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The review contains MAJOR SPOILERS for the "Knight Rider" telemovie on NBC.

I remember the very first episode of the first "Knight Rider" some 25 years ago. I was no more than a first grader, and I remember my dad turning on NBC because this new series that was supposed to be a futuristic version of "The Dukes of Hazzard" was supposed to premiere.

One of the first scenes is a violent one. A police office named Michael Long is confronting a suspect when he is shot in the face onto the hood of his Trans-Am.

There was one thing we learned about those first few minutes of "Knight Rider" -- it certainly was no "Dukes of Hazzard." And as I tuned in to watch the new "Knight Rider" telemovie for the first time tonight, this is no 1980s "Knight Rider."

We've been through a number of attempts to revive this series (need we talk about "Knight Rider 2000," or at worse, "Team Knight Rider"?), none of them even coming close to providing a true modern equivalent of the show that captivated audiences when Generation Xers like myself still had young, impressionable minds connected to our eyeballs watching a talking "black T-top" and its womanizing driver, the reconstructed face of David Hasselhoff's Michael Knight.

But enough of all that. Thanks to David Andron, a virtual unknown in the world of Hollywood, NBC has finally successfully brought back a show, proving that "Bionic Woman" was more of the exception rather than the rule when it came to remakes, and creating what might be the network's first-chance for a strong genre series since "Heroes" premiered.

Picking up from the end of the series (and obviously ignoring "Knight Rider 2000" and "Team Knight Rider"), the home of Charles Graiman (Bruce Davison) -- the creator of the original KITT -- is invaded, and a man believed to be Graiman dies. A Ford Mustang Shelby with a new artificial personality similar to the Trans Am we all knew and loved, takes off on its own pre-programmed mission to not only pick up Graiman's daughter, but a new driver as well -- the son of Michael Knight, an ex-Army Ranger known as Mike Traceur (Justin Breuning).

In the past attempts of resurrecting "Knight Rider," one of the key elements was missed -- real bad guys, real action, and cinematography and story that had you yelling at the TV set whenever the network decided to go to commercial. Those attempts may not have had all that, but this "Knight Rider" does. More than once, even I was like, "What? Why a commercial here?!?" And that's something you almost never get me saying, maybe because I've become a little desensitized to the tricks of action television. But director Steve Shill ("Dexter," "Carnivale") knew how to revive even that in a way that would resonate far better with 21st century audiences. Even the cameo at the end with Hasselhoff was well done, and the links between the two series were practically seamless.

I can see NBC picking this up for a series easily for next fall, and I think that fans will be there to watch it. I know I do. It made you buckle up in the beginning and then hold on white-knuckled to the very end.

Let's just wait and see, however, if the fans were around to even give it a chance Sunday night. If the numbers are good, then I think there may be more of this new "Knight Rider" in our future.

What Worked

Unlike even the original series, the bad guys were not just some amateur low-lifers wreaking havoc on small towns with beautiful women. Their mission and their tactics made sense, and they seemed like a worthy adversary to not only Mike Traceur, but KITT as well.

The twists and turns were great. It's too bad that major pieces of the story -- like Davison playing Graiman, and Traceur being the son of Michael Knight -- had to get out before the telemovie aired. And it's not like sites like Airlock Alpha were there to hand out those spoilers ... this was information provided in NBC's own publicity of the show.

I also loved the commercials leading up to this, as well as the Ford commercials that played throughout this movie -- especially the series of commercials featuring Bruening and KITT where his supercar gets jealous that he's driving a Ford Focus to a date. I am not big on obvious product placement, but these commercials helped make this telemovie feel like not just a run-of-the-mill Sunday night movie, but an event. And it felt like that from start to finish.

Finally, kudos to the network for adding a little bit of diversity to the cast, including the lesbian FBI Agent Carrie Rivai (Sydney Tamiia Poitier). It wasn't shoved in our face, but shown to us the way it should be -- like it's normal (and it is, by the way).

What Didn't Work

As cool as this whole sequence was, I am not sure if the best decision toward the end of the episode was to allow the SUV that had the bad guys plus Graiman in it to collide with the super structure of KITT, practically killing half the people inside. The move was actually completely reckless, and accomplished nothing. It was the magic of creative writing that saved the life of Graiman, but it seemed a bit contrived if nothing else to give some great visuals.

I'm all for creating good visuals to go with a good story, but risking the life of the man you're trying to save in an attempt to save him -- not sure if that was the best place for this story to go.

Giving Credit Where Credit Is Due

"Knight Rider" was written by David Andron based on the original 1980s series by Glen A. Larson. It was directed by Steve Shill. It stars Justin Bruening, Deanna Russo, Sydney Tamiia Poitier, Bruce Davison, and Val Kilmer.

Michael HInman is the founder and site coordinator for Airlock Alpha, writing out of Tampa, Fla. He can be reached at mhinman@airlockalpha.com.