NBC's "Knight Rider" Promo Stills

Urgh! Now here's a show I won't be watching this fall. "Knight Rider." The 2 hours I spent sampling the backdoor pilot of the reimagined series NBC aired in February may have been my most excruciating viewing experience of the past TV season. Unless of course I take into account that reality piece of trash called "Moment of Truth" on FOX.


My good buddy Travis who watched the movie with me and agreed it was weak does think I am a little exaggerating, though.



I am hardly the target audience for this type of fare, so I suppose I am not the right person to judge. But I did think, to put it simply, the film sucked with a capital S. That however shouldn't stop me from posting promo stills of its hunky star Justin Bruening, should it now? Plus, I do looove the car.



For those of you who care, "Knight Rider" airs this fall Wednesdays at 8/7c on NBC, beginning September 24 (encore telecasts will air on Saturdays).

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NBC Orders "Knight Rider" to Weekly Series

NBC is expected to announce later today that it will turn the 2-hour February 17 "Knight Rider" movie into a weekly series which may air on Friday nights come fall.

Justin Bruening will continue to play the central character in the updated version of the 1980s classic starring David Hasselhoff.

The action drama will however get a new show runner and it will be conceived as a cross between the just canceled "Las Vegas" and "Fast and the Furious" movies.



The show would get an initial 13-episode order. If it continues to do well in the ratings it would get a full season order.

The backdoor pilot/movie scored 12.71 million viewers and its ratings steadily increased over the 2-hour time slot peaking at 13.12 million in the final half hour (which featured a special cameo by David Hasselhoff).

Personally I found the movie to be a hideous piece of mindless trash and a complete waste of 2 hours of my life, but there will always be an audience for this type of programming.

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Weekend Ratings: (2/15-17/08)

Were "Knight Rider's" wheels hot enough to justify a weekly series run on NBC? Did Showtime's "Dexter" generate killer ratings for CBS? And how did the season finale of "Las Vegas" (NBC) and the final pre-strike episode of "Brothers & Sisters" (ABC) do? Weekend ratings, after the jump.

NBC opened its Sunday night with a surprisingly poor performance for the season finale of "American Gladiators." The network wanted to give "Knight Rider" a little push by moving the final game to Sunday night, but the movie ended up exceeding its lead-in.

"Knight Rider" scored a high 5.0 rating among adults 18-49. Furthermore, people who tuned in apparently liked what they saw, as the movie peaked in the final half hour pulling in over 13 million viewers. That certainly is good enough to justify a series.

The debut of Showtime's "Dexter" on CBS though was nothing to write home about as the show scored a little over 8 million viewers. Keep in mind however the network repeated the series premiere episode which has been available on DVD since August.

Meanwhile, ABC's "Brothers & Sisters" continues to miss the lead-in support from those wacky ladies of Wisteria Lane. For the second week in a row, the drama pulled in some of its worst numbers since its debut in the fall of 2006.


FRIDAY:

ABC:
8:00pm Grey's Anatomy (R) (3.52 million)
9:02pm Desperate Housewives (R) (3.09 million)
10:02pm 20/20 (6.72 million)

CBS:
8:00pm Ghost Whisperer (R) (6.46 million)
9:00pm Celine Dion: That's Just the Woman in Me (7.53 million)
10:00pm NUMB3RS (R) (6.58 million)

NBC:
8:00pm 1 vs 100 (8.03 million)
9:00pm Las Vegas (7.97 million)

Fox:
8:00pm House (R) (6.82 million)
9:00pm House (R) (7.45 million)

CW:
8:00pm Friday Night Smackdown! (4.45 million)


SATURDAY:


ABC:
8:00pm MOVIE: Miracle (R) (3.96 million)

CBS:
8:00pm Jericho (R) (2.88 million)
9:00pm 48 Hours Mystery (4.17 million)
10:00pm 48 Hours Mystery (6.19 million)

NBC:
8:00pm Law & Order: CI (R) (5.23 million)
9:00pm Law & Order: SVU (R) (6.25 million)
10:00pm Law & Order (R) (6.79 million)

Fox:
8:00pm Cops (6.14 million)
8:30pm Cops (6.77 million)
9:00pm America's Most Wanted (6.53 million)


SUNDAY:


ABC:
7:00pm America's Funniest Home Videos (8.95 million)
8:00pm Extreme Makeover: Home Edition (13.5 million)
10:00pm Brothers & Sisters (8.50 million)

CBS:
7:00pm 60 Minutes (12.40 million)
8:00pm Big Brother 9 (6.73 million)
9:00pm Cold Case (9.62 million)
10:00pm Dexter (R) (8.15 million)

NBC:
7:00pm American Gladiators (7.30 million)
9:00pm MOVIE: Knight Rider (12.70 million)

Fox:
7:00pm Daytona 500: Overrun (11.87 million)
7:30pm King of the Hill (R) (5.08 million)
8:00pm The Simpsons (7.81 million)
8:30pm King of the Hill (6.46 million)
9:00pm Family Guy (7.23 million)
9:30pm American Dad (5.35 million)

CW:
7:00pm CW Now (673,000)
7:30pm Everybody Hates Chris (R) (721,000)
8:00pm Everybody Hates Chris (R) (1.06 million)
8:30pm Aliens in America (R) (920,000)
9:00pm Girlfriends (R) (861,000)
9:30pm The Game (R) (792,000)

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NEW "Knight Rider" Movie Premieres Sunday

NBC's iconic 1980s television classic "Knight Rider" returns Sunday night at 9/8c for one night only. Justin Bruening stars; David Hasselhoff makes a special guest appearance; and Val Kilmer provides the voice for a re-engineered and retooled KITT.



Hasselhoff starred in the original series as Michael Knight from 1982 to 1986. He will return as the same character in this movie.

Daytime star ("All My Children") and former fashion model Bruening previously appeared on "Cold Case" and "CSI: Miami." He stars as the estranged son of Michael Knight, Mike Traceur.



The movie is a backdoor pilot, which means NBC may opt to turn it into a weekly series next season if it does well in the ratings.

The new customized KITT (Knight Industries Three Thousand) Ford Mustang will be presented as the coolest car ever created, capable of actually shifting shape and color.

During the telecast NBC and Ford will give viewers the chance to win one of four new high-tech Ford automobiles, including the grand prize - a 2008 Ford Shelby GT 500 KR worth $79,995.

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New "Knight Rider" Movie Premieres February 17

NBC has announced that an all-new version of the iconic 1980s David Hasselhoff series "Knight Rider" will premiere Sunday, February 17 as a 2-hour movie event. "All My Children" hunk Justin Bruering stars.

The updated sequel will feature the new customized KITT Ford Mustang which will be unveiled to reporters at NBC's Burbank Studios today.

David Hasselhoff, who starred in the lead role as Michael Knight for four seasons returns as the same character in a special guest-star appearance.

Bruening stars as a jaded 23-year-old ex-Army Ranger Mike Tracer who helps a 24-year old Stanford Ph.D candidate Sarah Graiman, a victim of an abduction attempt.

NBC will air movies and specials (as part of its strike schedule) on Sunday nights in early 2008, including

"The 65th Annual Golden Globe Awards" (January 13),
"The Guinness Book of World Records - Live!" (January 27) and
"Top 100 Most Outrageous Moments" (February 10).

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NBC to Re-imagine "Knight Rider" & "Robinson Crusoe"

Following the success of Sci-Fi Channel's "Battlestar Galactica" (NBC's sister cable network) as well as encouraging premiere ratings for "The Bionic Woman," new NBC boss Ben Silverman has decided to greenlight two new projects tapping into classic (meaning: pre-sold) stories of "Knight Rider" and "Robinson Crusoe."

"Knight Rider" will be a made-for-TV movie which will also serve as a backdoor pilot for a new series if the ratings are good enough.

The show’s iconic talking car KITT will get a special effects makeover as it takes on Transformer-inspired "shape-shifting" evil cars. Producers consulted major car firms to create a new state-of-the-art machine.

The network has also ordered a 13-episode series based on the classic Daniel Defoe tale of "Robinson Crusoe" which will be produced by a British company.

"Crusoe" will be a high-end project with the budget of $35 million, but it will cost NBC only $10 million, as the rest will be covered by a British partner.

This way NBC gets a 13-episode high-end series for the price of a good pilot ("LOST" pilot, for example, cost ABC $10-12 million to produce).

The principal character will be played by a British actor and the filming is expected to take place in Australia.

Although set in the 18th century, "Crusoe" will be re-imagined with a 21st century take on race relations and a MacGyver-like character who will be making handy tools and devices out of common items.

Will these shows copy the success of "Battlestar Galactica" or turn into a disaster like "Flash Gordon"?

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