It looks like KITT has himself a new partner.
NBC has tapped soap star Justin Bruening to front a new Knight Rider
TV movie that could serve as a pilot to a revived series based on the
'80s action-adventure about a crimefighter and his talking Trans-Am.
Per the Hollywood Reporter, the 28-year-old actor will play the son of
Michael Knight, the original series' hero played by David Hasselhoff.
The 1982-86 Knight Rider chronicled how an undercover cop named
Michael Long was gunned down on the job and then given a new face and
identity by a secret, extragovernmental Foundation for Law and
Government . Rechristened Michael Knight, after the dying billionaire
behind FLAG, he is dispatched to fight baddies with his chatty sports
car, KITT.
The souped-up, artificially intelligent Knight Industries Two Thousand
features an arsenal that would make James Bond jealous: fire and
bulletproof frame, turbo engine with superpursuit mode, spiked tires,
radar and, presumably, a killer hi-fi.
This time out, the younger Knight's ride will feature more aftermarket
mods, perhaps even morphing into a Transformers-like 'bot. The make
and model of the new vehicle hasn't been announced, though. NBC is
seeking an automaker to partner with for the retooled KITT.
Like Hasselhoff, who starred in The Young and the Restless before
hitting it big in Knight Rider, NBC found its newest action hero in
daytime TV. A model turned actor from Nebraska, Bruening spent four
seasons on All My Children and had a brief run on One Life to Live;
he has also guested on Cold Case and Hope & Faith.
Perhaps not so coincidentally, Bruening will be getting his first
crack at a prime-time vehicle at the same age Hasselhoff was when the
original Knight Rider launched.
The TV movie is being produced by Bourne Identity director Doug Liman,
who may also direct the pilot if he can fit it into his schedule. NBC
is shooting the telepic as a so-called backdoor pilot, meaning if the
ratings are solid, it could become a series.
This isn't the first attempt to reboot the Knight Rider franchise.
Hasselhoff reprised his role for the 1991 TV movie Knight Rider 2000
but didn't return for two other follow-ups, 1994's Knight Rider 2010
and 1997's Team Knight Rider. His later attempts to rev up a Knight
Rider movie wound up stalling in development.
NBC has not signaled whether the Hoff will make a cameo in the new TV
movie. He is still in the Peacock stable, hosting America's Got
Talent. He's also prepping Tales from the Hoff, a Ryan
Seacrest-produced scripted series for E! that will follow his
fictionalized escapades, à la Curb Your Enthusiasm.
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