| rdfs:comment | - Knots Landing is an American prime time television soap opera that aired on CBS from December 27, 1979, to May 13, 1993. A spin-off of Dallas, it was set in a fictitious coastal suburb of Los Angeles, and centered on the lives of four married couples living in a cul-de-sac, Seaview Circle. By the time of its conclusion, Knots Landing had become one of the longest-running primetime dramas on U.S. television after Gunsmoke and Bonanza.
- Knots Landing is the spin-off of the primetime soap opera Dallas which aired from December 28, 1979 to May 13, 1993 on also CBS. In fact, the original plot was made for Knots Landing. Knots Landing was created by David Jacobs (one-time writer of Family and later producer of Lois & Clark: The New Adventures of Superman) in conjunction with producer Michael Filerman (who would also later co-produce Falcon Crest). The idea was initially rebuffed by CBS in 1978, as the network wanted something more "saga-like." Jacobs then created Dallas, which the networked accepted and premiered in 1979. After Dallas became a hit, Jacobs was then able to adapt Knots Landing as a spin-off series. The series was loosely inspired by the 1979 Ingmar Bergman movie Scenes from a Marriage, but with four marriages.
- Life in The Eighties in an upper-middle-class cul-de-sac in California. In the mid-1970s, David Jacobs (Family, later Lois and Clark) and Michael Filerman (later Falcon's Crest) created Knots Landing, a concept for a Prime Time Soap inspired by Ingmar Bergman's 1973 film, Scenes From a Marriage. It would center around four families in suburban California. Initially rejected in 1977, Jacobs went on to create Dallas, which proved wildly popular. Jacobs then re-visited Knots Landing, turning it into a Spin-Off by inserting one of the Ewing brothers, Black Sheep middle brother Gary.
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| abstract | - Knots Landing is the spin-off of the primetime soap opera Dallas which aired from December 28, 1979 to May 13, 1993 on also CBS. In fact, the original plot was made for Knots Landing. Knots Landing was created by David Jacobs (one-time writer of Family and later producer of Lois & Clark: The New Adventures of Superman) in conjunction with producer Michael Filerman (who would also later co-produce Falcon Crest). The idea was initially rebuffed by CBS in 1978, as the network wanted something more "saga-like." Jacobs then created Dallas, which the networked accepted and premiered in 1979. After Dallas became a hit, Jacobs was then able to adapt Knots Landing as a spin-off series. The series was loosely inspired by the 1979 Ingmar Bergman movie Scenes from a Marriage, but with four marriages. Though initially not as popular as Dallas, Knots Landing eventually outlasted it and garnered much critical acclaim. The series peaked during the 1979–80 season with a 20.8 rating (finishing in 11th place) and a 20.0 rating for the 1980–81 season (when it finished 9th). This can be attributed, in part, to more dramatic storylines as the series became more soap-opera like, and the gradual inclusion of newer characters to interact with the original cast. By the 1981–82 season, Knots Landing was ahead of Dallas in the ratings, though audiences for both shows by this time were less than their earlier years.
- Life in The Eighties in an upper-middle-class cul-de-sac in California. In the mid-1970s, David Jacobs (Family, later Lois and Clark) and Michael Filerman (later Falcon's Crest) created Knots Landing, a concept for a Prime Time Soap inspired by Ingmar Bergman's 1973 film, Scenes From a Marriage. It would center around four families in suburban California. Initially rejected in 1977, Jacobs went on to create Dallas, which proved wildly popular. Jacobs then re-visited Knots Landing, turning it into a Spin-Off by inserting one of the Ewing brothers, Black Sheep middle brother Gary. On the Dallas second-season episode "Return Engagements" (December 20, 1979), Gary (Ted Shackleford) remarried ex-wife Valene Clements Ewing (Joan Van Ark), and Gary's mother bought them a house in California to get away from the other turmoil in the Ewing family. Their daughter Lucy, already almost an adult herself, did not resettle with them, and only appeared on this show as a guest in the first season. The house was one of several his brother Bobby (Patrick Duffy) was flipping to take advantage of California's housing boom at the time. The pilot episode has them meeting their neighbors in the cul-de-sac, Seaview Circle. One of those neighbors, Karen Fairgate (Michele Lee), was the real star of the show. During the first few seasons, occasional guest appearances by Dallas cast would occur, especially Gary's brothers Bobby and J.R. (Larry Hagman). However, the last crossover between the two series would occur when Gary got the news that Bobby died at the beginning of their 7th season. Though Bobby's death was retconned from Dallas, Knots Landing was not treated in the same way. In that series, Bobby remained dead, and the two series were treated separately from that point on. Knots Landing ran from December 27, 1979 (literally the tail end of the decade) until 1993. It's fondly remembered by its fans, but wasn't nearly as popular as Dallas, though both were equal Long Runners (both went 14 seasons). Like Gary, it became something of a black sheep. It's only seen its first two seasons released on DVD, and isn't available online yet. This trope page needs to be expanded, and probably re-written by somebody with more first-hand knowledge of the show.
* California Doubling: Averted, since it's set in California. However, Seaview Circle is based on Crystalview Place, a real cul-de-sac in the Granada Hills area of Los Angeles. Knots Landing is depicted as being near a beach. Granada Hills is actually on the north side of the San Fernando Valley, 25 road miles from the nearest beach.
* If you look for Crystalview Place in a map program, you'll see almost the exact same houses there, just like if you look for Southfork in Dallas.
- Knots Landing is an American prime time television soap opera that aired on CBS from December 27, 1979, to May 13, 1993. A spin-off of Dallas, it was set in a fictitious coastal suburb of Los Angeles, and centered on the lives of four married couples living in a cul-de-sac, Seaview Circle. By the time of its conclusion, Knots Landing had become one of the longest-running primetime dramas on U.S. television after Gunsmoke and Bonanza. Knots Landing was created by David Jacobs (one-time writer of Family and later producer of Lois & Clark: The New Adventures of Superman) in conjunction with producer Michael Filerman (who would also later co-produce Falcon Crest). Although a spin-off of Dallas, the concept predates that series, and was initially rebuffed by CBS in 1977, as the network wanted something more "saga-like". Jacobs then created Dallas, which the network accepted and premiered in 1978. After Dallas became a hit, Jacobs was then able to adapt Knots Landing as a spin-off series by way of incorporating characters originally introduced in the parent series. The series was largely inspired by a 1957 movie No Down Payment but also by the 1973 Ingmar Bergman television miniseries Scenes from a Marriage. Storylines included rape, murder, kidnapping, assassinations, drug smuggling, corporate intrigue and criminal investigations. Though initially not as popular as Dallas, Knots Landing eventually outlasted it and garnered much critical acclaim. The series peaked during the 1983–84 season with a 20.8 rating (finishing in 11th place) and a 20.0 rating for the 1984–85 season (when it finished 9th). This can be attributed, in part, to more dramatic storylines as the series became more soap-opera like, and the gradual inclusion of newer characters to interact with the original cast. By the 1988–89 season, Knots Landing was ahead of Dallas in the ratings, though audiences for both shows by this time were less than their earlier years. There were 344 episodes and 14 seasons of Knots Landing from 1979 to 1993. In 1997, much of the cast reunited for a two-part mini-series entitled Knots Landing: Back to the Cul-de-Sac. In 2005, they reunited again for the non-fiction special Knots Landing Reunion: Together Again in which the cast reminisced about their time on the show. Dallas itself was revived in 2012, with characters from Knots Landing appearing in its second season. During nearly the entire run of the original series, Knots Landing occupied the same timeslot: Thursday nights at 10:00 p.m.
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