Global is counting heavily on shows such as the new version of Knight Rider, starring KITT and Justin Bruening, to boost ratings. (Ernest Doroszuk, Sun Media)

The star of the show was a really fast car.

And all things considered, perhaps that was appropriate.

Canwest, the company that runs the Global and E! television networks, held its annual "upfront" presentation yesterday at the Elgin Theatre in Toronto. And the scene-stealer was the new KITT, a.k.a. the car from the new version of Knight Rider.

Of course, the human star of Knight Rider, Justin Bruening, was on hand, too. But Bruening already is used to playing second-fiddle to an automobile.

"He's a bit of a diva," Bruening said after driving KITT onto the stage.

Also making appearances yesterday were Survivor alumni Parvati Shallow, Ozzy Lusth and James Clement; Canadian Shenae Grimes and Rob Estes from the remake of 90210; Mike Holmes from Holmes on Homes; Colin McAllister and Justin Ryan from Home Heist (if only those guys had brought more energy to the proceedings -- that's sarcasm, folks); Dr. Travis Stork from The Doctors; Steve Bacic from The Guard, which is an excellent Canadian show that more people should be watching; and Ngozi Paul from da Kink in my Hair.

So why was a fast car appropriate for the Canwest upfront? Well, symbolically speaking, Global probably would like to leave last season behind as quickly as possible.

The writers strike in the U.S. was particularly hard on Global. The second season of Heroes was truncated; 24 never launched at all; and it just happened to be the year when Global lost NFL football to CTV.

On the positive side, both the stellar medical drama House and the surprisingly resilient Survivor finished in the Canadian top five.

And there are brighter days ahead. Kiefer Sutherland and 24 will be back, as will fellow U.S.-based hits such as Brothers and Sisters, Prison Break and Heroes.

Global still has the funniest show on television, The Office. And Global also has secured the rights to the highly anticipated spinoff of The Office, the details for which still are being formulated.

"Let's face it, the challenge of the writers strike made us think about the pilot-season process a little differently this year," said Barb Williams, the executive vice-president of content for Canwest.

"Instead of just waiting to see the pilots, we went in early, and I mean months early. We dug deep to learn about these shows. We made decisions that were just as strong, and in some cases even stronger, than we have in previous seasons."

Canwest already announced its full list of U.S. acquisitions last month, so there wasn't any breaking news on that front yesterday. One of the biggest new buzz shows is 90210, although the U.S. network of origin, CW (which is partially owned by CBS), continued to throw a wet blanket on that buzz yesterday by refusing to let Grimes take questions from the assembled media. (Okay, if there are hundreds of channels out there and you actually are getting buzz for your casting, isn't it a no-brainer to capitalize on that?)

Anyway, CW/CBS allowed Grimes, who is a delightful and intelligent young lady when she's permitted to speak, to take the muzzle off for a couple of minutes on stage yesterday.

"I was raised on that stuff," said the 18-year-old Grimes when asked if she has any memories of the original Beverly Hills 90210. "None of the (other young cast members) has seen it, but I'm a 90210 pro.

"I'm certainly relating to my character. Annie is a little fish in a big pond, and so am I. It's the new glamourous world that I'm trying to weasel my way through."

Yes, it's a whole new world for Grimes. But for Global, the best post-strike news would be for everything to get back to normal.

Get us there as fast as you can, KITT.