California

This was undoubtedly the best TV series EVER!!! Great characters, great stories, witty scripts, fantastic acting, fantastic theme tune, the list is endless.

I watched all 344 episodes throughout the show's 14 year run (15 if you lived in the UK). I watched it grow from an average suburban series set in a Californian cul-de-sac to an international phenomenon that perhaps didn't reach the same heights as 'Dallas' or 'Dynasty', but make no mistake, this series had a devoted following all across the world - such was it's enduring appeal.

Who could forget the night Sid was driven off a cliff? Talk about a Cliffhanger!!! Who could not feel sorry for "Poor Val" when her babies were kidnapped at birth or when the evil Jill Bennett (played convincingly by Teri Austin) attempted to kill her by forcing pills down her throat? Add to that those heartbreaking scenes when Laura (played by the wonderful Constance McCashin) died of a brain tumour and 'Greggy' was left all alone to raise their child.

Then there were all those wonderfully complex stories involving all the cul-de-sac's residents united to fight against a common enemy. Wolfbridge? Treadwell? The list is endless. Knots had that unique ability to tell a good tale. It carried on telling such 'good tales' for 14 amazing years - never once really dipping in quality.

In the finale, Kevin Dobson told how it was a quality series - the type of quality that television needs. How right he was! Television didn't see such quality prior to the series' launch in 1979, and sadly it hasn't seen it since.

A fantastic production in a bygone era. The likes of which we will never see again...

Knots Landing has got to be one of the best shows ever to grace our TV sets. The show that started out as a spin off of another good show Dallas turned into a guaranteed hour of enjoyable tv. Yes the show had its good and bad episodes but you always knew you could look foward to seeing your favorite neighbors on the Cul-Da-Sac Seaview Circle. By far the greatest female character on the show was Karen Fairgate Mackenzie(Michele Lee), she was married to the 2 greatest men ever Sid Fairgate(Don Murray) the owner of Knots Landing Motors and after his death she met and married Mack Mackenzie(Kevin Dobson)a lawyer. I enjoyed these two together most, they had such great chemistry together on screen they actually were believable as a married couple. When Abby(Donna Mills) arrived the show became even better, her character was always after someones husband and usually ended up with him. Sumner(Bill Devane) was another great addition to the show, his character brought a comic humor with the words he chose to use in tense drama situations. Then you had the Val(Joan Van Ark) and Gary(Ted Shackelford) the two childhood lovers who you just knew would always be together even if a few marriages got in between them. The show also had some other great characters like Laura(Constance McCashin), Richard (John Pleashette), Paige(Nicolette Sheridan), Lilimae(Julie Harris), Claudia(Kathleen Noone), Anne(Michelle Phillips), Frank(Lary Riely), Olivia(Tonya Crowe). Knots also had a ton of guest stars like Ava Gardner, Alec Baldwin, Lisa Hartman Black, Red Buttons,and Pam Grier just to name a few. Overall this show still holds up to todays standards and hopefully it will be put on DVD soon so everyone can enjoy it.

This spin off of CBS' DALLAS premiered midway through the 1979-80 season. KNOTS follows the lives of five families residing on an oceanside cul-de-sac in the town of Knots Landing, California. They are: Gary (Ted Shackelford) and Valene Ewing (Joan Van Ark), a young remarried couple who move to the cul-de-sac to escape the pressures of living in Dallas (namely JR and the Ewing family), Sid (Don Murray) and Karen Fairgate (Michele Lee), the friendly neighbors whose marriage is on solid ground, Richard (John Pleshette) and Laura Avery (Constance McCashin), whose marriage is in dire straits even with a young son, and Kenny (James Houghton) and Ginger Ward (Kim Lankford), the newlyweds who have bought their first home in the cul-de-sac. The show crossed over with DALLAS in its' early years when JR and Bobby made occasional visits. Things were spiced up when Abby Cunningham (Donna Mills), Sid's younger sister moved in and managed to break up Gary and Val. Other characters included the smarmy politician-turned-businessman Greg Sumner (William Devane), who tangled with Abby and married Laura when Richard took off after being accused of murder. There was also Mack Mackenzie (Kevin Dobson), who would marry Karen when Sid was killed in an auto accident. Paige Matheson (Nicollette Sheridan), Mack's daughter, who tangled with Sumner, was a major character. One of the show's story lines included the birth of Gary and Val's twins that were stolen from her at birth. When Bobby Ewing died on DALLAS and Pam Ewing dreamt the whole season, KNOTS suspended its' crossover plots with the parent series, for fear that KNOTS viewers would think that the present season was all a dream as well. So while Bobby was alive on DALLAS, he remained dead on KNOTS.

"Knots Landing", for 14 years, was the greatest television experience ever. From December 27, 1979, until May 13, 1993, we followed the sudsy lives of our favorite characters. From Val and Gary's initial movie into the neighborhood, to Abby's arrival and her nonstop manipulations, to Laura's terminal brain cancer and the impact it had on everyone's lives, to the ultimate psycho Jill, it was all terrific entertainment. Not overly-glossy and implausible like other night-time soaps, "Knots" had a realism all it's own. It will be missed and remembered fondly.

Knots Landing was an excellent drama. I watched all 14 seasons of this series. I especially liked the first few seasons when the show focused on the families in the cul-de-sac, but after the fifth season the show's story lines became similar to other prime time soap opera fare with more of a focus on greed and the desire for wealth and power. Although the show changed direction, the writing, directing and especially the acting remained top-notch and were always superior to the other shows.

Knots Landing premiered on CBS in December 1979. It followed the lives and relationships of Gary & Valene Ewing (Ted Shackelford & Joan Van Ark), recently remarried and new to town; Sid & Karen Fairgate (Don Murray & Michele Lee), the strong married couple with three children; Richard & Laura Avery (John Pleshette & Constance McCashin), the couple with marital problems; and Kenny & Ginger Ward (James Houghton & Kim Lankford), the young newlyweds.

Abby Cunningham (Donna Mills), Sid's younger divorced sister in the "bitch" role, came to town with her two children at the beginning of the second season; she was added to stir up the pot, so to speak, and began trying to seduce everyone's husband; she eventually set her sights on Gary and married him after ruining his marriage to Val. Donna Mills, who had for years played weak female and "victim" roles in various TV shows and movies, was thrilled to play a strong, powerful female lead. In fact, the show had many strong female characters.

In the beginning, these characters were a lot like people that lived down the street. They wore jeans and did the dishes... something you would never see on "Dynasty" or "Dallas"! Also, the early episodes (first 2 seasons) were self-contained and did not have the serialized format that was standard for most of the other nighttime soaps.

Early in the third season, Sid Fairgate died during emergency surgery after a car crash because Don Murray wanted to leave the show. By the end of the fourth season, original characters Richard Avery, Kenny Ward and Ginger Ward were all written off the show. The new characters of Mack MacKenzie and Gregory Sumner became more prominent.

The biggest mistake was when the powers that be fired actress Constance McCashin during the 1987-1988 season due to her real-life pregnancy. They had written her two previous pregnancies into the story, but they did not plan to do so this time. Granted, the storyline involving Laura's brain cancer and subsequent death was very well written and poignant, and superbly acted by Constance McCashin and William Devane as her husband Greg Sumner; however, they could have just had Laura leave town or written the character out of a few episodes to accommodate the actress' pregnancy since Laura was not very heavily involved in a big story at that time. Apparently, many other reviewers liked this character and felt that letting this actress go was a mistake.

There were many great actors on this show, but special mention must go to Julie Harris as Lilimae Clements, Valene's mother, and Michelle Phillips as Anne Matheson, Paige's shallow, self-absorbed mother and Mack's ex-girlfriend. They both brought lighter comedic moments to the show with their roles.

The fact that the show lasted 14 seasons demonstrates that it was far better than the other prime time soaps. The show managed to stay true to form for the most part throughout the entire series run by focusing on the characters and their motivations and not on overly outlandish plots.