Chris 2

I thought Laura’s death was mishandled. How convenient that she goes off to die alone so we don’t have to see the horrors of her disease. Or that two weeks after she leaves, she’s dead. Brain tumors are a tough way to go, and Knots didn’t help its credibility by writing her off the way that she did. Why not a heart attack - not uncommon in people Laura’s age? That way you can write her off the canvas quickly and with credibility. I think this was the point they could have refocused on the cul-de-sac more. Bring in some new families - more than just the Williamses. And if they wanted to dump a big salary, Sumner could have gone. William Devane was excellent, but I felt his character at that point was pulling the show away from its roots.

The Lechowicks weren’t the showrunners when the painting opening was used or when the sandcastle intro was used. The showrunner for those seasons was Lawrence Kasha (the Lechowicks were story editors for the first season of the painting opening, and producers for the second season, working for Kasha). I’m not sure we can blame them for the painting or the sandcastles.

The Lechowicks were the showrunners when they brought back the scrolling boxes in season 12, though they used a similar orchestration to the sandcastle theme.

Streaming didn’t use the flute version did they? I was going to record it and I think they used the synthesizer version. Not loving season 8 so far - Jean Hackney, Peter and his mother, Paige, etc. I’ve never loved the “main character has a child they didn’t know they had” trope. To me, it would be easier to say Mack had a daughter with a woman he didn’t marry, and she was raised on the east coast by her mother. I generally don’t like characters who hide a child’s existence from a parent, as Soapsuds mentioned above with Ben.

I can’t stand Ben. He’s dull. And sanctimonious. I hate the way he’s so willing to play second best to Gary for years - have some self respect. Also, I hate the bagpipes. And I hate the way his mouth is hanging open in the opening credits. He can run off with Cathy if he wants, but she can do better. Hunt Block/Peter is a sign of the show truly veering away from its community roots. I don’t get why he’s there or why he’s trying to kill his B-movie mother (why is she getting a big Special Guest Star credit, anyway?).

In her first appearance on Dallas, Valene stands up to JR because she knows he has set up Gary for a fall so he’ll leave the ranch. When Knots started, she seemed more naive and that’s not how she was initially written on Dallas. She was more jaded. I think she would have spotted Abby earlier too. But…different show, so the character served a different purpose.

The Joshua character and story don’t work for me at all. The strength of Knots is that the characters are generally relatable and most of them are people you’d meet in everyday life. Joshua is unlikeable and un-relatable. Valene should have thrown Joshua out of her house as soon as he starting using her twins as ratings fodder for his show. The Valene that we saw in early Dallas would never have put up with him. She was street smart and was at the point in her life where she didn’t put up with crap like that.

I don’t get these FAST services which don’t have a regular schedule. It just doesn’t work for a serialized show like this. Just run one episode per day at a certain time (and they can repeat that same episode later in the day). And if they want to do marathons, that’s what the weekends are for.

The second episode was not from the 80s syndication package. They didn’t have the Lorimar Presents recap and just had the regular pre-credits teaser. Plus, they even had the bumper that CBS would air right after station identification in the original run.

For the pilot, they’re showing the syndicated version (with the Lorimar Presents narration at the beginning). Not restored.

Yes, it would be allowed today. Robin Wright had a contract and was obligated to do the show. They gave her a choice to void the remainder of that contract and sign a new one in return for that time off, but she wasn’t forced to. She could have turned down the offer and the other part, and left in 1987. Honestly, many production companies even today wouldn’t have given her that choice; they would have held her to the original contract and forced her to turn down the other part. You can’t run a soap with your actors constantly demanding time off to take other parts. That’s why soaps vets with more clout negotiate “outs” in their contracts that let them do outside projects with a certain amount of notice. Robin was a newbie and didn’t have that type of clause in her original contract.

Depends on how you look at it. They gave Robin Wright four months off on very short notice (she was cast in the movie about a week before filming began). They asked for an additional eight months on her contract in return, not including the four months she missed. They could have just as easily have said “No, we’re not disrupting production on such short notice.”

I think Marcy looks pretty damned good. She’s aging naturally and is recognizable and looks healthy.

No Robin Wright? 😀 The Joe recast is one of the odder ones. I don’t know why Dane Witherspoon was let go, but I’m assuming he was. He wasn’t exactly Olivier but he was pretty to look at. Mark Arnold was a completely different type.

A few years ago, I saw a clip of Sherry and Michael and was shocked because I never knew they overlapped. I always thought that Sherry came in after Steve was killed off. Oh, and there’s the clip above. Meg Bennett was gorgeous. Just breathtaking, and I don’t say that lightly.

Lizas I’m aware of: Kathleen Beller; Meg Bennett, Hope Busby; Sherry Mathis; Louann Gideon. Kathy Beller played Liza as a young teen so I’m guessing there was another Liza before her who played her as a child. Did Liza ever use the last name “Collins”? That was her stepfather’s name. I thought she just used Walton like her brother did.

Aaron Spelling had a knack for casting these women who seem like they have a steel wire running through them. They were never dull, and always gave compelling, interesting performances even when the script was subpar. Shannen was one. Kate Jackson is another. And Pamela Sue Martin is a third. In all three cases, the actresses didn’t stay for the full run of their series, and those shows were never the same without them.

Yeah, the blonde was not a good look for Susan. It’s too bad that ABC forced the producers to have Tom remarry so quickly. The producers wanted him to be single for a longer period, and that would have opened up more story for Mary. In the first season episode where Tom sister Vivian first shows up, there’s a conflict between her and Mary, who thinks V is too flighty and pushing the kids in the wrong direction. It was clearly a story written for Joan, but Diana Hyland was absent in that episode, so they gave the story to Mary. Lani O’Grady did a nice job with it.

They did a good job casting the sisters, who were all attractive in their own way, and were all spirited and independent. They seemed like people you’d live next door to. It was a shame Mary got that old lady hairdo in the last season or two.

The producers were casting the role of Dakota, Johnny’s illegitimate son. The role was going to involve a lot of conflict with Frank. Both Christopher Durham and John Sanderford were finalists, and the producers liked them both, so they gave the role of Dakota to Durham and the role of Frank to Sanderford (and let Pierson go). I liked Sanderford - he reminded me of Daniel Hugh Kelly, whom I consider the definitive Frank. Pierson’s Frank had more of an edge, but he was fine and had been in the role for a couple of years. I know he was well liked by the cast and they weren’t happy he was replaced.

LOL - that’s not in middle of the scene. Those are separate scenes from separate episodes. And John Sanderford was not an emegency recast. the producers fired Geoff Pierson.

Emma Samms is gorgeous. She can pull off any outfit.

I thought Kristian Alfonso was great in this role. Not always easy to pull off playing the villain, but she did it well.

Duffy’s return was announced on April 9, 1986 according to Barbara Curran’s book. That aligns with my memory - it was announced relatively late in the season and I was wondering how they’d work him into the story at such a late date.

It was still a clear timeslot winner. But when you’re the head of a network and your previous season’s number one show has lost approximately 20% of its audience YOY (and that’s where they were between spring 1985 and spring 1986 ratings), you’re not going to just sit there and let the hemorrhaging continue. Even if it’s winning the timeslot. You’re going to make changes.