Knots Landing

[Broderick]

There's such a literary quality to the entire episode.  

The conflict commences with a disagreement about FOOD.  Laura cooks Richard's eggs wrong.  His horsey response leads her to cancel her plans with Valene and go to a bar where a strange man lights her cigarette, resulting in all the drama. 

Valene, the character whom Laura dumped, is the sole witness who understands Laura is lying her head off about what happened that afternoon. 

The conflict ends with another disagreement about FOOD. Richard nixes every menu suggestion Laura offers at the restaurant.  His horsey response leads her to sashay into the lounge where yet another strange man appears with a cigarette lighter, and it's VALENE once again who sees where things are heading. 

Another irony is that the episode began with the 4 couples (separately) at breakfast, and it ended with the 4 couples (jointly) at dinner.

Karen nailed the "Smartass Pollyanna" role, immediately ordering every menu item that Richard wouldn't allow Laura to order.

I honestly couldn't believe how much thought and creativity went into that episode.  

[SoapDope]

"The Lie" is a great episode. You really see inside the Avery's dysfunctional marriage. It has a bit of a "Looking For Mr. Goodbar" vibe with the scenes at the cocktail lounge and Laura's attack in the guys sleazy studio apartment. 

The whole episode has that late 70's suburban feel with the breakfast scenes and banter among the couples. I noticed Laura making coffee in a percolator (which was very much of the era). Joan Van Ark said Knots ground zero scenes mainly took place in the kitchen and the bedroom. 

 

[Liberty City]

Finally in the third season, and what a change of vibe it already is in those first two episodes. Wow.

[Paul Raven]

Knots struggled in S3 hitting the Top 20 just once all season.

That was Jan 14 1982 'The Rose and the Briar' It ranked 18th.

Knots moving to 9pm caused a dip in the ratings. The final 7 eps of the season were back at 10pm and ratings improved.

[VelekaCarruthers]

John Pleshette wrote the first 2 episodes of S4.  He played Richard on the show.  He wrote 8 episodes over the first four seasons. I thought all of his scripts were great.  Notably, Ann and Ellis Marcus were brought in as executive story editors for the entire season three to collaborate with head writer Diana Gould; they were fired after one season.  That's when the soapiness developed.  No surprise given Marcus' background.  Ann was rehired as a head writer/supervising producer for Season 14 and brought back Rocci Chatfield. Ellis was not part of the team.

[Chris 2]

I think Ann Marcus was actually rehired in the back half of season 13 after John Romano was sacked and production was shut down.

There was speculation of cancellation during season 3 but I’m sure Lorimar would have used its power as the producer of top-rated Dallas to keep Knots on the air if it had come to that. And maybe it did. I remember one of the critics referring to it, during season 3, as “turgid”.

[Khan]

S3 was rough for several reasons. 

First and foremost, Sid's death cast a pall over many of the show's storylines, and over Karen's storylines in particular.  I suspect that's the primary reason why her and Mack's romance was so well-received the next season.  Viewers were just so happy to see Karen happy and in love again after spending the previous year grieving for Sid.

Also, S3 was, IMO, a bit of a course correction from S2, when the show "lathered up" too quickly before they had the chance to develop the characters fully.  S3 does a MUCH better job of laying the groundwork for the Gary/Val/Abby triangle than S2.

At the same time, because their attempt at becoming more soap-like in S2 had turned out to be such a mess, I suspect the producers were somewhat skittish about trying again, so what you get in S3 is a mix of S1 (self-contained episodes) and S2 (ongoing stories), which might've worked just as well in S2, but only if we had known the characters more. 

It's only when the Gary/Val/Abby triangle takes off in the latter part of S3 do you get the feeling that David Jacobs and his team have gotten the hang of things.

There's really only two seasons of KL that I always struggle to get through.  One is S13, and the other is S2.  

Edited September 7, 2024 by Khan

[Soaplovers]

Even the self contained episodes of season 3 still had the threads of the ongoing plotlines interwoven in some respects.

Episode 13 with Karen's friend was self contained..yet you had movement in the Laura/Richard story, the Fairgates still grieving Sid, the tension between Abby/Val, and was the seed that was planted to explain where Diana ends up when she leaves in early season 6.

Episode 14 with Cricket was self contained...but also still focused on Sid being grieved, exposed the divide between Gary/Val in terms of communication with Gary/Abby having a great rapport...plus Abby/Val clashing over Cricket at the hospital after Olivia is hurt.  And you also see Val typing away with Lillimae snooping on what she's writing (which carries over into the next episode).

 

 

[soapfan770]

Richard always came off to me as such a slimy and sleazy prick in these early seasons so it always surprised me he was later actually given custody of his kids and went on the “Laura left here to die!!!” tirade in the aftermath of Laura’s death. Did a guilty conscience help him change? 

[All My Shadows]

I was going to mention this - the season opens with three very good episodes focusing on Sid's death, but man, his absence was felt back at the cul-de-sac. With Sid gone and Kenny and Ginger taking a backseat, the show feels a little empty. Lilimae's a good addition to lighten things up, but I'm finally seeing why this is a point where the show's future was in jeopardy. Knowing that the best is yet to come makes it easier to watch, that's for sure.

[Vee]

I think making the audience wait a year for Karen to have a serious romantic partner was right. You saw every step of her journey including false starts with other men before she finally let Sid go.

My issues with S3's middle third are less to do with her family's story (except for some of the Diana eps lol) and more to do with other stuff that was standalone or felt circular.

I do love how they very deliberately make you think 'Sid's risky operation' is another standard episodic TV setup a la Val in S2, and that he's out of the woods before then, only for him to die on the table very quickly.

Edited September 8, 2024 by Vee

[Chris 2]

I thought Sid’s death was handled so well for the reasons you mention, Vee. I contrast it with Dallas after Bobby “died”. Pam mourns the love of her life for about 30 seconds and then jumps back into bed with The Pornstache (Mark Graison). Dallas couldn’t stand for any of its women to be without a man. That’s also why we got romantic black holes like Jack and Jenna, and Ray and Jenna. But I digress.

The story of the Fairgates that year was compelling to me. I agree that it was some of the other story choices that damaged S3.

[Vee]

I still don't understand why they brought Mark back over and over on Dallas. They'd just done a long, tedious season story in which Pam does a wild goose chase around the globe looking for Mark and finally determining he is in fact dead after all, then the dream season kicks in and Peter Dunne and co. bring Mark back for real immediately on the heels of Bobby's death. The character doesn't work for me. I suppose they felt pressed to bring in a man, any man for Pam. I've been viewing the dream season with Dunne's KL team moving to Dallas concurrently with some of the Dallas hands moving to KL Season 7, and the contrasts are striking.

[Chris 2]

They had a great opportunity to let Pam properly mourn Bobby and learn how to be on her own again, and then introduce a new love interest for her.

[SoapDope]

I agree. She should have stayed on her own, but Dallas writers/producers felt women were weak and needed a man to take care of them. Look how Sue Ellen jumped in and out of relationships.