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Thanks to my insomnia and On Demand by Cox, I got to watch the series premiere of Knight Rider a week early. Though I saw the original pilot movie some months ago, I was completely surprised by what I saw on this second take for the series. It was crazy, almost campy, and loaded with cheesy 80′s action. In other words, it was perfect viewing for four o’clock in the morning and I gotta say, I liked it.
Let me preface any more remarks by saying that I’m a HUGE fan of what I consider to be the gold standard of 80′s action shows, The A-Team. You know how in that show they were always getting into these enormous firefights with the bad guys, flipping cars, blowing stuff up and yet no one ever got hurt — Knight Rider is like that. It’s Chuck meets The Dukes of Hazzard and instead of running from the cliches of the era, they’re running toward them and I find that incredibly refreshing.
RETOOLING THE PILOT
Executive producers Doug Liman (“Mr. and Mrs. Smith,” “The Bourne Identity”) and Gary Scott Thompson (“Las Vegas,” “The Fast and The Furious”) are pretty smart cookies. They took the criticism of the earlier pilot film to heart and made some major changes. In the first pilot, Mike Tracer (Justin Bruening) was a jaded ex-Army Ranger who was brought in by childhood friend Sarah (Deanna Russo), a Stanford grad, help protect her father and KITT.
The plot was very ‘you and me’ against the world and it plodded along at a fairly slow clip.
Not so in the new pilot, dubbed “Knight in Shining Armor.” (And it looks like all of the episodes will have Knight names — I love that.) This time around, Mike and KITT are backed-up with a whole Batcave full of computer equipment and technicians. What they did minimally on Bionic Woman, they do here to the nth degree.
The special effects here really are the stars of the show. From KITT’s ability to transform into a variety of modes and the virtual environment of the KITT cave, it’s like Barnum and Bailey was the production designer — or at least Irwin Allen. My favorite little trick was watching computer geek Billy Morgan (Paul Campbell) “throw” computer images from a table top display up on to vertical displays around his station. And can we talk for just a moment about the stunt driving team? Knight Rider is a show about a car, so you know it’s going to be loaded with chases, close calls and hairpin turns and these guys make it look easy.
Okay, now stop. I can hear some of you out there snickering. And one guy is actually screaming at his computer saying that I’m off my rocker. I get it — it’s not West Wing. It’s not Lost. It’s not even Chuck because it lacks the witty writing. But I say, not all TV has to keep your mind working overtime. I love Fringe, but I come away with a headache, same for Sarah Connor. Not so, here.
TROUBLE IN THE KITT CAMP
Let me point out the trouble spots before you dub me totally insane.
Plot. It sort of has one. In an effort to hit the ground running, the episode opens with Mike and Sarah at a swanky party where the goal is to steal “The Package” and a set of computer files and get out before security notices. If they ever said why any of this was important, I don’t remember, so there’s that.
The unexpected (for Mike and Sarah) twist comes when a mysterious woman and her comrades (in the 60′s they all would have had Russian accents) chase after Mike in order to “get Mike,” not “The Package” as you would assume. But why? What do they know that we don’t? That Mike has a secret in his past, something he did back when he was a solider? That is apparently a big part of the new story arc and it’s mildly intriguing but since this is really a show about a car, it’s all just a MacGuffin that allows them to do really cool things with KITT while he’s being chased.
Trouble spot number two: the bad guys fire a weapon at KITT which engulfs the car in a nuclear flame that will eventually broil Sarah and Mike (who are inside the car) and destroy the KITT Cave and everyone in it if they attempt to get home. Get ready for cheesy 80′s twist. The rising temperatures inside the car force Sarah and Mike to strip down to their underwear so we can have a typically awkward sexual tension moment between our two heroes. You gotta love it.
Trouble spot number three: the continuous use of bad green screen driving effects. On the other hand, when you’re talking crazy 80′s TV, these obvious green screen shots are sort of part of the joy, aren’t they?
THE MEDIUM IS THE MESSAGE
When it comes right down to it the new Knight Rider is one joke away from being The Middleman. It’s almost a parody of 80′s action shows but not quite. And I’m not sure if that helps or hurts.
Me? I enjoyed a full hour of implausible action with a charming, cute hero and neat special effects. Did I come away from it enriched or deep in thought about man’s inhumanity to man? No. But like I said earlier, does every show have to come with a message?
I’ve got a message for you straight from KITT, “don’t worry, be happy.”
Knight Rider premieres on Wednesday, September 24 on NBC but you can see it right now on Hulu.com and OnDemand through a variety of cable providers.
NBC Photo: Mitchell Haaseth
That car is a spyker. i don’t know the model or anything, but it’s a spyker which i think is eastern european or something.
I loved the show. This is the first episode which i think had to have a lot of information crammed into it to start off the series.
I have been searching everywhere – Does anyone know what kind of car the little blue sportscar from the first episode of Knight Rider is?
1234 days ago
[...] had a chance to see “The Knight in Shining Armor” episode (read a review here) and while I won’t say it’s the best new show out there (Fringe on FOX is pretty [...]
Thanks for the review!
Yeah, it’s like Dukes of Hazzard. When I was 10 I thought it was the greatest show ever created. I watch it now and have to laugh.
Between Knight Rider, Dukes and Transformers your 80′s show almost had to have a car as a central character to stay on the air.
Are you people serious? the original show just as hokey as this one, just calm down and have sip of Cognac.
I just watched it and I think the show is a complete train wreck.
The special effects are so horribly done I don’t even know where to start. The turbo boost sequence in the beginning looks so god aweful that I can only imagine the art team killed themselves after putting together the final cut (I blame the producer or whoever forced the animation team to create such drivel).
As someone already mentioned, the green screen effects are another low point.
The transforming effects are so-so although I bet GM likes the ability to advertise more than one car every show.
I just rewatched the first episode of the old series for comparison and you know what – it’s better – way, way better.
Part of the charm of the original series that is lost in the upate is that it was just one guy and a few friends against the world (the same thing works for Batman). Also, the effects in the first series are actually better in some ways. The fact that they had to actually drive through concrete (flour filled) walls made it look real. So far, the CG in the new series fails to live up.
Maybe this is all a ruse and the Kittcave and all of its stereotyped denizens will get destroyed by an evil government plot and Michael and a few others will have to go on the run or something. God only knows, anything would be better than the way it is now.
T.W.
You said it very well!
I had thought with the two hour event that they might have been on to something. And was really looking forward to this new series. But regrettably, I was let down…
My jaw was dropped open during the late night viewing of episode one, as I could not believe how campy it was done. Why did they revamp the design of the mustang… It got riced out! And please blue glowing neon everywhere for a spy car? Even on the interior? Come on! Also what’s with the 80’s plasma ball for Kitt…
I just feel bad for the show, it could have been so much better…
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I do prefer the original Galactica, so I’d say that explains everything.
What drugs are you all doing? First of all, the two-hour backdoor pilot was WAY better than this whippetshit. I keep reading how people found it “boring.” Well, I’m guessing these are the kind of mouth-breathers who still prefer the original Battlestar Galactica to the new, far more intelligent incarnation. At least the pilot was able to suspend my disbelief. This show was just terrible, on every level. From acting worse than any informercial (unless they were striving to be unbelievable and unconvincing) to moronic plot twists (like anything short of total facial reconstruction will hide Mike Traceur/Knight if he’s going to be out in the field) to outright ludicrous “science” (really…a missile that targets a specific individual?!?! And before you say “DNA”, how does making people believe he’s dead going to solve THAT one if these people spot him and launch some more napalm-on-steroids).
Here’s betting (no, wait…hoping is more like it) that this show lasts even fewer episodes than the revamped Bionic Woman (which I actually liked, if it could have just figured out what direction it wanted to go). Better yet, let’s hope that this internet version is a red herring and that the REAL pilot gets shown this Wednesday…one that doesn’t insult people’s intelligence.
it’s not bad and it’s not good. there are far worst thing on television. the original show was not that great either, if it had been shown now it would not have last long. Both show are the same, you are looking at the original thru the eyes of a child.
Michael, I don’t think I’ve ever seen a full episode of the original and I don’t know why. I’ve seen clips, I have a total visual of The Hoff and KITT and William Daniels’ wonderful voice, but I can’t remember ever seeing an episode.
So, no, I’m not comparing. As for generic –yep, that’s what I liked. I liked that it looked like a cut out from the 80′s.
As for not expecting the show to go beyond one season — I think you’re being generous. As much as I thought it was fun, I don’t expect it to last a full season. I’d bet on Knight Rider to be gone by January 1.
Obviously this reviewer wasn’t a devotee of the original “Knight Rider.” While this new show is infinitely better than the pilot, it lacks any emotional connection to the original series. It feels like an all-around generic secret-agent action show; the music is generic, the set is generic, the background characters are generic. It’s clearly being driven by a certain “look” that executives want, instead of being driven by an evolution from a very successful original series. I don’t expect this show to last beyond one season in its present state.
Cyn – Thanks for the great review! I’ll look forward to seeing this, and agree that sometimes it’s nice to just have a fun, campy show that doesn’t require a lot of brain power.