KNOTS LANDING

[Wendy]

Actually, I think a lot of shows do this! A therapist on one of the L&O shows had the same as name as one of the crew members in the credits.

Must be an easy way to get options.

[Khan]

Actually, @kalbir, I didn't.  I know there are others who feel differently, and I can't say that I can't see their point of view on the subject.  However, I recognized the fact that Michele Lee, Donna Mills and Joan Van Ark were aging and that maybe the producers were running out of fresh ideas for Karen, Abby and Val.  (They certainly were for Abby, which is why I think DM was right to leave when she did, even though her absence left a big hole in the show for the last four seasons). 

For me, the bigger issue than whether or not Nicollette Sheridan ate the show is whether Paige's relationship with Greg was believable.  Watching the show, there were times when I thought NS and William Devane made the pairing work, and then there were times when I was either creeped out (after all, Greg was old enough to be her dad - and thanks to Anne, for a few minutes, everyone thought he WAS her dad!) or confused as to what Greg saw in Paige after being with Jane, with Laura and even with Abby.  That's why I wish Greg had had a son, who could've been a perfect on-again, off-again romantic partner for Paige.

Also, I wish Lisa Hartman had stayed on as a sort of counterpoint to NS.  On the one hand, KL had changed so much by the time she left that it was getting harder to weave her into storylines in ways that would have made sense.  (Hence, the Ben/Cathy flirtation, lol).  On the other hand, without a heroine like Cathy, Paige was eventually forced into that role; and frankly, I never bought Paige as someone who wasn't a schemer.

Ideally, there should have been three tiers to the females on KNOTS, with ML, DM, JVA, Constance McCashin and later Michelle Phillips and Kathleen Noone on the top tier; LH, NS and maybe Lar Park Lincoln or one other female on the next tier; and Tonya Crowe and Stacy Galina on the bottom.

 

[kalbir]

@Khan I agree that Donna Mills was smart to leave when she did. I felt the show started going off the rails in the aftermath of Laura's departure and it was effectively over when Abby left.

As for Greg/Paige, yeah there was the ick factor of his becoming involved with the daughter of his frenemy Mack and at one point it was even thought that Greg was her dad.

I also agree that Paige was never a clear cut heroine. She was introduced as a troublemaking vixen but I'd say she was more of an anti-heroine by the time she was elevated to front-burner lead.

[DRW50]

The writing for Abby in her last season felt wrong - you could tell there was no real respect for the character anymore, and she was just being used as a plot mover and losing dimension. I have a lot of respect for Donna Mills for choosing to leave when she did. If Joan had left around that time I think it would have helped Valene as well. 

[Khan]

I agree.  In the past, Abby had done malicious things, but her motivations were always clear and reasonable.  But planting drugs on Harold so he would stay away from Olivia?  Threatening Ted Melcher with proof that he was responsible for the Murakame murders?  That was too much.  It got to a point where you, as a viewer, had to ask, just how much money and power does one person NEED anyway?

Once Val had freed herself and the twins from Danny, and she and Gary had finally reunited, the two should have married right away and left town to start over somewhere else.  When the Lechowicks came up with the "brain virus" as one more obstacle to Val and Gary remarrying, it was clear that the Ewings had run their course.

[SoapDope]

Yes, you can tell the Lechowicks had no respect for Joan Van Ark by coming up with that story to make her even more ditzy. I'm surprised they didn't have her burn down the ranch or the house in the cul-de-sac. They also had Karen taking off like a vigilante in her car running down the kids with the paintball gun in a high speed chase. 

 

[DRW50]

I never can remember if that was them or the team that replaced them. Either way, that finale, along with Linda's murder, is the end of KL for me.

[Khan]

For all of their strengths as writer/producers, the Lechowicks were often too concerned about being funny and unpredictable to worry about subtlety.  Once they found the note for each character, they played the hell out of that note until they stopped being characters, and started being caricatures.

It wasn't the Lechowicks who killed off Linda.  It was John Romano.

[SoapDope]

I agree. KL all went to crap by then.  I feel the same way about Dallas when Pam was offed in that car crash. 

[Khan]

I wouldn't be surprised if that was in their plan; however, I think it's common knowledge that the Lechowicks would often change direction because their stories didn't work as they had originally planned.

[SoapDope]

If they had done something like that, they would have probably made it even more dramatic by having a character die in the fire. 

[DRW50]

Sorry, I meant the paintball stuff, which I also hated. I can't remember if it was the Stanley or the Lechowicks.

[Khan]

Probably - and they would've set it to "Can't Smile Without You," by Barry Manilow.

[Franko]

If they hadn't gone to a point of no return with Jill, could she have fit on that tier?

[SoapDope]

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