Sardanar wrote:The one major problem that I had with this episode was not the fight scene (which I have to admit was a little - ok, VERY - short), or the editing, or anything else that people have mentioned before.
No, my real problem with this episode was that KARR's vehicle form was a Mustang. Considering that (in this reality) KARR was originally designed for combat in Iraq, a Mustang makes absolutely no sense at all! A Hummer, or a Land Rover, or some other form of vehicle that would be able to cross desert sands easily would make much more sense that to have his base form being a vehicle that is designed for URBAN use...
This either implies that KARR has the same transforming capabilities as KITT, or the writers wanted to keep KARR as the same vehicle as KITT for the sake of the fans (who naturally want KARR to be KITT's twin as it was in the original series). The trouble is that it doesn't fit with THIS KARR's back story.
This series still has a lot of potential, but the staff working on the series either can't see it or are unwilling to use it. And I do think that some of the problems that they are having (not all, by any means, but certainly some of them) come from us, the fans...
I think that they are trying to update the series to fit in with modern life, while trying not to alienate the fans of TOS. And because they are trying to compromise between old-school fans and the vision that they have of a 'successful' series these days, they are failing on all counts. The main reason BSG was successful was that the creators had a vision for a new series and stuck to it. The people working on KR don't seem to know what they want. Or, more to the point, they know what they want, but it turns out that what they want isn't what we, the fans, want. From some of the discussions I have seen here, a lot of the fans won't be happy unless they get an exact copy of the original (which is what the reboot looks likely to give us...)
Anyway, that's my opinion anyway. Hope I haven't offended anyone with this, but it just seems to me that one reason why KR08 is failing is because the die-hard OS fans won't be happy with anything less than seeing TOS brought back with new effects...
Yeah well, so much for that.
Maybe you have been lurking but I take it you haven't been here long but you clearly have no idea as to why the show wasn't working in the first place. To blame the fans, especially TOS fans with the mess the show has been IS borderline offensive. We're not the ones who made the choices, we didn't write the scripts, we didn't choose the direction. The only thing WE got is where they threw a bone here and there which seemed like a way of averting attention away from the bigger issues that had no impact on anything. I don't recall there being a demand for the new KITT to have the original's scanner sound, a pretty much throw away line referring to Devon and Bonnie or a host of small little things similar to that.
Battlestar Galactica and this show are apples and oranges, the new BGS wasn't sold as a continuation of the original, it was clearly, from the start an entirely different entity that had no connection with the original other than character names. So excuse fans of the original series, which if it weren't for them the original wouldn't have made it past its first season and there would be no new Knight Rider at all, if they have certain expectations. Only a small minority of irrational OS fans (most of which ARE NOT die hard fans) want the original series, especially with Hasselhoff and William Daniels and the nearly 27 year old Trans-Am to return along with a host other other things like the Semi being brought back or even someone who wanted Edward Mulhare to return from the apparent dead are typically mocked or put in their place for wanting such a silly thing or some cookie cutter remake of it. This is not what the rational, logical "die hard" Knight Rider fans want. But I guess it might be too much to ask for the show to keep it in the spirit of the original, to have a similar mission and ideas such as one man (or person in this more PC world) making a difference, helping the weak and powerless in fights they couldn't win on their own and not some boring "stop the terrorist of the week" angle, the total Lone Ranger aspect with some logical updates and changes to make it fit into today but still make it feel like Knight Rider, set 23 years later, not some rip off of a dozen TV shows and movies where the only thing in common with the original being a character named Michael Knight and an AI placed in a car called KITT who much of the time is little more than a prop. Even BSG, as different as it is, still has the same goal doesn't it? The whole finding Earth thing? Certainly everything else is pretty much different in one way or another but that goal remains the same.
I find it strange that your biggest apparent gripe with this episode is that KARR was a Mustang? Really? But meh, whatever I guess I'm not one of those "die hard" TOS fans that are partially to blame with the mess this show has been.
Maybe it's because I sit in on meets with the powers that be and have a real say in where this show should go, yeah that's it! Now if you excuse me, I have a meeting to go to discuss where we'll be taking Knight Rider next. I shouldn't say anything but let me tell you, it's going to be exciting! Heck with it, this idea is just too awesome to keep under wraps, next season KITT is going to be able to not only fly (we're calling it hover mode, genius, I know) but travel through time in a "time machine mode" where when KITT hits 288MPH (that's 200MPH faster than those other guys!) he disappears, leaving a flame trail behind, but uh oh there's going to be a glitch and Mike and KITT are going to be lost in the past with their only chance of getting home will be to help others and set things right that once went wrong, don't worry about the other cast though, they'll still be on but we'll mostly see them in the form of holograms that only Mike and KITT can see or hear. That only scratches the surface of what we have planned, if you like that then you're going to love our big, sweeps event where Mike and KITT go back to 1985 and meet his father and the original KITT! Now, I know you're wondering how are we going to manage this with Hasselhoff now pushing 60, well let me just say that while doing the CGI effect to make him look younger might be out of our budget range it doesn't stop us from getting someone new! How does Justin Timberlake sound? Yeah, I thought so! Oh and if we can't get William Daniels back then I have two words for you, Snoop Dog! It doesn't stop there either, the second half of the season we're going to turn things upside down when the "time travel mode" malfunctions again causing Michael and KITT to switch bodies! Hilarity ensues! Then there's the aliens.
Unfortunately we're going to be cutting the SFX budget (times are tough you know) so instead of the hardwork that Master Key Films does for this show we will be looking to Mrs. Stein's 3rd grade art class in Louisville, Kentucky to provide us with many of the effects we need. MKF will still be on board but unfortunately with only the core members locked in a janitor's closet as the janitor will no longer be needed.
Now if you excuse me, Ben is yelling that it's time to go. We just got some sweet bonuses and now we're going to be hitting Vegas in our private jet! Hopefully this time there won't be any dead hookers (that Ben, always the jokster) but you know what they say! Whatever happens in Vegas stays in Vegas as long as you bury the body out in the desert where no one will find it.