Knots highest rated episode of S2 was episode #13  'The Loudest Word' ranking 13th with a 22.3/ 37. 'Moment of Truth' the home invasion episode aired the following week and also did well ranking 14th 21.5/35.

Lowest rated episode that season was episode #2 'Hitch-hike Pt 2' ranking #47 16.5/30. That was Thanksgiving night so numbers were down.

Edited September 6, 20241 yr by Paul Raven

I am on season two... the episode with Jane Elliot(t).

13 hours ago, Khan said:

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.

Your point about the sleeping around being kinda moot for a show rooted in that 70s mindset is so spot on. Everyone is cheating or thinking about cheating, but the people who were cheated on (or almost cheated on) were never much more than a bit miffed by it. And then everyone had a chance to possibly cheat back.

The Loudest Word was my favorite episode of season 2, and I fully acknowledge being a total simp for Gary (at this point), so I don't see him as a bad guy for his reaction to the possibility of Val having a colostomy. It was raw and real, and he stepped up in the end. I wish we'd had more of that with them than the Trent Affair, especially the pointless return of Earl and his suggestion that he and Val get revenge on Gary and Judy.

Abby's "Gary...you ready for me now?" is not praised enough as an iconic line/moment because wowza.

I'm in to Season 3 now, and I am so excited! I will probably slow down my watching now just to make it last because 3-6 is the Knots Landing I've always wanted to watch.

Kristin Shepard showing up? Not on my bingo card. Wow-za!

1 hour ago, Liberty City said:

I am on season two... the episode with Jane Elliot(t).

I am starting soon, when I get over-fed with Falcon Crest! I can't wait to compare impressions with you!

“Critical Condition” - easily one of the greatest hours of television ever created. My God, I need a cigarette and I don’t even smoke. Fully aware that Sid was going to die, I was still speechless at the end. “Aftermath” is shaping up to be just as great.

People who dismiss soaps are really missing out, man.

The episode where Earl wants Val to sleep with him...at the end when Val tells Gary he needs to forgive himself. Gary has kind of a smirk/smile on his face.....it kind of comes across "Yes she forgives me and I got away with it". Gary was such a douche early on. 

One funny thing that popped into my head during the 'The Loudest Word" and "Moment Of Truth" episodes was , Why does Val's house get trashed on a regular basis?.....LOL Gary wrecked the bedroom, Sid kicked down the front doors, and then the thugs wrecked the living room.

Later on Joshua trashes the living room again.

 

 

 

1 hour ago, All My Shadows said:

Your point about the sleeping around being kinda moot for a show rooted in that 70s mindset is so spot on. Everyone is cheating or thinking about cheating, but the people who were cheated on (or almost cheated on) were never much more than a bit miffed by it. And then everyone had a chance to possibly cheat back.

Case in point: Kenny cheating on Ginger with Sylvie.  When Ginger learns about their affair, you hope that some good [!@#$%^&*] goes down, but it just doesn't.  IIRC, Ginger did leave Kenny for awhile, but they got back together when she learned she was pregnant, and I was like, "And that's it?"  I mean, at the very least, Sylvie could've returned down the road with a baby (and a better singing voice).

 

2 minutes ago, SoapDope said:

The episode where Earl wants Val to sleep with him...at the end when Val tells Gary he needs to forgive himself. Gary has kind of a smirk/smile on his face.....it kind of comes across "Yes she forgives me and I got away with it". Gary was such a douche early on. 

One funny thing that popped into my head during the 'The Loudest Word" and "Moment Of Truth" episodes was , Why does Val's house get trashed on a regular basis?.....LOL Gary wrecked the bedroom, Sid kicked down the front doors, and then the thugs wrecked the living room.

Later on Joshua trashes the living room again.

I'd love to see someone try and trash and my mother's living room the way folks kept trashing Val's.  Mama Khan: "Where the hell is my gun!?  I'm about to set it off in here!"

2 hours ago, Paul Raven said:

Lowest rated episode that season was episode #2 'Hitch-hike Pt 2' ranking #47 16.5/30. That was Thanksgiving night so numbers were down.

Either that or - as many of us probably suspect - the first part of the story was just so flat-out, country-ass dumb that nobody bothered tuning in the next week for the conclusion.

3 minutes ago, Khan said:

Case in point: Kenny cheating on Ginger with Sylvie.  When Ginger learns about their affair, you hope that some good [!@#$%^&*] goes down, but it just doesn't.  IIRC, Ginger did leave Kenny for awhile, but they got back together when she learned she was pregnant, and I was like, "And that's it?"  I mean, at the very least, Sylvie could've returned down the road with a baby (and a better singing voice).

Ginger kicked him out, but he realized Sylvie was aggravating as hell and kept trying to get back with Ginger. She dated the father of one of her students until she realized she was pregnant. I have to say that Kenny becomes a very sweet guy after all that goes down, and I’m glad I know next to nothing about what happens with them in the third and fourth seasons because I want to be surprised. I hope they stick it out, boring as they might be.

I do think it’s funny how right from the start of S3, you know the Wards will never be more than supporting characters ever again. I don’t believe they even appeared in the season premiere, and in the new scrolling opening credits, Houghton and Lankford technically share a collage of clips whereas everyone else gets their own individual sets. You just KNOW the PTB hated the fact that their names came first alphabetically lol

2 hours ago, All My Shadows said:

Your point about the sleeping around being kinda moot for a show rooted in that 70s mindset is so spot on.

Well it was the time before HIV.

5 minutes ago, All My Shadows said:

I’m glad I know next to nothing about what happens with them in the third and fourth seasons because I want to be surprised.

Well, don't be surprised, because "next to nothing" is pretty much what you'll get from the Wards (both separately and together) from this point forward, lol.

10 minutes ago, All My Shadows said:

I do think it’s funny how right from the start of S3, you know the Wards will never be more than supporting characters ever again.

I think we've discussed this before on this thread, but a big problem with Kenny and Ginger was that Gary and Val's inclusion as the other set of newlyweds (albeit, one with a history more convoluted than the Wards') made the Wards redundant from the start, with Gary and Val getting a lot of focus that might've gone to Kenny and Ginger otherwise. 

I do think the show tried very hard to give Kim Lankford and Jim Houghton some worthwhile stuff to play in S's 1 and 2, but yeah, by S3, I think, it's evident that the show has all but given up on them.  Frankly, the Wards (and Richard) probably should've been written out at the end of S3, if not sooner, but I don't think David Jacobs was ready to let go of his original vision for the show just yet.  S4, therefore, pretty much becomes the point, I think, where Jacobs decides just to let KL be what it needs to.

I think the Val operation episode in S2 is pretty hilarious tbh. Sid karate kicking the door, etc.

WOW... Donna Mills & John Pleshette had some real good chemistry.

17 minutes ago, Vee said:

I think the Val operation episode in S2 is pretty hilarious tbh. Sid karate kicking the door, etc.

I agree.  Clearly, KL included those moments to draw in viewers who'd been used to watching action-heavy shows like "Charlie's Angels" and "The Rockford Files."  In a way, it reminds me of when Paramount Pictures forced Francis Ford Coppola to include in "The Godfather" scenes like the one where Talia Shire's character smashes all the dishes because they were afraid the movie wasn't exciting enough, lol.

Shows like "Hill Street Blues" took off, IMO, precisely because of episodes like the one with Val's operation.  I think viewers were just plain sick and tired of watching huge issues like that being dealt with in one episode and then never mentioned again.

Edited September 6, 20241 yr by Khan

1 hour ago, Khan said:

I think we've discussed this before on this thread, but a big problem with Kenny and Ginger was that Gary and Val's inclusion as the other set of newlyweds (albeit, one with a history more convoluted than the Wards') made the Wards redundant from the start, with Gary and Val getting a lot of focus that might've gone to Kenny and Ginger otherwise. 

A thought that crossed my mind is what if Kenny and Ginger were siblings instead of a married couple. Let’s say they grew up in the cul-de-sac (not sure how old the houses are supposed to be - isn’t Val and Gary‘a supposed to be new?), their parents retired to Palm Springs or wherever else, and instead fretting over apartment rent, the siblings just stayed in the house. You could have told some of the same stories, just without the extra drama of them being married. Ginger could still be a kindergarten teacher who dates her student’s dad, Kenny could still be involved with a horrific “singer,” etc. One of the things that I think I’ll miss as I go forward after Sid’s death is the potential for that type of adult sibling relationship. It kinda makes sense that they brought in Karen’s brother for a while, but that was never going to hit the same.

”Loudest Word” gets me when Gary trashes the bedroom (which now lives on in the opening credits) and breaks down to call Miss Ellie. Absolutely cringe-worthy, but again, I am literally the middle Ewing son’s whore. When he hurts, I hurt.