NBC tinkered too much with new Knight Rider - VIDEO
It looks like NBC's new Knight Rider is on its last turbo boost, and the show's executive producer claims NBC has no one to blame but themselves. Mediaweek's Alan Frutkin sat down with the show's executive producer Gary Scott Thompson to talk about the show's already troubled times before it hits the air again on Wednesday.
Thompson said the show has undergone some usual first season changes like differences in creative direction and story outlines, but the changes the network handed down cut far deeper to the bone.
For starters, the network cut three of the show's major cast members in the zero hour and cut back on the number of episodes they originally wanted. The most notable change is the network's insistence that the show's story lines and plots resemble the original series. It's a safe move for an already risky show and NBC has never been more scared about losing eyeballs than right now.
The problem is that when a show carries such a worrisome buzz, confirming audiences' already low expectations is the same as putting a bullet in its brain. Reverting the show to its roots instead of evolving it into a higher form of being dooms its survival rate to zero.
Don't get me wrong. The prospect of Knight Rider being as smart as Nightline were next to nothing in the beginning. But it had the potential to be the slightest something and NBC squandered it by tinkering too much with its engine. It played it safe and ended up creating a disaster of DeLorean-sized proportions. The only way it could have failed worse is if NBC demanded that KITT be a DeLorean. Come to think of it, that would have gotten me to tune in, but the laughs would have worn off by the end of the first season because I would be tired of passing out all the time.
Thompson wants to fight one last good fight for the demoralized cast and crew, and you've got to give him credit for his guts and determination. But with the ratings and the network's confidence already churning in a F3 tornado sized downward spiral, it's all for naught. Let's call this turkey done, burn off what's left of this bird and move on.

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