Knots Landing: Meaning (information, definition, explanation, facts)

Knots Landing was an American primetime television soap opera that aired from 1979 until 1993. It was a spin-off from Dallas. It was created by David Jacobs.

A 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 into a cul-de-sac, Seaview Circle, in the Los Angeles suburb of Knots Landing. Their neighbours were Sid Fairgate (Don Murray) and 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).

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. That praise prompted the network to renew it, and from there it gathered momentum and became an eventual hit.

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 in the cul-de-sac, but in later years it was significantly glamorized, and told stories about espionage, crime and politics.

The major characters in the show included:

• Gary Ewing (played the entire time 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 1979 to 1992 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 the entire time by Michele Lee): Valene's neighbour, and best friend. First married to Sid Fairgate, later to Mack McKenzie. The mother of Diana, Eric and Michael Fairgate.
• Sid Fairgate (played from 1979 to 1981 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 1980 to 1989 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 1979 to 1983 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 1979 to 1987 by Constance McCashin): The wife of Richard Avery, and later, Greg Sumner. She, Karen and Val were best friends. She died of cancer.