New Knight Rider Series: Holy KITT or Pile of…

by Chad Lakkis on September 24, 2008 at 3:43 pm

So I check out the site today and see that our NBC Knight Rider ads have gone live. Depending on your location you may or may not see them. In fact, if this write up ticks off NBC execs, there is a pretty good chance that no one will be seeing them.

I remember seeing commercials a few months ago for the pilot of sorts and thinking to myself “that might be cool” and “too bad they aren’t using the voice of Mr. Feeny“. Why is it that I want the voice of K.I.T.T. to be that of an actor born in 1923? Because that is who did the voice in the 80’s when the show first aired. This brings me to my point about a show like this.

Many critics are bashing the show, calling it one of the worst things on TV. In my opinion, a show like Knight Rider is for kids, not critics. From what I remember, the original series didn’t cure cancer, but it did have every kid wanting a talking car — I sure did.

Back then, the idea of a talking car was amazing. You went from watching Dukes o Hazzard (another favorite of mine) to Knight Rider, and (minus Daisy Dukes) the jump in vehicle technology is “holy shit!” The General Lee still had the better horn though. No one can argue that.

Now a days though, it seems like every car has a built in nav system that not only orders your food for you, but tells you how to get there and pick it up. Some cars can even park themselves. I for one believe that KITT directly and indirectly inspired some of the things we see today in vehicles, but the fact of the matter is that the idea of a talking car today is less astonishing than it was 20 years ago.

I will be watching the show tonight, but I will reserve judgment on it until after I speak to my two cousins (both under the age of 13) and ask them what they thought of it. After all, while I will likely enjoy the show (because I am a kid at heart) it is my belief that the show is targeting their demographic more than it is mine.

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