The classic 1982 action series
Knight Rider got a stylish new update this past February, with NBC updating the show to what is literally "the next generation". David Hasselhoff's classic character of Michael Knight gave way to Michael Traceur (or "Tracer", depending on which NBC document you look at). The new hero is played by Justin Bruening, and the K.I.T.T. car was updated from the "Knight Industries Two Thousand" to the all-new "Knight Industries Three Thousand". The new car uses nano-technology to provide a solar-conversion nanomorph skin, which can harden anywhere on K.I.T.T.'s surface to provide bullet-proof armor, and change appearance temporarily to "morph" into other cars or colors. The A.I. neural network must be active to provide these abilities, though.
Is the new K.I.T.T. still a Pontiac Trans Am that sounds like William Daniels (
Boy Meets World)? No; it's now (usually) a Ford Shelby GT500KR Mustang that's voiced by Val Kilmer (the
Batman/Top Gun star took over at the last minute for
Arrested Development's Will Arnett, when Ford Motors found out Arnett lent his voice to competitor General Motors in the past, and feared confusing viewers with comparisons).
This time we get to actually meet the man behind K.I.T.T.'s technology - both the 2000 and 3000 version of the vehicle. Bruce Davison (
X-Men, X2) plays Charles Graiman in the pilot telefilm, and Deanna Russo plays his daughter Sarah...who's also been involved with Traceur in the past. Sydney Tamiia Poitier (yep, Sidney's daughter) plays FBI agent Carrie Rivai. Bruening (Traceur), Russo (Sarah Graiman) and Poitier (Ravai) are all confirmed to be returning for the revamped show's regular series debut this fall, with continued involvement from original
Knight Rider creator Glen A. Larson, and regular Executive Producing duties carried out by Gary Scott Thompson (from the recently-canceled NBC series
Las Vegas...which is ironic, since that show's Montecito Casino had a "cameo" appearance in this past February's pilot telefilm).
With the new regular
Knight Rider series kicking off on September 24th (per the info
posted by our colleagues at TVGuide.com), Universal has this morning announced that the
Knight Rider telefilm leading into the revamped show will come to DVD on
September 9th. Running 81 minutes long, the disc will also come with several extras:
- Audio Commentary Featuring Executive Producer David Bartis, and Stars Justin Bruening & Deanna Russo
- Featurette: The Icon Reborn
- Featurette: K.I.T.T. - From 2000 to 3000
- Featurette: Knight Rider - Legacy
- Previews
The main feature will be presented on the DVD in Anamorphic Widescreen, with English Dolby Digital 5.1 Surround and English Subtitles. Cost is $14.98 SRP. Package art isn't available yet, but stay tuned and we'll bring it to you just as soon as we can!
