Knots Landing

[Chris B]

Latham and Lechowick didn't seem to understand the complexities of Abby. They got her relationship with Olivia mostly right, but completely failed at all other aspects of the character. I also think they failed when it came to writing Olivia post-Abby. I never understood why they'd go with a broke storyline for her when there is no way that Karen or Val (who was alone) wouldn't have taken her in. It would've made the most sense to put her with Val to help with the twins and that would put her in close proximity to Kate and they could've involved them in a story together.

 

[te.]

To be honest, I think only Donna really "got" Abby and it shows that she had a lot of hand in the character pre-Latham/Lechowick. She nixed Abby being directly involved with kidnapping the twins and understood that Abby had to have *limits* to be a viable long-term character. I think Dallas and Dynasty were bad at understanding this with JR and Alexis respectively later on in the series. There's just no tension if a character will and is able to do anything while also never getting a comeuppance. 

[Chris 2]

Later Dallas has JR losing constantly - Ewing Oil, his attempted takeover of Weststar, Callie’s brothers/Haleyville, Sue Ellen’s movie. They went too far in the other direction. He became a buffoon.

[Soapsuds]

45 years ago today. It premiered!

 

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[DRW50]

I wonder when they decided to go from Ken to Kenny. Kenny makes more sense for who he was. That photo looks nothing like either of them. 

I have to laugh at Bobby being included in the ad as insurance. 

Her relationship with Olivia had no layers under them. She was mostly just the mean mama Olivia lectured. When she cut Olivia off as she left the show, I was thrilled, which shouldn't have been the reaction for the moment. 

Then we had all the money woes with Olivia and Harold, and I just did not care. It was clear the show didn't either. The only reason they or Michael seemed to get anything to do was because of the expanded episode orders of those years. 

I didn't mind Harold, but it was obvious Olivia got tired of him quickly, and they shouldn't have been kept together. Beyond looking good without a shirt he offered nothing to the canvas.

[Paul Raven]

Knots was locked into premiering that week due to Dallas airing the spinoff episode 'Return Engagement'

It was a 10pm show and the available slots were limited.

So they decided Thurs @10 where Barnaby Jones had been doing OK up against 20/20 on ABC and Kate Loves a Mystery on NBC.

Barnaby got moved forward an hour replacing the ailing Hawaii Five O and Knots got the 10pm slot.

The other option might have been Sat @10. Luckily that didn't happen.

[Khan]

"She's his second wife -- but his daughter is out to change that!"

So, Annie wants to be his wife, lol?  And it doesn't matter anyway, since we never see or hear from her again after the pilot.

[soapfan770]

Obviously Karen Allen wasn’t going to be available to come back, but do think Annie could’ve returns at some point like around Sid’s death and maybe have her live with Abby or something. I felt Annie had more promise and potential than Diana ever did. 

[Chris 2]

“Return Engagement” is basically a standalone episode. CBS could have aired it most anytime during the season.

[Paul Raven]

I wondered about that, but assumed that as Dallas was fully into the serial format, it would have been hard to pull off.

So how did it work? Were viewers tuning in to see this week's developments presented with an alternate universe where all the current stories are pushed aside to focus on Gary and Val?

Can anyone detail how that episode played out ?

[All My Shadows]

That print ad is hilarious because not one single solitary thing in Knots season 1 screamed power or passion, and certainly not at Dallas levels lol I wonder how many people tuned in expecting dirty deals and backstabbing but were disappointed by what they saw - Eight (Married Adults) is Enough.

[te.]

I mean, it's pretty obvious CBS were trying to appeal to the Dallas audience with that one. Similar thing with how they marketed The Mississippi that held the post-Dallas slot after Falcon Crest ended early in season 2:

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When you actually read the summary of The Mississippi, it sounds more like your standard legal procedural in line of Matlock and similar shows rather than as exciting as the poster makes it sound. I'd imagine that a lot of posters would've tried to feed off the popularity of Dallas during this era.

[Khan]

ICAM!!

I guess that was a better pitch, though, than "From the people who brought you 'Dallas' comes 'David Jacobs' Scenes from Four Marriages'."

[Franko]

The scene in "All's Well" where a gruff as hell Gary teaches a reluctant Abby how to use a gun is so interesting to me. It feels like Gary was possessed by Jock for a moment there.

[Chris B]

I'm towards the end of Jill Bennett's reign of terror and if Peter Dunne were writing this, this would've gone the entire season. I must say, the early scenes with Jill tormenting Val post attack were hysterical, but they gave up on it too soon. I would've made Gary and Jill stronger than ever, even let her get pregnant. I would've let Val continue to spiral and let Jill think she won before just jumping into the reveal like they did.

Gary quickly lost interest in Jill which knocked the wind out of the story. At that point who cares if she did it or not? She's now an isolated character with nobody to interact with.