Knots Landing

[kalbir]

Constance McCashin keeping it real by saying she was salary dumped. I wonder whom she was referring to when she said "our four salaries equaled one of the others".

[te.]

The only ones I could see potentially raking it in are Michele Lee, Ted Schackelford, Joan Van Ark and Donna Mills. With that said, I don't think there was ever a Larry Hagman or Patrick Duffy on Knots where the pay disparity would be huge between them and other cast members, but I might be wrong. 

[Maxim]

I think I'm going to follow your advice very soon. 

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[kalbir]

Ted Shackelford, Joan Van Ark, Michele Lee were original cast members but I don't know how long their initial contracts were so there had to have been some salary renegotiation after the initial contracts were up. Donna Mills came on in season 2 so she would have been on a different contract cycle than the original cast and I'm pretty sure she also had a salary renegotiation after her initial contract was up. 

1987 seems to be the year where the budget issues started across all three CBS primetime soaps and by Fall 1988 budget mode kicked in.

[te.]

Going by what I know of Aaron Spelling shows, at least there it seemed like they typically put OG cast members on five season contracts and people who joined after that for two season contracts. Not sure how Lorimar handled it, but it wouldn't surprise me if Donna was signed to a shorter contract to start with and her character becoming popular might've given her a leverage in negotiations. 

But again, no one on Knots really seemed to have the same power Larry Hagman had on Dallas.

[chrisml]

Constance McCashin didn't seem upset with any of the cast members over the salary except she obviously did not like Ted Shackelford. Kim Lankford was obviously still upset with Jim Houghton over what happened, and she may not have said anything if he had not died recently. 

[DemetriKane]

 

Thank you!!! They both look incredible.

Me and Constance are in the same, lol, I just love her.

I low-key always wanted Mack with Ginger.

Edited March 30 by DemetriKane

[Efulton]

It was a big missed opportunity not keeping Kim Langford.  Having a single Ginger in the cul de sac would have been very interesting. Can you image Karen’s reaction if Ginger and Eric had an affair?  I know difficult budget decisions had to be made but I would rather have seen reduced episode counts for the leads instead of losing Laura.

[Soaplovers]

I kind of think that Richard leaving at the end of season 4 played a small part in Ginger being axed at the end of season 4.  

I'm not sure if John P opted to quit at the end of season 4 or if it was a storyline dictated decision... but the show most likely would have struggled writing both Ginger and Laura as divorced women juggling kids with finding their place in the career world.

Much as how Ginger suffered with her occupying the same place as Val in the early seasons, she would have suffered even more as a character in season 5 being the same place as Laura.  

As strong as the show was, it did seem to have a weak spot in terms of not being able to write diverse stories for their characters that were in the same station in life.  

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[Soaplovers]

In regards to Kim Lankford's states about James H and his choosing to leave thus leading to her being fired.  I'm wondering if that was only told to her in order to shield themselves from blame.

I wonder this because he had stated once that he was 'forcibly ejected' from the show when he was asked about whether his leaving was his decision or not.   So he probably saw the writing on the wall, went to the show runners and basically was told that they had no place on the show going forward.. and then to save face, the showrunners told Kim that she was being cut because of James.

It wouldn't be the first time that bosses lie to employees and pit them against one another.

[Vee]

I thought she was unbearable, but that's just me.

[DemetriKane]

That's really what it comes down to. Cause true be told I was more interested in Laura and Ginger’s journey than the other 3.  Now, don't get me wrong, they all were amazing characters, but there's a trend that the most complex or human characters always get the shaft.

And you brought up a great point regarding TPTB lying and pitting their talent against one another. It definitely happens!

Yay!!

[Liberty City]

I completely agree; however, I do wonder how she would have ultimately fit in once the direction of the series ultimately changed, etc.

[Paul Raven]

I think the pecking order was Sid and Karen - both Don and Michelle were well known and respected performers and getting them for a series was seen as an asset.

Then Gary and Val withe Dallas Connection.

Richard/ Laura and Kenny/ Ginger were on a par 4 pretty much unknowns. 

But Richard/ Laura were more interesting characters played by dynamic actors and they fitted in better age wise with the others. Ginger/ Kenny were more outsiders and therefore dispensable.

Did Don Murray have a shorter contract than the others that allowed him to leave? Or was it a mutual thing that he was restless and the producers saw the advantages to Sid exiting?