\”Knight Rider\” (2008)

This probably won’t come as a shock for many but it does seem Knight Rider has officially been canceled. However networks are now airing their completed episodes instead of pulling them immediately so the show’s season (and series) finale will air Wednesday, 2/25. Unless by some form of ratings miracle I think it’s safe to say it’s gone. Low ratings have prompted NBC to trim Knight Rider‘s order from 21 episodes to 17.

NBC will completely overhaul its Knight Rider continuation.

The show, recently granted a season order by NBC, will drop three of its cast regulars – Sydney Tamiia Poitier, Yancey Arias and Bruce Davison – and draw more parallels with its ’80s predecessor.

Showrunner Gary Scott Thompson told The Hollywood Reporter: “It’s a reboot. We’re moving away from the terrorist-of-the-week formula and closer to the original, making it a show about a man and his car going out and helping more regular people, everymen.”

NBC has given a full-season order to Knight Rider.

Decision late Monday repped the Peacock’s first back nine pickup this season. Network’s sibling Universal Media Studios is the producer.

Knight Rider’s pickup wasn’t a foregone conclusion. An update of the famed 1980s series, the new Knight Rider began as a highly-rated TV movie last season, but hasn’t fared as well since returning as a regular series.

First off, we’ve just switched servers. This transition could take up to a day for some visitors overseas. But when it’s fully resolved everything should be in working order, if not please contact me.

Second, I want to apologize for the lack of updates. I honestly have had little motivation here, in addition to being very busy and having other commitments at the moment. I will try to be better and if not, I will decide what I’m going to do with this site. While I adore Sydney, I really wish their was projects I looked forward to. But that isn’t the case at the moment, but I will wait out a little longer.

Here is a trailer for the new series, sadly no Sydney.

More reports have come out from Comic-Con, the current being from IGN. It sadly states Sydney missed the entire panel due to traffic. :depressed:

The panel for Knight Rider was held this morning at Comic-Con. It seems there was some problems with some of the cast scheduled to appear (I’m not sure if Sydney was one) but this report goes on to say that due to traffic, some scheduled didn’t show up for about 20 Minutes. I’ve still not found many reports about the show as of yet (but there has been a lot of breaking news to sift through) so I expect there to be a little more tomorrow. I hope to find a few snaps of Syd too! Here is a bit of what went down, courtesy of Entertainment Weekly.

It’s no surprise that Gary Scott Thompson, the guy behind The Fast and the Furious, is the showrunner for NBC’s upcoming reboot of Knight Rider. And it’s a good thing, too, because the man had nothing to do with the two-hour TV movie/backdoor pilot that aired on NBC in February — you know, the one that prompted little or no excitement from those who loved the original 1982 series starring David Hasselhoff.

I have wonderful news! Miss Sydney will be at my *biggest* dream destination, the annual San Diego Comic Con 2008 for another year in a row! Last year she helped bring the hype for Grindhouse and this year it will be all about her new series Knight Rider. I really hope we’ll get some pictures and news coverage from this tomorrow! I hope some fans will go out and support the show at the event.

Thursday July 24 – Hall H (11:45-12:45) Room 6A
Knight Rider: First Look at the New Series and Q&A with Cast and Executive Producers

On the heels of NBC’s hit sequel movie based on the iconic 1980s television classic, Knight Rider has been reinvented as a supercharged action series showcasing the new KITT (Knight Industries Three Thousand). Be the first to see exclusive footage from the new series. Moderated by Television Week deputy editor/columnist Josef Adalian, who participates in a Q&A session with executive producer/showrunner Gary Scott Thompson (The Fast and The Furious, Las Vegas); executive producer David Bartis (Heist, The OC); and the cast: Justin Bruening (Cold Case), Deanna Russo (NCIS), Sydney Tamiia Poitier (Veronica Mars), Paul Campbell (Battlestar Galactica), Yancey Arias (Kingpin), Bruce Davison (X-Men) and Smith Cho (Blades of Glory).

Also a little while ago Sydney attended the Television Critics Association summer press tour in Los Angeles for the show. She also attended the NBC All-Star Party in LA as well. I am currently on the look out for pictures of these events.

And finally here is an interesting article talking about the fate of Sydney’s character Carrie Rivai’s sexuality. While at the press tour, reporters were interested to know if her character would still be lesbian, as was strongly implied in the two-hour television movie that aired in February. “We haven’t explored her sexuality at this point,” executive producer Gary Scott Thompson said at first. If she remains bisexual, Carrie Rivai will be one of only two lesbian/bisexual women of color on all of prime-time scripted television this fall. The other character is Dr. Callie Torres (Sara Ramirez) on ABC’s Grey’s Anatomy.

Currently they are shooting the third episode of the series, and Rivai’s personal life has not yet been addressed. “It isn’t an issue because it hasn’t been related to any of the story lines that we’re doing,” said executive producer Dave Bartis, who spoke to AfterEllen.com after the press conference. Bartis also worked on the TV movie.