Knots Landing

[FrenchBug82]

I am fascinated by how many events and interviews those three ladies continue to make together. Several a year for sure.

It is really really rare for a show that has been off the year for thirty years, isn't it?

[Forever8]

This makes me wish even more Knots Landing was available via streaming on Hulu, HBO Max or airing on one of those over the air stations that plays classic TV shows. 

[amybrickwallace]

Or even DVD manufactured on demand!!

[victoria foxton]

 

 

[DRW50]

 

[DemetriKane]

Queers & Soaps podcast has done reviews on the first 3 seasons so 

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https://youtu.be/ahyWUVB0Qcw

[Soapsuds]

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[Chris B]

I recently bought Second Chances/Hotel Malibu on DVD. These are two series CBS used to try to replace Knots, along with Four Corners, which was created by David Jacobs. Second Chances was created by Lynn Marie Latham and Bernie Lechowick and Hotel Malibu was created by them and developed by James Stanley and Diane Messina Stanley.

Considering Knots ended due to budget issues, not ratings and they used so many writers from the show to create replacements, I’m surprised they didn’t try to tie one of these series to Knots. The show has a loyal fan base so it seems like a no brainer considering. 
 

The pilot of Second Chances was great and would’ve been easy to write as a spin off. Hell, they could’ve just made Michelle Phillips character Anne Matheson since they’re written in the same way. 

[Khan]

Once, on "Hotel Malibu," an Abby-like vixen, played by Romy Walthall, used (I think) a laundry basket to remove the body of an older gentlemen, played by Robert Ridgely, who (again, I think) had passed away while the two were having sex.  IIRC, another character asked her where she got the idea for the laundry basket, and she said she saw Abby do the same thing on "Knots Landing."

I thought that was a pretty clever nod, lol.

[Khan]

In retrospect...

1. The end of Jill should have been the moment when Gary and Val finally reconciled.  Ben was gone.  Abby had moved on.  Jill had died, failing in her mission to make Gary and Val's lives hell forever.  It all should have ended with Gary and Val retying the knot (no pun intended); and if it meant the two had to move out of Knots Landing and seek their "happily ever after" in parts elsewhere?  Well, as much as I would have hated to see Ted Shackelford and Joan Van Ark leave the show, it also would've been for the best.  Because, what did we get instead?  Danny Waleska, and Val's ridiculous "brain virus": two stories that only served to make Val, in particular, look like a bigger sap than ever.

2. I don't know what the show gained by resurrecting Val in the series' finale.  David Jacobs and Ann Marcus might have agreed with Karen that Gary and Val were a forever kind of couple, but Karen also believed that Diana was a pretty, pretty princess, who was seduced by that awful Chip Roberts, because she was so young and so innocent and didn't know any better.  And Gary and Kate's relationship might have been rushed, but at least it didn't feel like a regression for Gary the way Val's return and their quick reunion did (again, in retrospect).  If KL had wanted to acknowledge Gary and Val's history in some way at the end, they could have had Val appear to Gary in spirit form instead and urge him to propose to Kate.

Edited February 20, 2022 by Khan

[te.]

I'd argue that 2000 Malibu Road and Angel Falls were also attempts by CBS to launch new prime time soaps to replace Knots. They seemed to have a lot of short attempts at prime time soaps in the 90s. Larry Hagman's Orleans was also a bit of an attempt to recapture that 80s audience.

Edited February 20, 2022 by te.

[BetterForgotten]

It’s surprise CBS even tried - KL had fallen out of the top 30 in the ratings during its last 3 seasons on the air. Based on ratings, primetime soaps just weren’t popular in the early 90’s or for most of the 90’s for that matter (unless you consider something like ER a soap, which certainly had its soapy elements). The Spelling shows had the benefit of being on Fox, which was still a fledgling network at that point and didn’t necessarily need to bring in huge numbers to stay on the air.

[te.]

The Spelling shows brought in ad dollars though - Beverly Hills and Melrose Place were regulars in the top ten of the A18-49 demo despite neither show making the top 40 in total viewers (#41 and #50 as the highest position respectively). Both shows also rated highly in the A18-34 demographic, even toward the end of their runs. Add in that CBS was a mess throughout the 90s until they landed the CSI franchise in 2000, it's not hard that they might've wanted at least a stable player like Knots on the air if it only was a bit cheaper.

Edited February 20, 2022 by te.

[BetterForgotten]

Oh, I didn’t mean it’s a surprise they kept KL on that long, but it was a surprise they even attempted other soaps in primetime again in the 90’s when the genre was no longer a mainstream ratings winner.

[Khan]

Like @te. said, though, CBS was still desperate to try, because FOX managed to score key demographic wins with MP and 90210 while CBS's own fortunes remained in the toilet.  They might have scored a hit, too, if their efforts hadn't been so abysmal.