Would 'Knight In Shining Armor' been better mid-season?

[knightendo77]

Only just started to watch the new series from the beginning for the first time (legally, I might add lol!) and will post about that later but in the meantime I wanted to ask you guys'n'gals something.

I've stayed away from spoilers as much as I can, but have read the general feelings towards each episode as the shows have been broadcast in the States. Now, I read your opinions on 'Knight In Shining Armor' and expected a terrible episode... but actually, while it wasn't the best thing I've seen recently (and the show's definitely gotten a lot better even in the first 6 episodes I've seen so far) it wasn't all that bad!

I think the problem lies with the reasons behind the "plot" of this episode. Usually a series will leave big twists and turns for their characters until mid-season(-ish) but GST felt he had to get a lot of things out of the way first, one example being Mike Traceur becoming Michael Knight. Now, while I can understand the theory behind putting this episode out first, the main point of it seems to be (apart from the Traceur/Knight thing) throwing out a lot of twists and turns for the characters, making you unsure of their true intentions... things like that. The problem I think, is that we hadn't gotten to know any of the characters first! Afer all, this is episode one!

Because I've read quite a bit, I know a little about the characters going in, so maybe that's why I enjoyed this episode more than I thought I would, but for anyone watching it when it first went out, it must've felt very strange. They seemed to want to forcefully deepen the characters and give them twists but without you being familiar with them first it must've felt like a right mess of an introductory episode! Am I right?

Basically, imagine you got to know the characters over the other episodes and then this appeared mid-season, do you think you would've appreciated it more?

For me, 3 out of 5. Good, but the plot's a bit of a mess and trying to fit in too much (and that subway train station bit with KITT is terrible!)

[knightendo77]

Whoops, meant to say 2.5 out of 5. Still decent enough. Good, but the plot's a bit of a mess and trying to fit in too much (and that subway train station bit with KITT is terrible!)

[Mr.Marcus]

I didn't care for it. The only episodes I liked pre-reboot are Journey and Hard Day's Knight. Everything else was forgettable.

[Skav]

I liked it. Plenty of action throughout and that's what KR should be all about. I don't care about plot when it comes to KR, it would be silly to.

Mike's faked death was pretty pointless seeing as he still has the same face and this type of subplot needed another episode to flesh out those details but I can understand their predicament.

For a first episode it was a decent start.

[Michael Pajaro]

Interesting question. I definitely agree that it would have helped to have another pilot episode to introduce the news cast and the SSC. We were just thrown into the middle of everything. However, I think it's important for a show like Knight Rider to come on big and strong and fast and I LOVED the first 20 minutes of the episodes. There was a ton of action, humor, stunts, drama, and yes, skin, and I thought it was great. Fantastic way to kick off a series.

Sadly, everyone was watching the huge Dancing with the Stars premiere so no on had a chance to see all of the KR goodness.

[NeoRanger]

I don't think it would necessarily be better off mid-season. You see, it's true that it threw everything our way in only a few minutes and it might have seemed too much for the audience to take in (or care to take in, for that matter), but I think the purpose behind this was exactly that; the series wanted to distance itself somewhat from the backdoor pilot and instantly establish its own setting. Because the characters had already been established more-or-less, wasting time on that (in a fast-paced show that was supposed to grab audiences) was probably not wise.

It's really a double-edged knife. You start the show with it, it looks sloppy and lacking structure. You throw it later into the season, it seems out of place. I'm good with the way it played out, personally.

[Dev In California]

Like it matters when it aired when NBC wont promote the show at all.

[K.A.C.I.]

To answer the question: "Knight in Shining Armor", as it was aired, would not have worked mid-season. Because the 4x4 transformation is introduced in this episode and IIRC, is specifically referred to as a new feature.
Personally, I have no problem whatsoever with KR08 as it currently stands.

[Knight Research]

KITT's Scanner Sound is different then it is today so it wouldn't be a good mid -season episode.