Producers of NBC's “Knight Rider” are putting the talking-car show into the garage for a major enhancement that includes eliminating three series regulars. Sydney Tamiia Poitier, Yancey Arias and Bruce Davison will depart the show after its initial 13-episode run after the show had won a full-season, 22-episode pickup last month.

Viewers will get to see the changes start to take effect with a two-part story in episodes 10 and 11. The show will move forward focusing on the remaining five characters, Mike Traceur (Justin Bruening), Sarah (Deanna Russo), Billy (Paul Campbell), Zoe (Smith Cho) and K.I.T.T., voiced by Val Kilmer. Despite the departure of three stars there are no plans to add new regulars. Nevertheless "Knight Rider" could depend more on bringing in bigger names as guest stars throughout the rest of the season.

"It's a reboot," Gary Scott Thompson, executive producer/show runner, said. "We're moving away from the terrorist-of-the-week formula and closer to the original, making it a show about a man and his car going out and helping more regular people, everymen."

Some measures had to be taken after all, and the new “Knight Rider” premiered last February as a two-hour movie (with a cameo by David Hasselhoff) to good ratings, before joining the network's Wednesday night lineup this fall. But last week's episode only drew 5.1 million viewers, down from the 7.4 million who watched the season premiere in September.

The new reboot will focus on Michael and his ex-girlfriend Sarah. Moreover instead of working for the government and dealing with national security issues, Michael will now be working on his own, helping out ordinary people with their personal problems.