Have yall seen this yet - changes to Knight Rider

[Kaine]

i hope one of the changes is that they will permanently use the "KNIGHT"-license plate for KITT, which was seen first in Knight of the Hunter.
all in all reducing the cast and switching focus to more classic knight rider episodes in respect to style and tone can't be bad. i'm just a bit worried that by the time the changes are on screen a lot of the viewers will have moved on and won't give the show another chance. to prevent this NBC has to make sure everybody knows the show has been re-designed... i hope they will!

[Skav]

I think that the truth is, is that this can't be good for this show. Not in any way. I've grown to pretty much like this show, so I am not bashing it by saying this. It's just that if this show is on it's way out already, I don't think there can be much that can save it now. We're lucky it was extended to fill out the season. They did do alot of things right. All these Goddamn reality tv shows have ruined television. Now I guess we should just consider it an extended mini-series. But if the ratings aren't there, they probably never will be. I wonder how much NBC has invested into this show to extend the season full if it is a failing show. GST should go crazy with car chases now, start destroying cars. Go out in style. It seems like NBC has given this show a long leash, so I'd imagine they have alot of money invested in it. It will be interesting to see what happens now though, how this plays out. I would like to see KARR come in and destroy the KITT cave, and then after they knock off all three of these now-expendable characters, KITT and MK can drive around like drifters, helping people on their own will, or some crap like that.
I was really starting to get hooked on this show, too.
at least we'll get a full season 1 dvd set out of it eventually
It's too bad.

I agree, there is definetely something wrong here. And they tried to revamp TOS with S4 to no avail. To revamp at such an early stage speaks volumes. Perhaps they got scared by the lowest rating last week. If that was the case, they should not panic and just see if things pick up again.

If Davidson's salary is the problem then fire Billy and Zoe who probably make up Davidson's salary altogether.

Bruce's character is very important to this series so why get rid of him? If his character comes to a conclusion at this early stage then it would be a bit of a cop out!

After all, this is the guy who was supposed to have designed both KITT's and know the reasons why the original MK abandoned Mike all those yrs ago.

[NeoRanger]

Perhaps they got scared by the lowest rating last week. If that was the case, they should not panic and just see if things pick up again.

That's not possible. Considering that the 15th episode is shooting right now, the changes have already been applied and Thompson said that this plan was decided before the show even got the official green light for a whole season, last week's lower ratings only reinforce their decision to move forward with these changes.

Bruce's character is very important to this series so why get rid of him? If his character comes to a conclusion at this early stage then it would be a bit of a cop out!

You know, I'd like to have the older, "boss" or "mentor" type in the show too, but in all honesty, I don't see how Graiman's character is all that important. Look back at the show or even the backdoor pilot; he's been used very little and with very little impact to the plot. The story sets him up to have knowledge of the mythology, which gives him some credibility, but it's not a role that's irreplaceable.

So, yeah, it's sad to see him go, but it doesn't endanger the show's storyline; not really.

[1982]

Perhaps they got scared by the lowest rating last week. If that was the case, they should not panic and just see if things pick up again.

That's not possible. Considering that the 15th episode is shooting right now, the changes have already been applied and Thompson said that this plan was decided before the show even got the official green light for a whole season, last week's lower ratings only reinforce their decision to move forward with these changes.

True. The decision to drop the axe wasn't too long after the season started. A month after the season premier, they were already filming Graiman's character out. Remember the filming in Hawaii regarding Sarah's personal tragedy 10/25.

[KnightINSTINCT]

I knew the SSC wasn't going to last. FLAG hasn't even been set into full operation. All we are seeing is federal support, guided/misleaded by none other than Alex Torres. Bottom dollar goes to KARR is part of the diabolical plan to retool project Promethius, and Alex has been behind it all. I just don't want to believe anything seriously bad will happen to Graimen....be cool to see him get set into some sort of coma state or something, for now.

So, Billy and Zoe join up with Mike and KITT and go rogue, or with FLAG, or run off with the leader who is initiating FLAG. You know, this story is really actually a great story line. DAMN the aspect of TV ratings to "entice or curiosities" with this show. God, I hate the ratings war..

[Matthew]

RobWolf,

I’m afraid that I’ve been forced to remove your comments from this thread, as they were of an extremely inflammatory nature. In the future, I would ask that you keep your opinion constructive, and that you refrain from insulting those of us who enjoy watching this show, as if you continue to conduct yourself in this manner, a suspension of your posting privileges may become necessary.

If you'd like to discuss this matter further, please feel free to contact me via PM.

Matt

[pheonix_knight]

I doubt the SSC itself will be going, seeing as they've spent so much on the whole thing. I hope it stays but without all the personnel wandering around. Cut back on the 'extras' salaries and put money into the VFX dept!!!

[DJGM]

Indeed ... I think the SSC will still be used as the base from where they send Mike and KITT
on their assignments ... seems unlikely they'll be moving back to Arden Villa anytime soon.

[cloudkitt]

Well...that's odd. I always suspected that the FBI was going to get booted at some point or another. But Graiman? Why? Who's going to give the orders between Mike, Sarah, Billy, and Zoe?

And I second that I've actually started to like the friction between Graiman and Torres, but as I said, the FBI was probably going to leave at some point. But don't they need someone to assign the assignments? Even when the old show helped regular people, there was usually an official assignment. Other than bringing in David Hasselhoff, I dunno who they'd have lead the Foundation. And as great as that would be, if they make DH a regular, KI2T won't be. And it will be unfortunate to have one without the other. But I'm getting ahead of myself now.

And just to clarify, while its great that they're going back to more old-show style stuff, this show has the habit of taking everything to the extreme, so I hope there are still "important" missions now and then. Hopefully they'll avoid occasions that the old show experienced when the mission got TOO unimportant (illegal logging, for example).

[Amir]

Can't really be sure why people think it's a bad move or bad news. Most of us have been saying that the show had too many characters for its own good. Now NBC are basically saying, 'your right'.

Rather than have eight characters who sometimes appear and sometimes do not, and even when they do sometimes get very little time screen, the main ones remaining with actually have some depth. Terrific. Yeah, I am sorry to see Davison/Graiman goes, but the direction is right.

[PHOENIXZERO]

It's because we feel losing Bruce Davidson isn't a good thing as Billy and Zoe aren't exactly essential as Zoe was for the most part, a glorified secretary, not to mention Torres's assistant and a logical choice to go with Torres leaving and Sarah could easily fill Billy's role. Though they're likely cheaper and of course younger so the line of thinking could have been along the lines of "two for the price of one". Now, I can't complain about seeing Smith Cho on my TV every week but the thing is now, who's going to be in charge? Billy and Zoe are still going to mainly be comedy relief, I'm sure but unless with this second their characters are going to get overhauled there's not going to be anyone right now that's going to come close to approaching a Devon like role and I doubt Hasselhoff is coming back.

But we'll see.

[Ontario Knight]

i think this is great I posted something a while ago about this happening however having said that and now its happening the FBI and Knight Industries connection will not exist anymore. So I think that the SSC will go up in flames or blown up or just wont be a part of the show, this will get the Knight Foundation back and back to its original roots that "one man can make a difference" it felt like one man can make a difference unless sarah, zoe, billy, or any other cast member got involved hehe...So now I think that the ratings weren't so bad I think NBC just hasn't got the demographic, hell even heroes doesn't pull huge numbers...So I think overall this is a change for the better and just helping the innocent again the criminals who operate above the law is what this show is all about...

Just remember Star Trek TNG didn't really change much just the cast and the character changed however it was roughly the same muber of characters and those support characters like the Klingons and so on was just a bridge to connect the story line and people that watched related to that, and look how successful that franchise was...You will see more of that with Knight Rider I can guarantee that..I am looking forward to the 2 part episode just one last thing, we need David Hasselhoff back and I guarantee that him alone would pull in at least 3-5 million more viewers and that would put Knight Rider on the top 20 list of watched shows, get those people watching the show by blowing there minds as to how good this show can really be....I think there are still many viewers out there that won't watch this show because the Hoff isn't on....

Let see what happens...

[2knight]

Overall, this can't be a bad thing. We've been asking for certain changes, and it looks like GST and NBC are listening.

It's been fairly obvious that they've had too many characters in the SSC and couldn't do justice to any kind of real character development in any given episode, or give enough screen time to Mike and KITT. It seems that Charles has only had a few brief lines in most of the episodes like "Bring KITT in hot." Some of the characters haven't even been in some of the episodes, and we don't even notice right away that they're missing. And it seemed inevitable from reading some spoilers and interviews, and even watching the show, that there would be some fallout between the FBI and Knight Industries. It seemed likely that if anyone were to go it would be the FBI characters. The departure of Charles is unexpected, but perhaps this will open the door for Michael Knight, Sr. to reappear in a guiding role, if not this season, then maybe next. Also, perhaps the salaries of those leaving could be used toward all the real car stunts we all want to see.

Overall, I've enjoyed the new series, but it has lacked certain elements that made the original so great and memorable to most of us. One man and his car making a difference in the lives of the helpless and the powerless in a world of criminals who operate above the law. All the people in the SCC, the FBI involvment, and the government missions have detracted from that. So hopefully this is a step in the right direction.

Also, if they're "re-tooling" the show, perhaps they've also listened to our calls for changes to the design of KITT -- perhaps he's destroyed by KARR and has to be rebuilt (wouldn't that make a great cliffhanger between episodes), or perhaps KARR takes over his body. It would be great if they found a way to write out the over-the-top transformations into other vehicles, revised KITT's attack mode a bit, and added more custom elements to the dash and steering wheel. I don't mind some transformations, but I pickup truck or a police car is just too much for me.

I just hope that the writers find plausible ways to explain the changes without totally throwing out the continuity of the new series or the connection and continuity with TOS.

I do worry a bit about them "re-tooling" the show so soon, but I think it was needed and can only improve the show. It was the changes made between the pilot and the first episode that seemed to start a downward spiral with the show. Hopefully this time it will put things back on track rather than causing things to spiral further.

[pheonix_knight]

I do worry a bit about them "re-tooling" the show so soon, but I think it was needed and can only improve the show. It was the changes made between the pilot and the first episode that seemed to start a downward spiral with the show. Hopefully this time it will put things back on track rather than causing things to spiral further.

Some of the changes I actually like

CHANGES I LIKE SO FAR

The HUD is great

The 'KITTBall' does now incorporate Ki2t's original Voice Modulator, altough with regard to these first two, I know a lot of fans would like the 'touchscreen' centre console back, I'm not adverse to that but keep the other two...

The old scanner sound is back

TURBO BOOST is back (or at least it was, I hope it returns again...)
Kilmer's portrayal of Ki3t is growing as it's meant to with the character. THIS WORKS!

I can almost see with the cast revisions that Sarah will take over Charles' role, whilst Billy and Zoe would take greater responsibility with the car

CHANGES I WOULD LIKE TO SEE FROM HERE

Just to disagree with my last post in the section above
We need an older character as the 'head' of the team.

We need younger characters in the weekly storylines. Mothers with kids, that kind of thing. This helps to draw in the younger demographic as they will have a character to identify with and this will help them relate to the storyline better and then hopefully they go out and buy the merchandise...

Ski Mode is on Kitt's list of functions but has not been used yet, that would be nice though...

Ejector seat, we've seen Ki3t as a convertible all ready so this should be easy to achieve especially with CGI.

I would like to see Ki3t modify the Mustang mode rather than changing to a completely different vehicle on different terrain, changes to ride height or a shot of the treads on the tyres changing maybe for more or less grip.

Keep the transformation by all means but mainly for disguise purpose rather than function on different terrain.

Something along those lines would be good...

[Knight2000]

I hope they do mix up the episodes like one week they could do a terrorist thing then the next
episode do story like the Original Knight Rider way.

I wanted this too since I wasn't a fan of the terrorist of the week thing. It could have been terrorist one week, simpler mission another week, and "damsel" mission or side missions whilst out on an unimportant mission. Would have worked better IMO.

It seems like the 'reboot' could flow quite easily from ep12 where the SSC is shut down by the guy who wants to reactivate KARR. Its already set up that Torres is something to do with Mike's past and in some way KARR is connected to that and Ravai knows about it too.

Im gonna stick my creative neck out and suggest that KARR kills Graiman, increasing the tally of deaths at the mad machines wheels/chips. Torres and Ravai are held accountable as they knew of KARR's exsistence and were somehow involved in the past that Mike can't remember.

That'd work well. Rivai can go. Torres - I want closure on him, Mike and the whole backstory before he goes. This, IMO, should have been the underlying theme of season 1 - Mike finding out about who he is/was.

I have no feelings towards Billy/Zoe. They're dispensible too though they can give a little light-heartedness to the show when required.

Killing Graiman is about as smart as killing Devon in TOS. He knows KI3T inside out, better than Sarah. I at least want the full story of KARR and KI2T before he goes. Though if he dies, you could have something like "Moffett's Ghost" except with Graiman as "Graiman's ghost".

[Kram061-1]

Overall, this can't be a bad thing. We've been asking for certain changes, and it looks like GST and NBC are listening.

I agree that GST has been genuine and patient in listening to us all and very classy as well in the fact that he's answered our question, not only by changing the show, but actually answering our question personally on the website; But I still say this is a bad situation for a show this new to have to have a major overhaul so soon. It's a shame to cause he really did make a legitimate attempt to make this show a success. I got a bad feeling. Then ONLY good thing is that it did happen at a very early stage in the season, and there is still like 12 episode after this cast cutting occurs, so there may be a very slight chance it will revitalize the show. But I doubt it. Better enjoy the show while it lasts.


I've enjoyed the show.
It's too bad.

[cloudkitt]

But NeoRanger has got a good point, they're already filming episode 15, so this must have been planned either well in advance, or at least decided upon before they had any ratings ideas.

I always thought the FBI connection was going to be nixxed, be it through the revelation of what they did to Mike, through whatever KARR does, or both. The loss of Graiman is the only part that confuses me.

[NeoRanger]

^^ I've always been wondering about how many compromises Thompson had to make when he took over as showrunner. It was pretty obvious he kept Rivae only because he had to (contract, request, taking it slow, I don't know), though it hadn't occurred to me he viewed Charles under the same light. On the flipside, he backed the romance of Sarah and Mike (haven't seen Las Vegas, but from what I hear, he was really working for Danny and Mary's -I believe these are the names- relationship) and his own two additions, Billy and Zoe. Especially Billy and Zoe seemed out of place at first and the cast seemed too congested to not assume something was amiss. Maybe he's turning it into "his show" now, so to speak?

[PHOENIXZERO]

I dunno if much of it is our feedback or just things they noticed on their own due to just how far along they were before the first episode even aired.

[snafu]

This is rather odd, though not completely out of the blue. They had waaay too many characters.

But dammit, why do they keep Zoe and drop Charles Graiman? Yeah, I know he's old and it would really develop a plot by having someone kill him and Sarah has no daddy to worry about her anymore, but still. I can't say much for Billy either. The guy's got a yellow streak down his back...
Nice that they're dropping Rivai and Torres, all they did was get in the way or complicate things.

It will be interesting to see where they go with this. I get irked with the way the original series treated women (damsel in distress, etc) but I agree that the new series needs a male overseer, of some sort, like Devon. I don't think Sarah can be an overseer now, not with all the emotions she has invested in Mike.

[Nismogtr21]

All this hoopla about changes, man, just give me some good chase scenes and stunts!!!! And more road time with KITT and Michael out in the real world, interacting with everyday people and coming across everyday situations. Enough with this SSC crap. This FBI espionage stuff takes away from that, because all they focus on is the mission at hand, and that's all they have time for, all they have the budget for. I'm all for it, who cares about Graiman. The only reason people are crying a river over him is because of nostalgia, that he reminds people of Devon.

IMO he can't tough Edward Mulhare, he had that aura about him. Graiman just seems like a grumpy old man. And the fact that he has a connection with TOS? Big deal, we can get that aspect of the storyline and what happened in the past through Sarah anyway.

[Kram061-1]

just give me some good chase scenes and stunts!!!!

RIGHT ON

[RobWolf]

Ok, looks like I have to try this agin, since the two lengthy, well though-out posts which took me ages to write were deleted under the pretext of being 'inflammatory'. Yeah, I see the way the wind is blowing here.....I'll keep it short this time (mainly because I can't be bothered to write up everything again.)

Dramatic shake up of plots- good call, NBC. Some of the ones so far have been coma-inducing.

They have got the cast change totally wrong. Graiman (who has been criminally under-used) should stay, along with Sarah. Everyone else should have gone, especially the RC3 Twins. NBC want to get the show more like it was in the 80's. Okay then, nothing wrong with that. The 80's version had the core group of Michael, KITT, Devon, and Bonnie/April. Well, it seems to me that Graiman is the Devon of the new show, Sarah is Bonnie/April. I'm sure I'm not alone there. So it should be Michael, KI3T, Sarah, Graiman.

Bottom line is this. By announcing and executing this 'shake-up', NBC are admitting that the show is in trouble, ergo the show is flawed. Now, I'd say, "Do the dignified thing and just pull the plug", but I know that's not how it works in TV land. But the other thing I would say to you, is that the cast change is proof that NBC is not listening to what surely should be their core demographic, Knight Rider fans, who let's be honest are probably now the only people watching this thing. Question:

If NBC were listening to "us", would Graiman have gone? No, since masses of us have said he needs to stay. The fact then that the two young, dynamic, attractive team members avoid the chop (even though they are the most irritating thing on the entire planet) should be speaking volumes to you.

And to those who have come to know my griping well, let me be totally honest. Nitpicking about the car etc aside(for the record, I have really warmed to the normal GT500KR; the neon lights and dodgy turbocharger still put me off Attack Mode), the only two real issues I have ever had with the show (aside from the OTT transformations but I doubt we'll see that end anytime soon) are the two areas that NBC have decided need shaking up. And if NBC had (in my eyes) gotten the cast change right, then coupled with changing the type of story, I would have been more inclined to keep watching, and at the end of season 1 I would be most likely saying, "Well, it had a rocky start but it wasn't bad.....I think I'd like Season 2 please "

But that is not going to happen. Now knowing that I'm never going to see Graiman's character developed further, and knowing that I am going to have to suffer through more hijinks from the RC3 Twins , I think I'm now going to stop watching all together. I doubt I'll bother tuning in for KARR, either (I'll just remember him as he was, comically screaming "No...NO!" and going over that cliff)

To the people who LIKE the show: I can't see why you do, but I never meant to insult anyone. I'm sure I like sh*t you guys hate. It's not personal.

PS, to the guy who said the show needs more chase scenes and stunts, I agree. Surely THAT was what KR of olde was all about?

[cloudkitt]

I get irked with the way the original series treated women

.......really? ...you mean like the female mechanic/computer genius?

[RobWolf]

I get irked with the way the original series treated women

.......really? ...you mean like the female mechanic/computer genius?

You never know, we might yet see a female mechanic or computer genius IRL....and she might even do a decent job! In any case, whoever she is I wish her the very best.