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Knight Rider: Season 1
  • Network: NBC
  • Series Premiere Date: Sep 24, 2008
  • Season #: 1
Metascore
21 out of 100

Generally unfavorable - based on 20 Critics

Critic score distribution:
  1. Positive: 0 out of 20
  2. Mixed: 2 out of 20
  3. Negative: 18 out of 20
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  1. Orlando Sentinel
    Reviewed by: Hal Boedeker
    40
    Silliness limits this cartoon, which forces actors to take a back seat to know-it-all KITT (voice by Val Kilmer).
  2. Los Angeles Times
    Reviewed by: Robert Lloyd
    40
    Knight Rider is something for 12-year-old boys (and 12-year-old-boys at heart), undemanding, unsophisticated, no deeper than the thickness of a comic-book page.
  3. Slate
    Reviewed by: Troy Patterson
    30
    Knight Rider arrives tricked out with just enough eccentricity to avoid utterly craven stupidity.
  4. The Hollywood Reporter
    Reviewed by: Ray Richmond
    30
    You've got to figure that it doesn't bode well for Knight Rider given the fact its human stars--which also include Sydney Tamilia Poitier, Paul Campbell, Bruce Davison and Yancy Arias--are eclipsed by computerized graphics and an emotionless hunk of sleek metal.
  5. Kansas City Star
    Reviewed by: Aaron Barnhart
    30
    ["Gary Unmarried"] has lots of laughs. But not as many as tonight's episode of the new Knight Rider.
  6. Philadelphia Daily News
    Reviewed by: Ellen Gray
    30
    A show that delivers every ounce of cheese its package promises, if not the recommended daily allowance of calcium.
  7. Chicago Sun-Times
    Reviewed by: Misha Davenport
    25
    I'd be inclined to dismiss this as lighthearted children's fare, like David Hasselhoff's original "Knight Rider" from the '80s, but the violence, dialogue and skin shown on this version aren't exactly kid-friendly. Not even kids should have to suffer through this, though. Here's hoping KITT and crew get booted.
  8. New York Post
    Reviewed by: Adam Buckman
    25
    You've heard of artificial intelligence? How about no intelligence, which is the sum total of what went into transforming a 1980s TV show nobody cares about into a new, updated version nobody will watch.
  9. USA Today
    Reviewed by: Robert Bianco
    25
    Seldom has a major network launched a show boasting as many terrible performances or jaw-dropper moments as this premiere.
  10. Newsday
    Reviewed by: Verne Gay
    25
    Knight Rider is a disaster, a remake so deliriously and delectably bad that you have to watch just to tell your grandchildren that you were there.
  11. Chicago Tribune
    20
    [An] almost hilariously cheesy remake of the David Hasselhoff original.
  12. Variety
    Reviewed by: Brian Lowry
    20
    The "Knight Rider" revival movie set the bar low in terms of expectations, and damned if the series premiere still doesn't go skidding under it. Frankly, this convoluted hour sent me scurrying to NBC's website looking for clarification about the plot, but--whew, what a relief--there really isn't much of one.
  13. Washington Post
    Reviewed by: Tom Shales
    20
    Russo tries to pick up the gaping chasm of slack and get a little energy going, but she just looks embarrassed to be yelling at a car, arguing with a car, flirting with a car, whatever.
  14. Boston Globe
    Reviewed by: Matthew Gilbert
    20
    Everything--the characters, the action--seems stubbornly flat.
  15. Philadelphia Inquirer
    Reviewed by: Jonathan Storm
    10
    Knight Rider, a remake that stays true to the awfulness of the original. It's so bad it's good, in a bad way.
  16. Newark Star-Ledger
    Reviewed by: Alan Sepinwall
    10
    The real problem with the new Knight Rider, though, isn't that it's stupid (again, it's a show about a guy and his talking car) or that Bruening's terrible (the Hoff would be the first to say he's no master thespian). It's that it's a show whose time has long passed.
  17. Pittsburgh Post-Gazette
    Reviewed by: Rob Owen
    10
    Knight Rider is nothing more than car porn.
  18. Time
    Reviewed by: James Poniewozik
    10
    They truly do not make them like this anymore. And thank God for that.
  19. San Francisco Chronicle
    Reviewed by: Tim Goodman
    0
    It's the kind of bad that sells cheese or gets entertainment presidents fired--one or the other, or both.
  20. Miami Herald
    Reviewed by: Glenn Garvin
    0
    I'm paying a bounty of $5 per vicious blow administered to the heads of any NBC executive involved in any way with Knight Rider, which cost me an hour of my life and 50 IQ points that I'll never get back.
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User Reviews

All reviews »
User Score
5.9 out of 10

Mixed or average reviews- based on 31 Ratings

User score distribution:
  1. Positive: 7 out of 17
  2. Mixed: 0 out of 17
  3. Negative: 10 out of 17
  1. AlexanderV.
    8
    Wow, people are taking this show way to seriously. Knight Rider is not, as far as I can tell, supposed to be so utterly realistic that it could be happening right down the street from your house. I understand that almost none of the events could happen. I understand that the CGI can get a little awkward at times. I understand that the premise is slightly absurd and unbelievable. I understand that a lot of what they do in it is based in utter falsehood - from their mangling of the concept of "audio fingerprinting" to morphing nanites. Yet, I enjoy watching this show, and it is, in fact, one of the only two shows that i watch, at all - the other is The Office. Sure it's absurd and completely unrealistic, but so is most every TV show/drama out there. The others, however, don't have the guts to admit it. It IS a sci-fi type of show. Besides, the U.S. Government is light years ahead of the private sector, who knows what's truly possible anyway?! My point is, it's supposed to be an enjoyable ride, with just enough basis in fact to make it almost to the point where you could believe it. Think about it - wouldn't you like to have a talking Mustang? I know that I would. The show is massively enjoyable if you take it at face value and don't try to analyze it to death. It's not ER. It's not some stupid soap with psychotic, convoluted plot lines. It's not any one of a hundred cookie-cutter mudpiles out there right now. It's just a fun, lighthearted, enjoyable ride. And a nostaligic one at that for some of us.… Full Review »
  2. TaomanT
    7
    The show is uneven. It is, at times, either good, above average, mediocre or bad. This is valid for all aspects, such acting, special effect, action scenes etc. Over all it is a light but enjoyable show like its predecessor.… Full Review »
  3. KSU.
    0
    Knight Rider is the kind of show that brain dead wanna-be "car people" enjoy watching. Anyone who has any knowledge of cars, or half a brain wouldn't like this drivel in any way. There is absolutely no redeeming value to this show. And, the "attack mode" KITT is an utter POS.… Full Review »
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