Production
In the spring of 2007, NBC-Universal chief executive Jeff Zucker hired Ben Silverman as chief NBC programmer, and asked him to help bring NBC out of last place in network ratings. One of Silverman's early moves was to try to revive old franchises like Knight Rider and American Gladiators. Silverman, in a deal endorsed by Ford Motor Company, the car supplier, approved production. In advance of its anticipated weekly run, the new Knight Rider series was introduced with a television movie on February 17, 2008. The new series premiered on NBC on September 24, 2008 and lead the network's Wednesday evening lineup, along with Deal or No Deal and Lipstick Jungle. On October 21, 2008, NBC gave the show a full season order of 22 episodes. All of the episodes that aired on TV are also available on the PlayStation Network Video Store, Xbox Live Marketplace and iTunes Store. The episodes are available in HD format and SD format.
On November 10, 2008, NBC reformatted the show in an effort to more closely resemble the storyline of its predecessor. Yancey Arias, Bruce Davison, and Sydney Tamiia Poitier's characters were removed from the series after the end of their original thirteen episode commitment starting with a two part episode scheduled to air in January 2009. The show continued with a more character-driven focus on Michael and KITT.
On December 3, 2008, NBC reduced its season order to seventeen episodes. The series finale aired on March 4, 2009. When NBC's 2009-2010 schedule was announced on May 19, 2009, it did not include Knight Rider, effectively signaling the cancellation of the series. Following the announcement, NBC was criticised and petitions to continue the series were made, but they failed.
Read more about this topic: Knight Rider (2008 TV Series)
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