Editing Knots Landing (section)

==Behind the scenes==
''Knots Landing'' was created by [[David Jacobs (writer)|David Jacobs]], whose original concept was a show based on "family issues and examining relationships at the middle class level".<ref name="Dallas: The Complete Story">''Dallas: The Complete Story of the World's Favorite Prime-Time Soap'', pp. 4–5</ref> [[CBS]] initially turned down this idea, as they wanted something more "glitzy" to put on the air, with wealthier characters, which would become ''[[Dallas (TV series)|Dallas]]''.<ref name="Dallas: The Complete Story"/> Once that show became a success after the initial run as a five-episode miniseries, the producers decided to expand the roles of certain characters. They introduced [[Lucy Ewing]]'s ([[Charlene Tilton]]) parents, who had not been shown on-screen until that point,<ref name="Dallas: The Complete Story p-28">''Dallas: The Complete Story of the World's Favorite Prime-Time Soap'', pp. 28</ref> in the two-part episode "[[Dallas (1978 TV series) (season 2)#Episodes|The Reunion]]". After the success of ''Dallas'', Jacobs presented his initial idea again and created ''Knots Landing'', with some alterations of his original script.<ref name="Dallas: The Complete Story"/> In an interview, Jacobs explained: " Well, that's pretty good, but you know-and then he pulled out the pages that we'd left for them a few years ago on ''Knots Landing'', or a year before on ''Knots'', and he said, 'Is there any way we can make this a spin-off?' I just took one of the couples and made it, you know, Val and Gary who had already been created on the parent series and putting them into the mix, but when you have four couples and you change one, you sort of have to change the dynamic all the way around. However, once I wrote the script, remarkably little changed from the script and the pilot as you would see it."<ref name= "DJI">{{cite web|url= http://www.knotslanding.net/interviews/davidjacobs.htm |title= Exclusive Interview: In conversation with series creator David Jacbos|work= Knots Landing.net (The Official Knots Landing Website) |date= 19 February 2023|publisher= [[CBS]]}}</ref>

Gary Ewing was originally played by [[David Ackroyd]] on ''Dallas'', but Ackroyd was unable to sign on for ''Knots Landing'', and Ted Shackelford assumed the role.<ref name="Dallas: The Complete Story p.49">''Dallas: The Complete Story of the World's Favorite Prime-Time Soap'', pp. 49</ref> Joan Van Ark continued to play Val Ewing for the spin-off. Initially, it was presumed that Tilton would also be joining ''Knots Landing'' (and have Lucy move in with her parents to the Seaview Circle cul-de-sac), but the network decided to keep her on ''Dallas'' in order to keep the two shows separate. She did, however, make a guest appearance in the first-season episode "Home is for Healing".<ref name="Dallas: The Complete Story p.61">''Dallas: The Complete Story of the World's Favorite Prime-Time Soap'', pp. 61</ref>

The actors on ''Knots Landing'' had more input than actors on other 1980s primetime soaps. In 1987, the writers wanted Mack (Kevin Dobson) to have an extramarital affair with Anne (Michelle Phillips). Michele Lee, who played Mack's wife Karen, protested this to Jacobs, saying, "There has to be one stable couple on the show."<ref name="knotslandingonline.com">{{cite web|url=http://www.knotslandingonline.com/joan_van_ark_interview.html |title=knotslandingonline.com |first=Mary |last=Lopez |access-date=27 February 2015 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120818090416/http://www.knotslandingonline.com/Joan_Van_Ark_interview.html |archive-date=18 August 2012 }}</ref> The extramarital affair storyline was nixed, and Michelle Phillips, who had been signed to a contract, was written out for a couple of seasons before returning in 1990. When she did return, Anne did not pursue Mack. William Devane, who played Greg Sumner, re-wrote most of his character's dialogue, to the point where, in co-star Michele Lee's words, "most people (on set) were (probably) frightened of him".<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.knotslandingonline.com/Michele_Lee_interview.html |title=knotslandingonline.com |first=Mary |last=Lopez |access-date=27 February 2015 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120818090426/http://www.knotslandingonline.com/michele_lee_interview.html |archive-date=18 August 2012 }}</ref> The Gary/Val/Abby triangle that provided story throughout the mid-1980s was suggested by Ted Shackelford and Joan Van Ark in 1980, and the producers hesitated for a year and a half before going through with it in 1982.<ref name="knotslandingonline.com"/> The famous 1984 storyline where Valene's babies got kidnapped was originally envisioned as one of scheming Abby's plots. Donna Mills, who played Abby, acknowledged that her character was evil but did not think she was ''that'' evil. Fearing the audience would never forgive her character for kidnapping another woman's babies, she asked the writers to make the kidnappings a result of Abby's actions, but only by accident, and the writers complied. [[Bruce Campbell]], who appeared in a 1987 episode, would later marvel at "the ''speed'' and clinical precision" of the production as opposed to the low-budget films and television series he had acted in up until this point. In particular, he wrote that Michele Lee "ran the set like a drill seargent and laid out all the [[Blocking (stage)|blocking]]."{{citation needed|date=February 2021}}

The writing team of [[Bernard Lechowick]] and [[Lynn Marie Latham]] (the [[head writer]]s from 1986 to 1991) was controversial among both fans and actors. Their humor-imbued style of writing made them the favorites of Michele Lee, while John Pleshette felt they were "awful people." Pleshette, however, was not a regular cast member during their tenure (only making a guest appearance in 1987), and harbored resentment because the writing team, who had been represented by his wife, moved to a different agency.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.knotslandingonline.com/john_pleshette_interview.html |title=knotslandingonline.com |first=Mary |last=Lopez |access-date=27 February 2015 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120818090440/http://www.knotslandingonline.com/john_pleshette_interview.html |archive-date=18 August 2012 }}</ref> Joan van Ark, whose character was struck by a brain illness in season 12 and proceeded to thereafter go crazy, felt that Latham and Lechowick had turned her character into the "village idiot." Joan Van Ark's and Donna Mills' favorite ''Knots Landing'' writer was Peter Dunne,<ref name="knotslandingonline.com"/> who was responsible for making ''Knots Landing'' a top ten show in 1984.

In 1987, CBS demanded that production costs be cut. This meant the firing of two regulars, Constance McCashin and Julie Harris. Season 13 saw a large ratings drop for the show after writer/producers Bernard Lechowick and Lynn Marie Latham left to create ''[[Homefront (American TV series)|Homefront]]'' and creator David Jacobs had a health crisis and pulled back his involvement in production. Jacobs has publicly stated that the way he knew the show was in trouble was when waitresses at his favorite diner, whom he had heard gossiping about ''Knots Landing'' every Friday during past seasons, suddenly stopped discussing the show in late 1991. He attempted to save face by shutting down production on November 20, 1991,<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.knotslandingonline.com/ted_shackelford_interview.html |title=knotslandingonline.com |first=Mary |last=Lopez |access-date=27 February 2015 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120818090456/http://www.knotslandingonline.com/ted_shackelford_interview.html |archive-date=18 August 2012 }}</ref> firing head writer [[John Romano (writer)|John Romano]], and replacing him with [[Ann Marcus]]. Cost cutting again plagued the series in its final season, when only 19 episodes were produced, and (with the exception of Michele Lee) regular cast members did not appear in every episode. Not wanting to compromise what he felt had been a good run, series creator David Jacobs described its end as a "mutual decision" between ''Knots Landing''{{'s}} producers and the CBS Network, saying, "We don't know if they would have picked us up anyway...but even if they had, we would have had to pare away more to survive."

The series' signature cul-de-sac, Seaview Circle, was actually Crystalaire Place in [[Granada Hills, Los Angeles|Granada Hills]], California, a suburban street in Los Angeles' [[San Fernando Valley]] about 20 miles north of the Pacific Ocean. The opening credits during the first two seasons were edited in such a way to make it appear that the cul-de-sac was closer to the beach. The aerial shots as seen in the opening and end credits from 1981 to 1987, were filmed at [[Palos Verdes Estates]], an affluent coastal area of Los Angeles.