The new Knight Rider series may not look very much like the 2-hour telefilm that aired earlier this year. The tv movie received very good ratings, but most reviews were not terribly positive. To bring it to series NBC has hired “The Fast and the Furious” writer, and “Vegas” showrunner, Gary Scott Thompson, on board – and Gary is looking to make some major changes.

In a two part interview with Knight Rider online Mr. Thompson explains how he was disappointed with the pilot, and wasn’t interested in making that into a series. Characters from the pilot will carry over into the series (some of them will, anyway) and Mike will still be Michael Knight’s son, but the show is in for some big changes – and an upping on the tech and “cool” factor.

Mr. Thompson wants to look at where tech is going in the future and get some more futuristic gadgetry into the car. He wants it to be “fast, furious, and fun.”

Most importantly, to me anyway, he wants the show to be suitable for families. Pushing the envelope on what they can do with the cars and the action, while making it great for kids, and great for parents on a whole different level. I sincerely hope he succeeds with this -because that is one thing the pilot was definitely missing. We all knew Michael Knight was a ladies man, but you’d never see him wake up with two bimbos like Mike Tracer did in the pilot.

KITT will have a variety of new features, including some form of a Turbo Boost, but they’re not exactly sure what it will look like just yet. The show should also look a lot faster, with the cars moving at higher speeds than they did in the 2-hour pilot. He also said that the “Attack Mode” is going to be redesigned…and that design is going to be kept a secret for as long as humanly possible.

I’m more excited than ever for this series now. I enjoyed the pilot, but not everyone did – and it soulds like Mr. Thompson has a good idea on just how this show should be – and how it should play to today’s audiences. I’m looking forward to seeing what he comes up with.