Jump to content

Knots Landing


Sedrick

Recommended Posts

  • Replies 3.5k
  • Created
  • Last Reply

Top Posters In This Topic

Top Posters In This Topic

Posted Images

  • Members

@Vee Thanks for the tag, and for all your reviews thus far, which have reminded me of just what a special addition Sheehan was to the show (easy to forget at times after how bad his end run was). 

Sheehan was such a bright leading man, with a twinkle in his eye and a toothpaste smile, yet with glimpses of strength and darkness underneath. He would have been a perfect balance to the likes of Jimmy Stewart or a good film noir lead in '40s or '50s works. 

He was a real breath of fresh air when he showed up on Knots, given the heavy stories at the time, and the deeply toxic Val/Gary relationship. He made me smile and made me care about a character who could often exhaust me. He brought a purity back that was essential to her and to the show.

I'll always see him as Val's best partner. 

(and for his later years, I did love the scene where he puts Liliemae in a headlock)

Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • Members

OMG, I just made the same comparison in the In Memoriam thread, lol.

I agree about what a special addition he was to KNOTS, and to Val/JVA.  To me, he was more of a "regular guy" whom the audience could relate to than even Kevin Dobson, whose Mack seemed to become more irritatingly strident as the seasons passed.  That's why - as I said in the other thread - it's so difficult to watch anything from his final storyline on the show.  Given everything that we had known up to that point about Ben, it made no sense; and it absolutely did not play to Sheehan's strengths at all.

 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • Members

Absolutely. Knots finally course-corrected a little with Mac around the time of the Jacon story, but I hated him for years before that point and it did truly affect my enjoyment of the show and the characters around him. There was still more of a goodness and heart in Ben, in spite of some very very poor stories at the end.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • Members

I liked Ben as well, and agree that his exit story wasn't very good.

I also liked Val/Ben together. Val's love for Ben was a grown adult love that allowed her to move on with her life.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • Members

RIP Sheehan.

Please register in order to view this content

 

The claim was that they did try to get in contact with him during the season 9 Jill storyline, but apparently he was just off the radar at the time. The good ole' days!

Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • Members

I never really warmed up to Dobson's Mac. He was like a bull in a china shop in most of his scenes yelling his lines and being cocky 24-7. He didn't know how to dial it back, but Michelle Lee could be guilty of chewing scenery as well. 

I really liked Don Murray's Sid, but he pretty much wanted off the show after season 1. I doubt Jacobs could have done anything to make him stay long term, even if they had gave him more money Murray saw himself as a movie star and after he did Endless Love he felt he could get his big screen film career reignited, which was a bust. 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • Members

Frankly, I don't blame him.  Sid could be such a dope, particularly when it came to the people he cared about the most: his wife, his kids, Abby, Gary, etc.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • Members

Don Murray left because Knots was bordering on cancellation between seasons 1-3. So he thought there were better options, but later admitted that a 14 season paycheck would've been nice.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • Members

Yes, Sid could be dumb as a stump when it came to trusting people, especially baby sister Abby who could do no wrong in his eyes. Seasons 1-3 of Knots (self contained episodes) was kind of a Family/Eight Is Enough/ Early Dallas mash up. Jacobs even admitted that he wrote those early days the way he had written Family. He also said Eight Is Enough was what influenced him to go with Lorimar because of their production values.

His reasoning for self contained episodes was to draw an audience in and then gradually get them involved in continuing soap storylines. He was lucky to have started those shows in the late 70's and the network let him build them up...now days if a show doesn't make ratings grabs in 2 to 4 episodes it's gone. 

 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • Members

I just had a certain someone who is experiencing this show for the first time and is on episode three say that "Richard Avery is a creep, Laura is an idiot" 

Please register in order to view this content

 I've said, yes, Richard is and looks like a rat, but stay with Laura, she ends up being a sarcastic goddess (but underutilised).

Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • Members

I loved him as Ben, and what I have seen of his Joe Kelly. Ben/Val and Abby/Gary were my preferred partners for them. They really missed an opportunity with those cable stations and Ben considering how important cable news became. I think there was way more ground to cover there with he and Abby at odds than an affair with Cathy or whatever the hell that last season story was for him.

 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Join the conversation

You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.

Guest
Unfortunately, your content contains terms that we do not allow. Please edit your content to remove the highlighted words below.
Reply to this topic...

×   Pasted as rich text.   Paste as plain text instead

  Only 75 emoji are allowed.

×   Your link has been automatically embedded.   Display as a link instead

×   Your previous content has been restored.   Clear editor

×   You cannot paste images directly. Upload or insert images from URL.

  • Recently Browsing   0 members

    • No registered users viewing this page.



  • Recent Posts

    • Hotel was The Love Boat on land but a little soapier. I will forever maintain that Hotel was a time slot hit. I don't believe that 1983/84 Hotel was a better show than Knots Landing.
    • The Golden Girls key episodes by ratings September 14, 1985: The Engagement (series premiere), rating 25.0, #1 Season highs February 22, 1986: Adult Education, rating 25.2 October 4, 1986: Ladies of the Evening, rating 27.3 November 8, 1986: Isn't it Romantic, rating 27.3 February 6, 1988: My Brother, My Father; rating 24.6 November 26, 1988: Sophia's Wedding (Part 2), rating 24.3, #1 September 23, 1989: Sick and Tired (Part 1) (season 5 premiere), rating 23.5 January 12, 1991: Sisters of the Bride, rating 19.3 May 9, 1992: One Flew Out of the Cuckoo's Nest (series finale), rating 18.9 Season lows October 19, 1985: The Triangle, rating 18.6 May 16, 1987: Empty Nests (season 2 finale), rating 17.8 February 20, 1988: And Ma Makes Three, rating 18.0 April 29, 1989: Rites of Spring, rating 18.7 April 28, 1990: All Bets are Off, rating 15.8 February 16, 1991: Older and Wiser, rating 11.6 October 26, 1991: Mother Load, rating 10.9 Ten highest-rated episodes October 4, 1986: Ladies of the Evening, rating 27.3 November 8, 1986: Isn't it Romantic, rating 27.3 January 3, 1987: The Sisters, rating 27.0 November 22, 1986: Family Affair, rating 26.8 January 10, 1987: The Stan Who Came to Dinner, rating 26.6 January 24, 1987: Before and After, rating 26.4 February 28, 1987: Whose Face is This, Anyway?; rating 25.8 September 27, 1986: End of the Curse (season 2 premiere), rating 25.6 November 15, 1986: Big Daddy's Little Lady, rating 25.3 February 22, 1986: Adult Education, rating 25.2 Ten lowest-rated episodes October 26, 1991: Mother Load, rating 10.9 September 28, 1991: The Case of the Libertine Belle, rating 10.9 October 19, 1991: Where's Charlie?, rating 11.0 February 15, 1992: Ebbtide VI: The Wrath of Stan, rating 11.3 February 16, 1991: Older and Wiser, rating 11.6 December 14, 1991: The Pope's Ring, rating 11.7 April 25, 1992: Home Again, Rose (Part 1); rating 12.3 October 5, 1991: Beauty and the Beast, rating 12.7 November 2, 1991: Dateline: Miami, rating 12.7 December 7, 1991: From Here to the Pharmacy, rating 12.8
    • The timing is strange, though. How far in advance would they normally be on location? The Achille Lauro hijacking was on October 7, 1985. Nancy had arrived in Egypt in the storyline by October 18. But the character of Hawk, Chris' Native American friend from Arizona, had already appeared onscreen by September and brought a letter telling Chris to be in Egypt by October 25th.  Why did they already have the link to Arizona before the reason to cancel the shoot in Egypt?  The dust and the jar it came in were from Egypt though. Nancy bought it there and sent it to Mac as a gift before she came back to the states and followed Chris to Arizona.
    • Actually that is not what happened. Nor is the timing right for it to have been. We learned from a WOST interview with Pete Lemay  in 2006, which can be found on YT, that it was Fred Silverman's idea to do the 90 minute show. I don't know how much you know about him but he had these amazing successes as head of daytime at both ABC & at CBS. Then he came to NBC where basically everything he touched turned NOT TO GOLD but to shite. Some of the most expensive shows ever produced up to that time were huge flops. Although even he, like a broken clock, could be right on occasion. However, as we know, he was not right about the 90 minute show. As a matter of fact, afterward,  NBC programmers, who worked FOR him, were asked why they did it & they were quoted as saying it was because they couldn't think of anything else to try. It was a stupid idea from a man who had reached the point where he was throwing anything at the wall to see if it would stick.
    • Tamara Tunie at Baltimore event May 10, 2025 https://www.lewismuseum.org/event/a-lewis-table-talk-with-tamara-tunie/ https://www.instagram.com/p/DJH0ZQayihs/ Reginald F. Lewis Museum of Maryland African American History & Culture, Baltimore lewismuseum

      Please register in order to view this content

      Clear your calendar for the Lewis Museum's post gala celebration! On Saturday, May 10 at 2pm, we're bringing the elegance, wisdom, and brilliance of Tamara Tunie to The Lewis! From her powerful performances throughout her career, to her bold new project “Beyond the Gates,” this is your chance to hear it all—up close and personal. Hosted by the always fabulous media personality LaDawn Black, this conversation will be real, inspiring, and unforgettable. Kick off your Mother's Day weekend and come on down to The Lewis. Come ready to be moved, motivated, and in great company! Saturday, May 10 2:00-4:00pm Reginald F. Lewis Museum Register today by visiting the link in our bio! #thereginaldflewismuseum #lewismuseum #thelewis #beyondthegates #tamaratunie #lawandordersvu                            
    • I stopped watching Another World in 1990. Simply, lost interest in the show.  I had watched the show from 1973 to 1990. The 90 minute show started the decline of AW.  NBC panicked with expanding AW due to the GH hoopla. As mentioned above, 1982 was a trainwreck for AW.  The introduction of the Shea family, the movie storyline involving Jamie, and Steve Frame favoring Rachel over Alice. The writers went into that direction due to the forgettable performance of Linda Borgeson. 
    • Please register in order to view this content

       
    • Ive seen that theory thrown out but the one thing against it is that Leslie and her family lived in Chicago. She only came back to DC last year after her husband died. Unless they say Alan made a trip to DC and died while away, she wouldnt know about that. However I do think the angle of her finding out that Martin was involved could work as that gives her leverage against Bill too for covering it up. She'd want to get revenge on him by threatening to have him disbarred
    • What a good write-up @Errol! Nice seeing the nod to Duplaix's lead.
    • The Egypt location shoot was cancelled because of the Achille Lauro cruise ship hijacking 
×
×
  • Create New...

Important Information

By using this site, you agree to our Terms of Use and Privacy Policy