Wednesday, January 7, 2009
Friday, December 5, 2008
Knight Rider:The Beginning of the End
By Brad Trechak,Tv Squad
December 4,2008
It's looking like yet another new series is going to quietly fade away. The new Knight Rider show has halted production in what is likely the beginning of the end for the sequel of the 80's series of the same name.
The number of shows ordered by NBC has been ordered has been lowered from 21 to 17. The creators probably won't even have time to change the scripts, so I predict the season (and likely series) finale will end on an awkward note.
This is what happens when you don't have David Hasselhoff as the star of the series that made him famous (well, that and Baywatch). They couldn't even get back William Daniels as the voice of KITT (although you could still buy the GPS). Even a cameo by the Hoff in the television movie pilot couldn't save the series.
So fans of the series (both of you) face the inevitable lack of renewal. While no official announcement has been made, I'm sure the complete series will be available on a DVD set very soon. You'll find it on the shelves pretty close to the Bionic Woman set.
Read more!
Friday, October 31, 2008
Bad economy leads to odd pickups.Crisis helps low-rated shows land full-season orders
By James Hibberd,Hollywood Reporter
October 26,2008
Sarah Connor might have the struggling economy to thank for not being terminated.
Industry observers say the recent cluster of low-rated shows granted full-season orders might have something to do with network executives watching the plunging Dow rather than their shows' falling Nielsens.
No execs would talk on the record, but the economic crisis, combined with the cost of marketing a new series, the lack of new programming inventory because of the WGA strike and the anticipated difficulty of locking down new advertiser commitments, has networks inclined to play it safe.
"Most years there would be more cancellations than there have been to date," said John Rash, senior vp/director of media negotiations at Campbell Mithun. "But the dual dynamics of schedule stability keeping ad dollars in place is combining with delayed programming development from last season's writers strike."
NBC's "Knight Rider," ABC's "Private Practice" and Fox's "Terminator: The Sarah Connor Chronicles" recently received orders for an additional nine episodes apiece. Such a move typically indicates a network's confidence in a show's performance and signals the inclination to keep a series on the air for the duration of the season.
But all three shows have posted modest ratings in recent weeks, with "Knight Rider" and "Terminator" having numbers that in previous years would have resulted in cancellation.
The most obvious reasons for the pickups are that many series this fall are doing poorly, and these shows are performing among the best of the worst. Networks are loath to exit the fall without at least one series to tout as a success. Plus, the writers strike, as Rash noted, has delayed quality midseason replacements. And with ratings declining overall because of increasing DVR penetration and audience erosion to cable networks and the Internet, the bar for success keeps being lowered.
But the added element of economic worries this fall makes picking up low-rated shows potentially more attractive, too.
An August survey by the Association of National Advertisers reported that the majority of marketers expect their advertising budgets to be reduced in the next six months.
Once a show is canceled or moved, advertisers have the option of getting their investment back. So even if a drama series is pulling a meager rating, why risk having to resell a time period?
"The way the economy is going, there might be cutbacks in regard to advertising," said Brad Adgate, vp research at Horizon Media. "And there's always frustration from advertisers when shows get pulled too quickly, but if advertisers exercise their options to get out, it would be because of the economy."
Also, the economy directly impacts networks as well as their advertisers. NBC Universal recently announced that the company would trim $500 million from its budget. Given the cost of producing and marketing a new scripted series, NBC Uni might have a greater temptation to give a show like "Knight Rider" more time to find an audience.
"From the networks' standpoint, they're loath to cancel since the cost of finding something to replace a show may not be worth it," said Shari Anne Brill, vp and director of programming at Carat. "And advertisers still prefer to be in a quality scripted series to an inexpensive reality show," she said, adding, "I'm in the camp that believes it's a mistake for an advertiser to disappear during a recession because you need the consumer awareness so sales won't grind to a halt."
So far, the networks' doubling down on the bubble shows has had mixed results. "Terminator" and "Knight Rider" hit season lows after their pickups. But last week, "Practice" showed some life, perking up 15%.
Read more!
Tuesday, August 26, 2008
Tuesday, July 29, 2008
Knight Rider (2008)-TCA Report
Co-executive producers Doug Liman and Dave Bartis brought in Thompson, who was a writer for The Fast and the Furious movie franchise, after the two-hour movie was picked up as a series, to bring in a little juice. His goal is to make the show as "fast and furious" as those movies. To that end, he's expanded the cast to create a whole team of people to support Mike Traceur and KITT. Thompson said they'll work from a headquarters called the "KITT cave."
By Joel Keller,Tv Squad
July 22,2008
Imagine for a second that Comic Book Guy from The Simpsons was hired to run a television show. Now imagine that the television show was a remake of an old favorite. Sounds like it would make for a pretty impatient press tour panelist, right? Well, that's what we got with Gary Scott Thompson, the new show-runner for Knight Rider.
Thompson answered most of the questions on the panel, and his message to everyone was: remember that two-hour KR movie that aired last year? Forget all about it. The characters may be the same but the story is completely different. What went on before probably won't matter for much. Even KITT is a little different.
"The idea is to assemble a whole team," said Thompson, somewhat dismissively to a question about the additional cast members. "And it's going to get pretty boring in today's age to watch a guy in a car talk for 43 minutes. No offense to anyone, but we live in an age where you have seen Mission: Impossible, Bourne Identity, the new Batman movies, Iron Man, and the audience wants that, and they are looking for that."
One of the first indications that the movie doesn't matter came when I asked about the scene in the movie when Sydney Tamila Poitier's character wakes up after what seems to be a one-night stand with another woman. Thompson said they haven't explored her sexuality in the series, and Liman continued by essentially belittling my question: "You know, he could take what he wanted from it, but to really feel free to explore his imagination. And having sat in the writers' room with them, the stuff that he's managed to come up with for the episodes that are, you know, the first eight episodes are so imaginative. A question like that almost feels small."
Well, sure it's a small question, but the scene in the movie seemed so gratuitous -- it essentially was a beacon saying "this isn't 1983 anymore" -- that it stuck in a lot of viewers' minds. Poitier told the critics that when she saw the scene in the movie she didn't think it was "a big deal," and that's a great thing. Sure, if they explored it more, it wouldn't have. But it just seemed so thrown in there, it looked like it was put there just to prove something. Anyway, good to see that they're starting from scratch at this point.
KITT is going to be a little different, too, and not just because they upgraded his looks. "The character KITT is evolving. And we've mapped out through 13, through 20, through -- into a second season, actually, already and
what this character is. If I told you everything, I'd be giving up the entire season. But I will pose this question to each and every one of you. Why would you put artificial intelligence into a car? And that's the question we asked ourselves, and it has a bigger answer."
Other tidbits:
Tuesday, April 1, 2008
Tv news:Knight Rider,Boston Legal
-After the TV-Movie pilot received strong ratings this February, NBC has greenlit the new Knight Rider as an ongoing series to debut this fall, says Variety. It's possible the show will be given a Friday night timeslot when NBC announces its fall schedule at their Upfront presentation this coming Wednesday.(IGN.com)
- Boston Legal is going to move to Wednesdays at 10pm starting the next day, April 30 (the show will run in its regular time slot when it returns from the strike hiatus on April 8 and then move to Wednesdays on the 30th).
This is only a temporary change though, for three weeks, until its season ends in late May. Then, Men In Trees takes over that Wednesday time slot. And because I know you probably have a headache from reading about this particular time shuffle, I won't go into what's going to happen with the regular Friday night slot that Men In Trees usually finds itself in."(Tv Squad)
Friday, February 22, 2008
Knight Rider (2008 pilot)
Last summer i saw Knight Rider 2000 (tv movie released in 1991) and i also may have seen few minutes of some episodes a long time ago.So,my knowledge about the original Knight Rider is not accurate.
Knight Rider is a television movie that serves as a backdoor pilot for a potential new Knight Rider series. There are references to the original series,but there also changes to some plot elements.This film completely ignores the alternate future and plot changes from the Knight Rider 2000 film.David Hasselhoff briefly appears towards the end.Although it certainly had flaws,this tv movie/pilot was entertaining and i am looking forward to how it'll develop into a series.
The movie averaged a viewership of 12.8 million viewers.
Note :nice car! (i am referring to the Ford Mustang GT500KR a.k.a KITT).
For more information http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Knight_Rider_%282008_film%29
Opening Credits
