Knight Rider drives into Indian TV screens

Think of David Hassellhoff and the first things that come to your mind will be one of these two - Baywatch or Knight Rider. The result depends a lot on whether you are a babe guy or a car guy. Let's pay attention to Knight Rider as it's the one which belongs in this blog. The 1980s TV series on a crime-fighting duo - Michael Knight (David Hassellhoff) and his sentient talking car (KITT), was an instant hit. So much so that it has witnessed reruns on channels around the globe. A total of three TV movies and a spin-off series (Team Knight Rider) followed suit. In India, DD picked it up quite early and later Star World took over the wheel. As producer Glen. A. Larson envisioned, Knight Rider was about a modern day knight who fought crime. It was more like a western with a cow boy-like protagonist as far as charm and attitude are concerned and a hi-tech car instead of a spirited horse.

In 2008 NBC resurrected the franchise with a new cast and more tech-laden concept. David Hassellhoff was replaced by soap opera pretty boy Justin Bruening and the iconic Pontiac Trans Am, justifiably was replaced by a new Ford Shelby GT 500 KR Mustang. Bruening played Mike Traceur, son of Michael Knight. The 2 hour pilot episode garnered enough rating to approve a full-fledged season. Though purists did complain about the missing charm of the old series, the lacklustre performances by the actors and of course the selection of Val Kilmer (Batman Forever, Top Gun) over William Daniels as Kitt's voice, the makers and NBC launched the new series in September 2008.

Despite the abundant use of special effects and the move to make KITT more sophisticated than a Transformers robot, the series does lack the simplicity and fails to keep the attention of the viewer. Kitt has a new-look super pursuit mode which I must say often makes it look uglier than the cars featured in BBC Topgear Carbage section. It's absolute garbage.
The new Kitt borrows a lot from the Transformers movie with its instant transformation tricks as it shape shifts to other Ford vehicles. Over-the-top product placement from Ford. Unlike the good old Kitt, the new machine is a weapons specialist. Guns, missiles, EMP, laser, everything that will feel at home in a Star Trek battle ship, lurks under its panels. The signature Turbo-boost which launches the car to a short leap over hurdles is back too. But the scenes are nowhere near the ones from the original series which stunned you with the realism. The base got bigger too as now Kitt relaxes at Kitt-cave, a rip-off of Bat-cave and a specially designed cargo plane instead of the trailer truck does the pick-up and drop duties.

Seriously, I never wished any of this to happen. I am probably one of the biggest fans of the original series and I'd love to see Hoff and Kitt with their buddy talks, hi-speed runs and the final drive, to the sunset with that brilliant theme score in the backdrop. Knight Rider is out of place in this age. Regardless of all the tech, transformation and the espionage acts the new edition fails to deliver and fails to match the adorability of the real cast, crew and themes. It's one of those series which belong in that age. It shouldn't be fiddled with, but has to enjoyed in all its original glory.

The new Knight Rider airs on Star World from June 18. The one hour show will be telecast every Thursday and Friday at 10 pm.