TV: Breaking News! GOB Out, Iceman in as New Voice of KITT for NBC's Knight Rider Remake

Arnett responds to the loss of the prized role of KITT...

In a conundrum worthy of his previous TV show Arrested Development, Will Arnett has had to drop the role of the voice of the talking car KITT on the new version of NBC's 80s cheesefest Knight Rider. The role will now be taken by Val Kilmer (!), himself no stranger to the 80s and/or cheese.

It turns out Arnett's automotive vocal talents were already spoken for -- by General Motor's GMC Trucks division. With Knight Rider now aligned with Ford (KITT is a Mustang now -- Pontiac no longer makes the Trans Am) it wouldn't do to have Arnett's distinct gravelly tones adorn a product with a competitor's logo.

Arnett had already wrapped his work on Knight Rider.

How's Kilmer's Voice? This cheesy, 80s scene from the underappreciated Zucker-Abrahams-Zucker comedy Top Secret has the answer:


Also, here's the intro for the original Knight Rider...in German! Dig the Nietzscheian sound of "...ein auto, ein komputer, ein mann..." And yes, series creator Glen A. Larson's theme song is one of the best TV themes ever. As friend-of-the-blog Joni pointed out, with this voiceover it sounds like a Kraftwerk song!

Politics: You Say Tomato Department Snags Network Newsies

NBC News tries to get it right...whether it be Nevada or nipple twisting...

NBC News' gravitas with a funny bone anchor Brian Williams fessed up Wednesday night that the network had been flooded with complaints over their habitual mispronunciation of "Nevada" during their caucus coverage. This is a story my beautiful and intelligent wife can relate to, having spent many formative years in Nevada and subsequently correcting ignorant Northeasterner's mangling of the state's name. Here's NBC's report, including the right and wrong ways to say it:

TV News: Knight Rider Rides Again

Hasselhoff: "Are you staring at my belt buckle?"

Proof of the adage that no idea is too stupid to be done twice, NBC is looking to revive eighties David Hasselhoff cheesefest Knight Rider -- with that little dash of Transformers to make everything that much more derivative. NBC is tapping Go and Bourne Identity director Doug Liman to helm the TV movie with an eye to taking it to series. No word yet on whether "The Hoff" will cameo, whether the Jersey shore will be scoured for '82-'83 black Trans-Ams, or whether the folks at NBC have lost their freaking minds. Here's the juice from Variety's article on this:

"Success of "Transformers" had a role in inspiring NBC Entertainment chief Ben Silverman's decision to revive "Knight." The thinking is that smallscreen f/x have advanced to the point where it'd be feasible to have a weekly series in which cars shift shapes.
It's also likely the new show will explore the idea of "evil" cars to offset the heroic talking K.I.T.T. car of the original skein, which starred David Hasselhoff. That said, skein is expected to essentially remain focused on the story of a single man fighting for justice with the help of his superadvanced car."

Best case scenario:
Bruce Campbell gets the lead, the car is voiced by Jm J. Bullock, and the whole thing is played tongue-in-cheek.

Worst case scenario:
Zac Efron gets the lead, the show is "younged up", the car is voiced by Sinbad and is a Subaru WRX that can shape shift into a robot.

TV: To Catch To Catch a Predator?

Chris Hansen: "What kind of a man brings K-Y Jelly to a Church Social?"

The New York Daily News reports today that ABC News' 20/20 will be doing an expose of Dateline NBC's pedophile takedown circus To Catch a Predator tonight at 10PM. Here's a sample scene:

Young-ish looking pedophile-bait opens door to suburban house to creepy Mustachioed Man. She tells Mustache Man to have a seat while she goes to get some lemonade for them.

She disappears into the house as Dateline's Chris Hanson emerges with his trademark swagger. He stops in his tracks as he sees the Mustache Man..."John Stossel?? What are you doing here?" For the Mustache Man is in fact 20/20's John Stossel.

Stossel replies,"The question is, what are you doing here?"

Hansen blusters, "Well I'm catching a predator of course.." He consults his sheaf of papers. "Is your screen name 'kidlovr69'?"

Stossel says,"Yeah, is your screen name 'lollipopgirl13'?"

I know I'd be tuning in...if the picture tube on my TV hadn't blown out last night.