Vroom Vroom...Knight Rider Revs Up

Knight Rider fans are buzzing about the 15-second teaser that aired during NBC’s Sunday Night Football. The clip features the new KITT -- voiced by Arrested Development alum Will Arnett -- debuting in the upcoming two-hour movie on February 17, 9-11 p.m. EST.

According to the NBC press release, the new KITT (Knight Industries Three Thousand) is like the Terminator on steroids: weapons galore, a supercomputer that can hack into any system, a shape-shifting nano-body, and enough artificial intel to outwit the smartest bad guy.

Three cars will be featured in the movie: the KITT Hero -- a Ford Mustang Shelby GT500KR; the KITT Attack -- a high-speed version of the Shelby that transforms into Attack mode; and the KITT Remote, a driverless Shelby.

That said, message boards are all a-flutter that the car should have been a much cooler Trans Am, Corvette or Charger. But I think the movie’s success rests more on the special fx and characters than the car itself.

The story goes like this: Sarah Graiman (Deanna Russo) is a 24-year old Ph.D candidate at Stanford University, following in the footsteps of her genius father, Charles (Bruce Davison). When some guys try to abduct her, Sarah receives a mysterious call from KITT, warning her that he's a creation of Charles, who invented the first KITT 25 years ago. And oh by the way, her dad is in serious danger.

Sarah and KITT track down her childhood friend, Mike Tracer (Justin Bruening), a 23-year-old ex-Army Ranger, whom she hasn't seen since he left home at 18. Fresh off a tour of duty in Iraq, Mike’s world-weary and jaded, but eventually gets on board the quest to find Charles. Along the way, Carrie Rivai (Sydney Tamiia Poitier), a tough FBI agent and long-standing friend of Charles and Sarah’s, gets involved, as well.

Here's a peek at the teaser: