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Message: <blockquote data-quote="James from London" data-source="post: 249795" data-attributes="member: 22">Denials  (KNOTS, 06 Feb 92) v Designing Women (DALLAS, 01 Feb 91)An early ‘90s Ewing-verse double bill.With both series so long in the tooth by this point, much of the drama is necessarily generated by newcomers poking the regulars with a stick. These take the form of familiar archetypes: the handsome opportunist (Alex Barth’s scruffy insouciance a ‘90s slacker variation on Chip Roberts’ and Peter Hollister’s steely ‘80s ambition), the short-skirted gold digger (while Vanessa Hunt All-About-Eves her way into the role of Anne’s assistant on KNOTS, DALLAS ends with JR learning that Michelle Stevens is the new owner of Ewing Oil) and the hate-filled, vengeful obsessive (where KNOTS has Pierce Lawton stalking Greg with a rifle, DALLAS has Lee Ann De La Vega — she’s meant to be hate-filled and obsessive too, but as played by the terminally perky Barbara Eden, is delightfully unconvincing. “If you want my company, JR, make love to me now, tomorrow and forever!” she trills bizarrely.)Pretty much everyone in this episode of KNOTS is in some way impacted by Val’s decision to write Greg’s biography — even Frank is handling her publishing contract (an unlikely detail, perhaps, but a satisfyingly knotty one). Karen, Mack and Gary all have misgivings, to say the least, about this new venture, but put up a supportive, if slightly condescending, front. The underlying tension results in the Sad Laura Music recurring throughout the ep, which in hindsight seems to foreshadow Val’s imminent (temporary) demise. The highlight of the ep is Val and Greg’s “cigar smoke” scene — it’s their first proper conversation of the series and the chemistry between them is palpable. At this point, the storyline feels like it could run and run.Karen and Paige have an interesting dynamic — never adversaries, but never quite at ease with each other either. A good example of this is the restaurant scene between Paige, Karen and Mack where there is a perceptible drop in temperature once the subject of Greg is raised. Karen puts her finger on an integral part of his enigma when she says, “Here’s a man who knows what decency is and yet he turns his back on it.” There’s an equivalent lunch scene in Designing Women between Vanessa Beaumont and son James where the inevitable topic of conversation is DALLAS’s resident bad boy, JR. He and Vanessa are engaged at this point and she wants to know if she can to expect him to remain faithful once they're wed. James isn’t optimistic: “JR can’t help cheating any more than a shark can help killing.”Lee Ann sets a Holly Harwood/Kimberly Cryder-style honey trap for Vanessa to walk into, which she gracefully sidesteps, choosing instead to give JR the most romantic of elbows: “Perhaps we were only meant to be together for brief moments … I’m afraid if we did marry, our candle would never last the night.”And the winner is ... DenialsBONUS BEATS:[MEDIA=youtube]DlVzDZBoOkw[/MEDIA]</blockquote>

Verification: What month follows July?