(Se01ep11) “Day Turns into Knight”

You know – I love “Knight Rider” the franchise. I LOVE it. I can’t begin to tell you how much I love the original series, and even how much I’ve grown to love the Val Kilmer voiced Mustang called “K.I.T.T.” in this new series.

However – this two parter has been some of the worst television I’ve ever seen in my life.

I don’t say that lightly. I have tried beyond all reason to defend this show, but the last two episodes have been almost unwatchable trash, and the previews of next week don’t hold much promise.

This episode concludes the two parter that “changes the status quo” by getting rid of two characters that NBC is no longer willing to pay for. Neither is removed from the show in a convincing way – and both will likely be back to guest star should this show make it to a second season.

The episode isn’t really even worth getting into plot wise -because there isn’t much of one present. Michael and KITT must stay above 100 miles an hour “Speed” style or a bomb will go off. That bomb ends up being a distraction and leads to an even bigger bomb that the writers tell us will cause the biggest disaster ever on American soil. They also mention Bin Laden later…and I have to say…JUST STOP IT.

Stop just TELLING me that what your absurd bad guy is doing will be worse that the ACTUAL worst tragedy that’s ever hit American soil. You present a villain that’s an absolute joke and there is NO THREAT PRESENT. Not for one frame of this episode is there even a hint that some actual danger or trouble might befall one single character.

Even when they claim to have “killed” one character by the end of the episode it is in a completely absurd way that is so obviously left open for that character to return at a later date that it makes little to no sense to have done it.

The writing on the past few episodes of this show makes “Passions” look like an Academy Award winning drama.

I know the team on this show is better than this. I’ve seen it. Early episodes have some serious flaws, but they are forgivable and WAY better than this tripe that they’ve been spewing out for the last few weeks.

Next week we get to see Peter Cullen voice a Transformer. I’ve actually been seeing that for most of my life (what with him being Optimus Prime and all) but now, apparently, the KITT prototype, KARR, has been touched by the Energon Cube, the Autobot Matrix, or perhaps just the butter knife used to scrape the bottom of the idea barrel.

Either way – I’m not excited.

“Knight Fever” (se05,ep06)

I wasn’t really sure why NBC decided to run an episode of “Knight Rider” on New Year’s Eve. It seems like a really bad time to air a new episode of any show – much less one that’s struggling in the ratings.

After watching it, however, it seems to make perfect sense. This episode is by far, the worst of the season – so running it on a night when most people won’t see it was probably a good decision.

The plot of this episode revolves around a techno virus that infects anything with a chip in it. This was originally supposed to be an episode much closer to the pilot (like episode 2) and that’s pretty clear, even though heavy reshoots have been added to place it after the reveal that “KARR” from a few episodes back.

The virus leads Sarah, Michael, and Sarah’s dad to an ex-boyfriend of Sarah’s that ends up being responsible for the whole thing. The virus attempts to get on the Internet to spread all over the world, KITT ends up getting sick…you get the idea.

Every hoaky thing that people have complained about since day one of this show is all here. There’s even several references that seem to indicate the original series never happened.

This episode is bad enough to have been an episode of “Team Knight Rider”.

It pains me that a good actor like Bruce Davison is leaving the show soon while the absolutely god awful Smith Cho is staying on. I WANT to like her character, but the performances are so bad I just can’t. I can’t wait for next week – the episode HAS to be better than this.

The “reboot” can’t get here fast enough.

“Knight Rider” is coming back in January and things are going to be shaken up a bit as the cast changes and the show is “rebooted” to be more like the original series.

One BIG announcement for “Knight Rider” fans that slipped through the cracks on Christmas day. Peter Cullen, the voice actor who played KARR on the original series (you may also know him as Optimus Prime from Transformers) is returning to voice KARR in the 12th episode of the new show.

The episode description below gives all the details, including some MAJOR SPOILERS about the series. So beware.

TIME TO FIGHT BACK–Sarah (Deanna Russo) is not coping well with her father’s death and decides to leave town. Concerned, Mike (Justin Bruening) goes looking for her and in return gets the answers he has been searching for about his past. Meanwhile, the NSA has decided to dismantle the SSC now that Dr. Graiman (Bruce Davison) is dead and they can then move forward with KITT’s nemesis KARR. With Torres’ (Yancey Arias) permission they take out KITT’s (voiced by Val Kilmer) chip that contains his personality and memories and place it in KARR (voiced by Peter Cullen). Upset by what has happened, Mike, Sarah, Billy (Paul Campbell) and Zoe (Smith Cho) devise a plan to find where KITT has been taken and get him up and running and destroy the evil KARR once and for all.

NBC has apparently reduced the order of episode for “Knight Rider” from 22 to 17 according to Knight Rider Online. This is a huge blow to the production, and could very well mark the eventual cancellation of the series.

The show has never pulled in an amazing ratings number, but the series took a huge hit after it was interrupted for a week by Barack Obama’s political ad in the last week of Oct.

The series has never recovered from that loss, and unless an audience stumbles upon it when it returns in January – it is highly unlikely that we’ll see a season two.

The producer of the “Anaconda” franchise has let some information slip that should get “Knight Rider” fans excited. David Hasselhoff is currently starring in the next two Anaconda sequels. The two films were shot back to back recently, and the first one will be available on DVD soon (if not already).

According to the producer Hasselfhoff won’t be able to star in any more installments of the series, because he is returning to television as a regular cast member of the new “Knight Rider”.

Some have speculated that this might be something that will happen in season 2 of the show (assuming it gets a season 2) — but I don’t think that’s the case. If you look at the recent cast shake-up you’ll notice that all the older authority figures from the series are being axed. As it stands now there is no one to fill the “Devon” role on the show — the mentor figure.

It only makes sense that if the team behind “Knight Rider” are planning to a) stunt cast and b) reboot the show — that Hasselhoff is coming in to fill that all important role.

That’s just speculation on my part, but it seems like the only logical thing to do to keep the series afloat.

What do you think?

“I Wanna Rock and Roll All Knight” (S01e05)

Official Episode Description:

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.

Tonight’s episode was not a terribly good outing for the K.I.T.T. crew if you ask me. The entire episode focused very heavily on the budding relationships between Michael and Sarah, and Zoey and Billy. The terrorist of the week formula continued with a “Bonnie and Clyde” inspired duo who ran around the country blowing stuff up and putting it online.

Things got complicated when Michael and Sarah discovered that the woman in the duo was a Senator’s daughter, and that they weren’t allowed to shoot her. The episode played out with her getting arrested, then somehow hacking Knight Research and getting all their info. Then it be became a race the clock scenario where the team had to stop her before she uploaded all their information on the Internet.

All in all the episode was pretty uninspired. The villains this week were particularly annoying, and with the recent announcement that the show was going to be changing formats for the back 9 – it almost seems pointless to watch the shows leading up to that point. I realize that’s an over exaggeration, of course, but my main gripe is that this episode just wasn’t all that good.

I’ve liked most episodes of the series thus far, and I will stick with this show until it crashes and burns right off the air (if that happens) but tonight I just wasn’t digging it.

Fans of the new “Knight Rider” know that NBC has renewed it for a complete season. They also know that the the show we’re currently watching is nothing like the pilot we saw in Feb.

Now, it looks like the show we see during the back 9 of this season won’t be like the show we’ve seen thus far.

Why? Well – it looks like Bruce Davison, Sydney Tamila Poitier and Yancey Arias have all been dropped from the cast. “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.”

I’m not sure how this is going to work without someone in the Devon Miles role. It’s clear that they haven’t used Davison or Poitier much since the series started, so that’s not a big deal, but to drop all three of these cast members seems like it might be a mistake.

Either way, I’ll be watching, and I’m eager to see where the show goes from here.

(s01e05) Knight of the Hunter

Tonight’s journey through the Shadowy world of a man who technically doesn’t exist (I think) started out on a rough note. We were introduced to a very one dimensional “extremist” villain, and K.I.T.T. spent a good portion of the episode as a truck.

Add to that a terrible, awkward, and poorly acted Zoey/Billy sub-plot, and it looked like we had a real stinker on our hands. Luckily, the episode picked up substantially at the end of the first act, when we find out that most of the people involved weren’t who we thought they were.

The last 2/3s of this episode were 100 times better than the first 1/3 – and I sincerely hope viewers stayed with it, and enjoyed the episode. Overall I think this was the weakest episode of the series that I’ve seen thus far, and I sincerely wish Presidential discussion wasn’t postponing it next week (and “boo” if you want – I’m not saying Senator Obama’s tv time isn’t important – I just wish it was on Monday, Tuesday, or Friday so it didn’t interrupt my weekly dose of NOT dealing with the world.).

The more I see Zoey – the more she has to go. In “Knight of the Iguana” she went from annoying to slightly tolerable – but I literally had to skip through her “training” Billy session tonight. I just couldn’t stand it.

This show continues to grow on me – and as a fan of the original series I hate to say it — but I’m starting to like Ki3T better than the original. I really love that Mustang, and Val Kilmer is doing a great job as K.I.T.T.

Next week there will be no “Knight Rider” so check back in 2 weeks for another review.

In what’s sure to be great news to anyone who enjoys no-think-tv (and I mean that in a GOOD way) NBC has reportedly ordered a full season of the 2008 “Knight Rider” remake.

If you’re a regular here then you know how excited I am about this. I love “Knight Rider”. It’s not a show for critics, and the ratings haven’t been “out of the park”, but the show is doing well in its key demographics, and it’s just plain fun.

I don’t know about you – but I get sick of watching procedural cop shows, and generic (or offensive) sitcoms (”Two and a Half Men” I’m looking at you). “Knight Rider” is like a B-Movie in your home every week. If you love movies that star guys like Jason Statham, Wesley Snipes, Dolph Lundgren, and the like – then there is a lot to enjoy about “Knight Rider”.

I’m very much looking forward to seeing where they take the show from here.

(s01e04) A Hard Day’s Knight

Official Episode Description:
PIECES OF MIKE’S PAST ARE REVEALED AS A LETHAL POISON THREATENS HIS LIFE — When Mike (Justin Bruening) is lethally poisoned, he must fake the assassination of a billionaire tech mogul in order to secure the antidote. Bizarre hallucinations mark the return of the mysterious woman (guest star Paula Garces, “The Shield”) from Mike’s past with clues that may help him remember. KITT is voiced by Val Kilmer. Deanna Russo, Sydney Tamiia Poitier, Paul Campbell and Yancey Arias star. Smith Cho recurs.

Check back for a review shortly after the show airs tonight on NBC!