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New KNIGHT RIDER Showrunner On The Much-Reviled TV-Movie: ‘If You're Going To Do That On A Weekly Basis I'm Not Your Guy!!’
I am – Hercules!!
“Fast and the Furious” screenwriter Gary Scott Thompson, who was hired as “Knight Rider” showrunner subsequent to the backdoor pilot’s airing, has a lot of not-so-enthusiastic things to say about the widely reviled February “Rider” TV-movie in an April interview on knightrideronline.com:
“They said, ‘Would you take a look at this Knight Rider [TV-movie]?’ And I did, and they asked my opinion, and I said, ‘Do you really want my opinion?’ Because that's always a loaded question in Hollywood when they ask your opinion. Most of time it's like we want to hear how good it was. And I told them, ‘If you really want my opinion I'll tell you what I think, OK?’ And so I told them, it didn't really look like you advanced anything. You need to reinvent this. If you're going to go to series, you need to reinvent it. It's really got to be something cool. And something cool every week. So we started talking about what to do, and they really kind of just said how would you make this a series? And I said this isn't making a series.
“We're dealing with a sophisticated audience that's seen a lot of car movies and as my kid said to me when we're sitting watching the 2-hour, he goes ‘big deal, our car can talk.’ And I'm like ‘OK, well you got me there’ and then I said ‘OK but can your car do THIS?’ And that's the thing that we're going to bring to the series and it's going to be really cool.”
Thompson also seems to be distancing the series (which he is overseeing) from the TV-movie (with which he had nothing to do):
"There was the original Knight Rider series which we all love, there was the 2-hour movie, and now there's the new series. And they share in common a car named KITT, different car in some cases, and there's going to be some people from the 2-hour movie who are carrying over to the new series. And we're going to see some new faces too. That's sort of what I told NBC when I came in. I said look, if you're going to do the 2-hour again this isn't for me and if you're going to do that on a weekly basis I'm not your guy. I'm the guy who wrote The Fast and the Furious, I have a reputation, and that reputation's going to be on this show so I need to make it cool."
"We sort of had to backpaddle, and the good thing about what they did - and by the way I had nothing to do with the 2-hour, I was brought in afterwards to do the series - the good thing about what they did with it is they left it almost a blank slate. There are a few things, but everything that was there we can either fill in and embellish or basically discredit in some way and say no that's not the truth"
Thompson’s comments also suggest that TV-movie writer David Andron is a member of the show’s writing staff, but not a series showrunner.
Thompson, who also created and oversaw NBC's recently cancelled "Vegas," explains the "Knight Rider" series will be quite separate from the TV-movie, and that one doesn't need to see the TV-movie to enjoy the series he is mounting.
The series starts shooting next month. Screen Actors Guild permitting, NBC will start airing it 8 p.m. Wednesdays starting this autumn.
Read all of knightrideronline’s illuminating chat with Thompson here.
$49.95: Every Issue 1963-2006!! 
DC SUPERHEROES!! ON DVD!!
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Wonder what parts he's actually planning to carry over?
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"Big deal, our car can talk" is pretty funny.
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The 2 hour left a lot to be desired....
The only tie to the original series should be the Hoff singing the theme song to the music of 'Du' -
whoever does this and whatever they do, it'll be shit. guaranteed.
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While the TV movie was not all that great by itself, it captured the heart and soul of the original show (which was also not so great, but fun) - that is something none of the other KR remakes to date came close to and that is what "Bionic Woman" absolutely failed to do. On the other hand BSG went beyond and actually did a good show AND capture the soul of the original.
Now, if they start messing and do a bad show without that vital "soul" piece - it'll just suck. -
I was actually spending that weekend with my girlfriend and missed it. Now I know it might not be worth it, but is there anywhere to check out that pilot online? You know...for research...and comparison.... and cause I'm an admitted Knight Rider fanboy and want to see how badly they assed it up.
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"I have a reputation" AHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA That was great. I think this show could be really funny.
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It'll be SASSY! Or the title of a gay porn.
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Dammit ... I was going to say the same exact thing!!!
To say something like "I wrote the Fast and Furious ...", and BRAG about it is just tragic -
"I'm the guy who wrote The Fast and the Furious, I have a reputation, and that reputation's going to be on this show so I need to make it cool."
And this is something to be proud of? Sweet Christ.
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Ahahahahahahaahahahahaha! That's like saying "I'm Michael Bay".
Personally I quite enjoyed the pilot, the characters were good, just the story and the car were crap. Hopefully they'll fix that without buggering with the characters too much. -
hulu.com
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"... I'm the guy who wrote The Fast and the Furious, I have a reputation, and that reputation's going to be on this show so I need to make it cool."
bwahahahahahahhaahaam THISm this is what he thinks separates him from unsuccessful writers? what a d-bag. DOes he know that Fast and the Furious sucked? -
I'm the guy who wrote The Fast and the Furious, Bitch.
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TV Guide's Michael Ausiello, thusly: http://tinyurl.com/5hgco6
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Isn't something I'd exactly want front and center on my resume.
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$20 for what amounts to 2 hours of material. No thanks.
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I'm the guy who took the script for Point Break and replaced surfing with auto-racing and renamed it the Fast and the Furious... Is that what he meant to say? Must be.
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i wasn't gonna watch the new KR series but now i might consider it. such honesty and common sense deserves to be rewarded, after all.
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May 07, 2008 7:01:47 PM CDT
Should he be bragging about writing The Fast and the Furious?
by trazadone
That's like bragging that you're the writer of Encino Man.
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so shut up.
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Seems like your taste.
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If you wrote a movie that spawned 3 sequels you'd brag about it, too. Don't pretend otherwise, your pretentious fucks.
And yes, phaedrus007, that's what he probably meant to say anyway. -
I don't know that I'd order a series of Knight Rider, but there are lots of creative things you could do - none of which were done in the TV movie.
I hope he is being polite and is actually planning on not using any of the actors from the pilot. Or the car. Or the exposition. This isn't Lost - it's Knight Rider and viewers won't care if you reboot it yet again and the result is better. -
or, in the case of Knight Rider, made in the first place. It was a shitty show then and it will always be a shitty show. A poor man's Tom of Finland drives around in a sassy gay car. Whoop-tee-do. Maybe they can get Al Gore to be the voice of KITT.
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of Estonia
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There sure were a lot of Police Academy movies...
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but they made somebody a lot of money, and the bottom line is the bottom line
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Shitty, but great.
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I had in on while browsing the web and I barely felt the urge to glance up at it. Nothing happened for 2 hours. I understand the budget is small but have a shootout or car chase every 30 minutes or so! I thought this was an "action" series.
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The word was "Ma".
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ajl;dkasj;dkasdkd
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said Professor Farnsworth. "We have a delivery. Fry, Leela, Zoidberg, Amy, I need you to deliver these 4 empty coffins and a shovel to the Zombie Planet, where they eat nothing but brains. Bender, sorry, but they specifically requested no robots, so you'll have to stay home tonight and watch the new Knight Rider movie with me."
"Oh, sweet merciful robot God, why do I have to stay?"
"They specifically requested no one without a brain. That also makes you the most likely to actually like the new Knight Rider movie."
"I've got a brain. I keep it in my closet next to my bowling ball and swag." -
very Farnsworthian and Benderian dialogue bravo
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Yes. Yes, you do.
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This smells like bionic woman.
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No clue that he sounds like a fool, and is even endearing for not having that clue (also describes the average talkbacker, including myself minus the endearing part--ha! oh wait). I didn't hate the TV movie, but I wouldn't watch it again. I'm surprised anyone is holding it up to standards, it's friggin Knight Rider, it's Knight Boat on wheels! Can't say I expect a lot. I was just starting to like Bionic Woman when they yanked it, so I'm not really interested in anymore reinventions/revivals of crappy old shows. I'd rather have Journeyman back.
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No skywalkerfamily, every film except Mission to Moscow was good bad movie fun.
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"When I first heard that Marge was joining the police academy, I thought it would be fun and zany, like that movie Spaceballs. But instead it was dark and disturbing. Like that movie -- Police Academy."
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I'd be proud for writing The Fast and the Furious if I were this guy too. I mean, I heard the thing was written in crayon and basically consisted of nothing more than the words "vroom vroom" and "vin diesel" for five pages. Could you have done better when you were 5?
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We have all long awaited this moment. His reputation precedes him. He wrote "The Fast and The Furious". Gary Scott Thompson: The Greatest Satirist in the History of Man.
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the fast the and the furious script - i thought it was incisive and witty and thought-provoking and most importantly, socially relevant.For me to poop on!
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nothing has united TBers more than this since 9/11.
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get lawrence fishbourne to be the voice or someone distinctive , kitt sounds like a fay bored california surfer in the movie. kitt has to have personality. just because kitts supposed to be a computer doesn't mean it has to sound like one
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May 07, 2008 9:59:23 PM CDT
“We're dealing with a sophisticated audience that's seen a lot
by jaws8u
He was obviously having a pretty serious brainstorming session with his chi;d/co-writer. He forgot to mention that he also wrote "88 minutes" and "Hollow Man 2".
Looks like Cormac McCarthy had better watch out, as there is a new American literary genius challenging for his crown. -
Too bad Will Arnett couldn't do it. And they should make Bionica Lewinsky the lead; she deserves a second chance.
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If you like barely-entertaining shit, then I guess this guy is the perfect authority on what NBC should be doing.
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It's a hoot. How did the god-awful, contrived and ridiculously implausible "88 Minutes" not hurt Thompson's "reputation." Or Timecop 2 or K911, the K-9 sequel with James Belushi. You should watch what you say when your credentials are a mouseclick away.
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The TV movie was extra boring shit. I'm personally happy to find out the showrunner hated the pilot. I'm still not optimistic, but now I at least have a glimmer of hope.
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Yeah, way to throw clout/street cred!
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Looks like SilentP read everyone's mind. How f-ing ridiculous that he thinks he has a good reputation because he wrote a piece of crap like Fast and the Furious. Might as well say he wrote Norbit or Scary, Epic, Date Movie Meets the Spartans Part 5. What a joke!
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That'd be awesome to hear someone say that. Can you imagine?
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May 07, 2008 11:38:11 PM CDT
It's official. "I'm the guy..." is the new "Indiana Jones and th
by lyghthouse
Can't wait to see whats next.
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I wouldn't call it a complete POS... yes the Rob Cohen CGI was pretty rediculous, but plot wise and action wise it was a well done film.
I thought the Knight Rider TV movie was completely rediculous, and when they said it was going to be a show I lost hope on NBC (excpet for Dick Wolf.. L&O: CI is awesome) This brings me hope, cuz everything he said was right on the money... the Movie didn't offer anything new, it was obviously made for a geek crowd by completely uneducated people who don't understand what geeks really want (YEAH We need to have a hot Lesbian!! And a Three way with the Lead!!! That will sell it!!!). -
but Val Kilmer was especially bad. Convincing Will Arnett that this would be an easy gig and leave him time for his baby and Baby Mama would be a huge step in the right direction.
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to diss anything...the sag strike cant get here too fast
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I hate to say it but I NEVER made it past the opening credits when the Original NIGHT RIDER was on TV, never rented it or watched any of the TV movies. I did watch VIPER, that was a cool car.
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"Hi. I'm the guy who wrote The Fast and the Furious and I demand that things be AWESOME!" Hey, why not? After reading these quick snippets, this guy is totally giving off the air of Bay in his Verizon Fios commercial!On topic, I actually liked LAS VEGAS this past year, though a BIG part of that was due to the addition of Tom Selleck. So I can also admit that ALOT of my good will was actually generated by being an old school MAGNUM PI fan. But based on the overall tone of VEGAS, I'll be far more willing to see what Thompson brings to KNIGHT RIDER versus anyone who was involved with that utter 2 hour piece of shit TV movie. So for now I'll wish him well and keep my fingers crossed.On the flip side, as an open note to Thompson - in case he should ever read this thread or have one of his underlings do it -- no offense, but you sort of deserved all the ribbing you're getting here. Declaring that you have "reputation to uphold" for having written The Fast and the Furious IS a bit laughable. I mean, come on, it's not like it was CASABLANCA. Hell, it wasn't even the Casablanca of Car movies! You might as well have declared "I have a reputation to protect. After all, I am the man who wrote K9:PI, HOLLOW MAN 2, and TIMECOP 2" -- which for the record, Thompson did as well. So do a good job on the show, Gary. There's a lot of KNIGHT RIDER fans out here who wish you well on the endeavor. And we'll even admit to being a bit envious since you are in the position to be the show runner.So have fun with things -- only next time try NOT to come off sounding like such a self-bloviating arrogant cock.
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So this thing never gets off the ground again.
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This guy actually sounds quite sensible and honest. The first Fast and the Furious wasn't such a bad movie, by the way. All the sequels were terrible, though.
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"...presenting Knight Rider, this week's Ford commercial, brought to you by the maker of the Fast and the Furious" Genius.
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The car they used in the pilot just doesn't work -- it's not befitting of the KITT name.
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'You are hearing me talk'
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it really hurts your "credability" when you don't know how to spell credibility - incredible!
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the guy that wrote POINT BREAK is lookin for ya!
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Now, can we get him booked with the suits to give his opinions as a follow-up to any new pitch given by Bryan Singer or JJ Abrams? And to show my Trans-Atlantic interests, I nominate this guy for the same task to brief the BBC each time RTD decides it cute to throw an unnecessary gay reference or fart into the *Doctor Who* franchise... Oh, and Kilmer was much closer to the original William Daniels voice work as compared to Arnett who sounded like he was trying to be tough but was actually constipated. Eat some In-N-Out Burger, Will! That'll solve your problem!
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AHAHAHAHAHAHA AHAHAHAHAHAHA AHAHAHAHAHA AHAHAHAHAHAHA AHAHAHAHAHAHAH!
That was fucking funny as all hell. Rip the piss out of that boy - he desrves every word of it!
Now, I AM the writer of all the anti-Gay Agenda posts in all the Who TBs, so you HAVE to listen to me, alright? I don't my reputation on AICN TBs to be sullied by writing a post on another KNIGHT RIDER / THE BI AND THE CURIOUS TB, get it? I have my reputation at stake on this!!! ;p -
dooo iiieeeettt
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That sweet looking Camaro is gonna be in my garage soon.
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So does this mean the few people out there who can't seem to get enough of Glen A. Larson's cock in their mouth will troll the Knight Rider forums much like they do the BSG forums.
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of course some smart-ass kind is going to say that, they would have said it 20 years ago while watching the first show too.
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ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha "I'm the guy that wrote FATF" Then you will be perfect to write a shit series that will be cancelled partway through the 1st series. But congratulations on making me laugh juice through my nose.
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