Khan

Don't get me wrong: I love how KNOTS evolved over the years. (Well, for the most part, I love it, lol). I didn't mind when the show became more glamorous and "corporate," because, to me, the essence of the show still was there. But I believe that David Jacobs' original vision for the show had value, too, even if it probably wouldn't have run for as long as KNOTS actually ran, had Jacobs been able to stick to that vision. It's just - as I said before - the stars weren't aligned in the right way to make that happen.

In Leo's (and Ron Carlivati's) world, every man is either gay or in the closet.

She did WHAT?? OMG. I just...I don't know what to say.

True. Between his creative meddling on KL, FC, etc., and all the reports of his abusive behavior BTS, Michael Filerman was a producer who never knew when to leave things well enough alone.

Unfortunately, Nick is now a middle-aged man who is still liable to choke on a coin.

Why did they feel the need to tape every scene through several inches of Vaseline? The general level of acting on this show proves Harding Lemay's point about why he didn't like writing for teens and young adults.

Me neither.

Watching clips like those is like watching vintage Y&R: I might not like everything that I see, but I'll definitely agree that it's better than the [!@#$%^&*] we're getting today. (Come back, Bob and Jill, all is forgiven!)

I tend to blame that on Leonard Katzman and his vision for DALLAS, which reduced the women (and many of the men) to little more than props for J.R. He didn't see the complexities that Jacobs saw in his characters, only the archetypes.

Yeah, kind of. They would've been one of the first couples to live on Seaview Circle. He would've been a Korean War vet (and head of a very successful construction firm - the result of years of hard work and self-sacrifice - and a contrast to Richard Avery, who always grabbed at the brass ring and never quite caught it), and she would've been his high school sweetheart, who faces an existential crisis, unsure of her own identity, now that all their children have grown up and left the house. And I like the idea of casting Priscilla Pointer as the wife, although I think I would have casted someone like Carroll Baker or Eva Marie Saint (...or even Julie Harris...) instead. In a way, I wish KNOTS had remained the kind of show David Jacobs wanted it to be, but I know that the times weren't right (even in 1979, there were certain topics that TV execs just weren't going to touch) and I know, too, that Jacobs' ambitions for his creation didn't match his actual ability as a writer.

I know if *I* had created KNOTS, the fourth couple would have been an older couple - older than even Sid and Karen! - with grown children and maybe even grandchildren.

And if Joshua Morrow DOES read what fans say about him online and on social media, then he's stupider than I thought!

As others have mentioned, David Jacobs and CBS's decision to spin Gary and Val off onto KNOTS knocked KNOTS itself off-balance. For one, KNOTS already had a young couple in place with the Wards; the addition of the Ewings made the Wards redundant. For another, because Gary and Val were coming from DALLAS, it only made sense to feature them as much as they did, since the assumption was many DALLAS fans would be tuning into the new show as well. Between those two factors, the Wards, IMO, were doomed from the start. IIRC, Jacobs always meant for KNOTS to revolve around four couples. However, when the decision was made to spin off Gary and Val, Jacobs simply substituted them for one of the existing couples. This, of course, begs the question: who was the original fourth couple, and why were they (and not the Wards) sacrificed for Gary and Val?

If he's lost George Clooney, he's lost...well, actually, he hasn't lost a damn thing: https://www.cnbc.com/2024/07/10/george-clooney-calls-on-biden-to-drop-out-of-presidential-race.html

Maybe he (and Holly) could hide in the tunnels linking the DiMera Mansion to Doug's Place? It's just a thought!

LOL!!

I think Lee's biggest problem - at least, in the beginning - was that she was more accustomed to working on Broadway and in musical theater, where the acting has to be more forceful and presentational out of necessity, than she was to working on television. That, plus the fact that she was paired with an actor (Don Murray) who played a laid-back dope and therefore had to provide a sort of contrast, made her come across initially as shrill and overbearing. However, I watched Lee recently in the movie version of "How to Succeed in Business Without Really Trying" (thanks, Pluto TV, lol) and I definitely saw a lot of Karen Mackenzie's nerve and pluck in her Rosemary Pilkington, and vice-versa. So, I think Lee learned over time how to imbue Karen with similar qualities and modulate them enough for television so that she became more likeable - or at least more tolerable. (It also didn't hurt to have Kevin Dobson in the cast, playing the type of crusader/underdog role he was clearly born to play; which, in turn, forced Lee to soften her performances somewhat). Of the show's original cast, I would agree that Constance McCashin and John Pleshette probably were the best actors, followed by Ted Shackelford and Joan Van Ark. Lee and Murray were in the middle - neither the best, nor the worst. This, of course, left James Houghton and Kim Lankford as the weakest. Unfortunately, as the show became soapier and less grounded, that balance shifted, and not in everyone's favor either. Some actors - like Shackelford, Van Ark, Donna Mills - rolled with the changes. Other actors - McCashin, Lee, Dobson, Julie Harris - stayed the course (and, in Harris and McCashin's cases, actually elevated the material). But, as for the rest...? Given his own background in daytime, Houghton might've been able to adjust to the "new" KNOTS. By S4, however, Kenny Ward had become such a non-entity that making him "work" as a character was probably too hard of a task for anyone working on that show... ...Pleshette might've worked as a comic, supporting character, but, IMO, he was too much of a nebbish to work as a romantic lead OR as a villain. (This is why I proposed pairing him off with Michelle Phillips' Anne at some point - like, around S14, when Mack needed an attorney after being arrested for Mary Robeson's murder. I still believe that those two could have played very well off each other as a couple who maybe love each other as much as they love money). ...And Lankford - poor Lankford, lol - I know she tried hard, and I know she has her fans, even on this board, but I think that was a case of a weak actress saddled with an equally weak, and therefore expendable, character. Even when she attempted to amplify her emotions to match the heightened storytelling in S4, with the bugged-out eyes and everything, it was hard for me to take her seriously. If anyone needed to go after S4, it was she.

I agree. Two things hurt KNOTS in S13: the fact that the Lechowicks and Stanleys had left the show in such a mess; and the fact that the team hired to replace them (Romano, James Magnuson, Donald Marcus, Rachel Cline, Lisa Seidman) had no prior knowledge of the show. (IMO, Michael Filerman and David Jacobs were stupid not to guide Romano and his team at least initially, until they had learned how the show worked). And you're right about Kasha's passing casting a bit of a shadow over the last few seasons of KNOTS. IIRC, he died either right before the 1990-91 season or soon after it premiered, but they kept his name in the credits until the end of the season. Either way, it does seem like the show began to spiral once he was no longer involved. The latter half of S13 and most of S14 were improvements, but even they paled to "golden era" KNOTS.

It was during KNOTS' abominable S13, with John Romano as Co-EP/Showrunner: I suspect that it was Michael Filerman, who had worked at CBS Daytime (first, under Fred Silverman and maybe Paul Rauch; then, later, on his own, I think), who hired Hardy to perform a lot of the same duties that Lawrence Kasha - like Hardy, a theater veteran - had before his untimely death in 1990.

I agree. All we really know about Willow is that she's Nina's long-lost daughter and the lady who (allegedly) beat cancer. You don't think sex with Michael would be hot? I can see it now: Drew seduces Willow; Willow leaves Michael for Drew; Willow learns Drew only seduced her in order to get back at Nina; Willow begs Michael to take her back; Michael tells Willow to kick rocks (and maybe hooks up with Sasha, which angers Cody); Willow ends up shooting (and maybe killing) Drew; Nina takes the rap for Willow; Willow realizes how much Nina actually loves her; Nina and Willow's relationship as mother and daughter grows deeper. Okay, enough with the boat metaphors, we get it, lol! ICAM!! I agree. Even if Michele Val Jean is looking to bring along some fresh, young talent BTS, she'll also need seasoned vets (such as her old friend, PM) to help get her creation off to a solid start.

I agree. Plus, "love on the run" stories work only when the stakes are high, but what are the stakes in Tate and Holly running off besides their families losing their collective shits about it?

But the fact that he was there for that long doesn't necessarily mean that's where he made the greatest impact, especially if RH fans appear to agree that his time there was, for the most part, poor. I'd love to know what, if any, positive impact he had on any show he produced, or whether he was just someone who was more suited to working in the theater.

Those ladies are smart to launch a rewatch podcast. To a generation of viewers, MP is like visual comfort food, so they'll likely eat that stuff up. (I should know: I, myself, can't get enough of "Murder, She Wrote" reruns on PlutoTV and wish certain cast members were still alive to do a podcast of that show, lol).

Except, his characters weren't as layered as the ones on "Family," nor were the actors on KNOTS as accomplished. And I say that as one who loved both shows. IMO, it was the addition of Julie Harris (and later, William Devane) that forced the rest of the cast to step up their game. TBH, though, I don't know whether Don/Sid would have fit into the direction that KNOTS itself took when Peter Dunne replaced Joseph B. Wallenstein as producer/showrunner. Even if you got Sid out of Knots Landing Motors, it's hard to determine which, if any, part he might have played in storylines like Wolfbridge or Empire Valley. On the other hand, producers wouldn't have needed to retcon Sid's history in order to bring back Annie and have her fill the "young, sexy ingenue" role that Paige filled. I think both Lorimar and MTM had great production values - better than those of Universal or even Spelling/Goldberg - but when it came to the quality of acting and writing, MTM's shows (both sitcoms and dramas) were hard to beat.

It's good to see that mess debunked, but I always come back to the same conclusion: even a Biden who is (allegedly) afflicted with some degenerative, incurable disease is better for this country than even a Trump who is perfectly healthy (which he is most certainly not).