The Remote Island

Top Ten New Shows: #10 - "Knight Rider"

Posted by Bryan Christian


The new fall season is almost here. Starting next week, the cable and broadcast networks will begin rolling out their new shows to see if they take off like castaways on an island or singing casino managers. Here, then, are the top ten new shows we're most looking forward to seeing.

 

Back when we used to write for our sister blog Scanner, we subjected ourselves to the 2 hours of 2004-Maxim-back-of-book-style misery that was the Knight Rider reboot movie. And we stand behind what we said back then: should have made the new Michael Knight a woman. Then NBC could have gotten some new school, Galactica-style reboot juice AND had an excuse for the girl-on-girl action they only hinted at -- furtively, immaturely, and repeatedly -- in the backdoor pilot.

But, of course, they didn't. They went with some boring guy from a soap, and then even worse, they lost Will Arnett as the voice of K.I.T.T., and had to go with Val Kilmer, who God love him is still basically coasting off of Top Secret. (Well, come on; it was that good.)

Now, let's be clear: this doesn't make us upset or angry, certainly not as angry as this guy, because we've never considered the Knight Rider franchise to be sacrosanct or what-have-you. We're just a little steamed that we're not gonna get credited those two lost hours -- and however much we spend watching the reboot series -- the next time we buy a Mustang, considering how much Ford is backing this new show.

That all being said: even though we're not expecting much from the new KR series -- even with Gary Scott Thompson, former showrunner for our guilty fave Las Vegas, at the helm -- we've totally got to see it, if only to smell the smoke when it goes down in flames. Do we hate ourselves a little for that? Mmmm... could be. But dammit, if we don't keep Val Kilmer and America's car manufacturers solvent, who will?

Knight Rider (Wednesdays at 8PM EST) premieres Wednesday, September 24 at 8 PM EST.

 

TOP TEN NEW SHOWS 2008

#1. "Fringe"
#2. "True Blood"
#3.  "90210"
#4. "Life On Mars"
#5. "The Mentalist"
#6. "Sons of Anarchy"
#7. "Do Not Disturb"
#8. "Eleventh Hour"
#9. "Kath & Kim"
#10. "Knight Rider"


Comments

No Comments

About Bryan Christian

Bryan Christian has worked as a writer for Epicurious, GenArt and ID magazine; a web producer for WWD and Condé Nast; and a cameraman for his friends. He's married and lives in Clinton Hill, Brooklyn.

in

Archives

  • May 2009 (163)
  • April 2009 (356)
  • March 2009 (396)
  • July 2008 (226)
  • June 2008 (240)
  • May 2008 (25)
  • about the blogger

    Bloggers


    Lindy Parker has worked as a ghostwriter, editor, dance instructor and a purveyor of dreams, one beer at a time. She loves Charles Dickens and Gabriel Garcia Marquez and also, straight-to-video releases with Mary-Kate and Ashley Olsen. It's possible she reads more teen fiction than she should. She hails from Los Angeles, her hometown and soul mate, but she lives in Brooklyn, the fling she'll never forget.

    Olivia Purnell left Ohio for sunny Los Angeles; then found that she couldn’t ignore New York City’s call, and brought herself to Brooklyn where she has worked with GenArt, BlackBook, the School of American Ballet, and finished an M.A. in Creative Writing from N.Y.U. She loves one-liners with sting and hates the stench of the subway in the summer. That said, she can’t get enough of either.

    Jake Kalish is a freelance journalist and humorist whose work has appeared in Details, Maxim, Stuff, New York Press, Spin, Blender, Men's Fitness, Poets and Writers, and Playboy, among other publications. He is also the author of Santa vs. Satan: The Official Compendium of Imaginary Fights.

    Contributors


    Ben Kallen is an entertainment, health and humor writer who's been lectured to by Sidney Poitier, argued with by Lea Thompson and smiled at by Jennifer Connelly. He's the coauthor of The No S Diet and author of The Year in Weird, along with hundreds of magazine articles. He lives near the beach in Los Angeles, just like the gang from Three's Company.

    Nicole Ankowski has lived in Ohio, Oakland, and on the high plains of South Dakota, but is now proud to call Brooklyn home. She wrote for alternative weekly papers in the first two states, and tried to learn Lakota in the last. (The vowels can be tricky.) She just earned her MFA in Creative Writing and has been published in Beeswax literary journal. She is unable to resist good writing or bad TV.

    Send tips to remoteisland@nerve.com