Knots Landing

[Vee]

Oh, "Man of the Hour" gets painful in that very arch sequence where the theatrical bereaved mother shows up and repeats the title over and over lol. But I have become very fond of Steve Shaw. I wish they'd done more with him and Michael, though I believe they do get some story and he's still going strong in Season 7.

[DRW50]

I haven't seen the movie, but I don't remember Eric ever dying on the original show. I see that a Wiki lists him as deceased but that doesn't mean anything. 

[SoapDope]

In the 1997 Reunion at Mac & Karen's 15th Anniversary party at Gary & Val's house Michael & Diana are there, but Eric is never referred to. It was kind of like avoiding the elephant in the room. 

[Soapsuds]

Eric never died on show or the miniseries movies.

In season 12 in the episode "An American Hero" there is a we remember Steve Shaw as Eric Fairgate before the closing credits.

[Khan]

 

I feel like KL went soapy too soon in S2 and that the latter half of that season and S3 were more or less course corrections, letting us get more acquainted with the characters, before trying again at the end of S3 (this time, obviously, with more success).

One idea I always had for a pretend S15 was Mack and Karen learning of Eric's death and that he left behind a new wife, who might be pregnant with his child, or (as we learn) could have been two-timing him with one of his best friends.

 

Edited September 5, 2024 by Khan

[SoapDope]

Re: Val's Babies.....I always wondered what would have happened if they had written the kidnapping of the twins in end somehow linked back to J.R. ? He stole Lucy as a baby so he would be repeating history. 

Imagine Val's reaction if that would have been revealed. 

[Marco Dane]

Laura was the best character on the show. I wish they didnt kill her off.

[Soaplovers]

I think season 2 was the show realizing that the self-contained element wasn't going to work for them so the writers just decided to become serialized/soapy for the sake of it.. not because it was ready to be so.

@Khan as you mentioned... Sid dying was really the spark that caused the show to begin the full on soapy descent in an organic way since grief isn't something that can be resolved in just one episode.

               Plus, Sid dying actually spurred Abby to become the Abby that we knew and loved because in season 2, she still had Sid to lean on and to bail her out.  Once her security blanket was taken from her, she had to rely on different strengths and assets beyond just her big brother and her sex appeal.

[Khan]

Exactly.  The pieces weren't in place for the show to become a continuing drama in the vein of "thirtysomething," much less a full-fledged soap opera, especially with many of the characters still undeveloped. 

Moreover, David Jacobs tried very hard in S2 to maintain his original vision for the show as "Scenes from a Marriage x 4," but it seems like there was no variety in the stories being presented.  People either were cheating on their spouses or thinking about cheating; and on a series that aims to depict a late-'70's SoCal where people can "sleep around" with no real consequences, it all amounted to a big bunch of nothing.

The way I see it, KL's transition from "Family"-like domestic drama to full-blown soap opera happened in stages.  Sid's death at the top of S3 transitions KL into a series with several, ongoing storylines, if not a soap opera quite yet.  They're still some self-contained, one-and-done stories, but no longer is KL a show where major events are over and done with within sixty minutes.  Then, with the Gary/Val/Abby triangle, which culminates with Val leaving Gary at the end of S3, you see KL transitioning once again into a soapier show, one that'll feature juicier storylines, but still grounded in the middle-class realism that defined seasons 1 and 2.  Finally, you have the start of the "Who Killed Ciji Dunne?" storyline in the latter half of S4, with the montage of Ciji's lifeless body washing up on the shore symbolizing the "death" of KL as we had known it to be and the moment where the show is finally ready to play with the "big kids," DALLAS and DYNASTY.

[Khan]

IMHO, I don't believe that scenario would have been plausible, if only because Val wasn't the same woman she had been years before.

When Lucy was taken from her, Val was a love-struck, hillbilly teen, whose husband had just flown the coop, and whose own mother refused to protect her or her baby from J.R.'s goons.  By the time Bobby and Betsy were born, however, Val had grown into a successful novelist, who lived comfortably with her mother in the suburbs in the house she obviously received from her latest divorce from Gary.

J.R. was cruel to take Lucy away from Val, but he kinda had a point (Lucy was a Ewing, and Val simply was in no position to take care of her).  If he had taken the twins away from her as well, then he would've been just an [!@#$%^&*] for the sake of BEING an [!@#$%^&*], lol.

[Chris 2]

I was annoyed that Karen and Sid let that old witch go on and on in front of Eric and sat there doing nothing. I would have thrown her out so fast her head would have spun.

[kalbir]

Then season 5 got corporate with Lotus Point, ventured into James Bond/action thriller territory with Wolfbridge, and also got glamorous. I think going corporate and glamorous was a response to Dynasty blowing up and becoming a pop culture phenomenon. Dallas also got corporate and glamorous.

[DRW50]

It would have been interesting to me if Meg started becoming closer to Greg (Paige would have left Greg at this time and he'd be lonely and full of regrets so he'd decide to be more a part of her life), and at the same time we got the story you mentioned. St. Elsewhere had a story where Mark Craig's son died and his pregnant wife was left comatose. Mark and his wife Ellen began raising the baby and Ellen became overly attached, leading her to break down when the wife woke up and the baby eventually was given back to her. I didn't care for the story on St. Elsewhere but I could see it working with Mack and Karen.

[SoapDope]

Well, J.R. was a SOB and made no apologies for it.....LOL I wish the Dallas/Knots connection would have been kept through both series runs. I loved when Joan and Larry had scenes together. J.R with his " Hello Valene"

[Marco Dane]

Same here