Am I the only one who seems something off with the aspect-ratio. I have to fix it manually in VLC to make it look right. 

@Soapsuds

I have zero memory of that flute only theme. Neither of them really work for me to be honest. My least favorites until the sandcastles.

Speaking of which, the Lechowick’s openings are all both pretentious and boring. One of the best things about the final season was they went with a modern take of the classic era theme, and amped it up again.

The Lechowicks were the showrunners when they brought back the scrolling boxes in season 12, though they used a similar orchestration to the sandcastle theme.

Season 6 theme is peak, IMO

 

2 minutes ago, yrfan1983 said:

Season 6 theme is peak, IMO

Season 6 was the peak of the whole series. 

50 minutes ago, Chris 2 said:

The Lechowicks were the showrunners when they brought back the scrolling boxes in season 12, though they used a similar orchestration to the sandcastle theme.

Their last season, after the pretentious painting opening for two years, and the sandcastle one. The theme is slow and dull, and it comes back to life for the final year..

I am not one of the Knots fans that hates them. But the critiques are valid. They didn’t get Ben, they did terrible writing for Valene, Abby becomes much less nuanced, Paige is forced to the front too much, and Laura should never have been written out. I think Laura would have fit in with the Sumner Group stories quite well. Their show is still very watchable though.

48 minutes ago, kalbir said:

Season 6 was the peak of the whole series. 

Season 5 is my personal favorite. But it’s hard to argue the success of season 6 from every angle- storytelling and pacing, cast all doing great work, and no Diana.

My recording stopped because of my internet, It's been recording non-stop for 2 days and THE FILE is sooo huge. LOL. Thank God I managed to restart a new recording just 3-4 minutes later and missed just these minutes from episode 25. I hope this doesn't happen again. And I really hope the show is available on demand soon - all 14 seasons with captions. ❤️

3 hours ago, titan1978 said:

@Soapsuds

I have zero memory of that flute only theme. Neither of them really work for me to be honest. My least favorites until the sandcastles.

Speaking of which, the Lechowick’s openings are all both pretentious and boring. One of the best things about the final season was they went with a modern take of the classic era theme, and amped it up again.

The flute opening was only used for one episode. It was used in the season premiere of 8.  The producers of the show must have realized after one airing how bad the theme had been arranged. The second episode had the revised version. 

My favorite season was 5 followed closely by 6. 

Oh and I've been told the flute opening is not used in the season premiere on the digital version.

Edited August 20, 20241 yr by Soapsuds

I kind of like the early season version of the theme.. where it has a light disco beat

I have to say season 4 is probably my favorite because it combines the best elements of season 1 to 3 and the best elements of the soap opera format.  

Lathams seemed more into surface instead of substance.. which seemed to fit with the late 80s/early 90s vibe going on in the world.

 

Knots experts- I didn’t really notice the drop in quality before we had HD tv’s. I remember thinking they had done away with most of the moody lighting in the season 7-8 era, but it seems like more than that now. Did they stop using film and produce the show on video at this point? Or is that just bad dubs for syndication, which is what is airing now IIRC?

I hope we get remastered versions for download of all seasons at some point.

Pro-tip: If you want to know whether a particular season of KNOTS is...not bad, just look at Michele Lee's hair.  If her 'do looks good, then the show is doing okay.  If it isn't, look out!

I can only watch on a more casual/superficial basis during the week, so my observations aren't that deep, but I will say that the season 8 arrangement of the theme is truly horrific, and I remember assuming it was a fake fan-made MIDI version when I first heard it on YouTube years ago. The slower arrangement that started with the sandcastles and carried on through season 12 is great and perfect for the time period, IMO.

Hunt Block has NEVER done anything for me in any way, but he seems alive and awake here as opposed to where I know him best (ATWT and OLTL). He was actually kinda sexy here, but the fact that it's him makes it hard for me to look at him like that. Call me a basic B, but Ted Shackelford was always the hottest man on the Circle, from the beginning to the end.

9 hours ago, Chris 2 said:

Streaming didn’t use the flute version did they? I was going to record it and I think they used the synthesizer version.

Not loving season 8 so far - Jean Hackney, Peter and his mother, Paige, etc. I’ve never loved the “main character has a child they didn’t know they had” trope. To me, it would be easier to say Mack had a daughter with a woman he didn’t marry, and she was raised on the east coast by her mother. I generally don’t like characters who hide a child’s existence from a parent, as Soapsuds mentioned above with Ben. 

The biggest issue with this group is they are plot devices, not characters.

Knots becomes increasingly plot-driven from this point on. I think they get the hang of it better after 8 and 9 have some very rough spots, enough to keep me watching, but it's never the same show.

I also don't really believe that Paige, Abby and Olivia all would have been hung up on Peter. They miscast the part. The story is still good, but that's down to the conclusion. 

I will say I enjoyed Ruth Roman and over time Jill becomes very compelling due to the work from Teri.

Paige is genuinely hard to watch for a while. She's the rare - VERY VERY RARE - character who actually improves for me when they have her start eating large portions of the show. They seem to find her voice and Nicolette Sheridan easily navigates the warmth and coldness that define Paige.

3 hours ago, titan1978 said:

Season 5 is my personal favorite. But it’s hard to argue the success of season 6 from every angle- storytelling and pacing, cast all doing great work, and no Diana.

Season 5 was excellent and it's my second favorite season. 

Knots Landing tanks for me in the aftermath of Val's babies. Empire Valley became a mess and Joshua's descent into madness and eventual death were difficult to watch.

10 hours ago, Chris 2 said:

Not loving season 8 so far - Jean Hackney, Peter and his mother, Paige, etc.

I didn't like season 8 either, those storylines were awful.

21 minutes ago, All My Shadows said:

Call me a basic B, but Ted Shackelford was always the hottest man on the Circle, from the beginning to the end.

I never thought of any of the male cast members of Knots Landing as any type of hotness. Maybe because I was too young to have watched in real time.

12 minutes ago, DRW50 said:

Paige is genuinely hard to watch for a while. She's the rare - VERY VERY RARE - character who actually improves for me when they have her start eating large portions of the show. They seem to find her voice and Nicolette Sheridan easily navigates the warmth and coldness that define Paige.

The final five seasons were a chore for me to get through mainly due to Paige practically eating the show.