Sun Oct 12, 2008 — by Robert Greenberger

'Knight Rider', 'Sarah Connor' Both get Script Orders

Thursday Night British Remakes Score Well with Viewers

Much to our collective surprise, NBC has ordered four additional scripts for the revival and reviled Knight Rider. According to The Hollywood Reporter, the series’ ratings have been somewhat encouraging after a few airings.

Meantime, producers of Fox’s Terminator: The Sarah Connor Chronicles, report they too have reason to be hopeful.

On the show’s official blog, they wrote: “Because so many of you, our most devoted fans, have been asking, we wanted to set the record straight!

“While the fate of the show past production on episode thirteen is still unclear, FOX has given us the go-ahead to write two more additional episodes for this season — fourteen and fifteen.

“We are hard at work writing those episodes and await news of a potential pickup for the full ‘back nine’ (additional episodes to complete the season) in the near future. We’re crossing our fingers (and dotting our i’s) that we’ll have more good news to share with you soon…

“In the meantime, keep tuning in! Get your friends interested! And thanks for all of your support.”

Meantime, its companion series, Fringe, has been given a full-season pick-up.

Last Thursday night, ABC debuted its adaptation of Life on Mars, opposite CBS’ adaptation of Eleventh Hour. Much has been made of both shows’ pilots being almost shot for shot remakes of their British counterparts.

According to the Hollywood Reporter, “None of this stopped viewers tuning in with all the shows scoring strongly in the overnight ratings despite a real mixed bag of reviews ranging from the scathing to the glorious.”  This also includes NBC’s Kath and Kim, remaking an Australian sitcom that received horrendous reviews from coast to coast.

“Though fourth in its timeslot, the show did grow from the 4.6/7 rating lead-in of My Name is Earl. This is very shaky ground however and coming weeks, not to mention the word of mouth, will determine if it will stay on the schedule,” the paper noted.

Eleventh Hour was second in the competitive 10 p.m. slot, following Life on Mars. Some concern was raised over the new series losing half the audience from the previous show, CSI. In third was NBC’s ER, now in its final season.

Of the shows debuting Thursday night, the best reviewed, and cast, was Life on Mars. “Audiences seemed to dig it though with the pilot scoring a 8.2/14 rating - winning its timeslot and coming third for the night. Better yet it managed to maintain over 80% of its lead-in audience from Grey's Anatomy,” the trade noted.
 

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