Knots Landing

[Franko]

Diana's BSOD in Gary and Abby's hot tub is yet another gif-worthy moment.

[Liberty City]

Just watched the episode concerning Olivia's drug use and Abby's persistence, etc. Donna Mills did stellar work in this episode, as did Tonya Crowe and Brian Austin Green (Brian).

[All My Shadows]

*watching season 5*
Me: “I wish they did more with Eric, he’s so cute and sweet.”
*Eric slaps the piss out of Diana*
Me: “Godddddd, I love Eric!!!!”

[Vee]

Same tbh. His brother got all the attention as he got older and hotter but Eric I like best.

I need to get back to this show.

[All My Shadows]

I’ve been watching Knots and FC rather compulsively for a while now. Currently in fall 1983 with both. I had Dallas in there, too, but I am rather shocked at how stale that show gets after Jock’s death. Meanwhile, I can spend hours in the vineyards and in the cul-de-sac.

[Vee]

I was/am mainlining both the Dream Season and Season 7 of KL together, since that was the year of their big creative swap. That's the most I can take of Dallas consecutively. But I've been very preoccupied with other shows and work IRL and I need to get back to it after a long break from my Knots binge.

[Khan]

If you think about it, DALLAS and DYNASTY grew stale right about the same time, even if the ratings were slow to reflect that.  FC and KL, on the other hand, tried to stay fresh, but KL was way more successful at it, I think, than FC.  (That [!@#$%^&*] with The Thirteen does not hold up well, lol).

Edited June 7 by Khan

[DemetriKane]

I thought it got stale before Jocks death lol. His death picked things back up for me.

Edited June 7 by DemetriKane

[kalbir]

I break down the primetime soap era (start of Dallas to end of Knots Landing) as 

Up to Spring 1982: Building the foundation.

Fall 1982-Spring 1985: Peak.

Fall 1985-Spring 1988: Tanking.

Fall 1988 onward: Off the rails plus budget mode.

Of course individual shows vary and I've broken down each show in their threads.

[All My Shadows]

Dallas peaked early, IMO. Maybe not a fair statement as I’m still making my way through the first half of its run, but I think it’s hard to argue to point that S3 into S4 was its high point.

Back to Knots. Wrapping up “And Never Brought to Mind.” Greg’s introduction kinda took me by surprise. I low-key dreaded his arrival bc I know he very quickly gets to the center of the show, but even though they wasted no time connecting him with Mac, Abby, Gary, and Karen, it still feels like a gradual intro. The juxtaposition of the ending of the Chip story with the heating up Abby’s plotting is quite symbolic of the changes the show was going through. I absolutely cannot imagine Kenny and Ginger having any part in any of this.

Yall, the Gary/Val piano theme that they pull out from time to time is my FAVORITE. I find myself humming it constantly.

[Liberty City]

Got through the eighth season, and it was... painful. 

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[kalbir]

Jean Hackney was awful and that lead to Ben's exit story which sucked.

I liked Ben/Val together. Val's love for Ben was that of a grown woman moving on with her life and Ben's love for Val made him willingly decide to raise another man's children as his own.

[Liberty City]

Only thing I enjoyed was Abby / Olivia, etc., and the addiction storyline. Otherwise, I could do without the season.

[Soaplovers]

The last five or so episodes of season 8 after the Jean Hackney story ended were pretty strong with the Laura/Val friendship breakdown, Ben's PTSD with Val trying to help him, and the start of Jill realizing that Val was as much of a threat to her happiness with Gary as Abby was.

I always thought that the Jean Hackney story should have ended at mid season at the latest... and then deal with the fall-out because seeing Ben/Val switch roles with Ben in mental decline instead of Val would have been interesting to explore.  And seeing Val and Laura's friendship suffer also was interesting and should have been explored especially with Karen caught in the middle and Abby both intrigued and amused at the conflict that she didn't cause.

However, season 8 was the only Latham run season where Val was well written.

 

[soapfan770]

I like to call her an FC-reject character

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