Biggest Drop in Quality

[Monzo]

Throughout its run Knots Landing was relatively stable writing-wise, but was there a season where you thought the show was suddenly noticeably weaker than before? When was the biggest drop in quality?

 

[anndra w]

Thinking back to when I watched Knots Landing for the first time on UK Gold 2000 -2201 I guess it's season 13. Season 13 gets the most criticism but I felt like it pulled itself back on-track towards the end. Season 14 was good and it had a strong finale but something didn't feel right without Valene. I can remember watching and enjoying the later seasons of Knots Landing but at the same time I missed the earlier seasons when it was really at it's peak. Watching the later seasons was made easier because you cared so much about the characters you'd know for so long - but with characters like Kate and Claudia I just didn't care as much. The thing with Knots Landing was that some seasons were just perfect television but even those that weren't as good were still good because the characters were strong and the acting was good, as was the writing.

 

[Julia's Gun]

Season 8 - Knots started looking like Falcon Crest at that time - cheap, trashy with tacked on cliffhangers at the end of an episode. Gone were the complex, character driven multi-story arcs that cleverly linked most of the cast. Instead we had silly Jean Hackney, Ben's character destroyed, the first one-dimemsional bitchy version of Anne trying to steal Mack, and wonderful actresses like Constance and Julie Harris being marginalised.
Karen's kidnapping was desperate, the only things I remember liking is Donna chopping through the bathroom door to confront Olivia, and I quite enjoyed Val and Lili-Mae escaping out the back door of the grocery store to avoid Jean Hackney.
The rest was pants, except for the cliffhanger - which should have been Olivia accidentally pushing Peter and killing him, and then abby realizing it wasn't deliberate AFTER she had buried Peter under the cement. No need for Paige being retrospectively involved.

 

[Willie Oleson]

5 votes for season 13? I thought it was pretty good especially the first part with Tidal Wave and dangerous Brian.
Should Gary's new project have spiralled out of control and cause a Seaview Circle tsunami which would have been the most catastrophic disaster cliffhanger in the history of prime time soap? A missed opportunity because Ewings are supposed to ruin lives.
Pierce was kinda bland as the psycho-stalker-du-jour, but Alex and Claudia were very enjoyable.

And what made season 13 even better is that it didn't look like season 12 anymore. And what made season 12 even worse is that it followed the brilliant season 11.
Overall, I did not have many problems with the stories of season 12 but I was downright aghast to see the revamp of Folly & Frivolity which also didn't work for Falcon Crest (so why did they think it would work for Knots Landing?).
Danny was great in season 11 but I didn't need to see a drawn-out conclusion in season 12, Mack was at his most Macxtreme and Valene copies 8 years of Dynasty's Krystle Carrington (horse accident -> brain disease -> strange behaviour).
Some decline is to be expected after so many episodes but I was totally unprepared for sitcom scammers Nick & Anne. Or the stupid thought bubbles.

 

[Seaviewer]

Season 7. After the recovery of the twins and Val's marriage to Ben is when it started to lose its focus. After that it stopped being a single story and became a succession of individual albeit overlapping ones.

 

[captainarcher]

after the biggest cliffhanger of the show ,

Season 7. After the recovery of the twins and Val's marriage to Ben is when it started to lose its focus. After that it stopped being a single story and became a succession of individual albeit overlapping ones.

yes same for me, I started losing interest even I kept watching KL. when I re watch the seasons I stop after the end season 6.

 

[Jimmy Todd]

Seasons 4-6 were the best imho and season 13 was KL at its nadir. However, there have been many good points made by others here. Seasons 7 and 8 had some great moments but there was a dip in quality, particularly Jean Hackney and Karen's kidnapping, which felt very contrived.
Kl always remained watchable even at its "worst," unlike the other prime time soaps, and one of the reasons for that is seasons 1-3. They're for most part great, but they're not my favorite to rewatch. However, they set a very solid base for developing the charactersand their various nuances that I grew to understand and care about them. This carried through the rest of the show's run. Exciting seasons such as 4-6 were even more intriguing because of all that was developed in 1-3, and popr seasons such as 13 were saved from being unwatchable because of the early years.

 

[tommie]

It's an interesting question since I don't think Knots had that big infamous "drop off the cliff" drop that the other prime time soaps had - when I watched it in the last go-around I thought it happened around season 12; mostly because it felt like the show was repeating itself. Danny, as an example, just came off as a retread of Jill, but this time Gary's the victim. In that sense I could see why they decided to take season 13 in a different direction (but I guess too different for the core audience).

I'll cast my vote when I'm done with my rewatch.

 

[Jimmy Todd]

In season 13 they did some things differently that not always worked, or worked as well as they could have, but I always appreciated when KL tried to be different. For example, the Anne and Benny story I can't say I loved, and I was glad when he was gone, but I didn't hate it it when it started. It was an interesting situation for Anne.

 

[TaranofPrydain]

Definitely 13. Season 12 was filled with a lot of satisfying character work, and was a very fine season, and then it felt like it all imploded with the new writers. Thankfully, the farewell season was excellent.

 

[ClassyCo]

I'd say the biggest letdown was the follow-up to Val getting the twins back and the start of Season 7. Seasons 4 thru 6 are really the peak of the show. I might even throw Season 3 in there, too.

Season 7 was pretty drab overall as I recall, but I think they got it back on track, especially for specific storylines, such as Olivia's drug addiction and Laura's exit.

"Noises Everywhere" is a beautiful two-parter, and I can't watch it without thinking of the cast cozying up at David Jacobs' house for the weekend and the writers watching them interacting in character concerning Laura's death.

Season 9 did drag in spots, though, but Seasons 10 and 11 were very strong, I'd say.

Seasons 12 thru 14 just seem to have changed the atmosphere so much to me. I've heard others compare those final three seasons to daytime soaps, and they're not wrong in drawing that comparison. The writing slacks the most for Season 13, and even though Season 14 "fixed" a lot, it still seems quite fractured with Val gone and the absence of so many major characters for several episodes.

 

[Monzo]

In the poll, season 13 is far ahead, and critics were also disappointed with that season, as this article from Soap Opera Digest proves:

 

[Laura Avery-Sumner]

Season 8 was so plodding. All that story around Peter and Jill just did nothing for me.

 

[ClassyCo]

In the poll, season 13 is far ahead, and critics were also disappointed with that season, as this article from Soap Opera Digest proves:

View attachment 59581

The end of Season 12 and the start of Season 13 offer a jarring transition. The change in tone was drastic.

Season 8 was so plodding. All that story around Peter and Jill just did nothing for me.

I do have memories of Season 8 being a bit of a slog.

 

[Laura Avery-Sumner]

I do have memories of Season 8 being a bit of a slog.

There was just way too much "conversation" about Peter. I loved Sylvia but nothing else in the plot really mattered.

 

[Snarky Oracle!]

Season 7. After the recovery of the twins and Val's marriage to Ben is when it started to lose its focus. After that it stopped being a single story and became a succession of individual albeit overlapping ones.

Season 7 was pretty drab overall as I recall, but I think they got it back on track, especially for specific storylines, such as Olivia's drug addiction and Laura's exit.

I can't disagree with this. As big a defender of Paulsen as I am, Season 7 was a bit of a downer. How much the politics behind the camera (the married writer couple who resented his entry into the show) affected the work is an open question. But I, too, got a little bored by it, the tone shifting.

I had no major problem with Seasons 8 through 10, but Season 13 got into real trouble.

 

[Stillwitty]

Season 8 was so plodding. All that story around Peter and Jill just did nothing for me.

I loved 8 and all the Jill/Peter/Abby/Gary/Olivia maneuvering...

 

[Daniel Avery]

I liked how the show seemed to get "lighter" in S8---as in more outdoor scenes in sunshine. They seemed to choose lighter images for the opening titles sequence, also. The s7 titles and scenes in general felt as if they were too set-bound and darkened. It felt like someone reminded them the show was set in sunny SoCal and they needed to reflect it.

 

[Soaplover]

Season 11 was a chore to get through because the show no longer had Abby in it, they didn't want to reunite Gary/Val so they came up with Danny, Pat Williams is killed off, and the Karen stalking story sort of saved it because she's such a know it all that you know a viewer would want to punish her.

 

[ClassyCo]

Season 11 was a chore to get through because the show no longer had Abby in it, they didn't want to reunite Gary/Val so they came up with Danny, Pat Williams is killed off, and the Karen stalking story sort of saved it because she's such a know it all that you know a viewer would want to punish her.

Being the first Abby-less season -- well, since the first season anyway -- I honestly remember thinking Season 11 had some highlights. While the plot with Val, Gary, Danny, and Amanda is totally unbelievable, I went with it and, for the most part, enjoyed it. Danny is a jerk, sure, but I like that he brought some tension to the show, and that his death sparked a new whodunit-type setup.

I had no major problem with Seasons 8 through 10, but Season 13 got into real trouble.

Agreed. I don't recollect having any significant issues with Seasons 8 through 10, but the drastic shift going into Season 13 was jarring, and killing off Linda was a mistake.