Knots Landing

[soapfan770]

And it was the best and last Dallas crossover too at least for Dallas characters being on Knots…Gary would of course appear on Dallas after Bobby’s death in the dream season.

I know in Season 5 we have a scene of Abby speaking to an unscreen & unheard Ellie on the phone and Gary travels to Dallas towards the end of Season 7…but I don’t think Dallas ever acknowledged anything going on Knots other than “Gary & Val out in California…”

A pity Abby didn’t have her own centered “Abby Takes (or Does? lol) Dallas” crossover. 

[kalbir]

Even with the crossovers, Knots Landing never felt like a second hour of Dallas in a different setting. Knots Landing was able to carve its own identity apart from Dallas, and I think a big part of that was Knots Landing being community-based whereas Dallas was family/business conflict-based.

[soapfan770]

Which was definitely for the best, and one of the rarer examples. We saw what clusterf*CK the Colby’s was to Dynasty, which indeed only amounted to as a “second hour” or night of the show. 

[Soapsuds]

Donna, Michelle, and Joan will be at the Dallas Experience in Texas in August.

[kalbir]

Knots Landing was a spinoff done right. The Colbys was a spinoff done wrong. At least Aaron Spelling learned his lesson by time 90210/Melrose came along, in that Melrose cut the ties w/ 90210 fairly early and there were no crossovers afterwards.

[Khan]

I agree.  Moreover, because KL was community-based rather than family-based, they had the freedom to introduce and to write off characters as needed in order to keep the show fresh.  Did losing characters like Abby, Ben and Laura hurt KL in the long run?  Absolutely.  On the other hand, KL never became as repetitive as DALLAS and DYNASTY, nor did it become as unrecognizable as FC.

If anything, I think MP left 90210 in the proverbial dust after awhile, forcing 90210 to get soapier just to maintain some of its' audience.

[Chris 2]

The big reason Knots worked so well, separately from Dallas, is that it was not conceived as a spinoff of Dallas. So it was never a faded copy of Dallas; it had its own identity. That said, it was respectful of its ties to the parent show (at least until Bobby’s “death”) and the crossovers worked well.

[DRW50]

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[Paul Raven]

And Gary and Val had not been regular characters on Dallas.

It would be different if Bobby and Pam moved to LA and Knots.

Whereas Jeff and Fallon had been a part of Dynasty from the start so there was a stronger connection to the mothership.

[Soapsuds]

Yes, it was season 4 of Knots Landing and season 6 of Dallas.

 

I had just begun watching the back-to-back episodes this evening.

[Soapsuds]

The complete series of Knots Landing is now priced at $69.99 on Apple TV

[1974mdp]

I really didn't start watching the show until season 12 when I was a teen, so I only caught the last three years. I LOVED the show over all though...even that part of 13 that was a bit messy!

So, it's been a treat streaming the previous seasons on Plex. I'm amazed at how well so much of the writing holds up over 30 years later. Far better than a lot that we get today! For the most part, stories move along at nice pace with good twists and turns! I just finished season 11, so I'm finally picking up where I started watching all those years before.

When I started watching as a teen, Laura had already died, so while she was mentioned pretty often, I didn't have much background with the character. CM was an amazing actress and had chemistry with everyone. So, it's a bit of a headscratcher that they didn't seem to have any idea of what to do with her starting at around season 7. Her scenes at that point are mostly short, brief, and she has very little true story right until the episodes where she's dying in 9. I wonder what it was about the character that the writers couldn't figure out what to do with her.

Also, Ben's exit storyline was a bit confusing for me. I never really got who this woman was who was stalking him and this "secret organization." The whole plot seems like it should be on a different show.

Michelle Phillips and Nicolette Sheridan have really fun mom/daughter/frenemies chemistry.

I remember having a huge crush on PP's Michael and being disappointed when he was written out at the end of season 12. 

Edited 5 hours ago by 1974mdp

[Khan]

I think @DRW50 had it right when he said that the Lechowicks couldn't categorize Laura as easily as they could the other women on the show.  Laura wasn't vixenish like Abby, nor was she was a heroine in the same mold as Val or even Karen.  She was entirely down-to-earth, and more the type who plays things closer to the vest.  Plus, her marriage to Greg was pretty solid (with Laura knowing exactly the kind of man she'd married) to the point where splitting them up and keeping them apart would've taken more effort than perhaps they were willing to expend.

I mean, it's easy to generate conflict between Mack and Karen, because Mack and Karen are both very stubborn people who believe they can handle crises on their own; and it's easy to generate conflict for Gary and Val, too, because each is basically an overgrown teenager who'd rather suffer in silence than just express to the other how they feel.  (If only Val had swallowed her pride and just taken Gary back when he begged her to, lol).  But, unless you're Marshall Herskovitz and Edward Zwick, you'll be at a loss over what to do with a mature, adult relationship like Greg and Laura's that is built on each being 100% aware of the other's flaws. 

Greg sniffing around Paige?  If that had happened while Laura was still aware, she would've just smirked or rolled her eyes and moved on.

Edited 3 hours ago by Khan

[DRW50]

In some ways, the scene of Greg kissing Paige in front of Laura (or at least when she's at home) is tough to take as it feels like they are building his next romance in front of the woman they are dumping from the canvas, but I do appreciate that Laura was in no way bothered. She knew Paige wasn't a threat, and she also knew that even if Greg did move on, she had come through worse and wasn't going to let herself be in a Richard-like marriage ever again.

I'm also glad they didn't ever try to have her choose a wife for him - not a fan of that trope.

(although she probably would have chosen anyone, including Leona Helmsley, over Abby)

[Khan]

I agree.  Of all the character evolutions that occurred on KNOTS, Laura's was the most intriguing, and the most satisfying.  Even when she was still married to Richard and begging him to manage his expectations in life, she was still very clear-eyed.  Yet, the Laura who "left Knots Landing to die" was not the same Laura whom Richard basically guilted into staying with him after his nervous breakdown.

If anything, I think Laura would've warned Paige not to get involved with Greg, if for no other reason than she knew how damaged Greg was and that someone like Paige would not be able to live with someone like that.

Apropos of nothing, but I honestly wish Laura had returned to school at some point to become a psychologist.  Maybe it's due to CM's real-life story, but I just feel like that would've been a natural career choice for that character.

Edited 2 hours ago by Khan