Sunset Ford Dealer Blog

With rumors circulating that Knight Rider might be added as a regular series to NBC’s fall schedule, I felt I should do some research. As a kid, I enjoyed KITT’s voice. Today, many of us know it better as the voice of the teacher on the corny 1990s sitcom Boy Meets World. As KITT, he had a smarmy tone of voice and even had some sarcastic comments.

But the new KITT seemed different. It might be because it’s new and the voice hasn’t found its own personality yet. So I wanted to find out who does the voice for the new iconic car.

Do you know who it is?

It’s Val Kilmer! I couldn’t believe it when I read it, either. Apparently, the network originally expected Will Arnett from Arrested Development to voice the role.  He even recorded the part for the made-for-TV-movie. But his longstanding relationship with a competing automaker would be in jeopardy if his voice issued through the speakers of any Ford vehicles, let alone the iconic Mustang brand. So he had to “respectfully” withdraw his voice two weeks before the premiere. Methinks the competitor had something to say about his decision, which is why it was so sudden and close to the premiere.

Luckily, Val Kilmer saw the Mustang symbol in the sky and came to save the day. He re-recorded the voice for KITT and signed on to do the voice if the network picked up the show.  And because it looks like we’ll be seeing a lot more of Michael Knight’s son, it also looks like we’ll be hearing a lot more of Val Kilmer’s voice.

Did you know that Ford is auctioning off the two KITT vehicles used in NBC’s made-for-TV movie that will hopefully turn into a pilot episode for a new series?

For me, that’s like a dream come true. I grew up watching David Hasselhoff fight the bad guys in the original Knight Rider TV show. And then my heart grew all aflutter when I heard about the TV movie in February. And I was even more excited when I heard that NBC might bring back the entire series based on the popularity of the movie.

And now I can go to the 6th Annual Barrett-Jackson Collector Car Event on March 29 and put a bid in for one of the sleek, black Ford vehicles used in the movie. But it’s also for a good cause. The proceeds will benefit the Salute to Education, a program that offers tuition assistance to students who couldn’t otherwise afford college.

If you can’t make it to West Palm Beach, you can watch the auction of the KITT 3000 on the SPEED Network. The entire auction, occurring at the Americraft Expo Center at the South Florida Fairgrounds, is getting live coverage all across the country. You might even catch a glimpse of your favorite celebrity, says Steve Davis, president of the Barrett-Jackson Auction Company.

Don’t miss this one-time event! How many cars are as famous and recognizable as KITT? Not many, I say.

Is anybody else as excited as I am at the announcement that Knight Rider might be returning to the airwaves as a series?

Probably not.

But last week, NBC aired a made-for-TV Knight Rider movie as a test to see if the popularity was still there for the talking car. Apparently, it is. The network aired it again less than a week later and attracted an impressive number of viewers. I was one of the millions. Were you?

David Hasselhoff is still cool and hip, but he’s getting a little too old to do the moves that Michael Knight needs to do. But the driver isn’t the only new element of the 2008 Knight Rider.   There’s also a new car named KITT, a Shelby Mustang selected from a variety of other Ford vehicles to be the co-star of the new movie. Hopefully, NBC will keep the model for the TV series, because it made a huge splash on the screen.

Here are some statistics to give you an idea of how popular Knight Rider was during its first airing last week:

• It got a 5.0 rating and a 12 share in adults from the ages of 18-49. That means that of all the people in that demographic watching TV at the time, 12 percent of them were watching Knight Rider.
• It got the highest rating for this demographic of all other TV movies in nearly three years.
• The movie garnered the network’s biggest overall viewership for this time slot (except for sports) since the 2006 Emmy Awards.
• More than 12 million viewers tuned in to see the return.

Look for an official announcement in April that NBC will add the TV series to its fall lineup. I’m keeping my fingers crossed.