Now this is pretty damned funny.
NBC’s Knight Rider “re-imagining” is only a couple of weeks away from airing, and at the 11th hour the production has had to bring him in to completely replace the voice-over work of Will Arnett.
Arnett was to be the voice of the famous crime fighting car K.I.T.T., but apparently the combined forces of K.I.T.T. and Mike Knight were not enough to beat the supervillain known as…
General Motors.
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It seems that Arnett has been doing voice-only commercials for GM trucks for the past 10 years and alas, the car in the show (which used to be a GM car) is now a Ford, who has a heavy hand in marketing and branding of the made for TV movie.
Hellooooo, does no one at GM read movie sites? Arnett’s been known to be the voice of the car for quite a while now.
Anyway, there’s just a wee bit of a conflict of interest there, so GM told Arnett he couldn’t provide the voice of a Ford Mustang.
Scramble, scramble, scramble, and NBC came up with Val Kilmer to do the last minute re-do for the movie.
I find it quite ironic because if the show had gone with a new version of the Pontiac Firebird (the original car used when the show was first aired) as the fans have wanted all along, this would never have been an issue. Yes, I realize there is no current Pontiac Firebird – but there’s a brand new retro Camaro that was unveiled in the Transformers movie so you can bet your last dollar that if there’s a new Camaro, a new Firebird can’t be far behind.
I guess GM would prefer to premiere a new version of that car in something a little more prestigious than a made for TV movie/remake combo.
Oh, and here’s the poster for the movie:
BTW, there are some big time unflattering pics of Val Kilmer floating out there right now… I tried to find one that was recent but not as awful as some of the others.
Source: Variety via Rope of Silicon
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24 Comments
No wonder GM is tanking, it is painfully out of touch!
Tom,
Yeah, regarding this… but have you seen the new Corvette? Or the new Camaro? Those are both sweet and I’m looking forward to the new Pontiac Firebird.
Now if only I could afford any of those.
Vic
I agree, Vic. Come on, GM could of thrown a Corvette or Caramo or even maybe a sleek Cadallic 16 at NBC for this TV movie, but instead we have the Battle Star Galactic version of the Ford Mustang! Sorry but the Mustang just doesn’t do it for me and probably won’t do it for the old school masses.
No matter how I look at this new car, I’m still thinking of a Cylon Attack car…
:/
Adrian, wow… I hadn’t thought of those new sci-fi looking Caddys!
Ford must have just ponied(cough) up more money to get their car in the movie.
Vic
Vic you made my point.Why is K.I.T.T. not a Camero or a Corvette? Wouldnt that be a great way to market either one of those cars?
Aidrian I agree with you, that the new Mustang K.I.T.T. looks like a Cylon hybird.Maybe K.I.T.T. can use a new catch phrase like “By your command”.
This show has just gone from bad to worse. I do love the new Mustangs, but it should have been a Vette!!! What’s next, the A-Team in a SUV??
Andy,
Better an SUV than a minivan.
Vic
Nice of you to find a viewer friendly pic of Val.
The other photos certainly have not lived up to his former “powerful” Hollywood self. If they are any inclanation- time for voiceovers!
Nice car regardless!
All actors tend to get puffy as they age, but Kilmer’s looking even worse than most. That can’t be healthy. Then again, he always was big-faced.
Is Arnett still doing GM ads? I’ve seen some recently and it sounded like a knockoff, but maybe he’s just trying to mix it up a bit. I love his voice and it’s too bad that marketing concerns kept us all from hearing his take on Knight Rider.
It’s not just actors that get puffy as they age.
Actually I think it just stands out more because they’re better looking than the average person when they’re younger so it stands out more when they age.
Vic
Hi Vic et al,
There’s some great debate going on here. Nice title for your post, by the way
Voice Over Times covered the story about Will Arnett voicing KITT when it was hot of the presses late last year so there’s a vested interest in this development on our end. I suppose GM doesn’t read movie blogs, but in all fairness, Arnett or his agents could have run it by GM first if they thought that General Motors would get upset about it (which obviously they did) before accepting the gig.
I’m looking forward to hearing a different side of Val Kilmer although it would have been superb to have Will Arnett voicing.
You’re right, it is funny though that it took such a long time for anyone to voice their concerns and for the VO to be rerecorded.
Best wishes,
Stephanie
Voices.com
Hey Stephanie,
Thanks and welcome to Screen Rant. Nice to have someone on the “inside” chime in.
Vic
Boy talk about “phoning it in”.
^
Yea Val Kilmer will increase the
ratings…. Not.
This show is sooo doomed its not even funny.
^
Once this WGA strike is over your going to see shows like this fade away. (IMO)
^
The writers have not only been on strike they have all been talking amongst themselves and the creative flow has resulted in alot of new show ideas and concepts.
I was talking to a striking writer (friend of mine) today and he told me that the strike has actually given him the time to write 2 film screenplays and a Tv show pilot.
He also explained that alot of writers have been doing the same thing…..
Let’s hope we get some great shows out of this…
Andy, I’m betting the A-Team will be driving a Hummer.
^
BA Baracus will prob pimp it out with spinner rims,after-market crome and light enhancments.
Face and Murdock let him have his way until it gets to the point where its just too distracting and then they knock him out, take all the bling off the Hummer and restore it to normal.
When BA wakes up he can’t believe it , he’s stunned. They tell him he’s got to stop drinking Red-Bull these dreams about pimping the Hummer are getting old.
^
This happens at least twice every few months.
Heehee
Well I’ll put My FORD 2 cents in here. I actually thought it was good. It had way to many commercials though. In all fairness I thought the mustang look a whole H8ll of alot better than the Firebird. As for the comaro/vette well I think one has outlived its day and the other one has been out of comissioned for sometime now and who only knows when they are going to produce it again(but grant you coming from a Transformer fan it looked good in the moving, probably one of the top scenes it was hilarious). Why do you think they came out with the retro 60’s comaro body style?????? Cause the FORD MOTOR COMPANY beat them too it. Here’s another question. What year/model/make 60’s musclecar is most probably one of the most sought after cars that cant be found??? email me at cobraii2003 at yahoo dot com and i might tell ya lmao..hint hint it was green and fastback and the intitials driving it wassssss…..S.M.
Who that has posted has ever seen the original knight rider series when they first came out?? you had to be born lets say before ‘80
Scott,
Wasn’t it Chrysler that actually started the “updated retro” look in car design?
In any case, personally I like the trend. A car like the Mustang (or the Camaro, Corvette, etc.) SHOULD always be recognizable no matter what year the model is. Look at the Porsche 911: Whether you see a 2008 model or a 1968 version, you can still tell it’s a 911.
That’s one reason I really like the latest iteration of the Corvette, it’s closer to the Sting Ray than the previous long, stretched out, soft-edged model.
Vic
Now what car did chrysler design to retro the 60’s? I hope your not say the CHARGER. Last time I checked when they ended the charger in the 70’s it was a two door musclecar not a four door sedan and i wouldnt consider that nowhere near retro. but like I said I like the new style comaro( but I wouldnt go out and buy it) even though I hate that body style from the 60’s
This post has morphed into Motorweek.com.
Damn isnt that a shame LMAO
Here in my car,…
Scott,
I think their PT Cruiser was the vehicle that started the whole retro car design trend.
Vi
well maybe so all depends on how u look at it
there wasnt no such Pt cruising back then. but when talking bout mustangs ,vettes,camaros then we are talking bout musclecars. after the camaro comes out you will likely see the monte carlo again lol.
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