Theres a new Knight
February 16th, 2008, 5:50 am Hobbies Ideas
Earlier this week, KSL morning weatherman Grant Weyman responded enthusiastically to an NBC promotion of the upcoming “Knight Rider” remake. NBC is revisiting a “classic” TV series, he said.
Remake? Yes.
“Classic”? Absolutely not.
(Hey, Grant, I promise not to try to forecast the weather if you refrain from reviewing TV shows.)
The dictionary defines “classic” as “a work of art of recognized and established value.” And as “a thing that is memorable and a very good example of its kind.”
With the possible exception of “memorable,” the original “Knight Rider” doesn’t qualify in any way.
Unless, perhaps, it was classically preposterous, classically lightweight and classically dumb. It was sort of a live-action cartoon.
“Knight Rider” (1982-86) starred David Hasselhoff as a policeman who suffered a near-fatal gunshot wound to the face. He was rescued by a dying millionaire, Wilton Knight, given a new face, a new name and a new car the Knight Industries Two Thousand, or KITT for short.
KITT was a talking, thinking Pontiac Trans Am that could go 300 mph, leap through the air and had all sorts of weapons and super-cool gadgets attached.
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The late Brandon Tartikoff, who led NBC to huge success in the 1980s, once told California magazine that “Knight Rider” grew out of a conversation he had about how hard it was to cast handsome leading men because so many of them can’t act.
Tartikoff jokingly suggested a show called “The Man of Six Words,” which would begin with the leading man getting out of a woman’s bed and saying, “Thank you.” Then he would chase after villains and yell, “Freeze!”
The people he saved would thank him and he would reply, “You’re welcome.”
The rest of the time, the car would do the talking.
Kids loved “Knight Rider” exactly because it was a silly cartoon without animation.
Fun? Yes.
“Classic”? Absolutely not.
As for the remake, which airs Sunday at 8 p.m. on Ch. 5, the two-hour TV movie that’s also a trial balloon for a new series wasn’t made available to critics for review. And we all know what that means.
NBC didn’t want us to review it.
That’s a pretty clear indication that the new “Knight Rider” won’t go down as a classic, either.
CBS HAS ANNOUNCED when we can expect to see new episodes of its series and how many episodes of each will be coming our way. This soon after the end of the Hollywood writers’ strike, however, it’s all still a bit tentative.
Here are the anticipated return dates and the number of episodes that are planned:
March 17: “How I Met Your Mother” (9 episodes); “The Big Bang Theory” (9); “Two and a Half Men” (9)
March 24: “CSI: Miami” (8)
March 30: “Cold Case” (5)
April 2: “Criminal Minds” (7); “CSI: NY” (7)
April 3: ” CSI” (6); “Without a Trace” (6)
April 4: “Ghost Whisperer” (6); “Numb3rs” (6)
April 8: “NCIS” (7)
April 11: “Moonlight” (4)
April 14: “Rules of Engagement” (6)
“Shark” is also going back into production on four more episodes, but those have yet to be scheduled.
CBS also pointed out that “Shark,” “The Unit” and “Cane” are “on previously announced hiatus to accommodate the midseason launches” of “Dexter,” “Big Brother” and “Jericho.”
NBC RENEWED “Heroes,” “Chuck” and “Life” for next season, but not until then.
So no new episodes until the fall, when all three will have a “major relaunch.”
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