The original 1980s Knight Rider, as featured in Look-In. Art by Barrie Mitchell
Variety has reported that US broadcaster NBC is bringing back Knight Rider, the show created by Glen Larson starring David Hasselhoff that was such a success for them between 1982 and 1986.
Taking a leaf from the recent Transformers movie, expect the show to perhaps include “evil” cars doing their best to destroy a man and his indestructible supercar.
NBC is already at work on a two-hour pilot written by Dave Andron, which may air later this US tv season, produced by director/producer Doug Liman, whose credits include films such as The Bourne Identity and The Bourne Ultimatum and TV series such as The O.C.
Variety says Liman is open to the idea of directing the TV movie, assuming his feature schedule allows.
If ratings for the TV movie are good a new-model Knight Rider could be on the air as early as next autumn, with the TV Movie seen as a good drop in during a break in screenings of shows such as Heroes or The Bionic Woman on NBC this year.
The success of Transformers had a role in inspiring NBC Entertainment chief Ben Silverman’s decision to revive Knight Rider, executives apparently now confident smallscreen effects have advanced to the point where it would be feasible to have a weekly series in which cars shift shapes.
While there’s talk of “evil” cars to battle the heroic talking K.I.T.T. car of the original series, which starred David Hasselhoff, the new series will stay true to the original show, centring on a single man fighting for justice with the help of his super advanced car.
Expect major merchandising opportunities: NBC is already talking to car manufacturers about providing K.I.T.T. and the original show spun off plenty of product, including Look-In‘s Knight Rider comic strip whose creative team often included Barrie Mitchell.
Let’s just hope the new Knight Rider is better than its previous spinoff Team Knight Rider which first aired in 1997. Although that wouldn’t be hard…
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The founder of downthetubes, which he established in 1998. John works as a comics and magazine editor, writer, and on promotional work for the Lakes International Comic Art Festival. He is currently editor of Star Trek Explorer, published by Titan – his third tour of duty on the title originally titled Star Trek Magazine.
Working in British comics publishing since the 1980s, his credits include editor of titles such as Doctor Who Magazine, Babylon 5 Magazine, and more. He also edited the comics anthology STRIP Magazine and edited several audio comics for ROK Comics. He has also edited several comic collections, including volumes of “Charley’s War” and “Dan Dare”.
He’s the writer of “Pilgrim: Secrets and Lies” for B7 Comics; “Crucible”, a creator-owned project with 2000AD artist Smuzz; and “Death Duty” and “Skow Dogs” with Dave Hailwood.
Categories: downthetubes News, Other Worlds, Television
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