Knots Landing Guide, Meaning , Facts, Information and Description
Knots Landing was an American primetime television soap opera that aired from 1979 to 1993. It was a spin-off of Dallas.
A related miniseries, , aired in 1997.
The series, created by Michael Filerman and David Jacobs, had been pitched to the US network CBS prior to Dallas. When Dallas was picked up as a series, and became a hit, they asked for a spin-off, and Filerman and Jacobs returned to their original Scenes From a Marriage concept to create Knots Landing.
When the series opened, Gary Ewing (Ted Shackleford) and his wife Valene Ewing (Joan Van Ark) moved onto a cul-de-sac, Seaview Circle, in the Los Angeles suburb of Knots Landing. Gary and Valene had been married 17 years earlier in a "shotgun wedding," but when Gary left Val, Gary's brother J.R. took Valene's daughter Lucy away. As a teenager, Lucy began forging a friendship with Valene, the mother she'd never known, and Valene and Gary reunited. Their neighbours on the cul-de-sac were: Sid Fairgate (Don Murray), his wife Karen (Michele Lee), Richard Avery (John Pleshette) and his wife Laura (Constance McCashin), and Kenny Ward (James Houghton) and his wife, Ginger (Kim Langford). Sid and Karen, who had three children, were the self-described "neighborhood Brady Bunch." Richard Avery was a lawyer who quit his lawfirm when he thought he could get a better job. He failed at this, and when his wife Laura had to take a job in real estate to support Richard and their son Jason, Richard began treating her badly. Kenny and Ginger Ward were newlyweds, and while ditzy Ginger made plans to start a family, Kenny was having an affair behind her back with young singer Sylvie.
The first season of 13 episodes met with only moderate success. Critics, on the other hand, praised the series for its brave storytelling and first class performances. In one powerful episode, Valene exclaimed to her mother (guest star and future regular Julie Harris) that she blaimed her for losing Lucy and hated her for it, since she turned Valene down when Valene asked her for shelter while on the run from J.R. The praise from the media prompted the network to renew "Knots Landing," and from there it gathered momentum and became an eventual hit. In season 2, Donna Mills joined the cast as Sid Fairgate's sister. She had an affair with Richard Avery and later, broke up Gary and Val's second marriage.
The series evolved more radically than most prime-time soaps, in that the emphasis on characters and situations changed in successive seasons. In the show's early years, it concentrated on the four marriages on the cul-de-sac, but in later years it was significantly glamorized, and told stories about espionage, crime and politics. The season 4 introduction of Lisa Hartman as Ciji Dunne, a chanteuse whose murder thoroughly shook the cast, is generally regarded as the turning point of the series.
The major characters in the show included:
- Gary Ewing (played from season 1 to season 14 by Ted Shackelford): The son of Jock and Ellie Ewing, first introduced in the TV series Dallas. Gary, the middle Ewing son between JR and Bobby, was the family black sheep.
- Valene Clements Ewing Ewing Gibson Waleska Ewing (played from season 1 to season 13 by Joan Van Ark): The love of Gary's life, and the mother, with Gary, of Lucy Ewing (Charlene Tilton).
- Karen Cooper Fairgate MacKenzie (played from season 1 to season 14 by Michele Lee): Valene's neighbour, and best friend. First married to Sid Fairgate, later to Mack McKenzie (Kevin Dobson). The mother of Diana, Eric and Michael Fairgate.
- Sid Fairgate (played from season 1 to season 2 by Don Murray): Karen's first husband, and the owner of Knots Landing Motors. Sid was killed when his car was sabotaged.
- Abby Fairgate Cunningham Ewing Sumner (played from season 2 to season 10 by Donna Mills): Sid Fairgate's sister, and the neighbourhood troublemaker. She destroyed Gary and Val's marriage, and married Gary herself.
- Richard Avery (played from season 1 to season 4 by John Pleshette): A lawyer, and a cruel, shallow man. Unhappily married to Laura, he struggled to assert himself after she launched a successful career in real-estate.
- Laura Avery Sumner (played from season 1 to season 9 by Constance McCashin): The wife of Richard Avery, and later, Greg Sumner. She was a real estate agent. She died of cancer.
- Greg Sumner (played from season 5 to season 14 by William Devane): Initially a politician, Greg became a businessman after inheriting the corporation of his father (Howard Duff. Greg schemed with or against Abby most of the time.
- Paige Matheson (played from season 8 to season 14 by Nicolette Sheridan): Karen's step-daughter, she engaged in a May/December romance with Greg Sumner.
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