CBS
Knots Landing begins with Gary and Val making a fresh start on the West Coast. If their second try at marriage works, they reckon, their daughter can come live with them in a stable environment. Gary, who wants nothing to do with the Ewing oil business, takes a job selling classic cars for his new neighbor, Sid Fairgate (Don Murray). But he reluctantly becomes embroiled, along with Val, in several local issues, the most complicated being J.R.'s plans to drill for oil just off the shore of Gary's adopted community. (Hagman, as a guest star, brings a lot of fun to that episode with his affable villainy.) It doesn't take long, however, for other major characters in Knots Landing to emerge as fascinating people in their own right, with no relationship to Ewing history except friendship with Gary and Val. In fact, Sid and his wife Karen (Michele Lee) are, arguably, the strongest characters in the first season, a couple with such strong underpinnings that their arguments inevitably result in a tighter union. Lee's performance, overall, is the best on the show, and several episodes (that look nothing like a primetime soap opera) are clearly written to spotlight her talent.
Gary's other neighbors include self-centered attorney Richard Avery (John Pleshette) and his beleaguered spouse, Laura (Constance McCashin); plus the youthful if little-seen Kenny (James Houghton) and Ginger (Kim Lankford) Ward. The stories in Knots Landing generally concern ordinary and familiar things: fear of crime, unexpected pregnancies, raising kids, dating, education, marital discord. Sure, many of the same conflicts occur on Dallas, but the fun in watching that show is recognizing that the super-wealthy and powerful struggle with the same problems the rest of us do. In Knots Landing, conflicts are more earthbound. That won't always be the case on this show: over subsequent seasons and with the addition of more characters and the loss of others, the drama will tilt in another direction. The Complete First Season establishes a solid foundation, however, and there's a lot of merit to it.
Cast & Characters
- Ted Shackelford as Gary Ewing
- Constance McChasin as Laura Avery Sumner (1979-1987)
- Pat Peterson as Michael Fairgate (1979-1991)
- Steve Shaw as Eric Fairgate (1979-1987, 1989-1991)
- Donna Mills as Abby Cunningham Ewing Sumner (1980-1989)
- Tonya Crowe as Olivia Cunningham (1980-1990)
- Julie Harris as Lilimae Clements (1981-1987)
- Kevin Dobson as M. (Mack) Patrick MacKenzie (1982-1993)
- Douglas Sheehan as Ben Gibson (1983-1987)
- William Devane as Gregory Sumner (1983-1993)
Broadcast History
First Telecast: December 20, 1979
Last Telecast: May 13, 1993
Original Network:
CBS
Number of Seasons: 14
Number of Episodes: 344
Original Primetime TV Schedule:
- December 1979- March 1980, CBS, Thursday 10:00-11:00pm
- June 1980- March 1981, CBS, Thursday 10:00-11:00pm
- June 1981- October 1981, CBS, Thursday 10:00-11:00pm
- November 1981- March 1982, CBS, Thursday 9:00-10:00pm
- March 1982- March 1983, CBS, Thursday 10:00-11:00pm
- June 1983- June 1986, CBS, Thursday 10:00-11:00pm
- September 1986- November 1986, CBS, Thursday 9:00-10:00pm
- November 1986- March 1993 CBS, Thursday 10:00-11:00pm
- May 1993, CBS, Thursday 9:00-11:00pm
Theme Song & Opening Credits
{videobox}/media/video/knotslanding.mp4{/videobox}Theme by Jerold Immel
Listen to theme song: {mp3}KnotsLanding{/mp3}
Purchase theme song from Amazon.com:
Knots Landing on DVD
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Season 1
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Season 2
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Knots Landing Trivia
The Knots Landing TV show was a "spin-off" of the series, "Dallas".Knots Landing was the second longest-running prime time drama series in television history! So what series was number 1? Why Dallas, of course!
There can be no doubt that the huge success of Dallas and then Knots Landing, paved the way for several other prime time drama series such as "Falcon Crest (1981)", "Dynasty (1981)", and "The Colbys (1985)".
