Knight Rider's Fate

[K2000kid]

25 yrs ago it was a cool concept
a talking car with enough gadgets to make
James Bond's Astin look like a 74 Pinto
and it did jumps almost every week

Now I'm not so sure that it can compete with
Reality TV or shows like House, Law and Order and CSI
times have changed and the sad fact is that
Knight Rider just doesn't work anymore

I still own Pumas with FAT laces

[Mr. M]

I have to agree with that some things from the original show did seem to work a little better in the 80's. However, as a fan I see no reason why with this cast they could not recapture the "modern day cowboy riding into town on his black steed each week to save the day." That's how I see much of the original show as, a mixture of the old cowboy westerns with modern and, what was suppose to be, futuristic technology.

[knightprobe89]

it would have been able to compete just fine if the storylines were done better from the beginning of the show, also it would have been better if they would have done something cool with the dash and steering wheel, and if they would have done stunts that were really cool like they did in the original series. it was basically a stock mustang with a voice modulator, and an hour long ford commercial with unrealistic transformations into other ford vehicles, nbc tried to appeal to the transformers crowd and the fast and furious crowd and that was thier downfall.

[PunkMaister]

To be honest the transformations are not a problem as long as they do not overdo them and that is something I know a lot of people agree with. NBC did a crappy job of promoting the show that is for certain. I for one sure hope it is renewed. But considering that is NBC we are talking about I would not hold my breath nor suggest anyone too either. NBC is very famous for nixing shows no matter how popular they might be. I'm still bitter at them for canceling Surface and K.R is the the only NBC show I watch so they will lose me for good if they cancel it.

[Mr. M]

it would have been able to compete just fine if the storylines were done better from the beginning of the show, also it would have been better if they would have done something cool with the dash and steering wheel, and if they would have done stunts that were really cool like they did in the original series. it was basically a stock mustang with a voice modulator, and an hour long ford commercial with unrealistic transformations into other ford vehicles, nbc tried to appeal to the transformers crowd and the fast and furious crowd and that was thier downfall.

I cringed when I first heard that Transformers inspired them to do Knight Rider again. I was pleased in the pilot to see the morphing. The transformations could dissapear overnight for all I care.

The second half of the season was definitely better in terms of storylines.

To be honest the transformations are not a problem as long as they do not overdo them and that is something I know a lot of people agree with. NBC did a crappy job of promoting the show that is for certain. I for one sure hope it is renewed. But considering that is NBC we are talking about I would not hold my breath nor suggest anyone too either. NBC is very famous for nixing shows no matter how popular they might be. I'm still bitter at them for canceling Surface and K.R is the the only NBC show I watch so they will lose me for good if they cancel it.

The transformations are a huge problem as it bothers so many people.

Once NBC realized viewership decreased the Knight Rider promotions were non existent.

I watched Surface, and after a full season I think many people including myself didn't see where this show was going. The same with ABC's Invasion. I felt like I was wasting my time. Of the 3 "alien/monster" shows that came out that fall I preferred "Threshold," which was canceled during the first part of the season.

[Mr.Marcus]

The concept can work but it needs to be more focused. In the 80s you could get away with the simple formula of a womanizer with a fast car/van/helicopter who blows stuff up and a bare bones plot that moves the episode along. Now you can't have female leads that are solely the damsels in distress. They need to be given just as much if not more screen time than the male leads. Also minorities need to be part of the cast. There needs to be subplots b/w the other characters so they are given screen time and angst needs to be part of the male and female leads. All these elements mean that the focus can't be on the man and his car. To top it all off you had Ford being a major part of the process and also NBC trying to make KR have mass appeal by borrowing creative things from other popular movies. So we ended up getting a whole mess of various different things with the centralized relationship, Knight and his car, being put on the back burner. Ensemble casts work for shows like Lost and Prison Break but not a show like KR.

[welshKITT]

Even though I haven't seen the show yet we should bare in mind that a first season is always the hardest for every TV show out there. The first season of a TV show is finding out what works and what doesn't, what it is and what it can be and so on. Think of it as a computer program which has alot of bugs in it when it first comes out but it gets better overtime. Some TV shows nail it so to speak in the first season while other TV shows that last for more then one season will develop better storylines and scripts. I know that people say that the reason why some TV shows are bad is because of bad acting but that's not always the case, it is bad scripts that makes the actors look bad. If the show is given a second season then I'm sure that the writing will get better cause as I said, the first season of every TV show is about finding out what works and what doesn't.
I have seen clips online about KITT's tranformations and have no problem with them at all. I think it leaves it to the imagination on how KITT can do it and if not then I'm sure that the producers may do a documentary on the DVD release to explain it to everyone on how he can do it. One explanation could be that one of the most famous conspiracies around is that governments have technology decades ahead then what the public has.

[Mr.Marcus]

I dunno man. I found Bear Grylls peeing on his hand and eating a fresh Yak eyeball more entertaining than an episode of KR08. Things which he did do by the way on Man v. Wild.

There's a lot of excuses being thrown out. You can't compare KR08 and TOS b/c TOS was 80s, give the new series a chance, the show needs more than a season to see what works, its up against AI, it has no advertising, etc. etc. etc.

But I'm hearing very little if any from the position of "this show deserves to be renewed b/c its gotten glowing reviews" or "this show deserves to be renewed b/c it has 8 million viewers" or "this show deserves to be renewed b/c its one of NBC's top shows." Maybe b/c its none of those things and doesn't truly deserve a renewal.

"Excuses are the nails used to build a house of failure." - Don Wilder

[knightofthephoenix]

How many threads are you going to make about this?

You speak as though the new series (and backdoor pilot) was the best possible attempt at KR in this modern age...just look around the site for more about some of the many problems it has had

[PunkMaister]

How many threads are you going to make about this?

You speak as though the new series (and backdoor pilot) was the best possible attempt at KR in this modern age...just look around the site for more about some of the many problems it has had

Well in this modern day and age it was. There had not been any attempt to revitalize the franchise in any way for over 25 or so years and if this show is canned, this franchise is destined to be relegated to the most hardcore fans TOS DVD owners alone forever and ever, the end...