I can’t say I’m overly psyched about the new Knight Rider TV movie that will air on NBC on February 17th, but one of the few things that I liked about the project was the choice of Will Arnett (Arrested Development, Blades of Glory) as the voice of KITT. Unfortunately, now it looks like Arnett has been forced to bow out of the movie at the last minute due to an advertiser conflict of interest, and has been replaced by Val Kilmer.

It seems that Arnett has done voiceover work for GMC Truck commercials for a few years now. What’s wrong with that, you ask? Well, the new KITT is a Ford Mustang, so Ford felt it wasn’t appropriate for Arnett to take on the role. I guess I can understand their point of view, but it just seems like such a strange reason to force someone to leave a project. I guess Ford is particularly concerned because they are “taking an active role in the marketing and branding of the pic”, and didn’t want any confusion. Well, either way, Val Kilmer is a cool guy and all, but his involvement means nothing to me. I’m not saying that Arnett could have saved this pilot from what will most likely be a disaster anyway, but I thought he might at least bring something fresh and/or amusing to the table. What do you think, does the new Knight Rider still have a shot at being worthwhile?