3 minutes ago, Chris B said:

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 agree with you - I loved crazy Jill and wish she had been there all season. Hell, she had a good reason to go off rails to begin with, so maybe they even could've done a redemption arc lol. 

I thought the first half of season 10 was pretty strong with people naturally unsure if Val was being truthful or not.. while all the characters believed Jill over Val.  In fact, Jill was calm and rational to everyone while Val acted like she was off her rocker.

The middle of season 10 started promising with Jill starting to put the screws to Gary out of revenge.. and I think it was cut short by having her body being found in his trunk.  That should have been the season 10 cliffhanger.. and a good way to ensure viewers would tune in for season 11 with Abby no longer on the canvas.

12 hours ago, te. said:

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:

 

This looks like Ralph Waite is going on a Godzilla-style rampage. 

2 hours ago, Chris B said:

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. 

I agree that the story lost a lot of steam very quickly. I am not sure if the show, or Ted, were worried about Gary looking too foolish, but Jill veered so far into just being pathetic that it was difficult to care. I wonder if it was cut short. 

That whole Sally's friend plot should've been Jill in disguise. 

Oh, that would have been great!

I think had Jill not been found in his trunk, but staged her disappearance with her playing 'Sally's Friend'... that might have worked.

4 hours ago, Marco Dane said:

That whole Sally's friend plot should've been Jill in disguise. 

 

3 hours ago, Chris 2 said:

Oh, that would have been great!

 

59 minutes ago, Soaplovers said:

I think had Jill not been found in his trunk, but staged her disappearance with her playing 'Sally's Friend'... that might have worked.

I'm not entirely convinced that the Lechowicks didn't intend for Teri Austin to return as "Sally's Friend"/Amanda, either as Jill in disguise, or as a lookalike, similar to how Lisa Hartman had returned as Cathy after playing Ciji. 

Even if you ignore the fact that her voice sounded at first like Austin's, the fact that they were pulling a "Richard Diamond, Private Eye," showing Amanda only in silhouette at first, or in extreme close-ups that didn't give away her entire appearance, suggests that they wanted to shroud her in a little bit of mystery, so that we would be shocked when we (and Gary) actually "met" her for the first time ("OMG, it's Jill!").

7 hours ago, Khan said:

I'm not entirely convinced that the Lechowicks didn't intend for Teri Austin to return as "Sally's Friend"/Amanda, either as Jill in disguise, or as a lookalike, similar to how Lisa Hartman had returned as Cathy after playing Ciji. 

Could be, though it's worth noting that Lar Park Lincoln was "Sally's Friend" in the first appearance, so it could've been the way they wanted to re-introduce Linda until they decided against it. 

Lar Park Lincoln on the origins of "Sally's Friend":

 

Quote

Ulysses asks – In an old magazine from ´89 I read that you were originally contracted to appear on KNOTS LANDING as a mid-twenties mystery woman and eventual love interest for Gary Ewing. But then the producers thought you looked like a teen and because on DALLAS, another of their shows, they´d already given a young girlfriend to Larry Hagman and they didn´t want to look like they were copying themselves. Is that story a true one?

Lar: That’s almost exactly true actually. There’s a little piece of trivia I’ve put in my new bio. I originated as Linda Fairgate, that was a two-part position, where I wore a brown wig and aggravated Karen. They wanted me to be like a young Michele Lee for that. (Laughs). And then I also played a character named Sally’s Friend

AS (stunned): You were Sally’s Friend?

Lar: It was me … they only showed my body

AS: But I thought Teri Austin was Sally’s Friend? She’s been credited as Sally’s Friend.

Lar (slightly confused): No, it really was me. I did eight episodes as the body of Sally’s Friend, but they thought I was too energetic and too young to play her when her identity was revealed. Which is funny because they later paired me with Bill Devane, who was actually older! So that question is almost right, but I don’t think they were afraid of looking like they were copying from Dallas at that point (chuckles).

AS: Well that resolves the mystery of Sally’s Friend. I think people thought that since Jill Bennett died right before Sally appeared, that it must be Teri Austin.

Lar: It was me – Sally’s Friend. But I originally didn’t come in to read for Linda. I was casted to be a young Donna Mills, in flashback. She was only supposed to be in one episode, I think. I remember showing up for the audition and there was a line of blondes who looked like Donna Mills and a line of 5’9” brunettes who were supposed to look like Karen. And after testing for Donna they thought I would be better as Linda. The brown wig also was because they said they had too many blondes on the show.

https://www.knotslanding.net/interviews/lar.htm

So, it was always meant to be someone new but I guess they consciously made it seem like Jill to trick viewers. Maybe they were meant to play around with it more, but Lar was set to play her until they figured she was too young-looking to be credibly paired with Gary (I guess that was not an issue for Greg since he was kind of sleazy). 

Thanks for the details.

A shame they weren't so worried about age when they paired Gary with Kate. 

Well, that's interesting (that Lar Park Lincoln was supposed to play Amanda), lol.

8 hours ago, te. said:

I guess they consciously made it seem like Jill to trick viewers.

I'd have to agree.  Of course, I think that was bad storytelling.  I mean, why shroud Gary's new "mystery woman" in virtual darkness for eight episodes if it doesn't lead to a bombshell reveal (and no, the fact that Amanda was Danny's ex-wife and the twins' preschool teacher is not it, lol)? 

To me, it's kinda like Chekhov's Gun: if you're gonna introduce a gun in the first act of your script, it better go off in the third; and if you're gonna plunge Gary Ewing into yet another, ill-fated love affair with someone whose face isn't revealed right away - and right on the heels of Jill's "murder" - it better tie back to Jill or bear some other significance on Gary's life.  Otherwise, you're just [!@#$%^&*] with people.

8 hours ago, DRW50 said:

A shame they weren't so worried about age when they paired Gary with Kate. 

Another reason why I wanted Julie Harris to return for S14: so Lilimae could make snide, passive-aggressive comments about Gary's "pretty young thing," as she bulldozes over Kate and helps Gary look after the twins after Val's "death."

Edited December 31, 2024Dec 31 by Khan

I've said it before and I'll say it again: The wealth of BTS interviews fansites like that one and Tommy Krasker's have gotten with insight into the show are so invaluable.

10 hours ago, te. said:

not an issue for Greg since he was kind of sleazy

William Devane did not get love interests 20 or more years younger until Nicollette Sheridan and Lar Park Lincoln. That's nothing, especially when compared to Dallas and the numerous love interests Larry Hagman had that were 20 or more years younger.

10 hours ago, DRW50 said:

they weren't so worried about age when they paired Gary with Kate. 

 

2 hours ago, Khan said:

Lilimae could make snide, passive-aggressive comments about Gary's "pretty young thing," as she bulldozes over Kate and helps Gary look after the twins after Val's "death."

In 1992 Ted Shackelford was 46 and Stacy Galina was 26 and the age difference was apparent.

I kind of bought Gary with Kate only because he was in grief and she had been in the twins life for a year or so.. with Val being a refuge for Kate like how she had been a refuge for Olivia in the past.

The way the show handled the Gary/Kate situation once Val came back was well done and the final scene between Val and Kate was heartfelt.  Ironic that Kate also had a child with Gary and didn't tell him.. just like Val back in the day.

Too bad that story didn't get more focus in the reunion movie.. including Kate's secret relationship with Abby's son Brian.

 

@KhanI view that the 'Sally Friend's' as Latham and company realizing that they didn't plan for what would happen to Gary or Val once the Jill story wrapped up.  When I viewed it recently, it looked as though it was being thrown together without any thought or idea on where it would go.

Had Paulson or Dunne been helming season 10.... they would have probably played up the fall out of the Jill story with Val coming to terms with almost losing her kids again due to Jill, maybe some hidden resentment for Gary/Karen for not believing her yet again, and maybe she could have focused back on her writing (with the Jill saga a perfect inspiration for a book.. which would cause conflicts with Gary, etc).

Edited December 31, 2024Dec 31 by Soaplovers

I'm disappointed that Pat didn't have a romantic storyline with Gary, or that Frank didn't pursue Val. It would have created some interesting early 90s drama. I feel like Pat deserved more complex storylines than the ones she was given.