DJGM wrote:The 2008-09 series of Knight Rider was NOT a remake. It was a continuation of the original. If it was a remake,
the pilot would not have featured actual physical bits of the original KITT in the garage next to the new KITT.
It wouldn't have even referenced anything from the original series. Any remake of Knight Rider definitely
wouldn't have David Hassellhoff reprising his role as Michael Knight, albeit as a brief cameo.
Knight Rider 2008-09 was absolutely NOT a remake. That is an undeniabe fact. While the actual series that
came along after the pilot left a lot to be desired, it was still a continuation of the original right to the end
when they embarked on resurrecting the Foundation for Law And Government from the original series.
Yes, my fine sir. Let me explain...
Glenn A Larson created, arguably, the best episode of the entire series. Other writers did their best (or hack patch work) to continue on that legacy. (We all have our favorite best/worst episode lists, after all.) Many years later, a far more imaginative continuation was created that would give Michael Knight, KIT2T and even Devon Miles a conclusion path. It was (in my opinion) ambitious. A little too ambitious. But, it helped write the final chapter for those characters, as far as the original series is concerned.
That series never got past the pilot.
Later on, a grand notion called Action Pack made a fierce try at claiming the KR franchise with KR 2010. It -WAS- going to be the further adventures of Michael Knight and KIT2T in a shadowy flight of a man who does not exist. Which sure makes it sound like it was going to monster truck over the whole KR2000 movie and ignore that it even existed. Thus, rewriting the failed pilot's timeline. Or, maybe it was going to try and incorporate. But, such a question has very little potential of ever being officially answered, aside from an association of the meanings over the similar names of 2000/2010.
After a full on lawsuit between Action Pack and Universal, AP walked away with the KR 2010 name and a whole script that could have just as easily been a Mad Max series of episodes. However, I bet that if the AP series had continued onwards, rather then having been reformatted right after the KR2010 airing date, we might have saw some loose signs that Michael and KITT were somewhere in that series' history line...if referenced by little more then a history book or something. Again, we'll probably never have any kind of official word on what that might have been.
Action Pack doesn't give up. In their reformatted condition, they push forth Team Knight Rider. Seemingly set before KR 2000 days, it really does feel as if they have completely cut a brand new time line. Thus, I do conclude that TKR 'monster trucks' right over KR 2000 and the Mad Max movie without giving them any kind of recognition. Which, for the time, makes THEM the definitive conclusion for Michael Knight and KIT2T. After all, the show picks up in a kind of Foundation reality where the private funding has long since run out and made the whole operation turn to the government to run through. In fact, an operation that has expanded beyond the US borders. Some characters have tie in's with Michael Knight and 'the character' (not the actor, mind you) does make an appearance. Plus, KITT's CPU was stuffed inside a Folger's coffee can...
...thus, TKR.
The overblown fan fiction with a Hollywood budget, folks. But, through the use of printouts that give TV Guide descriptions of each episode (I kid you not.) and a poorly displayed K.I.T.T. prop,
slash, mannequin wearing Michael's clothes, TKR uses your logic to make themselves the official time line to end all time lines.
Flash forward to NBC's second return to the KR time line, KR '08.
This series most certainly does 'monster truck' (probably by reforming into a monster truck) any previous series by linking itself -ONLY- to that grand 'Knight of the Phoenix' that everyone wants to be apart of.
(And, I tried to reference the episode title via the original series link...only to see it linking to a blank, white page. Technical support might want to look in on that oddity, since I don't officially fix stuff like that around here, anymore. Had to go to Google and an imdb page, instead.) Since they smashed down any previous attempts at a conclusive time line with the latest and greatest form of entertainment, they became the authority on what happens to the Foundation...after the private funding ran out, the whole operation moved over to government funding, only to find a private fund trust of billions to pull away from the government's influence with. And, while THAT SHOW is the last thing we've officially seen would make it a continuation, I do suspect that when, or if,
the real Slim Shady, I mean Glenn A Larson's official script does stand up, KR '08 will only find itself staring at the descending shadow of a far larger monster truck, set to smash it's entire collective into yet another piece of reboot history. (Much in the same way that a J.J. Abrams Enterprise can flatten the landscape of a well laid foundation and pick-and-choose what to rebuild from the ashes.)
In other words, EVERYONE wants to tether themselves to the original that started it all. But, nobody wants to play fair with another writer's ideas. (Except for TKR and their internet search for KRO episode descriptions. Heh...the fan fic's source.
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