knight rider online

EdwardKnoxII wrote:Maybe Knight Rider and My Own Worst Enemy can do a cross-over episode and we can watch Slater race Michael Knight (Justin Bruening). I would pay to see that.

My Own Worst Enemy: Christian Slater, Chevy Camaro Star in New TV Show

BURBANK, California — It was almost impossible to miss the new 2009 Chevrolet Camaro during NBC's just-concluded, multi-network coverage of the Olympics in Beijing. At just about every commercial break, there was a spot with Christian Slater playing mild-mannered efficiency expert "Henry" and hard-edged government agent "Edward" (two guys, one body) in the new series My Own Worst Enemy. And both Henry and Edward drive new not-yet-for-sale Chevys — Henry in a Traverse crossover SUV and Edward in a new Camaro.

Both the Traverse and Camaro are apparently pre-production vehicles rushed to the My Own Worst Enemy set in order to get them on camera. In fact, the appearance of the two vehicles emerges from a state-of-the-art marketing arrangement between GM and NBC. According to an earlier press release, the agreement makes "GM the exclusive automotive integration partner" for the show with the starring roles for the two vehicles part of the integration. "This great partnership helps GM leverage our content and utilize our platform in a transformative way," the release quoted NBC Co-Chairman Ben Silverman as saying. "They are a market leader and we are a market leader. It validates our Infront strategy to be early and create a two-way conversation with our clients." In short, it's one step beyond the sort of product placement that's typically seen on network TV shows.

So NBC has partnered up with Ford to make the upcoming remake of Knight Rider a blue oval show, while it's hitched to the bowtie for My Own Worst Enemy. In fact NBC is currently promoting My Own Worst Enemy as "presented by Chevrolet."

As to the vehicles actually used in the production, there's not much to know. From the commercial, it's hard to tell how the Camaro is trimmed (RS? SS? Who knows?) and it's hard getting psyched about the Traverse's appearance at all.

The series premieres on October 13 and will regularly appear on Monday nights at 10:00 p.m. on NBC.

What this means to you: No longer are TV shows just filler between car commercials. Now they're car commercials, too. — John Pearley Huffman, Correspondent

So lets see. NBC has Ford for Knight Rider and Chevrolet for My Own Worst Enemy. So when do you think NBC is going to make a deal with Dodge?

adamtrek wrote:

So lets see. NBC has Ford for Knight Rider and Chevrolet for My Own Worst Enemy. So when do you think NBC is going to make a deal with Dodge?

Did you mean CBS? If that's the case, when they do a new Dukes of Hazzard show starring Bo and Luke's sons with either the old 69 Charger, but then every other car in Hazzard will be a brand-spanking new Dodge, even Uncle Jesse's Dodge Ram, which of course, can no longer be that old Ford truck.

adamtrek wrote:

So lets see. NBC has Ford for Knight Rider and Chevrolet for My Own Worst Enemy. So when do you think NBC is going to make a deal with Dodge?

Did you mean CBS? If that's the case, when they do a new Dukes of Hazzard show starring Bo and Luke's sons with either the old 69 Charger, but then every other car in Hazzard will be a brand-spanking new Dodge, even Uncle Jesse's Dodge Ram, which of course, can no longer be that old Ford truck.

Kaine wrote:so all the talk about "we can't have the Camaro in Knight Rider because there's an exclusive deal with Transformers" isn't valid any more?
somehow i feel cheated a little, since i think the Camaro would have been a great choice for KI3T...
ah well, but i've come to love the Shelby Mustang as the car in the new Knight Rider.

'Enemy' could be GM's best friend
New NBC series gives GM cars a nontraditional showcase
BY JULIE HINDS • FREE PRESS POP CULTURE WRITER • October 12, 2008

When Christian Slater's new series for NBC, "My Own Worst Enemy," debuts Monday, he'll be playing two very distinct characters.

Henry Spivey is a husband and father who lives in the suburbs. Edward Albright is a secret agent who speaks 13 languages and is trained to kill

The twist is the two men reside in the same body. Oh, did we mention that Slater's dual personalities have separate cars?

That's another wrinkle to the series, which is one of NBC's stronger fall offerings. The network and General Motors have teamed up in a special way for "My Own Worst Enemy."

The official announcement back in May called GM "the exclusive automotive integration partner" for the show.

That's corporate-speak for a deal that essentially gives two vehicles -- the 2009 Chevy Traverse crossover for family man Henry and the 2010 Chevy Camaro SS for slick spy Edward -- a chance to be part of the drama, not just cars plopped into a handful of scenes.

As GM shares dropped to historic lows late last week, and fears about the company's liquidity continued to rise in the midst of the global economic shake-up, GM remained optimistic about the upcoming series and their relationship with NBC.

"Products like the Camaro and the Traverse are going to lead us through this turbulent time," said Terry Rhadigan, director of Chevrolet Communications. "We are happy to integrate them into this TV show ... to showcase our products in a nontraditional way."

The relationship between auto companies and Hollywood has become more intertwined and elaborate as TV shows and movies have found ways to move beyond the old model of merely getting products in front of the camera.

The 2007 blockbuster film "Transformers" set a new standard for giving vehicles a star turn. It featured GM cars and trucks in leading roles as the heroic Autobots.

Early this year, Ford grabbed attention when NBC's TV-movie update of "Knight Rider" (now a regular series) debuted with a Ford Mustang replacing the original Pontiac Trans Am as the talking, tech-loaded KITT car.

"My Own Worst Enemy" is a sophisticated action-adventure romp with some of the psychological flavor of "Alias" and the "Bourne" movies. In a conference call with reporters, Slater said he was attracted to the project by the Jekyll-and-Hyde premise and the overall commitment to quality.

"They told me that ... they were going to try and put a movie on TV every week, and, as far I can tell, the production value and the things we've been able to do have been extraordinary," said Slater.

The first episode explores the details of the Henry/Edward split personality. And in one memorable scene that helps set the tone of the drama, one of the Chevy cars plays a juicy role.

Dino Bernacchi, GM's director of branded entertainment, said he was hooked as soon as he read the script for the series

"Hands down, this is an incredible opportunity to be able to leverage two distinctly different vehicles," he said.

GM and NBC put together the type of partnership that, as Bernacchi described it, "literally means being a part of the show, and not just product placement, but integrating our product into its property, so that ... we're part of the storyline or story arc that ends up transitioning throughout the entire season."

One example of how closely GM and NBC have worked together? Before shooting on the series started, NBC made promotional spots for "My Own Worst Enemy" that featured GM cars and had them ready in time to air during the Beijing Olympics.

That step was "very unique," according to Ben Silverman, cochairman of NBC Entertainment.

Many critics of TV advertising feel that the mingling of consumer goods and entertainment has gone too far -- way beyond the old model of limiting sales pitches to actual commercials.

But Silverman, who's known for embracing the branded entertainment approach, says younger viewers are ready to move beyond such debates and focus on how skillfully the marketing is done.

"What you're seeing is a generation of people who've grown up being advertised to everywhere they go," said Silverman. "They've been advertised to inside the TV experience, inside the Internet experience, inside elevators, inside taxicabs, on their cell phones. They get that shows are brought to them by advertising investment, so they forgive it if it's done tastefully."

Contact JULIE HINDS at 313-222-6427 or hinds@freepress.com.

I just had an idea NBC can make a deal with Dodge to bring back another one of their shows from back in the day. I think you know the one.

"My Own Worst Enemy": This GM vehicle is no lemon
When NBC began promoting the Christian Slater action show "My Own Worst Enemy" during the Beijing Games, let's just say I didn't leap to set a season pass on my DVR.

First, it appeared Slater would be playing two different characters. As gimmicks go, that's not quite in the league of casting an animal as a sidekick, but close. Next, we learned from a second wave of ads that each of Slater's alter egos would have his own custom-made GM ride. Henry, the mild-mannered traveling sales executive with a home and family in the Midwest, would be driving an SUV; Edward, the ruthless government spy that Henry morphs into, seemingly on demand, he got a one-of-a-kind, tricked-out 2010 Camaro.

Well, that screams quality, doesn't it? I was afraid that NBC was doubling down its "Knight Rider" bet with another shlocky show with a car as the star. Throw in Slater's spotty acting record of late and my hopes weren't very high for "My Own Worst Enemy."

Surprise! It's not nearly as bad as I thought. How's that for a recommendation?

Monday's pilot opens with a nice little intrigue -- a French spy, some romance, a well-placed bullet -- before giving us the show's premise with energy and style. The story: A government agency has figured out how to turn Edward into Henry, so he can return to his domesticated life after getting his spook on. And it's all done without his apparent knowledge: we see Henry getting zapped with radio waves, or something, and coming to in an office park.

Why exactly the government would need a person to be toggled between two identities against his will isn't clear (though I suppose it's easy enough to guess why). But there's so little dead time in this fast-paced first hour that the mind rarely has the chance to ponder such things.

I got a kick out of watching Slater switch back and forth between Henry and Edward and back again. A complex network TV role is probably something he only dreamed of while making those direct-to-video "films." This is a slick sci-fi drama aimed at an audience roughly twice the age of the target viewer for "Knight Rider." Oh, and about those cars: They really don't get as much screen time as the commercials lead you to believe. Thank heavens for misleading ads.

Automakers Push Key Vehicles Through Fall TV Shows

NEW YORK — In this fall's TV season, a secret agent speeds around in a Chevrolet Camaro, a man tries to save the world with the help of a Dodge Ram pickup, and a famous talking car returns to the streets in the form of a Ford Mustang.

With auto sales at 15-year lows and traditional TV advertising less appealing than it used to be, automakers are hoping such starring roles for key vehicles will boost interest in _ and sales of _ their products.

The idea is to grab the attention of consumers without being too obvious, while also creating a positive image for the automaker, said Kelly O'Keefe, executive education director at the Virginia Commonwealth University Brandcenter, a graduate advertising program.

When done effectively, O'Keefe said, the practice has been shown to boost sales, and it can be very affordable for companies, which often can get their products placed just by providing them for free.

While product placement has become more popular in recent years because people are using digital video recorders to skip commercials, O'Keefe said the automotive industry's use of it is a good example of how the practice can take marketing a step further than a traditional 30-second spot.

"It's not just a byproduct of the DVR system, it also puts the product into a different context than an ad," O'Keefe said. "It's something that complements it."

It was that thinking that motivated General Motors Corp. to place two of its newest vehicles in NBC's new drama "My Own Worst Enemy," which premieres Monday night.

The show's central character, played by actor Christian Slater, has two different personalities. There's Henry, a suburban dad who drives GM's recently launched family-oriented Traverse crossover. Then there's Edward, a secret agent who speeds around in the new version of GM's Camaro sports car set to go on sale early next year.

"When you're integrated into a program, your product adds a presence and becomes a character in a way," said Dino Bernacchi, GM's director of marketing and branded entertainment.

The GM vehicles' starring roles are part of a wide-ranging marketing agreement that also ties in traditional TV commercials, a presence on the network's Web site and other promotions, Bernacchi said.

"The ads work harder and better when we get it working all together," he said. "It's not just that we have the vehicles placed there, there's a dialogue with the consumer through the show."

Chrysler LLC is focusing its TV marketing efforts on the its new 2009 Ram pickup set to launch this month. The truck will be featured in this season of Fox's "Terminator: The Sarah Connor Chronicles." It's part of a marketing package that pulls together custom-made one-minute commercials, online promotions and a truck giveaway.

The Ram also is being promoted through NBC's "America's Toughest Jobs" reality show, and with truck giveaways and funny 30-second vignettes during the network's Thursday night lineup.

Besides the obvious short-term sales benefits, the integration of a vehicle into a TV show can turn it into a pop culture icon that remains long after the shows go off the air and the cars stop coming off the assembly lines.

The Ford Torino will always be tied to the 1970s TV show "Starsky and Hutch," while the General Lee, a bright orange Dodge Charger, is one of the most memorable parts of "The Dukes of Hazzard," which aired in the '70s and '80s.

Few images have endured longer in TV and movies than that of the Jeep, which was developed for use by the Army in the early 1940s and is now a Chrysler brand.

Versions of the Jeep have been the vehicle of choice for characters ranging from soldiers in World War II movies to the resourceful secret agent title character of the 1980s TV show "MacGyver."

In the 2005 action adventure film "Sahara," Jeep Wranglers were used in chase scenes across the fabled desert, which Susan Thomson, director of media for Chrysler, credits with renewing interest in the model in recent years.

Arguably, one of the most legendary vehicles in TV history is the Pontiac Trans Am from the 1980s series "Knight Rider." The talking car known as KITT returned to TV this fall as part of a new version of the show on NBC, but this time in the form of a Ford Shelby Mustang.

Bernacchi said NBC approached GM about providing a new vehicle to play KITT, but with Trans Ams long gone from the automaker's vehicle lineup, GM officials believed they couldn't do the fans of the original KITT justice.

"I think it's very difficult for anybody to walk in those shoes when it's not a Pontiac Trans Am," he said.

Bob Witter, Ford's Beverly Hills, Calif.-based brand entertainment manager, said Ford thought enough time has passed since the original "Knight Rider" to allow the Mustang to play the role of the new KITT.

The Mustang is an American icon in its own right, Witter said, perhaps most famously serving as Steve McQueen's wheels in the 1968 film "Bullitt."

"For us, this is the right kind of promotion," Witter said. "It's a cool, hip show that's targeted toward young people."

The automaker also has deals that place its vehicles in ABC's "Desperate Housewives" and Fox's "Fringe."

O'Keefe said the exposure the Mustang gets from "Knight Rider" could go a long way toward building the automaker's image.

"To put it in a context where people are going to see it a lot and talk about it a lot could be good for them," he said.

"At the end of the day, they still need to sell cars, and not just 500-horsepower Shelbys, but what this does is create the image that Ford's getting better."

NBC is owned by General Electric Co., Fox is a unit of News Corp., and ABC is owned by The Walt Disney Co.

EdwardKnoxII wrote:

adamtrek wrote:

So lets see. NBC has Ford for Knight Rider and Chevrolet for My Own Worst Enemy. So when do you think NBC is going to make a deal with Dodge?

Did you mean CBS? If that's the case, when they do a new Dukes of Hazzard show starring Bo and Luke's sons with either the old 69 Charger, but then every other car in Hazzard will be a brand-spanking new Dodge, even Uncle Jesse's Dodge Ram, which of course, can no longer be that old Ford truck.

I just had an idea NBC can make a deal with Dodge to bring back another one of their shows from back in the day. I think you know the one.