Stargate SG-1: Children of the Gods

Re-cut and re-imagined version of the pilot film of the Stargate series that started it all.
Release: July 21, 2009
Extras:

• New Edit with Never-Viewed Scenes
• New and Enhanced Visual Effects
• Revoiced Performance by Christopher Judge
• Original Score by Joel Goldsmith
• Special Features includes: Commentary by Co-Creator Brad Wright and Actor Richard Dean Anderson and Back to the Beginning Featurette

Red Dwarf: Back to Earth
Release: October 6, 2009
Extras: commentary, documentary, outtakes, deleted scenes

The boys are back, and while they may be older, they’re still none the wiser. The crew discover a dimension-hopping leviathan, but Rimmer is threatened with replacement by the new, improved holograph Katrina. She is determined to guide Lister to his home planet, but no one is prepared for Earth 2009, where the hapless crew face death unless they can track down their creators.

Knight Rider: Season One
Release: July 28, 2009
Extras: I’m not seeing any. . .

This is the much slammed remake of the old series with Justin Bruening as the reinvented Michael Knight. I liked this show but apparently I’m alone in that.

Box Art: Amazon

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WASHINGTON – OCTOBER 24: U.S. President George W. Bush signs accession protocols in the East…

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Stick with me here. The Hollywood Reporter’s James Hibberd has an excellent article about the impact the economy has had on TV this year. He theorizes that Sarah Connor probably would have been terminated in an ordinary year. But when a show is dropped from the schedule its advertisers have the option of getting their money back. That would force the network to have to resell the timeslot. In current financial straits, not many network execs want to take that chance.

Hibberd says the same applies to the surprising pickup of Knight Rider at NBC. NBC Universal announced it’s having to trim $500 million from its budget. So keeping a show already on the air is more attractive than the cost of producing and promoting a new one. And let’s face it, folks, the car is probably the highest paid actor on that show.

Another problem is the industry is still catching up after the writer’s strike, according to Hibberd. There simply isn’t the number of other pilot options floating around that there would ordinarily be.

Last but certainly not least is good old-fashioned network hubris. A network likes to be able to announce that at least one of its fall shows was a hit. It likes to do that even using what good ol’ George Bush might call “fuzzy math.” Sarah Connor is not a runaway hit. In fact, it hit a season low in ratings the week after the pickup was announced. Being on the verge of cancellation will do that to your show. But it’s critically acclaimed and generally acknowledged as a good show that hasn’t found an audience yet.

Knight Rider bottomed out after the pickup too, but is there a more advertising driven show on the air? It’s a very thinly veiled for commercial for the new Ford Mustang. The American auto industry is in a slump too and chances like Knight Rider don’t come along everyday. With Chevy getting a huge publicity buzz from its cars being in Transformers, Ford needed to play serious catchup. They’ll likely support Rider as long as NBC’s willing to run with it.

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Our Cynthia Boris liked the 80s inspired action, noting that everything doesn’t have to be Sarah Connor-style dark or complicated. Her review inspired quite a debate on our boards. And you know what, that’s OK. It’s actually the kind of debate we want to get from our readers. We’re passionate about our TV and we know you are too. So keep it up. What do you think about NBC’s full season KITT-mitment to this new show?

Pictured: KITT — NBC Photo: Paul Drinkwater

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Fort Worth Star-Telegram TV critic Robert Philpot has posted his “10 to Watch,” the actors he feels will break out and potentially become household names this year.

One of them is Justin Bruening, the former soap opera stud who’s been handed the keys to one of NBC’s most high-profile fall shows. As the new driver of KITT in the Knight Rider revamp, Bruening will undoubtedly feel the prick of some critics’ poison pens. But make no mistake, the world will be watching Bruening.

Philpot said since NBC successfully brought Rider back to primetime with Bruening in the lead, he is poised to become one of the fall’s big stars. Philpot gives full disclosure and notes that last year he said some of the same things about Bionic Woman Michelle Ryan. Hey, we all make mistakes.

Other genre stars on the list include Fringe’s Anna Torv and Rutina Wesley of True Blood.

Pictured: Justin Bruening as Mike Tracer — NBC Photo: Mitchell Haaseth

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Thompson even talked about a “dream scenario” in which not only Michael Knight but original K.I.T.T. (voiced by William Daniels) team up with Mike Tracer, Knight’s son, and the new KITT. Justin Breuning and Val Kilmer reprise their roles as Tracer and the new crimefighting car respectively. Because of timing, he doesn’t know if it will happen though. I can’t imagine this can’t get worked out. It’s not like you’re asking Robin Williams to do a Mork and Mindy reunion here.

NBC Photo: Dave Bjerke

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NBC is turning to sci fi, fantasy and action in the 2008-09 season to bolster its sagging fortunes. Variety reports NBC will offer up shows including the much discussed Knight Rider revamp, a reimagining of Robinson Crusoe, and wonders of wonders, an actual original show called The Listener.

That one focuses on a telepathic paramedic. Heroes has been a surprise hit for the network, but its other genre shows have failed to capture that same magic. Bionic Woman and Journeyman were casualties of both their low ratings and the writers’ strike.

For that matter, Heroes’ second season failed to recapture much of the magic of its first season. The hit show’s sophomore campaign spent a great deal of time exploring romantic subplots that didn’t connect with most viewers. It wasn’t until the final few episodes that things seemed to get rolling.

NBC Photo: Mitch Haddad

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The high-profile failure of Bionic Woman hasn’t stopped NBC from rolling the dice on another revamp. After a February backdoor pilot for Knight Rider was a surprise ratings hit, there was widespread speculation that the show had earned a spot on NBC’s fall slate.

The network has confirmed its Knight Rider episodic order for the 2008-09 season. Though critically panned, viewers tuned in to see former soap star Justin Breuning and a cast of other Hollywood hot bodies burn up the road. They’re talking about a Friday night time slot, which would be a return to Rider’s 1980’s stomping grounds. With the economy in a slowdown and bad news coming in on the international front, NBC is trying to offer the escapism it thinks viewers will crave. The plot has changed precious little from the old days, even down to the family in question. Breuning plays the son of David Hasselhoff’s Michael Knight character. For a man who according to the show’s intro “does not exist,” Knight really got around.

NBC Photo: Virginia Sherwood

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Want to know why Bionic Woman failed?  I can show it to you in pictures.  It failed because there was too much of this:

And not enough of this:

NBC has apparently not learned any lessons from this because all signs are pointing to the dismal “Knight Rider” getting picked up as a series for the fall season.  Can The A-Team and Miami Vice be far behind? (Cyn runs off singing a chorus of “everything old is new again. . “)

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Original KITT voice Will Arnett (Arrested Development) had to bow out before the show aired. Arnett has done voicework for GMC products, while the new KITT is a Ford Mustang.  Ford sponsored the movie and wasn’t happy about the potential conflict of interest. The controversy reinforced TV critics’ perceptions that the whole thing was a two-hour commercial for Ford vehicles.

Val Kilmer stepped in and had to re-record all the lines Arnett had already finished. Not surprisingly, critics universally panned the remake of the 80’s vehicle that made David Hasselhoff a household name somewhere other than Germany.

But large numbers of viewers tuned in, about 12.7 million according to Nielsen Media Research’s preliminary estimates. It pulled a 5.0 share among the coveted 18-49 demographic. That’s the best performance for a TV film since Oprah Winfrey’s heavily promoted 2005 effort “Their Eyes Were Watching God.” The Peacock Network has to be pleased since Rider faced stiff competition including the CBS premiere of “Dexter,” and new episodes of “Extreme Makeover” as well as “Brothers and Sisters.”

NBC will rebroadcast the show Feb. 23 at 9 p.m. EST. The big number from the initial showing all but guarantees the remake a spot in NBC’s fall lineup. I wonder if they made the new KITT from leftover parts from the Bionic Woman?

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