Nov 6, 2008

You Can Rest Easy at Night

Yes, it lacks the unique acting talents of David Hasselhoff, former high school classmate of Driving Today’s managing editor, yet the new version of the TV series Knight Rider captures a great deal of what made the original series what it was. Now you will no doubt be pleased to learn, NBC has revealed it will pick up nine additional episodes of its freshman drama series, airing Wednesdays, 8-9 p.m. ET, which amounts to a full-season order for 2008-09. The happy announcement was made by Ben Silverman, co-chairman, NBC Entertainment and Universal Media Studios.

“Gary Scott Thompson and the great cast and crew of Knight Rider continue to deliver fun, action-packed adventures every week,” Silverman is purported to have said. “Kitt [the car] and Michael will continue to travel across the country on their fun escapist ride, pursuing bad guys and saving the day.”

On the heels of NBC’s hit TV movie of the same name, the iconic 1980s television classic came roaring back to life as a reinvented, updated and supercharged action series showcasing the new KITT (Knight Industries Three Thousand), now a Ford Mustang instead of a Pontiac Firebird. KITT can not only talk, which is cool enough, but it (he?) is equipped with “AI” (artificial intelligence) that is capable of hacking almost any system, except perhaps the Boston public school system. Its weapons systems match that of a jet fighter; its body is capable of actually transforming into other vehicles; and it uses sophisticated holographic imagery to elude villains, just like the aforementioned Mr. Hasselhoff. With all this going for it, Knight Rider is averaging a 2.4 rating, 7 share in adults 18-49 and 7.4 million viewers overall so far this season in “live plus same day” averages.