What We Love & Hate About Knight Rider
Let’s face it – the new Knight Rider, though greatly anticipated by science fiction fans and Ford enthusiasts alike, is somewhat disappointing. I mean, if America’s Got Talent beats them in ratings (or was it Dancing with the Stars, or Biggest Loser?) you know Mike Tracer and the Val Kilmer voiced KITT may not be around much longer. We like the show here at Fordpedia…but we also hate it. What type of relationship do they call that again? Have a look at our top pros and cons of the new Knight Rider on NBC.
Knight Rider Pros
Obviously, we love all the Ford vehicles featured in the new Knight Rider series. The star is a Ford Mustang GT500 KR (King of the Road, not Knight Rider) which transforms into a technologically advanced Super-stang, as well as a Ford F-150 FX4 Pickup. All of these vehicles (though one is bordering on ugly as sin) are voiced by the talented Val Kilmer. Kilmer brings a dry, intelligent and witty side to the Knight Industries Three Thousand.
The series also prominently features many Ford vehicles – both as the rides of heroes and villains. Ford’s Flex and other concepts have been used in both the TV movie and in the series pilot.
One positive we can all agree on about Knight Rider – even those non-Ford fans (savages!) – is the abundance of half nude cast members. Men and women can enjoy the guaranteed topless and underwear clad male and female, straight and bisexual characters on each episode.
Knight Rider Cons
As we said – we love the fact that KITT, in all their forms, always looks beefed up with both top of the line computer graphics and the latest in military and automotive technology. The down side – it looks like NBC has used all their budget for each episode on KITT. This leave human cast members secluded to one-shot takes and badly lit, poorly designed sets. In the first five minutes of Knight Rider’s one hour premier episode, Mike can be seen running down a white, non-descript hallway while talking to KITT (which looks like he is talking to himself). The entire scene looks as if it was set up and executed by the high school audio video club.
Budgeting not only harms the look of a series, it can bring down the story. If you can’t afford good writing or script editing, your show may be on the fast track to cancellation. Already in the second episode we find Mike and KITT trying to go undercover in a prison to help break someone out, or find someone for information, or…well to be honest we are really not sure what’s going on in this episode.
And sadly, even series executive producers have commented on the over-abundance of Ford vehicles in the series. Fords are great, but not every car on the planet is produced by the motor company. Suspension of disbelief is needed when you watch a scifi action series, but you have to give the audience some credit. We haven’t seen product placement this hardcore since all the Chrysler/Dodge vehicles on Viper.
As the season continues and the budget (hopefully) grows, fans will see an improvement of Knight Rider, and the new Ford Mustang GT KITT will keep on cruising, keep on fighting…because one man can (if given enough cash) make a difference.
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