neps: November 2008 Archives

If you are a fan of podcasts and you're looking for a source for a Knight Rider, then look no further! Now in it's seventh edition, this bi-weekly podcast hosted by our own FuzzieDice is all you need to keep up to date on the latests goings on in the Knight Rider world.

In this episode, we review the latest epiosde "Knight of the Zodiac" and discuss the Knight Rider reboot, new KARR secrets, VFX Team being interviewed, new 2010 mustang, as well as the Knight Rider Festival and more!

Check it out and subscribe from these sources:
via iTunes (Recommended)
via RSS (m4a Enhanced Podcast)
via RSS (mp3 Audio Only)

If you have any questions or topics you'ld like us to discuss on the podcast please !

While we were out enjoying our thanksgiving, the folks over at Knight Writers kept us full in the form of a new post on their blog. Check it out for some cool images from "Knight of the Iguana", "Knight of the Hunter" and an unknown future episode.

We've received word that Justin Bruening will be on the NBC broadcast of the Macy's Thanksgiving telecast tomorrow morning. Justin will be interviewed by Al Roker between 9am and 10am. Tune in and check it out!

With the holiday season upon us, it's sometimes can be a chore deciding what to get the Knight Rider fan in your life. To help you with this we have put together this handy guide on the coolest Knight Rider items available this holiday season. Please post in the comments if you find anything else!

A portion of your purchases made through these links will go back to this site. Thank you for your support and happy holidays! We hope you have enjoyed our coverage of Knight Rider over the past year.

Electronics / Toys
DVDs / Digital Download
Knight Rider Season 1 Digital Download $23.92	Knight Rider Classic, Season 1 Digital Download $21.78	Knight Rider Classic, Season 2 Digital Download
Knight Rider Classic, Season 3 Digital Download $34.99	Knight Rider Classic, Season 4 Digital Download $34.99
Apparel
KRO shirt $15.00	KRO buttons $4.00	KITT Knight Rider t-shirt $20.00
80s Were Better Knight Rider t-shirt $20.00	82 Knight Rider t-shirt $20.00	Halftone Knight Rider t-shirt $20.00
Jr. Knight Rider t-shirt $20.00	KITT Happens Knight Rider t-shirt $20.00
CDs/Music/Books
Knight Rider (Original TV Soundtrack) $24.99	Knight Rider (Best of Don Peake) Vol.1 $11.99
	Theme from Knight Rider $0.99	Knight Rider Theme $0.99

The Knight Rider Festival, a gathering of Knight Rider fans in Las Vegas on March 20-21 2009, is now accepting submissions from car replica owners willing to participate. Registration is free from now until February 15, 2009.

KNIGHT RIDER REPLICA- TRIBUTE CARS-PONTIAC/FORD PRE-REGISTRATION - Free before February 15, 2009. First Come-First Serve Basis. *After February 15, 2009 there will be $45.00 Fee for administration cost

Owners will receive the following:
Special Four Queens Hotel Rate-"First Come Serve Basis"
Car Registration Free*
VIP Pass includes:
VIP Invitation Party Pass
Autograph with special guests
Photo with celebrity
Preferred Seating Q&A
Car Owner Plaque*
VIP Fremont Street Mall Parking

The Knight Rider Festival is looking to be the largest Knight Rider gathering ever, with tentative confirmations from many people behind and in front of the cameras of Knight Rider from the last 27 years! It's an event that you wont want to miss.

The online magazine VFXWorld spoke with our good friends at Master Key Films - the team responsible for the Visual Effects on a weekly basis for Knight Rider.

Clients always seem to raise their eyebrows when they enter the offices of Master Key Prods., a small start-up vfx house located on the Santa Clarita Studios lot.

The surprise comes from the fact that Master Key, a company consisting of only six rooms, a team of roughly 10-12 animators and compositors, two office assistants and one full time IT engineer supplies NBC's Knight Rider (airing Wednesdays at 8:00-9:00 p.m. ET on NBC) with roughly 200-300 effects shots an episode, while never sacrificing time, quality or cost.

"It's a lot of information and given the nature of TV, we don't get the kind of elongated time for post-vfx that one gets on features," suggests Elan Dassani, Master Key's co-founder and president. "Right now we're working within a two-week turn around period from the day materials are delivered to us to the final delivery of our effects back to post-production.

"We learned pretty early on that any break in the communication between the on-set production, post-production and Black Ginger [an effects house located in South Africa that provides Master Key with driving compositions, cylon light additions and monitor replacements] could have drastic effects on not only our workflow but also the show's budget, delivery dates and air dates.

"The goal was always to create a team where a limited number of people working within a well constructed workflow: a machine where animators and compositors could create a synergy based on that day's needs, could churn out a significant number of shots per week,"adds Rajeev Dassani, co-founder of Master Key and vfx supervisor. "I think we've proved that this is a viable system and I'm very proud of what we've accomplished here."

Which brings us to the real question: How does the company handle the vast demands of a schedule this tight?

The answer is simple: redefine and restructure the existing vfx workflow model to fit these specialized needs.

You can read the rest of the article on their website.

Be sure to see our interview with the Dassani Brothers and Stephan Fleet here. Additionally check out Master Key Films website, as they have just recently relaunched their site with a beautiful show reel that focuses a lot on their work on Knight Rider!

This weeks episode Knight of the Zodiac, received a 3.4/5 share, or 5.12 million viewers according to Nielsons rating system. This is slightly lower than the week before but is in average with the last three episodes. It still held strong in the Men 18-34 in 2nd place.

Since skipping a week on October 29th, the ratings for Knight Rider took a plunge which it has yet to recover from. Why this happened, we can not say - perhaps viewers saw that there was no Knight Rider that week and never returned. Before the break, there was an average of 7 million viewers but since then it has dropped to slightly above 5 million average.

This was the last episode till the end of the holidays. The next episode, Knight Fever (Episode 9), will air on December 31st. Episode 10, the start of the reboot, will air on January 4th 2009. We'll keep you posted as we get closer to those dates.

We're busy discussing away last nights episode, feel free to join in! Also be sure to take our poll on how you thought the episode did. Here is a clip from last nights episode:

With the holidays starting next week with Thanksgiving, this will be the last new episode for awhile. The next episode, Knight Fever, will not air until December 31st. This episode was originally the 2nd shot, but looks to be the last episode before the reboot happens in January.

Be sure to stay tuned to Knight Rider Online over the next weeks as we will be sure to bring you continuing coverage of all things Knight Rider.

If you are in the US and you missed last nights episode Knight of the Zodiac you can watch it above via Hulu.

Knight of the Zodiac scribe Matt Pyken stopped by the Knight Writers blog last night to post his thoughts on the episode. In his article he ask what does South Afriaca, Nevada, Native Americans, Paul Campbell, and KITT have in common?

What do South Africa, Nevada, Native Americans, Paul Campbell, and Kitt have in common?

"I implore you" as Kitt likes to say - read on.

Poor Billy Morgan. Always back in the Kittcave while Michael Knight gets the girl. Billy sits at his workstation and pines for Sarah, gets played over and over by Zoe, but he never seems to get anywhere -- that is, until tonight's episode.

Yep, Mike and Billy head for Las Vegas to take down a crew of sophisticated casino thieves, and Billy works in a little extra-curricular activity along the way.

Now, here's the back-story on the characters and the location.

First, there's Vegas. It's 300 miles from us here in LA, and not a great town for shooting a TV series. If that seems counter-intuitive, think about it. Shooting inside a casino is a big deal. Security is all over the crew, and if you want to simulate a casino heist, forget it. When there's real money around, the real guys with the real guns tend to get nervous. Then there's the disruption factor; Las Vegas casinos make more in a day than we could ever pay for a location fee, so they're not particularly keen on 200 members of a TV crew settling in for a few days.

So how do you do Vegas when it's too far, too expensive and you're the red-headed step-child?

Read the rest of the article here

Billy's Notes from the Underground received a new post last night. Billy heading with Mike to Las Vegas and meeting a girl named Courtney:

Last night I got a second chance to do something I regret not doing years ago -- using my advanced degree in mathematics to beat the house in sin city. I know what you're thinking -- card counting is illegal. Nope. It's just the kind of thing that can get you locked up in a secret room with no cameras and burly Casino guard with a name with no vowels. Which is why I was about to chicken out.

But then the most amazing thing happened. I met someone sweet, beautiful, funny, and smart. I met Courtney Flynn. And we just clicked. Now, I never click with anyone. I usually over think things to death, killing the moment.

Tonight at 8pm/7pm Central is a new episode of Knight Rider! The episode is called "Knight of the Zodiac"

MIKE, KITT AND BILLY HEAD TO VEGAS TO TAKE ON A MONEY LAUNDERING RING -- Mike (Justin Bruening) goes undercover in Vegas to bust a money laundering operation. Billy (Paul Campbell) joins Mike and KITT (voiced by Val Kilmer) on the mission, only to spark a romantic adventure of his own. Meanwhile, Dr. Graiman (Bruce Davison) locks horns with an old rival and former flame, who comes to assess how "green" the KITT Cave is.

You can find more information including the trailer for tonight's episode on it's episode guide page.

During and after the episode airs, we encourage you to visit our forum new Knight Rider area and discuss tonight's episode in the live discussion thread.

Co-Chariman of NBC Universal Media Studios Ben Silverman appeared on Charlie Rose this past Monday Evening. In this nearly twenty minute clip, Ben talks about programing, advertising an the digital experience for their content. At around 6 minutes, Ben gets into working with the Automotive industry and it's sponsorship of programing.

Will this update find its way onto the body of KITT? The only thing we know for sure is how hot this looks. Check out Jalopnik's post with alot more photos.

It turns out that tomorrow's episode Knight of the Zodiac will have the new 2010 Mustang appear, this from an official Ford release:

The iconic American muscle car, which has outsold all competitors for more than 20 years, will make its TV debut on the Nov. 19 episode of NBC's "Knight Rider," which stars the Shelby GT500KR as the new version of KITT. The program airs at 8 p.m. EST on Wednesdays.

"We're delighted to bring the 2010 Mustang to prime time on NBC's 'Knight Rider,' " said Mustang brand manager Fritz Wilke. "With the Shelby GT500KR already showcased as the new KITT, it's a perfect match."

The 2010 Mustang will be seen in the episode "Knight of the Zodiac" inside the Satellite Surveillance Chamber, also known as the SSC or "KITT Cave." The 2010 Mustang poses as KITT during an inspection and impresses everyone.

During the shooting, the show's production crew maintained strict secrecy about the yet-to-be-revealed Mustang.

"The 2010 Mustang arrived in a truck which was backed into the stage. The car was unloaded, undercover and kept covered until we shot. Limited cast and crew were allowed on set. The moment we finished shooting the car was covered back up and put back in the truck and disappeared," said Gary Scott Thompson, executive producer, "Knight Rider."

We're busy discussing away last nights episode, feel free to join in! Also be sure to take our poll on how you thought the episode did. Here is a clip from last nights episode:

If you want to see the teaser for the next episode you can do so on our Knight of the Zodiac page. In this episode Mike, Billy and KITT head to Las Vegas to take on a money laundering ring.

Teresa Huang & Rachel Mellon, the writers of tonights episode have posted an article on Knight Writers blog. They talk about how we perceive the world and the perception of what is right and wrong. There are also some fun tidbits including their original car of choice for Nikki and Max.

This week's episode explores the dualistic nature of our world. How perception directs our understanding of right and wrong. A meditation on pairs, if you will. Mike & Sarah, Billy & Zoe, Nikki & Max, Rachel & Teresa...

Wait, who are Rachel and Teresa?

That would be us, the writers of this episode. And truth be told, our primary meditation was on sexy criminals running around in a hot car. We loved creating Nikki & Max as a reflection of our heroes Mike & Sarah. Both drive hot cars, but Nikki & Max are expressive and reckless while Mike & Sarah are measured and bottled up. They teeter on the edge but never drop off.

Read the rest of the article on Knight Writers.

Billy's Notes from the Underground received a new post last night. Billy talks his trouble with gambling:

I'm not normally a gambling man. Okay, I'm NEVER a gambling man. Back in college, some friends wanted me to go to Vegas with them to count cards. I declined. And now apparently there's a like a movie made about them or something.

The reason why I never gambled is simple: if you know the most likely outcome doesn't favor you, why take the risk?

But today was different. I got swept up in the moment. I made a few bets with Zoe.

Tonight at 8pm/7pm Central is a new episode of Knight Rider! The episode is called "I Wanna Rock & Roll All Knight"

A CRIMINAL COUPLE WITH CONGRESSIONAL TIES THREATENS TO REVEAL THE SECRETS OF KNIGHT INDUSTRIES -- Knight Industries is hot on the trail of a Bonnie & Clyde-esque criminal couple, only to discover their true identities have a serious impact on a national congressional race. As the mission unfolds, Mike and KITT are forced into action to save Agent Rivai.

You can find more information including the trailer for tonight's episode on it's episode guide page.

During and after the episode airs, we encourage you to visit our forum new Knight Rider area and discuss tonight's episode in the live discussion thread.

Check out this behind the scenes clip from tonights episode:

Knight Rider is up for Favorite TV Drama for the 2009 People's Choice Awards! You can vote for Knight Rider at their website. There is some good competition, but if you vote now it looks like you can vote often, so be sure to!

In a story just broke by the Hollywood Reporter, it seems that several members of the cast will not be continuing past the original 13 episode order.

NBC's freshman drama "Knight Rider" is undergoing a major retooling, bringing it closer to the original 1980s series. Among the changes, the options of three regulars on the show -- Sydney Tamiia Poitier, Yancey Arias and Bruce Davison -- were not picked up beyond the initial 13-episode order.

"It's a reboot," "Knight" executive producer/showrunner Gary Scott Thompson said. "We're moving away from the terrorist-of-the-week formula and closer to the original, making it a show about a man and his car going out and helping more regular people, everymen."

Such a change would make "Knight" a better fit into NBC's newly rebranded crime drama Wednesday lineup alongside "Life" and "Law & Order."

The revamped "Knight" will kick off with the two-part Episodes 10-11. NBC is planning a major push, including possibly airing Episode 10 on Sunday after an NFL football game in January, with the conclusion airing the following Wednesday.

Such a move would bring "Knight" back to Sunday night, where the two-hour movie/backdoor pilot drew big ratings in February.

The series it spawned has been struggling in the Wednesday 8 p.m. slot, dropping last week to a season-low 5.1 million viewers and a 1.6 rating/4 share in adults 18-49.

The retooling had been put in motion long before the full-season order for "Knight" three weeks ago. The UMS/Dutch Oven series is now filming Episode 15.

There are no immediate plans to add new regulars to the show, which will focus on the five remaining characters: Mike (Justin Bruening), Sarah (Deanna Russo), Billy (Paul Campbell), Zoe (Smith Cho) and KITT. The producers also are looking to do stunt guest castings.

Thompson stressed that the decision to let the castmembers go was a difficult one tied to the show's change in direction and had nothing to do with the actors.

What this means to the characters that remain, the current story lines and the SSC will be unknown for some time. This raises a lot of questions and it will be some time before we will have a clear picture of what is down the line.

On a personal note, we just want to wish those cast members that are departing well. Have personally spent time them, they are truly dedicated and talented actors in their field. We are saddened to hear that they will no longer be on the series and wish them the best with whatever the future holds.

[Hollywood Reporter]

We're busy discussing away last nights episode, feel free to join in! Also be sure to take our poll on how you thought the episode did. Here is a clip from last nights episode:

If you want to see the teaser for the next episode you can do so on our I Wanna Rock & Roll All Knight page. In this episode a criminal couple with congrssional ties tries to steal KITT and reveal the secrets of Knight Inudstries.

We'll be back soon with last nights ratings!

Eric from the writing staff posted an update to the Knight Writers blog tonight. They talk about KITTs costume and hints to old fan favorite KARR!:

And secondly, GST wanted me to tell you about KARR... But he didn't want me to say too much, because there's still a lot to be learned about him on the show. Hopefully, though, you were paying attention when Sarah entered her father's passphrase into the computer.

Thursday afternoon, some more content will be available at KnightIndustriesResearch.com. You'll still need to know who Devon and Bonnie are to log in, but to see this extra content, you'll need an additional passcode. Is this new passcode exactly what Sarah used on the show? That would be too easy... But the letters are all there.

What did you think about how KARR is developing in this series? We see it being polarizing for sure! Let us know what you think in our forum.

Billy's Notes from the Underground received a new post last night. Billy talks about the goings on of Halloween and his costume:

Sorry for the delay in posting, but this past Halloween turned out to be a major bummer. I don't know what's worse: the fact that I was almost killed, or the fact that NO ONE knew who I was dressed up as?!?!

I mean, seriously... How come more people aren't watching the best British sci-fi/fantasy series on TV?!? If you don't know who Capt. Jack Harkness is, that's your problem not mine, you troglodytes!

Check out these pretty fun interviews with Justin Bruening and Deanna Russo from NBC! They talk about the fun of Halloween and about their fond memories of trick or treating.

Tonight at 8pm/7pm Central is a new episode of Knight Rider! The episode is called "Knight of the Living Dead"

TRICK OR TREAT - HALLOWEEN TURNS DEADLY WHEN A TECH IS MURDERED INSIDE KNIGHT INDUSTRIES HEADQUARTERS -- An infiltrator murders a tech inside Knight Industries headquarters and the team must find them before they kill again. Meanwhile, Mike (Justin Bruening) and Sarah (Deanna Russo) are stuck on a flight during a storm and must try to stop KITT (voiced by Val Kilmer) before he self-destructs.

You can find more information including the trailer for tonight's episode on it's episode guide page.

During and after the episode airs, we encourage you to visit our forum new Knight Rider area and discuss tonight's episode in the live discussion thread.

Last weekend - Knight Rider was on the island of Oahu filming for an upcoming episode. Some of the local blogs picked up on this as well as provided some interesting images from the set.

From what we've heard, the scenes that were shot were just of Mike and Sarah retreating from a stressful experience. (KITT was not in town.)

From Tim Ryan's Reel Hawaii:

NBC's Knight Rider series will film two days on Oahu - Oct. 25 and 26 - all on the North Shore and primarily at the Turtle Bay Resort where cast and the Los Angeles crew will be staying. The iconic 1980s television series that starred David Hasselhoff has been reinvented and updated showcasing the new car KITT (Knight Industries Three Thousand) which is now equipped with an "AI" (artificial intelligence) capable of hacking almost any system. KITT is not making the Hawaii trip. Only two Knight Rider cast will be in Hawaii, star Justin Bruening and Deanna Russo. The episode being shot here is called Knight to King Pawn. Russo's character comes to Hawaii [spoiler]to get away from a personal tragedy back home[/spoiler]. The majority of crew will be from Oahu. Preproduction begins Monday...

From Midweek:

PAL RICHARD BURGI here over the weekend filming Knight Rider at Turtle Bay. Richard starred as Teri Hatcher's ex in 33 episodes of Desperate Housewives. We became friends when he co-starred with Cheryl Ladd in One West Waikiki. I was the associate producer of the CBS series that was filmed in Hawaii.

From Didi's Photoblog (with photos):

I read before leaving for Hawaii that on any given day at Turtle Bay Resort there will be a film crew shooting something. Many commercials have been shot here, and also the movie Forgetting Sarah Marshall. Well, sure enough, Knight Rider was in town and filming just steps from our villa! The cast and crew were staying at Turtle Bay Resort and we watched them film at the nearby beach bar, Ola. They had huge lights set up that lit up the ocean, giving us a unique view of the ocean that night, it was beautiful.

[thanks to knight rider archive for finding the photos!]