Another New Knight

I wasn't really what you'd call a huge fan of the original series, although I certainly watched it fairly regularly, and I distinctly remember sitting down to watch the premiere episode with my family back in 1982. But, as you may have noticed, I've been rather nostalgic lately for the television shows of my teen years, and I must admit to a certain eagerness to see the latest incarnation of Knight Rider, which airs tomorrow night on NBC.

Let's face it, the idea of a lone crimefighter with a super car is just a friggin' perfect idea. It's so compelling a concept, that there have been three previous attempts to revive the Knight Rider franchise: Knight Rider 2000 (1991), Knight Rider 2010 (1994) and Team Knight Rider (1997). There was even a fairly popular syndicated show in the Nineties that lifted the premise wholesale: Viper. And now, they're trying again.

This one's another TV movie/backdoor pilot and stars Justin Bruening as Mike Traceur, apparently the son of David Hasselhoff's Michael Knight from the original series. The voice of KITT (originally the "Knight Industries Two Thousand" and now the "Knight Industries Three Thousand") is provided by Val Kilmer, replacing the great William Daniels (much to my wife's dismay). The new KITT is a 550 HP Ford Shelby GT500KR Mustang rather than the Pontiac Trans-Am. It does appear to still have that awesome Cylon eye, though.

I don't expect much, although, obviously, I hope it's fun. It's executive produced by original creator Glen Larson and Doug Liman, who produced the great Bourne films, so there's hope.

I'll let you know what I think tomorrow night.