Comments (3)

By Richard Hamilton, September 29, 2008 7:18 pm

Another one of my childhood TV staples has been resurrected. Despite the absence of the Hoff, Mr. Feenie’s voice and the Trans Am. In spite of the terrible two-hour made for TV movie. Against all odds, I managed to be excited about the return of Knight Rider as a series. I know that puts me in the vast minority or TV viewers, but I was truly excited.

Let’s dispense with the bad news first. The dialogue was cheesy, the plot was thin, and most of the characters were forgettable. No one should be surprised by this; I know I wasn’t. The same criticisms could be launched against the original show, (along with 99% of shows form the 80’s for that matter). Face it. Options were limited. Americans were bored. The car was cool. We still watched. Today, however, this is a much graver crime.

I also thought some of the effects were thin in this new Knight Rider. KITT jumps?? Not well. And the napalm-like bomb…what was that all about?

And I’m not sold on the new storyline either. Michael Knight’s “estranged” son, Mike Traceur, played by former soap star Justin Bruening, lost part of his memory in Iraq. (Apparently not the how to kick butt part.) His past comes back to haunt him in the middle of a mission and his FBI watchdog fakes his death. Of course, he now takes on his dad’s name (that seems like a good cover) and returns to the covert business of international hardcore-ness.

Now, I’m not a prude, but the sexuality of this episode seemed a little forced and unnecessary. Okay, a lot forced and not at all necessary to move the story along. I guess they thought that would attract a few more views.

With all of that out of the way, the good stuff. KITT looked good. The Cobra was tough. The transformations were great (even the truck…it was all very slick). I’m looking into getting an attack-mode kit for the Volvo.

I haven’t given up hope; you can’t judge a series by its premiere (we can collectively agree to ignore the two-hour “special,” can’t we? and pretend this was the very first we had seen of this new Knight Rider). Honestly though, NBC needs to kick Knight Rider up a notch. Today’s audience won’t tolerate shallow characters, cheesy dialogue, and meandering plots…at least not for long. Just ask disenchanted Lost fans. Let’s be open-minded and give it a few episodes and see where Knight Rider takes us.

I wonder how Germans feel about Justin?