Team Knight Rider

TKR was a good show with lots of potential. Many people judge it harshly, but I believe that the voice acting of the vehicles and the acting on the part of the drivers was good. I believe if they had been given another season to work through, the actors could have grown into the roles more and the relationships with the vehicles would have developed further. Fans who wanted the KITT/Michael relationship were bound to be disappointed since this was NOT a show focusing on KITT and Michael. These were *new* personalities, and to me that was its charm.

The vehicles themselves were awesome, and I do hope they are safely stored away somewhere to be shown off at some future time. It was nice to see the two motorcycles damaged and rebuilt. It was also great to see why there was now a TEAM and not just ONE hero. There was continuity between the two shows and it was nice to see them move away from the KR 2000 timeline and just work a new one in.

I believe this show deserved at least another season to prove its worth.

This show has a great polished look and great action! Some of the plots are little far fetched; but what action series isn't. If you compare this show to others like it , I think it is far superior. Shows like Viper, Darkman and V.I.P are still on the air and are 100 times worse than Team Knight Rider...this doesn't make sense. The action sequences, acting, and overall look in TKR blow away any of the competeters...and it still got cancelled. There should have been another season!

I recall watching this a couple of times when it was new. My impression at the time was that they did a pretty good job on a fundamentally bad idea.

The original show focused on the relationship between one man and one artificially intelligent car. The show was cheesy, but the two characters were sufficiently well developed and portrayed that audiences cared enough to tune in. The original kept it simple and concentrated on making the car seem human and the overblown Hollywood star (Hasselhof) seem like a real person, albeit with unrealistic hair. The idea that one man can make a difference is enigmatic and inspiring.

The idea that a flock of five people and five vehicles working with a seemingly unlimited budget and with constant governmental oversight can make a difference is just oppressive and obvious. How do you keep the stories coherent and how do you keep the audience caring about ten characters, all of whom only get very limited screen time? You don't! You need a scorecard just to keep track of what car has what personality. I kinda felt pity for the poor criminals. It's hardly fair, in a story context, that they should have to try to stand up to this virtual army of foes, blasted about the world in a cargo jet, armed with superweapons and hyperintelligent computers. Give the poor crooks a break! With all that in mind, the production company did a pretty good job. The show looked great, the cars were jazzy and the voice acting was adequate. The effects were as good as should be expected and there was lots of mindless action. The vehicles had a mass produced feel, compared to the original KITT. KITT had a "one-off" feel to his design, apart from his evil twin, KARR. The five new cars had a consistency of design that made them feel less personal. It kind of contributed to the show's downfall, which was that it failed to focus on key characters that the audience could identify with and care about.

TV producers forget, in their rush to display fancy machinery, and car crashes, that the long-term success of a TV series is almost entirely based on it's portrayal of compelling characters. Design your characters first, flesh them out, make them human, make the audience care about them, and what happens to them. Put actors in the roles that match the personalities being portrayed and let them do their jobs. Create screenplays and stories that challenge your well-developed characters. Put them in situations that test their limits. After you've done all that, worry about special effects and stunts. It helps if you don't try to have ten central characters.

I loved this show when it came on. It didn't have anything to do with Knight Rider, but I never really like that show. The acting and the plots were kind of bad, but it was still a good show. I was so upset when they canceled the show. Most people thought the show wasn't any good, but I loved it!

I know that many expected this to be Knight Rider II, and they were disappointed. It is difficult to consider that a sequel would be so successful 15 years after the original [we've seen next-year sequels fail miserably before].... I give the TKR team (cast & crew) kudos for such a valiant effort. For those that wanted an "episode-one" match-up to the original KR series ... it's really unfair to expect a series to fully develop in one season "to expectations." I think that happened here.

What makes TKR succeed in my mind consists of a few things cute (though corny-at-times) dialogue, complex interpersonal relationships, and the "personalities" of the vehicles. Too bad, on the last point, that the series was killed after the first season; I would have liked to see where things would have gone with the personalities of the five vehicles....

The show, which does at times seem like a fan-show (written by fans and not by/via/supported-by the real writers themselves), does play with the idea of different personalities ... what KITT "could have been" [ballsy Beast, sweet-n-sexy Domino, prim-and-proper Kat, eclectic Plato and by-the-book/snobby Dante]. Not knocking-on Glen Larson's idea for the original KITT, but sometimes, variation can be ... "fun!" You have to admit, the voices were beautifully cast and the "character" matches to the vehicles' drivers was ... classic [especially Jenny/Domino, Duke/Beast and, of course, Trek/Plato].

Sorry, but ... I think we lost-out in a large way when TKR was axed.

Nia, Tom, Andrea, Linda, Kerrigan, Jon, Christine, Brixton, Duane, Kathy, Nick: TKR fans wish you the best of future success in your careers!

~ Domino Rose