tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6768495027896028196.post923297350706069826..comments2024-03-26T19:08:32.544-04:00Comments on That's alls I know: Knots Landing season 12Tommy Kraskerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12564935526936828636noreply@blogger.comBlogger22125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6768495027896028196.post-47874328826467090302024-03-24T19:31:28.159-04:002024-03-24T19:31:28.159-04:00Omigosh, Vinz, I am so sorry to take so many month...Omigosh, Vinz, I am so sorry to take so many months to respond. Blogger has been acting goofy lately, and for some reason, no longer notifies me when there are new comments. So I have to go hunting for them. I was responding to some other comments today and just saw yours. I’m so glad you left a follow-up comment. As I mention earlier, I’m always delighted when people chime in with differing opinions. I never ever claim that my opinions are the “definitive“ ones (that would be so silly, wouldn’t it?), and freely admit as well that some of my opinions have changed since I first watched the show. So I’m delighted to have you chime in with the things that you like about Season 12 (I think I’m probably harsher on that season than many), and especially interested to hear that you don’t feel a notable dip in quality between the first half and the second half. And now, re-reading your previous comment, I see that I actually misread your comment about the Mack story-line being funny -- you never said that at all. Man, did I read that sentence wrong. LOL<br /><br />I am truly delighted to hear you express your thoughts here, so feel free to drop by anytime! BTW, I would say my summation of Season 10 pretty much matches yours: all kinds of things to complain about, but the Jill story-line is handled so brilliantly, and the Abby departure done so successfully, you pretty much forget about anything else. :)<br /><br />And FYI, although I always say that I welcome differing opinions, I think if someone chimed in that their favorite episode from the entire run was the Season 13 Christmas episode, I would question their sanity. LOLTommy Kraskerhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/12564935526936828636noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6768495027896028196.post-23513925703249145592023-08-19T15:25:35.757-04:002023-08-19T15:25:35.757-04:00*the way they managed... this time it works :p*the way they managed... this time it works :pVinznoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6768495027896028196.post-91121340186150917462023-08-19T15:24:57.978-04:002023-08-19T15:24:57.978-04:00*they way they managed, sorry*they way they managed, sorryVinznoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6768495027896028196.post-8348995567838913662023-08-19T15:23:33.058-04:002023-08-19T15:23:33.058-04:00Well, having rewatched some episodes with my mothe...Well, having rewatched some episodes with my mother those last few days, I can confirm that I really like this season. Of course, there are dull moments, clumsy (and/or boring) storylines... but overall, I enjoy it. <br /><br />That being said, there's indeed nothing funny about Mack's storyline. I was trying to say that some moments of the seasons were funny, but not the McKenzie's scenes. <br /><br />Anyway, I can understand your review, but I wouldn't (it's only my opinion) be that categorical when it comes to delimit the 12th's year quality. I mean, I didn't feel such a caesura between the first twelve episodes and the rest. My mother, who doesn't bare any moment of boredom, was thrilled about some episodes and stories. <br /><br />Of course, what my mother and I feel about the season is not strictly relevant. But I found it interesting to express my perception, considering it's not in phase with majority's one. <br /><br />Be reassured, though : I hated some of season's 13 episodes. Like this stinky Christmas episode, for instance. I am resilient, but not extraterrestrial :D. <br /><br />Anyway, we approach the end of the series. So far (and I don't think season 14 will change it - but who knows), the 10th year was my favorite. Yes, there was Paula, Sally's friend and all. But I was amazed by the way the managed Jill's story, and the exit of Abby was a masterpiece. So I forgive the rest. <br /><br />Thank your for your reviews. It spoiled me, but hey, not your fault. I just can't resist a clever contextualization. Vinznoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6768495027896028196.post-47751176623045901042023-07-30T19:21:04.939-04:002023-07-30T19:21:04.939-04:00Hi Vinz, thanks for stopping by, and for leaving a...Hi Vinz, thanks for stopping by, and for leaving a comment. You know, typically when I’m harsh on a Knots season, there will be scores of people lining up to defend it, but that really hasn’t happened much with Season 12, as you can see from the comments above. I think some people are even harder on it than I am. LOL So I’m glad it gave you a lot of pleasure. The great thing about a long-running series like Knots is that there’s something for everyone. What’s the expression: one man’s bread is another man’s poison. :)<br /><br />If you make your way back here, I’m curious: what was it about Mack’s story-line that you remember as being funny? I remember it being so solemn, but I suspect there are parts I’m just not remembering.Tommy Kraskerhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/12564935526936828636noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6768495027896028196.post-24059173164806415902023-07-24T08:47:14.993-04:002023-07-24T08:47:14.993-04:00I honestly don't understand this review. I act...I honestly don't understand this review. I actually noticed a weaker phase during two episodes : the 12x14 and 12x15. But after that, it goes back on tracks again, it's funny, entertaining, and thrilling when it comes to Mack's storyline. Well, in my opinion.<br />But I have to thank you : you were so critical that it made me fear the worst, so (apart from the two episodes mentioned above), I may have appreciated it even more :DVinznoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6768495027896028196.post-52815526448379332772021-05-15T12:11:46.312-04:002021-05-15T12:11:46.312-04:00You mention elsewhere that 'Knots' is your...You mention elsewhere that 'Knots' is your favorite series. As you can imagine, it was mine too. I don’t think I’m too critical, I just hold it to very high standards, as I think one should of any piece of pop culture or work of art. (And at its best, 'Knots' was both.) Elsewhere on this blog, I mention that in the old days, you could love a show, and still find fault with it. Nowadays, I fear “fandom” has come to mean complete surrender. So I feel very comfortable criticizing Knots’s failings while still maintaining that it was a spectacular series; obviously I think that, or I wouldn’t have written a couple hundred thousand words on the subject. :)Tommy Kraskerhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/12564935526936828636noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6768495027896028196.post-92083113184459482202021-05-14T16:51:21.023-04:002021-05-14T16:51:21.023-04:00Tommy you are too critical of knots. At its worst ...Tommy you are too critical of knots. At its worst knots was better than the awful falcon crest or the colbys. I hated dallas. I couldn't stand the dallas ewings. Dynasty was okAnonymoushttps://www.blogger.com/profile/13240165233313617805noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6768495027896028196.post-36065362474732515062020-05-21T12:16:09.181-04:002020-05-21T12:16:09.181-04:00I can't tell you how thrilled I am to see you ...I can't tell you how thrilled I am to see you back here commenting, and I apologize for the lag time in responding. Yes, as I think we've discussed elsewhere, if the second half of Season 12 hadn't been so dispiriting, would we all have turned on Season 13 quite so quickly and bitterly? I mean, yes, Season 13 is pretty much 15 ghastly episodes, but it's rarely acknowledged how bad the *previous* season becomes; it beats us down, and then Season 13 sort of runs over our limp bodies with a truck.<br /><br />My opinions on seasons have often changed since I first viewed them -- no *major* shifts, but positive or negative opinions have become stronger. I obviously love Season 3 now, when I had real issues with the stop-and-start story-telling back in 1981-82. Conversely, I rather loathe Season 8 now, whereas in 1986-87, although I knew nothing (other than Abby & Olivia) was truly exciting me, I thought it was "fine." Now the steady stream of misdirects and flashbacks -- and the cold calculation of it all -- makes my blood boil. But Season 12 -- well, it is what it is. I see it now pretty much as I did then. Back in 1990, I knew the first half of the season was moving at breakneck pace -- often, as you note, skipping key character beats to do so -- but I felt like Lechowick, Latham, Stanley and Messina were so engaged (they genuinely seemed to be having a good time) that I was quite content enjoying the ride, and willing to overlook the things that *weren't* working, like that whole Jeff/phone/bomb bit, which still makes no sense to me. And I could tell that things like the Anne-Nick story-line were energizing the writers, so I felt energized myself. <br /><br />But my God: the second half of the season. I remember sitting there week after week wondering when the show was going to go somewhere -- anywhere. At some point, what felt like two dozen episodes in, when Jason was writing his paper on "An American Hero," I felt like bashing my head against a wall. Haven't we hit this plot point, as you say, 200 times already? And as you note, the Val plotline going on and on until it's time to quickly, unsatisfyingly wrap it up for a "very special" 300th episode. Oh, I just hated it, and still do.<br /><br />But it's very interesting what you say about the final three episodes: I remember in 1991 being impressed and encouraged by the final two episodes (which, of course, aired as one). I was amazed that, for a season that seemed to be going nowhere, they actually managed to get some intrigue and tension going. But now I find it harder to generate any real enthusiasm for those final episodes: the "Paige and Linda are both wearing the same outfit" set-up seems almost an admission of how little the writers have been paying attention for a dozen episodes: "We don't have time to create a real mystery or story-line or cliff-hanger, so let's have Paige and Linda wear the same outfit, and Paige can go down for Linda's deceit." So contrived. (It's also more of the "Paige at the mercy of Linda" crap that I hate throughout Season 12. As I'm sure I've made clear here, my loathing of Linda in Season 12 knows no bounds...)Tommy Kraskerhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/12564935526936828636noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6768495027896028196.post-8301775558916240372020-05-19T11:44:58.133-04:002020-05-19T11:44:58.133-04:00Yeah, this is pretty much the season that unfortun...Yeah, this is pretty much the season that unfortunately takes the show off the rails. Even from the premiere, the break-neck speed in some of the storytelling, combined with some abrupt turns (Danny is now religious, and they never bother to explain his motivation / Jeff suddenly comes on to Karen, then promptly tries to kill her with some confusing to follow car-phone bomb) show that the writers are leaning more heavily into the twists and reveals, no matter the sacrifice in storytelling and character to get them there. At least in the beginning of Season 11, they tried to motivate the characters and their relationships in the Val / Danny / Gary / Amanda story, coloring with shades of grey (at least, up until the rape). Here, they take any remaining heart out of the show, and it turns fully superficial.<br /><br />Like Season 11, the show falters badly in the middle part of the season from an even worse fault, the lack of plot or character (aka. lack of effort). The stories in this period do not have nearly enough plot to fill the episode order. While we do get some nice heartwarming Jason scenes at first, we then get about 200 of them over the next 10 episodes. And, even worse is the treatment of the Val storyline, and they way they just decided it was over just in time for episode 300, is a conclusion so embarrassing and lazy it blows my mind how it ever made it to air.<br /><br />I actually enjoyed the final three episodes, and appreciate some of the heart that goes back into the show with Val / Gary, Jason / Julie, Frank / Mack and the cul-de-sac feel, in addition to the injection of the videotape plot, but probably by this point I was desperate for anything, having sat through a solid 10 episodes of nothingness.TV Reviewshttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14888621849312053080noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6768495027896028196.post-19152312495780773942018-07-09T13:20:09.442-04:002018-07-09T13:20:09.442-04:00I speak more about Diana in the comments section f...I speak more about Diana in the comments section for my Season 4 essay, and I suspect I'll talk about her a lot when I get to writing up Season 5. For me, she kept threatening to become a plot-driven character. I love her in Season 3 when Karen is falling apart, and she has to become the adult. She is so appealing, and Claudia Lonow does wonderful, warm, subtle work that season. But then in Season 4, her story grows plot-driven for me, as she falls in love with Chip, and dislikes Mack at first sight. That said, I find Lonow wonderful in Season 5, and as noted, I'm sure I'll write more about her when I pen that essay.<br /><br />You'll find me hard-pressed to be too critical of Ann Marcus. (There are elements I don't like in her seasons, and I note them, but by and large, I am a fan.) I don't believe the series would have lasted without her guiding hand in Season 3, and I don't believe we'd all be looking back so fondly on the series without her saving it in Season 13. In her autobiography, she notes that the script she and Lisa Seidman wrote for Back to the Cul-de-Sac was thrown out, but contractually, they were due a writers' credit. So I don't know how much of what's there was hers. I had very mixed feelings about Back to the Cul-de-Sac, and might write about it someday.Tommy Kraskerhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/12564935526936828636noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6768495027896028196.post-51361487719774938692018-05-18T23:21:23.065-04:002018-05-18T23:21:23.065-04:00Omigosh, how lovely would that have been: Ann Marc...Omigosh, how lovely would that have been: Ann Marcus coming back for Season 12? If Van Ark had had a couple good story-lines, which Marcus no doubt would have provided her, she might well have rethought her plans to leave the series.<br /><br />Stacy Galina is so charming as introduced as Mary Frances -- always smiling with both sets of teeth, with a very offbeat fashion sense. I cut it from my essay, but there's a great scene early on when Sumner is in his hospital bed, and Kate is sitting cross-legged at the foot of it, reading to him, and in his weakened, highly medicated state, he keeps seeing her turn into Mary Frances. And Stacy Galina is careful to change the tenor of her voice when she slips into Mary Frances: less breathy, more piercing. She really nails the difference between the two characters. And then, the minute she loses the wig, she starts getting written as Mary Frances, lambasting her uncle, "You closed the mill. You sold off the assets without any regard for the people who lived there" -- and doing this impassioned speech about the importance of putting people before profits. You sit there thinking, "Um, isn't she a tennis player?" She doesn't really get that bubbly quality back till Vanessa shows up.<br /><br />The Paige-Kate friendship does start here, early in Season 12, and it's lovely. It's one of the best things that happens to Paige early in Season 12. Then it's pretty much back-burned in the second half of the season, and as I recall, doesn't really become focal again till Season 14. Tommy Kraskerhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/12564935526936828636noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6768495027896028196.post-8238852995140243842018-05-18T22:41:34.463-04:002018-05-18T22:41:34.463-04:00After season 11... Latham and co should have been ...After season 11... Latham and co should have been pink slipped.. and Jacobs should have tried to entice Ann Marcus to come back since she wrote Val so well.<br /><br />I had forgotten about Kate with the red wig.. and that she was more whimsical then militant. I don't recall if Kate/Paige were friends at this point.. or if that friendship developed in season 13/14.JCJCJC79https://www.blogger.com/profile/15905367504732048954noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6768495027896028196.post-255730631629787062018-05-17T15:58:38.146-04:002018-05-17T15:58:38.146-04:00Mack is quite fascinating in his first couple of s...Mack is quite fascinating in his first couple of seasons, particularly season 5...and you see a certain gruffness return when he's acting out to the Mary Robeson storyline in season 14. I would actually argue that the intensity between him and Michele Lee that season is even better than how it was at the end of season 5.<br /><br />But anyways, I do find it interesting when those like different seasons more. I know our friend Brett of Knots Blogging used to be a passionate fan of seasons 8-12 but now his rewatch is proving otherwise. <br /><br />My feelings on the show have changed a lot. I used to say that once Donna Mills left that they show never recovered but now I realize the show found moments of goodness in early season 12 and it rebounded quite strongly in season 14. <br /><br />L&L are certainly very controversial figures. They start off solid with a freelance episode in season 6 that includes a shout out to Sid (even a visit to his grave) and then give us solid episodes in season 7 before near ruining the show on their watch in season 8. It's almost remarkable that they even salvage it in season 9 despite their mishaps with Mexico and the dullness of Abby/Charles and the rather hasty ending to the Peter murder. Season 10, as you said, is a fascinating mix of greatness and WTF moments with a mostly weak finale. Season 11 is another borderline train wreck with a decent ending that shows promise going into 12 with strong confidence. Their patterns are fascinating in be grand scheme.Anthony Hostnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6768495027896028196.post-74265410568460566752018-05-17T13:29:14.735-04:002018-05-17T13:29:14.735-04:00You're not the only one who's moved by Mac...You're not the only one who's moved by Mack holding out his hand to Jason at the end of the Christmas montage -- gets to me every time. You know, when I talked to Richard Gollance, he loved the fact that Mack wasn't just a good guy – that there was very much an anti-hero streak in him. The way he endangers Karen and his friends to get what he wants in Season 5 is really the essence of his character. That's so lost late in the Lechowick and Latham era, and really lost in the Jason story. I'm not sure that that story could've been salvaged, given L&L's propensity for social issue preachiness, but it didn't have to be so black-and-white. What if Jason's father was actually a decent guy, but with business pressures that he took out on Jason, and Mack decided he knew best what Jason actually needed? What if there were actually some grays to that storyline? What if Karen thought Mack was wrong for getting involved, but Mack was so focused on his own abuse that he transferred those feelings onto the Lochner home, taking more drastic measures than he actually needed to? But that, of course, makes it a more complicated piece of psychological drama, and what L&L wanted was a social issues story with clear-cut heroes and villains. <br /><br />Like you, I do see the glory years of Knots as being Seasons 3 though 6. Nothing's ever going to change my mind about that. (I know lots of folks I quite respect who totally disagree.) And the later seasons I like best are the ones that respect and emulate that formula: Season 9 and Season 14. And I do like Season 10, because I see L&L emulating that formula, but adding their own touches to it, redefining it in a way that was more appealing to them. But I just don't think they were able to sustain that plan. They seemed to get bored so easily and so quickly, and although some feel that it was their constant soft-rebooting of the series that kept it fresh, I think it's mostly what kept it uneven.Tommy Kraskerhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/12564935526936828636noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6768495027896028196.post-42285460171181731962018-05-17T13:26:50.452-04:002018-05-17T13:26:50.452-04:00I always love your insights into the show, and the...I always love your insights into the show, and the way you phrase things. You have a gift for seeing patterns of character behavior (I tend to see patterns of writer behavior, although you certainly see those as well) -- for example, noting all the ways that Valene acted crazy starting with her "going on a mad spree with a gun" in Season 8 and "shrieking like a banshee over Gary trying to get custody of the twins" in Season 9. It is all so true, and I hadn't quite realized that pretty much right from the start of their tenure on the show, Lechowick and Latham redefine Val as someone much less in control and more prone to hysteria than we'd seen before. I always thought the damage began later in their run, but the seeds are sown early on. And yes, you are very right: Ted Shackelford doesn't get his due; I don't really give it to him here, for being so good and so valiant, all those years. I remember once on the Knots Forum (this must be a decade ago), we were talking about the end of Season 12 into the first 15 episodes of Season 13, and how most of the characters ultimately become unrecognizable. (I describe a little of that here – how Val becomes the village idiot, and Karen the voice of the people. It falls to Ann Marcus to restore them all.) We discussed how the only character who never really goes away -- who remains a consistent, recognizable character throughout -- is Gary. And that's got to be in great part due to Shackelford. And admittedly, the writers don't decimate his character late in Season 12 and early in Season 13 the way they do almost everyone else, but still, he is remarkably consistent.<br /><br />Jayson Crady (who comments here often) and I have had many discussions here about the idiocy of getting rid of Olivia and Harold, considering how useful they could've been. Putting Olivia at the Sumner Group always seemed like a logical move to me; her rivalry with Paige was already established. And it would've been so interesting, had Harold remained at Mack's office, and Olivia gone to work for Sumner, to see what kind of impact that had on the couple when Mack and Sumner got into it. Would their loyalties have been divided? It's the kind of thing I talk about with Paige and Michael that, unfathomably, never got explored: what if they had a dispute at work; would Mack and Karen each side with their own child? What might the repercussions have been? That's obviously a very simplistic example, and it would have had to be way more interesting than that, but still: that kind of self-generating, character-driven story-line wasn't what Lechowick and Latham enjoyed.Tommy Kraskerhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/12564935526936828636noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6768495027896028196.post-18174967784580160212018-05-17T07:04:25.467-04:002018-05-17T07:04:25.467-04:00Mack loves to be The Saint...but he isn't like...Mack loves to be The Saint...but he isn't like Saint Sid, this is a Saint that loves to yell and act overly passionate. I'm not sure what is worse: the boring vanilla demeanor of Sid or the mighty brashness of Mack. I do much prefer Mack but i prefer the Mack born out of Peter Dunne and Diana Gould and Richard Gollance, not the Mack that began to creep in with David Paulsen and became bombastic under L&L. So what is Mack tackling? Abuse. The basis of the storyline is obviously important and tragic and a worthy storyline to tackle...it's just a shame that it becomes overbearing and predictable: rebel boy with bad temper meets sweet neighborhood girl and there is concern but obviously there is something more...the fact his father beats him. It's a storyline that has moments of good (Mack approaching him in a Santa suit saying he doesn't have to go home comes off as surprisingly sweet but maybe being the Christmas queer that I am, I am just too gushy during that moment), but in the end, it's yet another example of taking on a social issue and the audience getting educated. <br /><br />And oh yes, Claudia and Kate. I never really warmed to Kate and I don't really get into Claudia until season 14, but as additions, they add a certain intrigue. You could argue that Claudia is almost a retcon but I guess Greg wouldn't be one to talk about family much.<br /><br />I think season 12 benefits greatly being sandwiched between 11 and 13. It fed off the promises hinted at the end of the former and the bulk of it looks better when compared to the first two thirds of the latter...even if its own ending was nearly as dreadful. It's not as good as any of the golden years seasons (3-6) but it certainly has an entertainment value and even a certain creative spark early on that puts it over seasons 8, 11, 13, and honestly perhaps even 1 and 2. Anthony Hostnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6768495027896028196.post-7828983685068527932018-05-17T07:03:43.197-04:002018-05-17T07:03:43.197-04:00I would say that describing season 12 as an adrena...I would say that describing season 12 as an adrenaline rush that quickly wears off is apt and favorable.<br /><br />After having an 11th season that gave us everything from stale corporate intrigue, post office key suspense, death, and rape galore; it was definitely a surprise when the season ended with some promise (despite "meh" cliffhangers and then killing off Lynne Moody because all she wanted was a chance to be able to act).<br /><br />Season 12 starts off successful as we are able to get rid of Danny and in a very satisfying way: him dying while Julie just watches him. It's the stuff all revenge seekers dream of...but the less said about "What If?" the better...it was so gimmicky and typical...though still better than most of season 11. <br /><br />We also have Anne and Nick, which may be my favorite storyline of the season. As a fan of the frothy sparkling fun that those zany romantic comedies provided from 30s/40s Hollywood, I absolutely loved this charming dynamic and it's a shame that it isn't sustained as the season goes on. <br /><br />When it comes to season 12 though, I can't go any further without discussing Val. It's true that after watching season 11 that you can't expect that they would ever sink her lower than that. (In that season, it got to the point where I was actually ready and gleeful to see Danny go crazy on her; her obtuseness and superiority made me wish Jill had succeeded in season 9). <br /><br />After years of watching Val go on a mad spree for a gun, shrieking like a banshee over Gary trying to get custody of the twins, acting like the victim to the "Poor Val" chorus, and then being duped into marrying a rapist, we now get to watch Joan Van Ark become inhuman: a garish, ghastly, and brash cartoon of herself....herself is an overstatement. <br /><br />What is remarkable about this storyline is how much JVA commits to it despite the fact she knows how stupid it is and also remarkable is Ted Shackelford. As somewhat of an unsung hero, Shackelford has always been a dependable force on this series and watching him put up with Val's lunacy in this storyline is extremely admirable. <br /><br />I still firmly stand by the belief that after Jill dies in season 10 that Gary and Val should've began dating again and then after several months of this, consider getting remarried and have that big finale of season 11 or a way to begin season 12. They could easily just remove Danny and Amanda from the proceedings. It wouldn't shock me of Latham and Lechowick just wanted to hold off on getting them married until the very last minute as a "Look! We are giving you this present before we go off create this other show that will actually be better written than our writing on Knots ever was!". <br /><br />Your hatred of Linda is interesting and while I don't love the character, I never hated her the way you do. It must be said that she is certainly another Paige in that the writers love her way too much and she is yet another plot device to make Michael look stupid. Michael is such a sweet and kind character but it gets harder to like him when he keeps getting these girls that take advantage of him or just suck the life out of him (Paige, the one played by Kristy Swanson, Ellen, and then Linda). <br /><br />I think it would've been more interesting if they had actually developed Olivia and Harold and incorporated them into The Sumner Group. Their presence certainly was missed after they appeared in all but five minutes of season 11.<br />Anthony Hostnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6768495027896028196.post-32709581269659016142018-05-16T18:00:39.689-04:002018-05-16T18:00:39.689-04:00I thought Claudia lonow did good work in season 4....I thought Claudia lonow did good work in season 4. sadly she was a total mess in season 5 physically and professionally with the horrible material she was given. It was very apparent she had drug issues during this time which she has confirmed, although not specific to this exact time period. I loved the Diana and Karen fights and these are some of my favorite scenes in the whole series. If the lechowicks had been running the series early on it never would have survived. I rewatched the entire series last year and have a much greater appreciation for seasons one thru three. I forgot how much I enjoyed the Richard laura dynamic and how much I enjoyed the laura scenes with Richard compared to her scenes with greg. John pleshette was the most underrated actor on knots landing. They got rid of him because he wasn't handsome but he should have returned later on in the series in some capacity. we all agree Julie harris should have been brought back in some capacity. <br /><br />scottAnonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6768495027896028196.post-84591048675246657582018-05-16T17:37:22.999-04:002018-05-16T17:37:22.999-04:00If you've read my other Knots essays, you'...If you've read my other Knots essays, you'll know I'm not a big Lechowick and Latham fan. I'm can be quite critical when I discuss their work, and I suspect that, in the last few years, I've only begun to temper my language because I've met so many people here (whose opinions I greatly respect) who quite love them and their house style. For me, when they're good, I find them very good; when they're bad, I think they're awful -- and as I note here and elsewhere, I never find that they're able to sustain a "good" period for more than 20 or so episodes at a time. My favorite of all their seasons will always be Season 9, the one time they truly tried to adhere to the Knots formula of character-driven, relatable story-lines. <br /><br />I can't fault the Jason story-line for the reason you state: because Jason seemed so much stronger than his father. I think the very point of abuse is that it's about power, and many children who grow up in abusive households, in fear of their parents, remain terrified and traumatized long after they've reached adulthood. I just feel the story is heavy-handed and overlong -- like most of the second half of Season 12 -- hitting the same beats over and over. <br /><br />And yes, the finale was horrid. I didn't devote a lot of time to it, because by that point, I thought I'd said everything about the season that I had to say. But I had forgotten that it did well in the ratings. As always, though, if you put two episodes together and bill them as a "two-hour special," you're always going to get a boost in the ratings. And I have long maintained, as you suggest, that the real downhill spiral doesn't begin at the start of Season 13, but midway through Season 12 -- and if Lechowick and Latham hadn't left the show in such dire straits, we might not have grown so disillusioned quite so quickly in Season 13. But we were coming off a deadly half-season; we couldn't take much more.<br /><br />By the way, I'm delighted you stopped by, and you'll discover I always try to respond to posts -- but I do ask that folks try not to comment as "Anonymous." If we get a discussion going, and another person chimes in as "Anonymous," it gets very confusing, very fast! So if you choose to respond to this, or decide to comment elsewhere as well, do consider at least giving me a first name. It's always nice to know whom I'm "speaking" with.Tommy Kraskerhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/12564935526936828636noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6768495027896028196.post-55664439108624437752018-05-16T14:46:52.842-04:002018-05-16T14:46:52.842-04:00Lechowick and Latham did a horrible job writing fo...Lechowick and Latham did a horrible job writing for Karen's three adult children. We had watched them grow up and they all became afterthoughts. They should have brought Diana back much sooner. David Jacobs said the viewers hated Diana but I loved the character in seasons one to three before the writers destroyed her when they introduced chip. Steve's death should have been incorporated into the show although by this time new writers were in charge. Knots Landing became the Meg show and it became so tedious. Ann Marcus is credited for saving season thirteen but she cowrote the reunion and they went back to the meg ole standby and the renunion numbers were bad finishing 23 on night one and 51 on night two.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6768495027896028196.post-80045153678731261262018-05-16T14:30:38.042-04:002018-05-16T14:30:38.042-04:00Lechowick and Latham were disastrous for Knots Lan...Lechowick and Latham were disastrous for Knots Landing! They get credit for keeping the show on the air, but they're judged in the context of the last few years of dallas, dynasty and falcon crest. Season 12 was a horror show, although the first few episodes of the season were excellent. David Jacobs never had a hit post Knots. If he had spent more time working on Knots Landing from 1986-1993 the ratings would and quality of the show would have been a lot better. More often than not Bernie and Lynn turned Knots landing into murder she wrote and I blame david Jacobs for handing over the show to these two<br />I thought the child abuse storyline was the worst in the history of the show. Thomas Wilson brown was strong and well built. It was so implausible to believe that he was being abused by a slob of a man whom Thomas Wilson brown looked so much stronger than. <br /><br />Everyone hates season 13 but I think season 12 is the series' worst. Most episodes in season 11 finished in the 20s. But by season 12 many airings were finishing in the high 30s to mid 40s. The finale I believe finished at a very good number 10, but it was so horrible many fans just didn't bother returning. The poor quality of the finale probably played a role in the fact that cbs only ordered 22 episodes the following year.<br />Anonymousnoreply@blogger.com