22 minutes ago, Broderick said:

I suppose the episode with Mrs. Handleman ("Constant Companion"?) was supposed to be a tour-de-force for Ginger, but it was written in such a way that the short nerdy guy from the school (Arthur?) and Mrs. Handleman stole the show, lol.  It became less about Ginger's abortion and more about that weird little Arthur. 

And then to make matters worse for Lankford, Valene was getting her GED in that episode, and that's the storyline where all the seasoned acting was occurring.  

Yes, nerdy little Arthur was a scene stealer. He was about 4 ft 11 and drove a Gremlin. I laughed when he drove Ginger home and before she could get out of the car he was already running up to her house wanting to take a look....LOL They should have made him recurring.

If Lucy had visited again, I can picture Val introducing him to her " Look Lucy you and Arthur are the same height". They never showed his Mom. I can kind of picture someone like Martha Raye playing her or maybe Sandra Gould.

Edited September 10, 20241 yr by SoapDope

2 hours ago, Broderick said:

I suppose the episode with Mrs. Handleman ("Constant Companion"?) was supposed to be a tour-de-force for Ginger, but it was written in such a way that the short nerdy guy from the school (Arthur?) and Mrs. Handleman stole the show, lol.  It became less about Ginger's abortion and more about that weird little Arthur. 

And then to make matters worse for Lankford, Valene was getting her GED in that episode, and that's the storyline where all the seasoned acting was occurring.  

Her best scene was the final scene in season 3 episode 3...when she had Karen Erin Molly...she was subdued and was note perfect.

 

Also, season 3 was Michele Lee's best season acting wise...less Broadway, more subtle acting.

Shame season 4 she was back to chewing scenery. 

13 hours ago, Marco Dane said:

I'm halfway thru season 3. Does Karen continue running Knots Landing motors up until season 14 or eventually sells it?

10 hours ago, Reverend Ruthledge said:

Someone with more historical information might know better but I think Knots Landing Motors just falls into the abyss never to mentioned again around the 5th or 6th season once the focus shifted onto more glamorous things.

Ooooh, I can answer this one. Somewhere in season 6, there's like a 2-episode arc where a man expresses interest in buying KLM. Karen is against it at first because of course it's like selling Sid's dream, but Eric eventually convinces her to sell because he's not interested in running it as Karen focuses her attention on her other business endeavors.

Edited September 10, 20241 yr by All My Shadows

4 hours ago, SoapDope said:

Since Kenny was supposed to be a ladies man, maybe they should have made him and Ginger porn actors who are married and they try to keep a solid marriage working in the industry. They could just have switched out the audio equipment in the house for video equipment.

LOL!!

I didn't mind Kenny's being involved in the music industry - although, given Richard's crack about him and Ginger getting married on an incoming wave, you'd think Kenny would've been a former professional surfer or something - but I would've explained that Kenny and Ginger were once in a rock band - he was the lead guitarist and songwriter; she was the "girl singer" - but when the hits dried up, so to speak, they moved to the suburbs, he transitioned to producing, while she became an elementary school music teacher.  That way, Ginger's sudden desire to be a professional singer (again) in S4 would make more sense.

6 hours ago, Soaplovers said:

I think the concept should have been Scenes from a Marriage X3.

Of course, this is from a (bad) half-hour comedy and not a drama series, but this is pretty much how I would've set up KL at the beginning:

Couple #1: Young newlyweds.

Couple #2: Couple in their late 30's/early 40's.

Couple #3: Older, retired couple.

(Just please ignore the cheesy theme song, lol).

 

Edited September 10, 20241 yr by Khan

7 minutes ago, Khan said:

LOL!!

I didn't mind Kenny's being involved in the music industry - although, given Richard's crack about him and Ginger getting married on an incoming wave, you'd think Kenny would've been a former professional surfer or something - but I would've explained that Kenny and Ginger were once in a rock band - he was the lead guitarist and songwriter; she was the "girl singer" - but when the hits dried up, so to speak, they moved to the suburbs, he transitioned to producing, while she became an elementary school music teacher.  That way, Ginger's sudden desire to be a professional singer (again) in S4 would make more sense.

Of course, this is from a (bad) half-hour comedy and not a drama series, but this is pretty much how I would've set up KL at the beginning:

Couple #1: Young newlyweds.

Couple #2: Couple in their late 30's/early 40's.

Couple #3: Older, retired couple.

(Just please ignore the cheesy theme song, lol).

 

I liked that show...but I was a very small child that loved anything set in a city.

1 minute ago, Soaplovers said:

I liked that show...but I was a very small child that loved anything set in a city.

And I loved watching ANY show that was about adults, because most of the youth-oriented shows that were on at the time just seemed so stupid to me.  KL ended the summer before I started high school; yet, I probably was its' youngest, biggest fan, lol!

In the second-part of the third season premiere. Wow.

 

9 hours ago, Khan said:

LOL!!

I didn't mind Kenny's being involved in the music industry - although, given Richard's crack about him and Ginger getting married on an incoming wave, you'd think Kenny would've been a former professional surfer or something - but I would've explained that Kenny and Ginger were once in a rock band - he was the lead guitarist and songwriter; she was the "girl singer" - but when the hits dried up, so to speak, they moved to the suburbs, he transitioned to producing, while she became an elementary school music teacher.  That way, Ginger's sudden desire to be a professional singer (again) in S4 would make more sense.

Of course, this is from a (bad) half-hour comedy and not a drama series, but this is pretty much how I would've set up KL at the beginning:

Couple #1: Young newlyweds.

Couple #2: Couple in their late 30's/early 40's.

Couple #3: Older, retired couple.

(Just please ignore the cheesy theme song, lol).

 

I never understood the appeal of Jay Thomas. The industry just tried to make him happen by putting him in several series and guest appearances. After that Married People series ended, he was immediately put in "Love & War" with Susan Dey. After the first season Dey was fired by Diane English because she claimed Dey was not capable of comedy and lacked chemistry with Thomas. She was replaced in Season 2 with Annie Potts. Dey did comedy on The Partridge Family and was perfectly capable. 

Oh wow.... the ending of S03E02 when Karen is told.... so eerie and so well done. Wow.

14 hours ago, All My Shadows said:

Ooooh, I can answer this one. Somewhere in season 6, there's like a 2-episode arc where a man expresses interest in buying KLM. Karen is against it at first because of course it's like selling Sid's dream, but Eric eventually convinces her to sell because he's not interested in running it as Karen focuses her attention on her other business endeavors.

Now that you say it, I remember that. I forgot about it, I guess, because it seemed like a throwaway mention and was quickly forgotten (I'm surprised it continued for two episodes). At least they mentioned it! Thanks for that, All My Shadows. 

12 minutes ago, Reverend Ruthledge said:

Now that you say it, I remember that. I forgot about it, I guess, because it seemed like a throwaway mention and was quickly forgotten (I'm surprised it continued for two episodes). At least they mentioned it! Thanks for that, All My Shadows. 

Season 10, KLM is mentioned because Olivia's main love Harold mentions to Abby that he got a job there so it existed...just off screen.

I wondered what happened to the cable station that Abby was running.  Did Gary and her decide in the divorce to sell it...or was someone else in charge.  That stopped being featured after season 8...and Abby was back at Lotus Point in season 9/early season 10 full time.

If Knots still wanted to acknowledge Dallas in 1989, then Sue Ellen's revenge movie about J.R. should have been a revenge TV movie airing on Pacific World Cable.

1 hour ago, Franko said:

If Knots still wanted to acknowledge Dallas in 1989, then Sue Ellen's revenge movie about J.R. should have been a revenge TV movie airing on Pacific World Cable.

LOL...That would have been great. I can picture Karen inviting everyone over to watch making popcorn. Val would watch it through her fingers when it got to the parts about her, Gary & Lucy. 

10 hours ago, SoapDope said:

I never understood the appeal of Jay Thomas. The industry just tried to make him happen by putting him in several series and guest appearances. After that Married People series ended, he was immediately put in "Love & War" with Susan Dey. After the first season Dey was fired by Diane English because she claimed Dey was not capable of comedy and lacked chemistry with Thomas. She was replaced in Season 2 with Annie Potts. Dey did comedy on The Partridge Family and was perfectly capable. 

Remember, too, that he had a pretty good shot at becoming a regular on "Cheers" as Eddie LeBec until he badmouthed Rhea Perlman on the radio.  He also was a regular during the second season of "Mork & Mindy," a season when both a timeslot change and cast overhaul caused M&M to drop out of the Nielsen Top 20 after finishing its' first season at #3, behind "Laverne & Shirley" and "Three's Company."

Personally, I think KL missed a golden opportunity to go sorta meta and have Val develop "Capricorn Crude" into the kind of trashy miniseries that was really popular at that time.  Imagine, for example, Val collaborating with the hack screenwriter who's been hired to co-write the teleplay and who wants (on orders from the producers or network) to make the miniseries even more salacious than the book; or the young, Pia Zadora-esque strumpet (maybe played by Kelli Maroney) who "shadows" Val in an attempt to portray her as accurately as possible.

Edited September 11, 20241 yr by Khan

1 hour ago, Khan said:

Remember, too, that he had a pretty good shot at becoming a regular on "Cheers" as Eddie LeBec until he badmouthed Rhea Perlman on the radio.  He also was a regular during the second season of "Mork & Mindy," a season when both a timeslot change and cast overhaul caused M&M to drop out of the Nielsen Top 20 after finishing its' first season at #3, behind "Laverne & Shirley" and "Three's Company."

Personally, I think KL missed a golden opportunity to go sorta meta and have Val develop "Capricorn Crude" into the kind of trashy miniseries that was really popular at that time.  Imagine, for example, Val collaborating with the hack screenwriter who's been hired to co-write the teleplay and who wants (on orders from the producers or network) to make the miniseries even more salacious than the book; or the young, Pia Zadora-esque strumpet (maybe played by Kelli Maroney) who "shadows" Val in an attempt to portray her as accurately as possible.

UGH! I remember him on Mork & Mindy with Gina Hecht. He was also a semi regular on Murphy Brown (another Diane English series) during it's entire run. LOL at badmouthing Rhea Perlman. Like she would not hear about that ?

The trashy mini series idea sounds hilarious. The teaming of the hack screenwriter idea was done in the 1997 reunion. Val is asked to write the screenplay about her latest book "Hostage". They team her with playboy Clay McKinney who takes credit with helping her write the screenplay even though he just goofs off. He makes advances on her after a party and she pushes him. The next morning his dead body is found floating in the pool. Val lies to the police when they find an earring and asks if it's hers.