Knots was THE best show ever. I watched every episode...I loved each and every character....they were amazing actors. I want to buy all of the episodes and re-live it again!!!! My favorite characters were Val, Abby, and Gary. They made the best triangle ever written. I hated Abby but I loved to watch her in action. I thought her best job was when Olivia was on drugs and she was desperately trying to help her. And I loved to she what she was wearing. I loved Valene. Her character kept growing and growing. Karen was a hoot. I didn't like Paige at first, and then grew to love her! I wish it would air on TV again- is that possible???

Knots Landing started off as a spin off to Dallas,dealing with Lucy's Mum and Dad,Gary and Valene remarrying and moving to a Southern California Cul De Sac after Miss Ellie buys them a house,to make up for all the ill treatment they both suffered from the Ewings. Joan Van Ark and Ted Shackleford were both excellent throughout the entire run as was the wonderful Michele Lee who through the seasons lost her beloved husband Sid(Don Murray)got his murderers convicted and married the fiery Mack(Kevin Dobson) Karen was the only character to appear in all the Knots episodes and she was the voice of the people,in one episode when she spoke of wanting to be able to trust people,send cash in the mail etc. After a fairly quiet first season,the Cul De Sac was rocked by the arrival of Sid's sister Abby(Donna Mills)who stole Gary from Val and really brought sex and scandal to Knots Landing. Donna Mills played the part with great gusto and humour,when she left around season 10,she was sorely missed. When popular character Ciji Dunn(Lisa Hartman) was killed off,the was an outcry from fans,so the writers,created a new character lookalike Cathy Greary(Lisa Hartman again)with the plot being Abby hiring a lookalike to send Gary off the rails while she spend his inheritance! When Joan Van Ark left in the last season,Val appeared to die in a car crash but returned in the two episode finale,she'd been kidnapped for a year,a happy ending for the show!. The show didn't shrink from the reality of death though,with Sid's death and later popular character Laura(Constance McCashin)dying from brain cancer. A great show with a great cast,special mention also to William Devane for a great performance as Greg Sumner. It deserved its very long run!

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.

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.