For those of you that keep your fingers on the pulse of television, this is probably extremely old news. For me, however, this is a new revelation.
NBC is working on producing a new made-for-TV movie based on the Knight Rider series. This time around, KITT will be inside the body of a brand new Mustang Shelby GT (this particular model is still apparently a concept, and has not been released to the general public, yet). David Hasselhoff will be reprising his role as Michael Knight.
Really, though, who cares whether “The Hoff” is going to be in the show or not? The real star of the show was William Daniels; the voice of KITT. For those of you that have not seen the show, you may also know him as the venerable Mr. Feeny from ABC’s hit “TGIF” show “Boy Meets World”.
He will not be voicing the new incarnation of the super car, though. Instead, noted b-list comedian/actor Will Arnett will be trying to fill his shoes. That’s just wrong. Will anyone watch a Knight Rider without William Daniels spouting his signature “Michael”? Wouldn’t that be kind of like watching 2001: A Space Odyssey with Jim Carrey voicing HAL? It just doesn’t seem like it will fit.
Unfortunately, there will be a few other notable actors missing from the “reunion”, too. Edward Mulhare, who played Devon Miles, the man who made sure everything went according to plan, died in 1997, so I don’t think he’ll be making any sort of cameo in the movie. In addition, Patricia McPherson, who played Bonnie Barstow, the female mechanic that took such good care of KITT, is not listed in the credits for the upcoming movie.
From the sounds of it, the only original cast member who will be appearing in the movie is David Hasselhoff.
On the plus side, however, the list of characters on IMDB includes an actress I’ve never heard of named Meggan Anderson, who will apparently be playing “Hot Girl” in the movie. In addition, Sydney Poitier will be appearing in the movie. Unfortunately, it’s the Oscar-winning actor’s daughter, not the legend himself.
Still, with the huge vacuum left in television by the writers’ strike, I will probably end up tuning in.
For any gearheads out there, if you’re interested in comparing the specs of the classic Trans Am that was originally used as the body for KITT and the new Mustang that will replace him, you can check out the blog entry on Popular Mechanics that originally hipped me to the fact that there’s going to be a new Knight Rider movie.