Gary Scott Thompson Interview - Part 1

[neps]

Hey All,

We rushed (mike's fingers are bleeding!) to transcribe the first half of the Gary Scott Thompson interview so you'ld have something to chew on for the weekend.

Please enjoy:
http://shadowyflight.com/news/2008/04/e ... -part1.php

We'll have the rest ready by Monday! Where he will talk a bit about Las Vegas, and possibilities of "original KITT tech" (you know what I mean!).

Neil

[Sue]

I was nervous for the new series before the pilot came out, but once I saw it I was like, okay I can get into this. Now I’m nervous again...

Basically the first episode will be the template of what the series is going to be. You don't have to have seen that 2-hour, let's put it that way…

…That's what we're shooting for here. To get a new audience. and to get a female audience. We're doing some fun things to try and entice that audience in.

I’m female; I want more Mike and Sarah romance!!! Don’t cut out all the heart!!!

…And then the other thing we're doing too is just the car- I really want this car to be super cool and super hot. We've gone back in and we're really redesigning the whole Attack Car, and that's going to be a big secret we're going to hang on to as long as we can (laughs), exactly what the car can and can't do…

Well, we all knew this was coming. This will reopen a whole new debate.

[Knight316]

I'm actually really glad he said that. I know there were a lot of people myself included that thought that the car wasn't high tech enough. So to know that they're going to go out there and find out stuff that's in development for future car technology is awesome. I have every fait in GST. If you watch Vegas, you know he can put all the elements that this show needs together. A blend of action, drama and comedy with some really cool car stuff thrown in along the way. Knowing that it's the biggest question everybody has always had, you know the next part is gonna have the Turbo Boost question. Can't wait to see how he answers that!

[Lost Knight]

It's very encouraging to hear that a lot of things are going to be reinvented, as Gary Scott Thompson watched the 2-hour pilot as a fan just like the rest of us and thought many of the same things we did. I also definitely expected the Attack K.I.T.T. to be redesigned (the car auction was the nail in the coffin to confirm that for me as well as it being common sense). That must be a bit of a slap in the face to Harold Belker, no? Unless of course he's the one redesigning it again.

I was also encouraged to hear about the staff's trip to Microsoft to get a look at technology 10-20 years down the line. Obviously I'm sure they can't use the exact concepts, but something like that should help inspire the writers to come up with some really cool gadgets/features this time around. This was one fatal mistake the 2-hour pilot made; they focused on existing technology (and at that, it was basically mostly iPhone technology), not future technology or stuff we haven't seen yet. I think that was a big disappointment to any new casual watcher; all they knew was that this is a movie about a high-tech car and this high-tech car did very little. They didn't know or care about the time constraints or writers strike, and don't care about excuses. All they knew was that it was lackluster.

This guy seems very enthusiastic about his role, which is good. Now all that worries me is that K.I.T.T. may become even more "tricked out" like the cars in The Fast and the Furious. It's important to remember that that franchise and Knight Rider should be separate entities and the only common ground should be the coolness/action factor.

[neps]

I'm glad you guys agree that he seems enthusiastic, it was the feeling I was getting too. I was also worried about "Fast and the Furious" stylings on KITT - but I don't think we have to worry. He's a professional and knows his audience. Cause he grew up building and respecting cars themselves. I think he also targets his audience, the FF cars were like that cause the story dictated it. Knight Rider dictates that the car blends in, which wouldn't work with the FF stylings.

Cars+Movies is advertising having an interview with Harold Belker, so I'm curious what they're going to learn.

Neil

[ANDREWHEARNE]

Hey Neps

Grand interview and can't wait for it to come to England I was just wondering if you could ask him if you get a chance, my friend in California said they referenced about the car needing fuel; I thought the K2000 was fuel efficient might just be me, but wonder if they'll explain that more in the series.

[Knight316]

I really hope that they redesign that Iphone looking display and the VM. They relied way too much on that one display and made it look way too much just like an iPhone. I'm really glad that he's running this show. There's no doubt in my mind that he's gonna make it amazing! Let's also hope he can get Kimer to get a better voice for KITT than he did in the pilot.

[Shapeshifter]

He sounds like the right guy for the job. It's obviously a very difficult thing to make this work on all levels, for old fans and new ones alike, taking the best of the original show and making it work for todays audience. He seems like the kind of guy with the background and sensibilities to pull it off.

Looking forward to what they come up with!

[djshag69]

its great to come to these boards and hear some positive comments. This guy really sounds like he knos what we want and seems to want to put his best effort into anything that has his name on it. I hope that truly makes him excel and we all finally get a lot of weekly Knight Rider like we desrive.

[PHOENIXZERO]

Aside from my being slightly disturbed over his excessive use of the word "cool". I have to say that was a good first half to the interview. Hopefully everything comes together and doesn't end up a train wreck like Bionic Woman, watching it made me feel like slitting my wrist because to me the tone and look were depressing as hell. Glad he confirmed that the "Attack" KITT is going to be getting reworked, it certainly needs it.

[Sue]

I agree with you djshag, I hate the complainers. Sorry if I came across as one. I am remaining cautiously optimistic. I soooo want this show to work and I’m sure Gary Scott Thompson does too. They hopefully have learned from all of NBC’s past mistakes. I agree with Phoenixzero. I am on pins and needles over what they might do to the tone. Knight Rider has always had softer more lovable characters and has always been a family show. I agree the car need to be improved; I think we knew it would be.

Is it September yet? I must see this first episode right now!!

[Duster]

First of all, the interview itself is really good.
But then I don't know what to think about some things that have been said.

Basically the first episode will be the template of what the series is going to be. You don't have to have seen that 2-hour, let's put it that way…

Storywise or what is he referring to? I really do hope they pick up the Prometheus storyline. I do prefer changes to the series and he really does seem enthusiastic about it, but totally ignoring the pilot isn't exactly how I wanted the series to continue.
In that way, I'm a bit nervous about it, but still looking forward to it.

[Knight316]

Duster, my gathering from that quote is basically that he wants this show to be the type of show that anyone can turn on anytime and not be completely lost as to what's going on like...well....LOST. I'm sure some of the story elements from the Pilot will be carried over but the audience will not have to have seen that episode to understand what's going on when the series starts.

[knightprobe89]

that was a great interview, i'm glad they are going to change the attack mustang, and add lots of cool futuristic features, i just hope they do turbo boost, and other stunts similar to the stunts in the original series.

[Duster]

Duster, my gathering from that quote is basically that he wants this show to be the type of show that anyone can turn on anytime and not be completely lost as to what's going on like...well....LOST. I'm sure some of the story elements from the Pilot will be carried over but the audience will not have to have seen that episode to understand what's going on when the series starts.

So basically we'd have stand-alone-episodes and then a mythology episode now and then. Okay, that't what I thought the series to be anyway
Thanks!

[Kram061-1]

One thing I'd like to see (other than Turbo Boost of course) is the freeze frame just before the commercials, as in the first series.

[Dalton]

This may be good news. Lets just hope it doesn't do the opposite of the movie and take things too far in the other direction.

[Kram061-1]

hopefully they'll fix that stupid voicebox and maybe even change the scanner into one not two

[djshag69]

Dalton makes a good point, i hope he keeps it still Knight Rider, i know a bunch of things needed improvement but I hope he doesn't go overboard

[goldbug]

I'm glad he acknowledges that the 2 hr movie wasn't necesarily "bad" but had constraints put on it by time and budget (not to mention the writer's strike). While I know he wants to do his own thing with KR, I seriously hope he doesn't throw out elements of the 2 hr movie just because they're not "cool" in his opinion. There needs to be some continuity IMO and his comments about Traceur seem to indicate he'll respect that.