do with the plot they tried to set up in the first episode. Then there was Mike asking Sarah to marry him abroad which wasn't delved into. I don't think they knew what they were doing and were confused about which direction to go. We should have seen the inevitable sooner because of that.

[james olden]

I think they shouldn't never had Knight industires work for the FBI that didn't fit

There was a lot of potential for the Torres character. I liked the idea that the guy in charge wasn't exactly a good guy, and they laid the groundwork for some really good conflict with Graiman. But they went too far: they had the FBI involvement AND the CIA involvement and everything was just getting too cluttered.

The involvement with the F.B.I. and C.I.A. was going to far you are right about that knight rider was about a man and his car not working for the government but helping the government out when needed. But there are other things too...like they let us down about Devon,Bonnie,Rc3,and ki2ts a.i. whereabouts and what happen to flag after 1986-2008. Man we was even promised that they was gonna let us know on one of the episodes on the whereabouts of the original flag team and all we got was mike and sarah going undercover under the names Devon and Bonnie. Mike i dont know how u felt about this but in my opinion N.B.C. acted like Devon,Bonnie and Rc3 never was a part of F.L.A.G. or ever existed.Dont get me wrong I Give them some credit for at least connecting the original series with the knight two thousand body in the garage and a brief apperance from Michael Knight in the 2 hour pilot movie and mike stating that his father real name is Michael Long, but they shouldve shed more light on what happen right after Michael Knight Sr. seek revenge on Durant for killing stevie in the Scent Of Roses episode and the fate of F.L.A.G. because they never said anything about what happen to F.L.A.G. after 1986.

[Amir]

James, you're quite correct in saying they didn't really give the older fans much in terms of connection to the old show, telling us what happened to those characters, to FLAG, etc.

Having said that, it had little to do with the show not doing well in the ratings and then cancelled. It needed to bring in new audience in order to survive, as I'm quite sure the avid fans stuck with it even if they were somewhat disappointed with the show. That's a little tragic, really. They strayed far from the original Knight Rider, disappointed a lot of the older fans, and still didn't do well enough to bring in new viewers.

NBC really did a number on the show. First promoting it well, then picking it up for a full season after very few episodes, then dropping the number of episodes and kind of giving up on it. I remember the Superbowl night when I was looking to see some KR promo, I think it was the week of the KARR episode, which was supposed to be a big highlight for the show. No promo, nothing. It's like they were in a hurry to pick the show up early on, and then in a hurry to drop it. Never got it. What a waste.

[Lost Knight]

I think the series could have a chance to be resurrected on another network, much like what happened with Baywatch and Viper. It's true that a lot of things didn't work, and Gary Scott Thompson was forced to build upon and tweak what David Andron created.

I've wondered what could have been a superior show; Andron staying in charge and continuing things his own way, or Thompson's version without NBC's interference. I'm convinced another network like SyFy, for example, would have been a lot more forgiving to a show like this with modest ratings.

Science fiction shows have rarely lasted on NBC to begin with. Heroes is an exception as was Quantum Leap, but that was only because of fan support after it was canceled in its third season.

[Michael Pajaro]

I'm OK with them not giving us answers about what happened with the original characters.

In order for a show to succeed it needs to look forward, not backward. If they spent an episode explaining everything that happened from the old series, it would just be rushed and wouldn't do it any justice. And if they just kept sprinkling information in every episode, it would feel forced. The best way to handle is to establish the new series with its own identity first, and then later on go back and start answering questions. The stories have much more meaning.

I think the best example of this is the way they handled Star Trek The Next Generation. We didn't see Spock until season 5, and it was a great episode because by that time we cared deeply about the new characters. Bridging the two series was much more special. If Knight Rider had a second or third season, there is no doubt in my mind that they would have gone back and pay tribute to the original show.

[Alex]

The series television Knight Rider 2008 was canceled.

But the series television The Dukes of Hazzard has 7 seasons and the numbers are 145 episodes and the events Dukes Fest is very big in the U.S.A. and the Holland also and the cars General Lee are the biggest of all of the times and the cast are united and that is very important.

It is very important to the new television series Knight Rider should continue more the episodes and the cast should be united and the fans should continue to support and the events and the stars Knight Rider, The Dukes of Hazzard, The A-Team, Back to the Future and Herbie also is going to continue more, a lot more the episodes of the series television!

Thank you.

Alex

[DJGM]

Re: the earlier suggestion of new Knight Rider on another network . . .

There is the issue that NBC/Universal own all the TV rights to the Knight Rider franchise, and they might want
to keep it an exclusive property within the NBC/Universal "family". Thing is, what if another network like CBS
(for example) offered NBC/Universal a licensing deal to broadcast new episodes on their channel alongside
the variations of CSI and NCIS, and even alongside the updated version of Hawaii-Five-O ?

Would NBC/Universal still want to "keep it in the family", or would the dollar signs take precedence . . . ?

[Kal-el4]

NBC, in their almighty stupidity, would wanna keep it in their "family" so to speak; as I could see them easily giving the rights from KR 08 to sister networks like USA or Sci-fi, more than I could see them selling the rights to rival networks such as CBS or ABC. They are that stupid and petty....

[Two Three]

I wish the second season is now...
This is very stupidly..
Raiting Raiting Raitin..
get the hell raiting:@
Miami Vice is History,Knight Rider is History..
And now very sucked series broadcast in tv..
Damn it!

[Michael Pajaro]

Knight Rider 08 is not coming back. It makes no sense for NBC to try to revive it, or for another network to try and get it from NBC and try to do something with it.

In order for a show to continue, it needs to have either good ratings or good reviews. Knight Rider had neither. I don't think NBC did a good job supporting the show while it was on the air, but given the hole they dug for themselves I do believe it was the correct business decision to cancel the show. I don't like it, but I get it. And yes, it HAS to be a business decision. These shows just don't magically appear - literally millions of dollars are spent creating a series and there needs to be some return on investment. It's easy for us to say "NBC should have just made more episodes", but what if it was your money on the line? How much money would you risk personally to try to turn the show into a hit? $10 an episode? $100? $1,000?

I don't like defending NBC in this case because I do think they shot themselves in the foot by turning GST into their puppet (being a little overly dramatic here), but at this point I just think it's too late.

[2nddaniel2011]

I've been a huge fan of knight rider since the age of 10, and I liked the new series - a lot- i have it on DVD and watch it as much as I used to watch the original. It has a lot of humour in it, a fast plot most of the time, and some excellent fight scenes- backed up with some good soundtrack music. But I like the 2008 pilot better than the series that followed it. There is one word that describes what the series lacked that the pilot had in abundance.
Anyone wanna post some guesses..............

[guitardave]

Shame it got cancelled - I really enjoyed it, especially the last few episodes where it was just the 4 of them - had a real old-skool Knight Rider feel to it.

Still not bought it on dvd tho - hopefully waiting for the blu-ray version...

[Michael Pajaro]

There is one word that describes what the series lacked that the pilot had in abundance.
Anyone wanna post some guesses..............

It sounds like you're going for something abstract like "heart" or "soul", in which case I would disagree. But if those were the words you were looking for, I'd be interested in you making your case.

Now if you were looking at it from a very practical standpoint, here's one word that the pilot had in abundance that the series didn't: Auto-Cruise. (2 words?)

[2nddaniel2011]

SPEED

[2nddaniel2011]

I've been a huge fan of knight rider since the age of 10, and I liked the new series - a lot- i have it on DVD and watch it as much as I used to watch the original. It has a lot of humour in it, a fast plot most of the time, and some excellent fight scenes- backed up with some good soundtrack music. But I like the 2008 pilot better than the series that followed it. There is one word that describes what the series lacked that the pilot had in abundance.
Anyone wanna post some guesses..............

SPEED.

[DevonStyles]

I liked the 08 movie, but The series sucked in my opinion. There was no magic... The writing was lame... The show diden't have any realistic stunts... The acting was horrible. ( For instance) They got hit by a missile and knocked off the cliff... Next scene the car is swimming threw the water and the actors are acting as if their on a sunday drive. Hello... you just got hit by a missile. The green screen effects sucked were not realistic.

[2nddaniel2011]

[/quote]Now if you were looking at it from a very practical standpoint, here's one word that the pilot had in abundance that the series didn't: Auto-Cruise. (2 words?)[/quote]

I saw plenty of auto-cruise moments. Mike was asleep in one episode whilst kitt was driving. (towards the end of the season) also mike threw his hands in the air, surprised, whilst kitt started driving in another episode. I think kitt said " I know, that is why I am taking us there now" or words to that effect.
Granted, you didn't see any steering wheel shots, whilst kitt drove on his own, they usually had the windows blacked out.

[kitt34]

I liked the 08 movie, but The series sucked in my opinion. There was no magic... The writing was lame... The show diden't have any realistic stunts... The acting was horrible. ( For instance) They got hit by a missile and knocked off the cliff... Next scene the car is swimming threw the water and the actors are acting as if their on a sunday drive. Hello... you just got hit by a missile. The green screen effects sucked were not realistic.

I Hated the new KR 08 show, because of the final climate sequence of the premiere which is one of the most confusing errors in recent tv history
Michael Knight II gets shot down by the FBI at the rail station, but after the black screen, he wakes up and he is dry.
there is no reason for that to happen, I'm glad it was the end of the KR TV Franchise.

[2nddaniel2011]

one of the most confusing errors in recent tv history
Michael Knight II gets shot down by the FBI at the rail station, but after the black screen, he wakes up and he is dry.
there is no reason for that to happen, I'm glad it was the end of the KR TV Franchise.

They did have one or two continuity errors through the season. There was even 2 instances of the film appearing reversed, Mike was sat in the wrong side of the car but the wheel was in front of him. It just may be an homage to the original series. Either that or "right-hand drive mode please kitt!"

The premier of the series was excellent in my opinion, so much fast paced action and the turbo boost scene, and the transform to a truck.

[2nddaniel2011]

The show diden't have any realistic stunts... The green screen effects sucked were not realistic.

I agree with the green screen effects being crap, too much use of it throughout. But there were two good turbo boost landings, where they drove the car off a trailer to make it look realistic. In the premier for the first turbo boost, and in the mid-season two parter whilst being chased by 'poncherello'. They used a bit of C.G. for the launch which looked pretty good and the landing was off a trailer complete with axle sparks. But some of the others were terrible. Into the prison grounds for example.