Trio of actors "Knight"-ed by NBC

[Brian Damage]

LOS ANGELES (Hollywood Reporter) - Bruce Davison, Wayne Kasserman and Greg Ellis round out the cast of NBC's two-hour movie/backdoor pilot "Knight Rider."

"Knight Rider" is a sequel to the 1980s series and centers on Mike Tracer (Justin Bruening), Michael Knight's (David Hasselhoff) son who never knew his dad.

Tracer is recruited by his childhood best friend, Sarah Kamen (Deanna Russo), and her eccentric physicist father, Charles (Davison, of CBS' "Close to Home,"), to join the Knight Foundation, a group committed to counteracting and preventing the damage done by private, covert military contractors.

To assist their missions, Charles creates the second-generation KITT, an artificial-intelligence car.

Ellis, who recently appeared in "Pirates of the Caribbean: At World's End" and "Beowulf," will play shady millionaire Lawrence Stregman, who approaches Charles to commission a KITT car. When Charles refuses, Stregman hires a military contractor to murder him and steal the car. The role is considered guest-starring, with a potential to continue if "Knight Rider" is picked up as a series.

Kasserman (Spike's "The Kill Point") plays Dylan, Mike's loyal roommate, friend and race car mechanic who joins the Knight Rider team.

Reuters/Hollywood Reporter