How do you interpret the number of seasons?

[Angela Channing]

Dallas - In UK - was the mini season (Episodes 1-5)

Then ran for 13 seasons - so JR shot at end of S2, Bobby S6, dream season S8, Bobby returned S9 and was never called anything else until WB came along and made you think you were getting 2 whole seasons when in fact you were getting mini and S1 on DVD

All the 1980s Dallas books go by this numbering inc Laura Van Wormer and even a more recent 25 years of Dallas by Barbara Curran does alsoView attachment 58343

Barbara Fan, do you remember when Dallas was first broadcast here, was the first season broadcast immediately after the mini series so viewers saw them collectively as one season? That is my recollection but I was very young so it might be a false memory.

I always think of Dallas as having 13 seasons, with the pilot mini series being part of season 1.The revival series, I consider to be a separate show, so I don’t include it.

 

[Mel O'Drama]

Was this only used for the first episode

to be continued with the uglier one that was also used for season 2?

The thinner one was used for Season One, but - tying in with your Dynasty comments - the Knots pilot episode had the title and credits in white font.

Also, Ted and Joan got new shots post-pilot, and all the actors' credits were displayed differently in the pilot. Instead of in the cutout outline of the cul-de-sac, they were in a cutout of their characters' property line. This made it look a little more "jumpy" but I still liked it.

was the first season broadcast immediately after the mini series so viewers saw them collectively as one season? That is my recollection but I was very young so it might be a false memory.

IMDb suggests you're right. The British dates it gives are 26 September for Barbecue and 3 October 1978 for Reunion Part I, which are consecutive Tuesdays.

 

[Taylor Bennett Jr.]

Yes. But to me even the actual Pilot of Knots (that first episode) feels somewhat separated from the rest of the season, what with the different opening titles and details such as the newly turfed lawns and Gary's changing haircut giving it a different tone.

I have a foggy notion that I once read that the Knots pilot was filmed a while (weeks? months?) before the rest of season 1. Does that ring a bell or am I making it up?

 

[James from London]

I have a foggy notion that I once read that the Knots pilot was filmed a while (weeks? months?) before the rest of season 1. Does that ring a bell or am I making it up?

Yeah, I think you're right. I recall JvA saying she was very excited when they were filming the pilot and Michele Lee telling her not to get her hopes up as, in her experience, most pilots don't go to series.

 

[Mel O'Drama]

I have a foggy notion that I once read that the Knots pilot was filmed a while (weeks? months?) before the rest of season 1.

I recall JvA saying she was very excited when they were filming the pilot and Michele Lee telling her not to get her hopes up as, in her experience, most pilots don't go to series.

Oh, interesting.

Weirdly, I've thought often about how it can be seen that the Knots pilot was filmed some time before the Dallas episode which - in terms of story - took place right before it. But I've thought a lot less about the different between the pilot and the next episode of Knots.

I suppose this is because Gary having a haircut between two episodes can be easily explained, while his hair growing so much in the hours or days between marrying Val and moving to California is more difficult to explain in my head canon (unless it was a very early clue that the two series really took place in different timelines).

 

[Toni]

In Spain "Barbecue" and "Reunion, Part 1" were also aired on consecutive weeks. Then it went on until "Election". There was the US boom of "Who Shot JR?" and they changed the network for the main one, and re-started up until "A House Divided". This one was the very last episode aired in Spain nationwide (only local airings for the subsequent seasons, a few years later).

About the "Knots Landing" Pilot, in my mind it will always be the "Dallas" episode "Return Engagement", which was a pseudo-remake of "Reunion" but with Shackelford instead of Ackroyd.

 

[Seaviewer]

Weirdly, I've thought often about how it can be seen that the Knots pilot was filmed some time before the Dallas episode which - in terms of story - took place right before it. But I've thought a lot less about the different between the pilot and the next episode of Knots.

I think by its very nature, a pilot is filmed some time before the rest of the episodes. It's a tryout. The notion that it was filmed before "Return Engagement" is interesting - but not surprising when you think about it. That episode would never had been made if the spin-off had not already been approved.

 

[Mel O'Drama]

I think by its very nature, a pilot is filmed some time before the rest of the episodes. It's a tryout.

Yes, and that's a key reason why the differences between the first two Knots episodes feel fine. It's pretty much expected with such series.

It gets a bit more noticeable for me with it being a pilot for a spinoff. The Knots pilot was filmed some time before the Return Engagement episode of Dallas which is set chronologically before it. None of which really bothers me. It just highlights the way these things are done and makes it a little more visible, which is quite fascinating.

I don't know if The Colbys even filmed a pilot episode. It feels more like the series was greenlit based on the success of the parent series. I suppose CBS was more cautious.