There has been talk about the new and improved "Knight Rider," and since I like to at least try to be a fair person when dealing with television shows, I respect when a failing show recognizes its problems (and when I say that, I mean NBC and not showrunner Gary Scott Thompson, who has stated the series was fine before NBC asked for the direction change) and I'm always willing to give it a chance.

So I tuned in to "Exit Light, Enter Knight." Well, not really tuned in. I spent a couple bucks and bought it on my Apple TV since my DVR refuses to have anything to do with this. And I'm immediately welcomed to an episode that is all Thompson -- he wrote it and directed it. You can see the effort that's trying to go into this show, but there are really no grades for that in real life.

Michael (Justin Bruening) just happens to stumble into a bank robbery situation. But it's not your typical bank robbery ... it's a bunch of guys with kick-ass armor and automatic weapons. And instead of just moving into the bank and trying to keep everything on the down-low, they open fire on everyone outside, including both Michael and KITT.

Of course, the robbers aren't your typical robbers ... they are robbers who have seen movies like "The Dark Knight" (or at least the writer of this episode did). You know, dressing hostages up like they were the robbers, that kind of thing.

Michael Knight, who apparently was spending a lot of time sleeping after the previous episodes (as did a lot of the audience, I heard), wasn't wearing his ear piece to communicate with KITT, nor did he have that cool watch that his dad used to wear. So he was stuck using a Sidekick to communicate ... a sidekick that apparently stays on after you text people with it, and continues to show the message as bright as possible long after you've sent the message. I heard a phone with those settings on has a battery life of about 10 minutes. Good luck with that.

The robbers make it out through the tunnels under the bank and KITT is able to track their satellite phone, meaning the bad guys were caught, the family caught in the middle was happy, and we all had a laugh and chuckle at the end.

It's like 1983 all over again.

What Worked

The episode kept moving, and didn't drag a lot. KITT seemed somewhat useful in all of this, providing a shield to save a hostage, and being able to track the bad guys through the tunnel. But outside of serving as an ambulance, he didn't do much else.

What Didn't Work

Where to begin. Well, it seemed like everyone in the Knight Cave were trying to figure out why the robbers went into the bank with guns blazing instead of going in quietly, which is what I'm sure a lot of the audience was wondering as well.

Unfortunately, it was never explained, outside of making a statement to the power guy's wife to shut down the power, which seemed like a lot to go through for one little statement. A simple "I will kill your wife" would've sufficed.

Also, that has to be some super infrared that KITT uses. Not only did it see through walls, but it provided a high definition picture at an angle that KITT could never be at. Looking down at the hostages like that, KITT would have to be sitting above the bank ... so can he fly, too?

Thompson also was watching more than "The Dark Knight." One of the robbers talked about how heroes get other people killed. Yeah, heard that already, in "Serenity."

Also, who puts a loaded gun in a safe deposit box? Seriously. I can understand putting a gun in there, but a loaded one? Seems that Michael Knight gets a lot of visits from the God of Convenience. Also, while I'm sure they brought it with them, it's good to know that the bottle of acid was clearly marked in big letters "ACID."

I'm still trying to figure out why the power grid had to be off. I kind of picked up that it stopped water flow? I'm not exactly sure if water flow would need power to continue. Maybe it does, I don't know. I am not in utilities. But one thing that I did wonder about ... not only did the God of Convenience provide lighting in the tunnels, but he also somehow provided electricity. If the power grid was down, how are those lights on? They didn't seem to be running on a generator, as the fluctuation in light would be obvious.

Of course, with all of that, I'm ignoring the elephant in the room, which is the biggest gift the God of Convenience could provide: Michael Knight stops for coffee at some Hollywood-placed coffee stand, at exactly the right time for a big shootout and bank robbery. Now that's coincidence, isn't it?

I heard that after the bad guys were caught, Michael Knight bought a winning lottery ticket on a crashing airplane, and was struck by lightning three times.

Giving Credit Where Credit Is Due

"Knight Rider" stars Justin Bruening, Deanna Russo, Paul Campbell and Smith Cho. "Exit Light, Enter Knight" was written by Gary Scott Thompson and directed by Gary Scott Thompson.