Knight Rider returns

Variety has reported that US broadcaster NBC is bringing back Knight Rider, the show created by Glen Larson that was such a success for them between 1982 and 1986.

Taking a leaf from the recent Transformers movie, expect the show to perhaps include "evil" cars doing their best to destroy a man and his indestructible supercar.

NBC is already at work on a two-hour pilot written by Dave Andron, which may air later this US tv season, produced by director/producer Doug Liman, whose credits include films such as The Bourne Identity and The Bourne Ultimatum and TV series such as The O.C. Variety says Liman is open to the idea of directing the TV movie, assuming his feature schedule allows.

If ratings for the tv movie are good a new-model Knight Rider could be on the air as early as next autumn, with the TV Movie seen as a good drop in during a break in screenings of shows such as Heroes or The Bionic Woman on NBC this year.

The success of Transformers had a role in inspiring NBC Entertainment chief Ben Silverman's decision to revive Knight Rider, executives apparently now confident smallscreen effects have advanced to the point where it would be feasible to have a weekly series in which cars shift shapes.

While there's talk of "evil" cars to battle the heroic talking K.I.T.T. car of the original series, which starred David Hasselhoff, the new series will stay true to the original show, centring on a single man fighting for justice with the help of his super advanced car.

Expect major merchandising opportunities: NBC is already talking to car manufacturers about providing K.I.T.T. and the original show spun off plenty of product, including Look-In's Knight Rider comic strip whose creative team often included Barrie Mitchell.

Let's just hope the new Knight Rider is better than its previous spinoff Team Knight Rider which first aired in 1997. Although that wouldn't be hard...