NBC have been conducting a press tour to promote their latest shows, and yesterday saw the Knight Rider panel. The result was some interesting soundbites and hints of what to expect when the show returns in the Fall.
Network Executives Ben Silverman and Marc Graboff spoke about the relationship between the show and the Ford Motor Company:
Graboff: “If there’s too much product integration, we don’t even like to call it ‘product integration’… we’re trying to integrate it more organically with the show, in a way that is organic to the show, something that advertisers are comfortable with and the showrunners, more importantly, are comfortable with. And which the viewers are ultimately comfortable with.”
When asked if they went too far with February’s TV movie, Silverman said, “Well, it’s about a car, ultimately… that was the star of the show.”
Showrunner Gary Scott Thompson revealed that he was given carte blanche to fabricate his own world. Though the basic characters from the movie will remain, certain character backstories will change. The lesbian subplot with Sydney Tamiia Poitier’s character Carrie Rivai may be altered. There are also new characters who will help to maintain the car by working in what Thompson calls the K.I.T.T. Cave.
Thompson added that he has a long-term mythology plan for the series through at least two seasons which is based on the origins of K.I.T.T. He posed one question that he promises to answer throughout the series: “Why would you put artificial intelligence into a car?”
In response to rumours circulating on the Internet, there are no plans for Thompson to bring characters from Las Vegas onto Knight Rider (“it would be unfair to the fans of both shows to do that”), but Knight Rider fans will be pleased to hear that David Hasselhoff might make an appearance later in the season.
NJ.com – Day in the Life of a Press Tour
Oregon Live.com – NBC Execs with Cameo from Leno