Knight Rider Returns, In A Ford?

although i was obsessed with knight rider back in the day, i do believe that tonight was the first time i had ever seen a 'new' episode. the show was originally on from 1982-1986, years that i really don't remember much of; i did, however, used to watch it after school just about everyday with my childhood friend frank. we never missed it, even though it was reruns. so i was beyond excited when i saw that kitt was making a return on primetime!

kitt of the new millenium

tonight's 'movie premier' was an interesting sight. besides the fact that it felt like a two hour ford motor company commercial, it had several other subtle characteristics that helped make this knight rider part of the new millenium. nbc also took the liberty of plugging their other show, 'las vegas,' as kitt rolled up to the montecito in vegas. subtlty #1.

fords, fords, fords

throughout the show, but especially noticable during the several highway car chases, the only visible vehicles were ford motor company products: fords, mazdas, jaguars and land rovers. even the huge dumptrucks were old fords. but luckily, the two hour ford commercial was broken up by a ford mini-series of commercials during the actual commercial breaks. the term 'brainwash' comes to mind. i wish i had $1 for ever ford vehicle in the episode; i'd be a millionaire. the one exception to the fordian brainwash, was the 'bad guys,' driving a chevy, of course.

homosexual undertones

another interesting addition to the show was the lesbian couple that opened the pilot. the character played by syney poitier's daughter, wakes up with a woman who demands breakfast, before the credits even ran. no other mention to that. real subtle nbc, nice job!?! then during one of the mini-soap opera moments of the ford commercials, kitt is speaking to mike about a date that he's going on and randomly asks him if he is 'homosexual.' real subtle, again.

a few things missing...

as great as it was, overall, there were just a few things missing. things that made knight rider so cool in the first place.
1- it's hard to watch kitt as a mustang. although the new kitt is pretty darn pimpin,' the trans am just screamed 'curly mullet.' maybe if we're lucky, we'll see him in an episode down the road, as they did mention him; maybe he'll be broken down in a garage somewhere or something.
2- the ultra-cool tractor trailer that kitt always rolled out of backwards was missing. they did have a huge plain that he pulled his signature move out of in the end, but again, it's just not the same.

the hoff

lucky for us, the one, possibly most important thing, that was not missing was the hoff. he made his, pesumably one of many, cameo appearances in the last 15 minutes of the commercial, i mean show. surprisingly, he wasn't flaunting any chest hair. if i had any doubts about the show being a continued success, they all vanished the minute dave, as i like to call him, hit the screen.

looking forward to the season to come, as i'm sure you are as well...

EXPERIENCE+CHANGE=2008