Tagged: Knight Rider

#SDCC: World’s Smallest Parade Thrown for David Hasselhoff (with video)

#SDCC: World’s Smallest Parade Thrown for David Hasselhoff (with video)

International superstar actor reality-tv judge drunk semi-naked hamburger eater, David Hasselhoff, worked the crowds of thousands hundreds dozens in attendance as he strutted his stuff to promote his next TV hit show The Hasselhoffs. Hoff, who hasn’t been seen since his YouTube starring role as “drunk idiot that quit “America’s Got Talent” too soon” (but he’s beloved in Germany folks…) walked the streets amidst a police escort behind a few mock KITT’s, dancing Baywatch cheerleaders, and a bus wrapped to promote the upcoming A & E reality show, whilst the crowd was pelted with the PA version of the Knight Rider theme and a few of Hoff’s hits covers.

David Hasselhoff can be seen soon at his upcoming Comedy Central Roast on August 15th, led by his emcee, Fox’s only living creator Seth “I have 3 shows and only 1 set of jokes” MacFarlane. If this isn’t a sign of the impending apocalypse folks… I don’t know what is. Go ahead, and watch the video clip for proof of the impending doom and downfall of civilization itself.

Final Season of ‘Voyage to the Bottom of the Sea’ Due in March

Final Season of ‘Voyage to the Bottom of the Sea’ Due in March

Escape on another Voyage To The Bottom Of The Sea as Season Four, Volume One submerges onto DVD March 31st from Twentieth Century Fox Home Entertainment. Based on Irwin Allen’s action-packed 1961 film Voyage To The Bottom Of The Sea, the television series chronicles the adventures of Admiral Nelson (Richard Basehart: Knight Rider), Captain Crane (David Hedison: License To Kill, The Young and the Restless) and the fearless crew of the notorious SSRN Seaview as they embark on uncharted waters full of sci-fi espionage, action and suspense. Featuring the first 13 episodes from the final season on a three-disc set, Voyage To The Bottom Of The Sea Season Four, Volume One boasts the re-cut, unaired pilot, interviews with Hedison and still photos. This unsinkable set will be available for the suggested retail price of $39.98 U.S./$54.98 Canada.

Synopsis:

As this ground-breaking action-adventure series went into its final season, the unparalleled genius of producer Irwin Allen kicked into creative overdrive, resulting in some of the greatest science-fiction television of all time. From rampaging gorillas and diabolical puppet masters to time-travelling androids and interplanetary kidnappings, this is the show that defined the genre, setting new standards for suspense, vision, and imagination. Now, join Admiral Nelson, Captain Crane and the rest of the crew aboard the Seaview, the Earth’s most powerful nuclear submarine, and dive deep into the unknown in this penultimate volume of Voyage to the Bottom of the Sea.

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NBC Trims “Knight Rider’

NBC Trims “Knight Rider’

NBC wound up trailing the other networks by a day with their midseason announcements.  Among the details is the coveted post-Super Bowl slot going to an hour-long episode of The Office.

The following day, February 2, Chuck will air it’s 3-D episode and Heroes kicks off its new volume.

According to The Hollywood Reporter, NBC has reconsidered its commitment to the underperforming Knight Rider.  Early encouraging ratings prompted the peacock network to give the show a full season pick up.  Ratings flattened once people realized the show wasn’t very good.  The producers trashed half the cast but ratings tumbled before the revamped episodes could air and now the order has been cut back from 22 to 17 with the season and likely series finale set for February 25.

After 15 years, ER closes its doors to new cases on March 12 with a two-hour finale that is said to be filled with flashbacks throughout the years to acknowledge the ever-changing cast. The following week, Kings from Michael Green, will debut with a two-hour opening installment.
 

The Ex ‘Ex-List’

The Ex ‘Ex-List’

After poor reviews and worse ratings, CBS has given up on the Elizabeth Reaser-starring vehicle The Ex List.  The Friday night dramedy, based on an Israeli television series, was a creative problem for the network.  Show runner Diane Ruggiero left the series when it was clear she and CBS couldn’t agree on a direction. Rick Eid replaced her but his efforts hadn’t aired in time to change its fortunes.

The series averaging just 5.3 million viewers, according to Variety, driving viewers away after its more successful lead in, The Ghost Whisperer, and keeping people away from Numbers. As a result, the show has been removed from the schedule with a rerun of NCIS in its place this week.

With only four episodes aired but ten filmed, the network may bring the series back at a later time.  This is the first hour-long dramatic series to be canceled after the failures of two reality series, Fox’s Hole in the Wall and ABC’s Opportunity Knocks. The first sitcom to go was Fox’s Do Not Disturb.

It is not a good season for the freshman series with most receiving tepid ratings and none being a clear breakout hit or pop culture sensation. Several such as 90210, The Mentalist, and Knight Rider have already received full season pick ups showing patience and faith on the part of the networks.
 

‘Knight Rider’ Continues Riding

‘Knight Rider’ Continues Riding

Despite poor ratings and widely disparaging reviews, NBC’s Knight Rider reboot has gained a full season pickup. Nine additional episodes have been ordered by NBC, reports Entertainment Weekly, paving the way for a full season of the ’80s inspired series.

Knight Rider originally existed in the ’80s as a David Hasselhoff television series focusing on a nearly murdered police detective who turns into a high tech crime fighting vigilante. In the original series, William Daniels voiced a talking automobile named KITT, standing for Knight Industries Two Thousand. Daniels is most popularly known as Mr. Feeney on Boy Meets World.

In February 2008, a Knight Rider television movie was released to serve as a backdoor pilot for a relaunch of the series. The reboot focuses on Mike Traceur, the son of David Hasselhoff’s character from the original. Val Kilmer provides the voice for KITT, even though Will Arnett was initially cast as the loudmouthed vehicle. The Arrested Development star ultimately pulled out due to a conflicting interest with General Motors.

Is anyone watching the new Knight Rider? Is it any good? Does it deserve the full season pickup, or should it be offered up to that old junkyard in the sky? You tell us.

The CW, meantime, has ordered two more scripts for its drama Privileged which is good news for the show which is hampered by the limp 90210 reamke as a lead in.

Surprise! ‘Knight Rider’ not 1st to be Canceled

Surprise! ‘Knight Rider’ not 1st to be Canceled

For those betting on Knight Rider being the first cancellation of the new season, you lose.  Despite the critical and ratings drubbing the premiere episode received this week, the honor of first to face the axe is Fox’s Do Not Disturb which is now off the schedule.  While not officially canceled, all signs point to the sitcom not coming back.

An additional episode of the somewhat funnier ‘Til Death will round out the schedule until further notice.

Review: Knight Rider Premiere

knight rider nbcIn an attempt to make up for NBC’s flop of a reboot last year with [[[Bionic Woman]]] comes the new and improved [[[Knight Rider]]] which is like the original series, but with a revamped KITT, a younger cast, a brand new back-story, and fantastic special effects, this show has the potential be a win for NBC’s fall lineup. Many will be going into this “pilot” with some hesitation after February’s TV movie (which was technically the pilot), due to the fact that the show lacked in story structure, was full of WB-level acting, and gave work to David Hasselhoff. Happily, this episode fixed many of those issues and made the hour mildly entertaining.

The story from the original movie is that terrorists go after and “kill” scientist Charles Graiman (Bruce Davison) who helped work on the supercar Knight Industries Three-Thousand, or K.I.T.T. (see what they did there?), which drives away to find Graiman’s next of kin; his daughter Sarah (Deanna Russo). They meet up and Sarah decides to go to her old flame for help, a renegade army ranger named Michael Traceur (Jason Bruening) who is in his own heap of trouble with a whole “the-government-erased-my-brain-not-unlike-in-[[[The Bourne Identity]]]” plot of his own going on. By the end of the movie, Michael decides to become an agent for the newly reformed Foundation (an updated version of the original show’s F.L.A.G.) and drive KITT permanently.

This first episode takes off right in the middle of the action, as main characters Michael and Sarah are on a James Bond-style mission when Sarah gets kidnapped and Michael and KITT go after her, when they learn that these mystery men were actually after Michael and what he “knows”. This triggers the running theme of the episode, as everybody is trying to obtain clearance levels that they don’t have. Lots of shtupping going on for one episode, as there is presumed sexual tension between Sarah and Michael, and also between some other nondescript characters back in what can only be described as the KITTcave.

The KITT effects are easily the coolest part of the show so far. With essentially a Transformer voiced by Val Kilmer, it’s a pretty good answer to the “futuristic” car we got in 1982. There are some great uses of modern special effects where the car can turn into a pick-up truck—and back again—without crushing the passengers inside! Granted, this makes the show basically a weekly 40-minute commercial for Ford, but it is still pretty cool for any fan of the original series who wanted more than a bunch of cool [[[Dukes of Hazzard]]] jumps and William Daniels.

The bad points: there are some very cheeky moments back at the “base” with the wacky super nerds (a stereotype NBC seems to love) throughout the show, which comes across as incongruous for the show’s dynamic. Three-quarters of the show consisted of shadowy government types, as the overall story of the first episode was the death of Michael Traceur and the birth of Michael Knight, which was originally helmed by Michael’s father, Hasselhoff.

The biggest weakness for the show by a stretch is certainly the amount of different elements that the show tries to cram into 40 minutes. With that said, there is still plenty of action to keep you entertained, but add that in with the government mystery storyline, Michael finding out who erased his memory and why, the “Sam & Diane” storyline between Sarah and Michael, the plucky sidekicks, a unnecessarily dominant Sydney Poiter (the daughter, not Mr. Tibbs) and the dry wit of Val Kilmer as KITT, it becomes too much to keep track of. Each element on it’s own would make for great B-story to go along with the weekly spy thriller of the show, but cramming all of this in at once only proves to be confusing and hard to keep straight. The show certainly has potential to make it farther than last year’s Bionic Woman, but may have trouble keeping it up for more than a season unless they can find some solid structure, drop a few secondary storylines, or at least bring Will Arnett back as K.I.T.T. RATING: 7/10

NBC Freshens Viral Experience for new Shows

NBC Freshens Viral Experience for new Shows

The season premier for Heroes is Monday and NBC promises their website will feature more micro-sites.  These specialized areas are promised to delve into secrets revealed on air, plus more graphic novel material, more cast commentaries and more webisodes beginning in December. In October, a special heroes vs. villains social network launches.

Meantime, the paperback edition of Saving Charlie, the sole Heroes tie-in novel, is also now on sale. DC’s second collection of Heroes webcomics will be out November 19 and collects all the comic material based on the second season.  Creators for the 272-page collection include Joe Kelly, Steven T. Seagle, Duncan Rouleau, Christopher Zatta, Mark Sable, Mark Warshaw, Christine Boylan, Chuck Kim, Harrison Wilcox, Pierluigi Cothran, Jim Martin, Timm Keppler, DJ Doyle, Staz Johnson, Michael Gaydos, Tom Grummett, Ryan Odagawa, Jason Badower, Travis Kotzebue, Marcus To with a cover from Gene Ha.

Hoping to generate good will for the remake of Knight Rider, NBC is offering the ability to investigate the back stories of some of their favorite characters, play an all-new KITT game and interact in Attack KITT and the KITT cave.

The peacock network has also freshened the Office website as the Dunder Mifflin Infinity social network will feature new branches, new tasks and new prizes. Additional new features include Meredith’s blog, Angela and Andy’s wedding planning microsite, a Serenity by Jan microsite and a second installment of webisodes slated for November debut.
 

NBC and Apple Kiss and Make Up

NBC and Apple Kiss and Make Up

NBC released an announcement indicating their problems with Apple and iTunes are over. Beginning immediately, their top 10 programs will be available for download and season passes can be purchased for most of their series. This applies not only to the Peacock network but its USA Network, SCI FI Channel, Bravo, Sleuth and NBC News channels as well. Oxygen, Telemundo, Mun2 and NBC Sports will be added later.

With the debut yesterday of iTunes 8, the shows will be available in standard ($1.99) or HD ($2.99) formats. Older series can be seen for $.99 each while some can be had for free. Among these shows will be The A-Team, The Alfred Hitchcock Hour, Miami Vice, Kojak, and the original Battlestar Galactica.

NBC Universal is offering one free episode from each of their top series, available in either SD or HD, on the iTunes Store for the next two weeks. The premiere episodes of upcoming series, such as Knight Rider, My Own Worst Enemy and Kath & Kim will be available on iTunes a week before their broadcast premieres later in September and October, with subsequent episodes available the day after broadcast.

The Super-Hero Car, by Dennis O’Neil

The Super-Hero Car, by Dennis O’Neil

When we last looked in on our intrepid, tv-watching old guy – that’d be me – he was waiting to treat himself to the premiere of Knight Rider, a remake of an old series.

 
Okay, I watched it.
 
I can’t really compare it to the original, which aired at a time in my life when television had a very low priority. The episode I do remember seeing annoyed me, just a bit, I think, because he talking car seemed to be as much a – brace for a pun – deus ex machina as…oh, say, the shafts in Green Arrow’s quiver or the items in Batman’s tiny utility belt compartments; whatever the hero needs, that’s what’s there. But, as noted, I was never a real Knight Rider watcher.
 
Having made that confession: the show I saw last Sunday didn’t seem to be awfully innovative. The one blatant updating was that one of the good guys was a gay, black woman, a character who probably would not have appeared on network television during the original Knight Rider’s heyday.
 
And that talking car? Pretty nifty, I have to admit – similar to the original, but a bit improved. For example, it changed colors at the twiddle of a dashboard thingy, which brings us to the aforementioned Batman.
 

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