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Dallas (1978 TV series)

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This article is about the original 19781991 television series. For the
sequel, see Dallas (2012 TV series).
Dallas is a long-running American prime time television soap
opera that aired from April 2, 1978, to May 3, 1991, on CBS. The series
revolves around a wealthy and feuding Texan family, the Ewings, who own
the independent oil company Ewing Oil and the cattle-ranching land
of Southfork. The series originally focused on the marriage of Bobby
Ewing and Pamela Barnes, whose families were sworn enemies with each
other. As the series progressed, oil tycoon J.R. Ewing grew to be the show's
main character, whose schemes and dirty business became the show's
trademark.[1] When the show ended in May 1991, J.R. was the only
character to have appeared in every episode.
The show was famous for its cliffhangers, including the Who shot
J.R.? mystery. The 1980 episode Who Done It remains the second highest
rated prime-time telecast ever.[2] The show also featured a "Dream
Season", in which the entirety of the ninth season was revealed to have
been a dream of Pam Ewing's. After 14 seasons, the series
finale "Conundrum" aired in 1991.
The show had a relatively ensemble cast. Larry Hagman stars as
greedy, scheming oil tycoon J.R. Ewing, stage/screen actressBarbara Bel
Geddes as family matriarch Miss Ellie and movie Western actor Jim
Davis as Ewing patriarch Jock, his last role before his death in 1981. The

series won four Emmy Awards, including a 1980 Outstanding Lead Actress
in a Drama Series win for Bel Geddes.
With its 357 episodes, Dallas remains one of the longest lasting fullhour primetime dramas in American TV history, behind Bonanza(430
episodes), Law & Order (456 episodes), and Gunsmoke (635 episodes). In
2007 Dallas was included in TIME magazine's list of "100 Best TV Shows of
All-TIME".[3]
Dallas also spawned the spin-off series Knots Landing in 1979 which
also lasted 14 seasons. In 2010, TNT announced it had ordered a new,
updated continuation of Dallas.[4] The revival series, continuing the story
of the Ewing family, premiered on TNT on June 13, 2012.
Original premise[edit]
In 1978, MGM released the film Comes a Horseman, starring James
Caan, Jane Fonda, and Jason Robards, who played the character Jacob
Ewing. One of Jacob Ewing's ranch hands is played by Jim Davis, who also
is playing Jock Ewing in Dallas, a part he received after the film was
finished. Part of the plot in Comes a Horseman is the attempted take over
of cattle ranches by oilinterest groups, and how they fail to do so.
Dallas debuted on April 2, 1978, as a five-part miniseries on the CBS
network. Producers initially had no plans for expansion; however, due to
the show's popularity, it was subsequently turned into a regular series and
broadcast for 13 full seasons, from September 23, 1978, to May 3, 1991.
The first five episodes, originally considered a miniseries, are now referred
to as season one[5]leaving fourteen seasons in total.

The show is known for its portrayal of wealth, sex, intrigue, and
power struggles. Throughout the series, the main premise is the longtime
rivalry between the Ewings and the Barneses which came to head when
the Barnes daughter, Pamela (Victoria Principal) eloped with a Ewing
son, Bobby (Patrick Duffy) in the first episode.
The back story was that, back in the 1930s, wildcatter John Ross
"Jock" Ewing, Sr.(Jim Davis) had allegedly cheated his one-time
partner, Willard "Digger" Barnes(David Wayne and later Keenan Wynn),
out of his share of their company Ewing Oil, and married Digger's only
love, Eleanor "Miss Ellie" Southworth (Barbara Bel Geddes). Ellie's family
werein contrast to Jockranchers, with great love for the land and the
cattle. Following the marriage of Ellie and Jock, the Southworth family
ranch, Southfork, became the Ewings' home, where Jock and Miss Ellie
raised three sons: J.R. (Larry Hagman), Gary (Ted Shackelford) and Bobby.
J.R., the eldest Ewing son, unscrupulous and unhappily married to a
former Miss Texas, Sue Ellen Shepard (Linda Gray), was frequently at odds
with his youngest brother, Bobby, who had the morals and integrity that
J.R. lacked. Middle son Gary was Ellie's favorite as he displayed
Southworth traits; however, Gary had been in conflict with both Jock and
J.R. since childhood and was dismissed as a weak link. While still young,
Gary had married waitress Valene Clements (guest star Joan Van Ark), who
produced the first heir, the petite and saucy Lucy (Charlene Tilton). Years
prior to the series beginning, J.R. had driven Gary and Valene off
Southfork, leaving Lucy to be raised by her grandparents.

During the first episodes of the series, the teenaged Lucy is seen
sleeping with ranch foreman Ray Krebbs (Steve Kanaly). Later, in season
four, Ray would be revealed as a half-sibling, an illegitimate Ewing son
through an extramarital affair Jock had during World War II. Unhappy with
his small, one-dimensional role, Kanaly had considered leaving the show;
to add depth to the Ray character, Hagman suggested that the writers
create a plot wherein Ray becomes half-brother to J.R., Gary, and Bobby,
noting his resemblance to Davis. The episodes where Ray and niece Lucy
had a fling is, as Kanaly told Dinah Shore in an appearance on her show,
"prayerfully forgotten, I hope".
Ray had previously engaged in a short fling with Pamela Barnes, the
daughter (or rather, as it revealed in season three, stepdaughter) of
Digger Barnes. However, Pam fell deeply in love with Bobby, and the pilot
episode begins with the two of them arriving at Southfork Ranch as
newlyweds, shocking the entire family. J.R., who loathed the Barnes family,
was not happy with Pam's living at Southfork, and constantly tried to
undermine her marriage to Bobby. Meanwhile, Pam's brother Cliff (Ken
Kercheval), who had inherited Digger's hatred towards the Ewings, shared
J.R.'s objections to the marriage, and continued his father's quest to get
revenge.
Most of the seasons ended with ratings-grabbing cliffhangers,[6] the
most notable being the season three finale "A House Divided", which
launched the landmark "Who shot J.R.?" storyline and was ranked #69
on TV Guide's list of "TV's Top 100 Episodes of All Time".[7] Other season
finale cliffhangers include the finding of an unidentified floating female

corpse in the Southfork swimming pool (season four); a blazing house fire
(season six); and Bobby's death (season eight) and subsequent return
(season nine).
Cast and characters[edit]
Main articles: List of Dallas characters and List of Dallas (1978) cast
members
See also: Ewing family and Barnes family
Main cast[edit]
For the original five-episodes miniseries season one six actors
received the star billing: Barbara Bel Geddes as Ewing matriarch Miss Ellie
Ewing, whose family was the original owners of Southfork; Jim Davis as
her husband Jock Ewing, the founder of Ewing Oil and head of the Ewing
family; Patrick Duffy as their youngest son, heartthrob Bobby
Ewing; Victoria Principal as Pamela Barnes Ewing, the daughter of the
rivaling Barnes family, whom Bobby brings home as his wife in the pilot
episode; Larry Hagman as J. R. Ewing, the oldest son, who strongly objects
to his new sister-in-law; and Charlene Tilton as Lucy Ewing, Bobby's and
J.R.'s saucy teenage niece, whose parents had been driven off the ranch
by J.R.
Not receiving top billing during the miniseries, although appearing in
the majority of the episodes wereLinda Gray as J.R.'s long-suffering,
alcoholic wife Sue Ellen Ewing; Steve Kanaly as ranch hand Ray Krebbs,
Pam's ex, who eventually turned out to be Jock's illegitimate son; and Ken
Kercheval as Pam's brother Cliff Barnes, J.R.'s archrival. Gray and Kanaly

were promoted to the regular cast as of the first episode of the fall of
1978, and Kercheval a year later.
Further on in the series, several new characters were added, as the
original actors departed the series:
For season five, after guest starring since the second season, Susan
Howard joined the main cast asDonna Culver Krebbs, politician and widow
of a former Texas governor, who becomes Ray's first wife and mother to
his daughter Margaret.
Season eight saw the addition of musical actor Howard Keel as
wealthy, and sometimes hot-tempered rancher Clayton Farlow, Miss Ellie's
husband following Jock's death, to the star cast after having appeared on
the show since season 3, and Priscilla Presley as Bobby's teenage
sweetheart Jenna Wade, who gives birth to Bobby's only biological child,
Lucas, and eventually becomes Ray's second wife. Keel had recurred on
the show since the fourth season, and Presley since season seven (the
character of Jenna had however been played by Morgan Fairchild for
a season two episode, and Francine Tacker for two episodes in season
three). Temporarily replacing Barbara Bel Geddes in the role as Miss
Ellie, Donna Reed also joined the main cast during the eighth season, until
Bel Geddes returned in the following year.
Dack Rambo, portraying wandering cousin Jack Ewing, was
promoted to regular status for season ten, after having appeared as a
guest star since the end of the eighth season. He was, however, written
out of the show midway through the tenth season. Jack's ex-wife April
Stevens Ewing, played by Sheree J. Wilson, first appeared as a guest star

during seasons ten and eleven, before being promoted to a main


character for season twelve. Originally a scheming character, April
eventually became Bobby's second wife, after his divorce from Pam.
The thirteenth season saw several additions to the main
cast: Academy Award winner George Kennedy as Carter McKay, who buys
Ray's ranch after Ray and Jenna move to Switzerland, and eventually
becomes the head of Ewing Oil rival WestStar; Cathy Podewell as the
young, nave, Cally Harper, who becomes J.R.'s second wife; Sasha
Mitchell as J.R.'s illegitimate, first born, son, James Beaumont; Kimberly
Foster as April's devious sister Michelle Stevens, who marries both James
and Cliff Barnes; and finally Lesley-Anne Down as PR woman Stephanie
Rogers. While Kennedy and Podewell had appeared as guest stars
throughout the twelfth season, Mitchell, Foster and Down's characters
were all new to the series when they joined the regular cast.
Finally, for the fourteenth and final season, after guest starring in
the last episodes of season 13, Barbara Stock joined the cast as Cliff's
fiance Liz Adams.

Supporting cast[edit]
During its fourteen-year run, Dallas saw several actors appearing in
supporting roles. Among the most notable are Mary Crosby (seasons 34
and 14) as Sue Ellen's scheming sister Kristin Shepard (also portrayed
by Colleen Camp for two season 2 episodes), who has an affair with J.R.
and is revealed to be the one who shot J.R. in the "Who shot J. R.?"

storyline; Jared Martin (seasons 36, 89, and 14) as Sue Ellen's cowboy
lover, and Clayton's foster son, Steven "Dusty" Farlow; Leigh
McCloskey (seasons 45, 8 and 12) as medical student Mitch Cooper,
Lucy's husband; Audrey Landers (seasons 48 and 1213) as Mitch's
sister Afton Cooper, an aspiring singer and Cliff's longtime fiance; stage
actress Priscilla Pointer (seasons 46) as Rebecca Barnes Wentworth,
Pam's and Cliff's estranged mother;Morgan Brittany (seasons 58 and 11)
as Rebecca's daughter, Katherine Wentworth, Cliff's and Pam's crazy halfsister who falls madly in love with Bobby; John Beck (seasons 67 and 9)
as Mark Graison, Pam's beau after her first divorce from Bobby; William
Smithers(seasons 313) as Rival Oil Baron and CEO of WestStar Oil,
Jeremy Wendell; Miss USA winner Deborah Shelton (seasons 810) as
model Mandy Winger, longtime mistress of J.R.; Jenilee Harrison (seasons
810) as Jack's sister and Cliff's wife Jamie Ewing Barnes; and Andrew
Stevens (seasons 1112) as Casey Denault, a young hustler who works for
J.R., romancing Lucy in order to get to her money.
Long-time child characters include J.R.'s and Sue Ellen's son John
Ross Ewing III (portrayed for seasons 46 by Tyler Banks, and for seasons
714 by Omri Katz); Bobby's and Pam's adopted son Christopher
Ewing (portrayed by Eric Farlow for seasons 68, and byJoshua Harris for
seasons 914), and Jenna's daughter Charlotte "Charlie" Wade (Shalane
McCall, seasons 711, also played as a toddler by Laurie Lynn Myers for
a season 2 episode).
Among the most frequently appearing business associates of the
Ewing family are oil cartel members Jordan Lee (Don Starr, seasons 214),

Marilee Stone (Fern Fitzgerald, seasons 213) and Andy Bradley (Paul
Sorensen, seasons 210); Jock's good friend Marvin "Punk" Anderson
(Morgan Woodward, seasons 411); Shady investment banker Vaughn
Leland (Dennis Patrick seasons 36) and original WestStar Oil frontman
Jeremy Wendell (William Smithers, seasons 45, 812). Other long-time
Ewing acquaintances include Dallas PD detective Harry McSween, serving
as J.R.'s source within police force (James Brown, seasons 212); family
attorney Harv Smithfield (George O. Petrie, seasons 314); and Donna's
stepson, U.S. Senator Dave Culver (Tom Fuccello, seasons 36, 8, 1011
and 1314).
Also appearing in many episodes are several background
characters, including Bobby's secretaries Connie Brasher (portrayed by
Donna Bullock in season 1, Ann Ford and Nancy Bleier in season 2,
and Jeanna Michaels in season 24) and Phyllis Wapner (Deborah Tranelli,
seasons 414); J.R.'s secretaries Louella Caraway Lee (Meg Gallagher,
seasons 24) and Sly Lovegren (Deborah Rennard, seasons 514); Cliff's
secretary Jackie Dugan (Sherill Lynn Rettino, seasons 25 and 714);
Ewing Oil receptionist Kendall Chapman (Danone Simpson, seasons 614);
Southfork maid Teresa (Roseanna Christiansen, seasons 614); and Oil
Baron's Club staff Dora Mae (Pat Colbert, seasons 714), Cassie (Anne C.
Lucas, seasons 510) and Debbie (Deborah Marie Taylor, seasons 1114).
Main cast departures[edit]
By the end of the series, only three of the series' original characters
(J.R., Bobby, and Cliff) were left in Dallas, the others having either died or
left town.

Jock Ewing was the first main character to depart the series, as he
died offscreen in a mysterious plane-accident in South-America, early
in season five. Actor Jim Davis had died mid-season in 1981, but remained
credited throughout season four.
Bobby Ewing's death in the season eight finale, alongside his
subsequent absence during the following season, was explained away at
the beginning of season ten as a dream ofPamela Barnes Ewing, thus
effectively erasing everything that had happened during season nine.
Actor Patrick Duffy had left the series to pursue other opportunities, but
due to declining ratings, he was convinced to return to the series by
production company Lorimar as well as series star Larry Hagman.[8]
Jack Ewing left Dallas to continue his travels and get away from J.R.,
midway through season ten, and returned a final time for two episodes
towards the end of the season. While there has been no official reason
why actor Dack Rambo was written out of the series, Rambo himself later
stated the reasons to be his sexual orientation and/or conflicts with Larry
Hagman.[9][10] Hagman has since denied any involvement in Rambo's
dismissal.[11]
Pamela Barnes Ewing was severely injured in a car accident in
the tenth season finale, and left Bobby and Christopher due to her
apparent inability to let them see her in such a physically disfigured
fashion. Nevertheless, while Victoria Principal never returned again to the
series, Margaret Michaels, a Principal look-alike, played the character in
a season 12episode. Having undergone plastic surgery which explained
the difference in her appearance, it was revealed that Pam was dying of a

disease, though only she and her doctor knew. After this, Pam is never
seen in Dallas again. It was Principal's own decision to not renew
her Dallas contract[12][13]
Donna Culver Krebbs and Ray Krebbs divorced at the end of season
ten, and the former moved to Washington, D.C. where she married
Senator Andrew Dowling (guest star Jim McMullan), with whom she raised
Ray's daughter Margaret. A year later Ray sold his ranch to Carter McKay
and left Dallas with his new wife Jenna Wade and Jenna's children Charlie
and Lucas (the latter fathered by Bobby), bound for Switzerland. Ray
returned for five episodes in the beginning of the 12th season.
While Priscilla Presley opted to leave the show to spend more time with
her family, including her, at the time, 1-year old son,[14] and Susan
Howard decided to leave due to creative differences with the writers, as
well as her disapproval of the firing of longtime executive producer Philip
Capice in 1986,[13][15] Steve Kanaly was let go due to budget cuts.[14]
Lucy Ewing, who had left with husband Mitch at the end of the
eighth season, returned to Southfork in the final episodes of season
eleven, only to leave again two years later, heading for Europe. At both
times, the let go of actress Charlene Tilton was a decision made by the
creative team, which had difficulties creating story lines for her.[11]
Sue Ellen Ewing left in the season twelve finale, to move
to London with her new husband, film director Don Lockwood (guest
star Ian McShane). While actress Linda Gray was let go by the same
budget costs that ended Steve Kanaly's run on the show,[11] Sue Ellen's
exit has since been described by Gray as a mutual decision by her

and Leonard Katzman, agreeing that the character "had come more than
full circle".[16]
Stephanie Rogers was let go as Cliff's PR representative at the end
of season 13 and subsequently left Dallas, making actress Lesley-Anne
Down the most short-lived member of the regular cast, lasting only 13
episodes.
Barbara Bel Geddes' health had caused her to miss half of the
seventh season, and after the season finale, she left the series entirely,
with the role of Miss Ellie recast with Donna Reed for season eight.[17] Bel
Geddes opted to return the following year in a high-profile public relations
debacle that left Reed infuriated and in litigation with the series
producers, who made her a $1 million out-of-court settlement.[18] Miss Ellie
remained on the show until season thirteen when she and Clayton left
Dallas, traveling and eventually settling in Europe, near Ray and Jenna.
Following her exit from Dallas, Bel Geddes retired from acting.[19]
When the final, fourteenth season of the series commenced, ten
actors received regular cast status. Although half of them would leave the
show prior to the series finale, all of them remained billed in the series'
opening sequence throughout the year. Clayton Farlow made four
appearances, clearing up business that included deeding Southfork to
Bobby; April Stevens Ewing tragically died early on in the season, while
kidnapped on her honeymoon by the psychotic Hilary Taylor (guest
star Susan Lucci); Cally Harper Ewing left Dallas midway through the
season to build a new life, away from the Ewings, with a new boyfriend,
and her and J.R.'s newborn boy; Liz Adams broke her engagement to Cliff

and left Dallas near the end of the season, and James Beaumont left the
show a couple of episodes prior to the series finale, to start a new life on
the east coast with his newly discovered toddler son Jimmy, and Jimmy's
mother Debra Lynn (guest star Deborah Tucker).
As the series concluded, Carter McKay stayed put at WestStar, as
powerful as ever; Michelle Stevens was left heartbroken and humiliated,
all alone in the ranch she had bought from McKay hoping to live there with
James; Cliff Barnes was once and for all the sole owner of Ewing Oil;
and Bobby Ewing, now owner of Southfork, was finally able to find closure
after April's death. J. R. Ewing, however, having lost both Ewing Oil and
Southfork, as well as being abandoned by his sons, was at the end of his
rope; the series ended with the unanswered question whether or not he
had killed himself.
Production[edit]
See also: Crew of Dallas (1978)
Seasons 18[edit]
Series creator David Jacobs wrote the first and the final episode of
the original five-part miniseries (season 1), with the other three episodes
being written by Arthur Bernard Lewis,Camille Marchetta and Virginia
Aldrige. While Aldrige didn't return to the series again and Marchetta left
during season 4, Lewis grew to be one of Dallas' most influential writers.
Leonard Katzman had been a part of the miniseries as a producer,
and during season two his influence increased, as he was given both
directing and writing responsibilities. Half way through the second season,
Jacobs left the day-to-day duties of the series to focus on the production of

spinoff Knots Landing, leaving Katzman to become the de


factoshowrunner, albeit original executive producers Philip Capice and Lee
Rich kept their positions.
During the first eight seasons of the show, Dallas' production team
remained basically intact (the main exception being Rich's leaving
after season 3): Philip Capice served as executive producer, Leonard
Katzman as producer, Cliff Fenneman as associate producer, and Arthur
Bernard Lewis as executive story editor/supervising producer. And,
although 25 writers contributed with scripts, the trio of Katzman, Lewis
and David Paulsen wrote nearly two-thirds of the episodes during these
first eight seasons. Paulsen had joined the show during the fourth
season and was promoted to story editor for season six. Notably, the three
of them wrote every episode but two during the
shows seventh and eight seasons.
Season 9[edit]
However internal, creative, conflicts between on one hand
executive producer Philip Capice, and on the other hand, Larry Hagman
and the writers, most notably Leonard Katzman, had increased over the
years, finally resulting in Katzman leaving his position as producer of the
show at the end of season 8.[20] Although Katzman was to continue writing
for the show, albeit to limited degree, as "creative consultant", the fact
that neither Lewis nor Paulsen returned for season 9, meant
that Dallas was faced with not only a new production team (joining
executive producer Capice and associate producer Fenneman were James
H. Brown as producer and Peter Dunne as supervising producer) but also

an all new team of writers (headed by Dunne, executive story


consultant Joel J. Feigenbaum, and story editors Hollace
White and Stephanie Garman). To make the change even more noticeable,
the eight season finale had also been actor Patrick Duffy's farewell to the
show, with his character, Bobby, being killed off.
But increased production costs[20] and decreasing ratings[8] caused
production company Lorimar to persuade both Duffy and Katzman to
return. As thus, as season 9 came to a close, Katzman had returned as a
full-time writer, and the season finale saw Patrick Duffy inexplicably
resurface on screen.[21]
Season 10[edit]
So, as of the season 10 premiere, there was yet a major overhaul of
the crew: Leonard Katzman was promoted executive producer, reportedly
under the condition that he would get "total authority" of the show,
[20]

while Capice and most of the season nine staff had left the production.

Alongside Katzman, David Paulsen was brought back as writer and the
show's new producer, while the position as supervising producer was
offered newcomer Calvin Clements, Jr. Cliff Fenneman remained associate
producer. A new set of writers was hired to work alongside the producers,
including Katzman's son Mitchell Wayne Katzman as story editor, Leah
Markus as story consultant, and Louella Lee Caraway. Markus left after
two years, while the others remained until the show's end.
Scriptwise, Patrick Duffy's return was explained by having the
entire ninth season being a dream of Victoria Principal's character Pam,

effectively sweeping away the events occurring during the period which
Katzman involvement with the show had been minimized.
Even the cast was affected by the production. While Larry
Hagman (J.R.) reportedly supported Katzman, and had played a great part
in bringing Duffy back, Susan Howard (Donna), who also had written the
script for one of the season 9 episodes, had sided with Philip Capice, and
was strongly opposed the idea of annulling an entire season. While she
returned to write another episode for season 10, she left the show, both as
a writer and as a cast member, at the end of the season.[15][20]
Seasons 1114[edit]
During the final four years of the show, Leonard Katzman remained
showrunner, with series star Larry Hagman joining him as executive
producer (beginning with season 12) andKen Horton as co-executive
producer (as of season 13).
Supervising producer Calvin Clements, Jr. left the show after the
tenth season, and was replaced for seasons 11 and 12 by the returning
Arthur Bernard Lewis, who remained a writer on the show until its end.
Lewis was thus reuniting with Leonard Katzman and David Paulsen.
Paulsen did however leave Dallas at the end of the 11th season, and was
replaced as the show's producer first by newly recruited writer Howard
Lakin for season 12, and then by longtime associate producer Cliff
Fenneman for the final two years. Laking spent seasons 13 and 14 as
supervising producer.
Mitchell Wayne Katzman was promoted to co-producer as of season
12, while Frank Katzman (the other son of Leonard Katzman) and John

Rettino (Leonard Katzman's son-in-law), served as associate producers


during season 13 and season 14. Additionally, writer Louella Lee Caraway
also served as executive coordinator for the final three seasons.
The final major addition to the staff was Lisa Seidman, who joined
the show as writer and executive story consultant for the final two
seasons, leaving the writing staff of season 13 and 14 to include executive
producer Leonard Katzman, co-executive producer Ken Horton, coproducer Mitchell Wayne Katzman, supervising producer Howard Lakin,
executive coordinator Louella Lee Caraway, executive story consultant
Lisa Seidman, and Arthur Bernard Lewis
Filming locations[edit]
The Pilot Season was shot entirely on location in Dallas, Texas, and
at the Cloyce Box Ranch in Frisco, Texas. Later, most interiors for the show
were shot at the MGM studios in Hollywood, with some exteriors being
shot at the Southfork Ranch in Plano, Texas, and other sections of Dallas.
For seasons 13, rising production costs led to all filming being relocated
to California. Typically the cast and crew would spend six to eight weeks
filming on-location sequences in the Dallas area during the summer prior
to the season, then film the remainder of the season in the Los Angeles
area; less than half of the episodes in a given season had on-location
sequences filmed in Dallas. MGM built a full-size replica of the Southfork
Ranch backyard and pool on one of its soundstages, allowing for filming of
"location" shots during the latter part of the season.
Directors[edit]

Leonard Katzman is the most prominent director on the show,


having directed episodes of every season except
the first, ninth andtwelfth. Next to Katzman, Michael Preece, is responsible
for having directed the most Dallas episodes, having joined the show
during season four and remaining until the end.
Of the two directors attached to the original miniseries, Robert
Day did not return for subsequent seasons, while Irving J. Mooreremained
on the show until the fifth season, and then returned for the final three.
Five of the series stars did also direct episodes: Larry
Hagman (seasons 3-14), Patrick Duffy (seasons 4-8 and 10-14), Linda
Gray (seasons 9-12), Steve Kanaly (seasons 10-12) and Ken
Kercheval (seasons 13-14)
Episodes[edit]
Main article: List of Dallas (1978 TV series) episodes
Ratings[edit]
Dallas originally aired on Saturday nights when it debuted as a
regular series. Within a month, the show was moved to Sunday nights,
where it would stay until halfway through the season, when it took a
Friday-night slot. Dallas remained on Fridays until the show ended in 1991,
alternating between 9 p.m. and 10 p.m. airings.
The "Who Done It" episode of Dallas that revealed who shot J. R.?,
the famous 1980 cliffhanger, received the highest domestic ratings at that
point with over 90 million American viewers tuning in for the answer, a
record broken only by the last episode of M*A*S*H in 1983. The final
episode of The Fugitive, broadcast in August 1967, was watched by a

higher percentage of television-owning Americans (72%), although it had


lesser absolute numbers. Internationally, Dallas still holds the record for
the most-watched episode, with nearly 360 million viewers tuning in to
see who shot J.R.[27]
Series Finale: Conundrum garnered 33 million viewers and a 22
household rating from 9-11pm on May 3, 1991. Its
competition, Manhunter[disambiguation needed] on NBC, drew a 9.8 rating.
Films/Specials[edit]
Date/Title/Network/Household rating/Share/Viewers

11/15/1996 J.R. Returns (1996) CBS 13.4 23 18.1 (9-11pm) (lead


in: The Lion's Pride drew a 6.3 rating)

4/24/1998 War of the Ewings (1998) CBS 7.8 14 (lead in: Candid
Camera drew a 6.8 rating)

11/07/2004 Return to Southfork CBS 8.5 14 12.7 (9:3011:30pm)


Broadcast history[edit]
CBS[edit]

April 230, 1978: Sundays, 10:00 PM (ET/PT)/9:00 PM (CT/MT)

September 23 October 14, 1978: Saturdays, 10:00/9:00 PM

October 15, 1978 January 14, 1979: Sundays, 10:00/9:00 PM

January 26, 1979 November 27, 1981: Fridays, 10:00/9:00 PM

December 4, 1981 March 16, 1990: Fridays, 9:00/8:00 PM

March 30 December 21, 1990: Fridays, 10:00/9:00 PM

January 4 May 3, 1991: Fridays, 9:00/8:00 PM


Syndication[edit]

Beginning in fall 1984, Dallas was packaged for off-network


syndication by Lorimar to local stations; among the stations to purchase
the program initially was the Dallas-Fort WorthABC affiliate, WFAA-TV. Only
the first 222 episodes (seasons 1 through 9) were part of the syndication
package. However, Dallas did not achieve the same type of rating success
in local markets as it did during its CBS primetime run.
During the 1990s, the show aired briefly on TNT (from September
1992 to August 1993, again the first nine seasons only), followed by a run
on TNN beginning in the fall of 1997 (the first network to air all 357
episodes of the original series, but the episodes were heavily edited for
time), and from 2003 to 2008 the entire run aired on SoapNet. On January
1, 2011,CMT aired the show for one day, and prior to the premiere of the
2012 sequel, select episodes were shown on CMT and its website.
Cliffhangers[edit]
Dallas is notable for its cliffhangers. Throughout the series' run,
nearly every season ended with some sort of cliffhanging ending designed
to drive ratings up for the season premiere later in the year.
Pilot Season/Season One cliffhanger: Although this really was
not a cliffhanger, the end of the fifth episode of the
original Dallas miniseries saw J.R. go up to the loft of the barn to talk to
Pam, who had gone up there to find her cousin Jimmy, after Digger had
fallen off the wagon at the Ewing barbecue. J.R., intoxicated, tries to
convince her to tell Bobby not to leave the ranch. However, she does not
want to be bothered, and, in trying to escape J.R., she falls from the loft,
landing square on her stomach. Pam, who is pregnant, miscarries her

unborn child. Later, Sue Ellen questions J.R. as to whether it was really an
accident or did he mean for Pam to fall on purpose. J.R. says, "I did not."
When Sue Ellen asks J.R. if he cares that Pam lost the baby, J.R. does not
answer her, leaving it up to the viewer to decide.
Season Two cliffhanger: Sue Ellen's drinking problem has landed
her in a sanitarium, where she is pregnant with a child she believes is Cliff
Barnes'. She escapes from the sanitarium, gets drunk, and then gets into
a severe car accident, putting her life and the baby's life in danger. The
doctors deliver the baby, named John Ross Ewing III, but he is very small
on delivery and is not out of the woods yet; nor is Sue Ellen, who, as the
episode ends, is clinging to life. A very distraught J.R. is watching his wife
at the end of the episode in tears, saying that she's "just gotta live."
Season Three cliffhanger: To cap off a season where J.R. has
angered nearly everyone in the state of Texas, someone comes into his
office late at night and shoots him twice. This episode sets off the now
infamous "Who shot J. R.?" scenario which has been recreated numerous
times.
Season Four cliffhanger: While heading to a late-night business
meeting with Bobby, Cliff finds a woman's body floating in the Southfork
pool. He jumps into the pool to see who it is, and when he looks back up,
J.R. is standing on the balcony over the pool. Believing J.R. is responsible,
Cliff says to his rival, "She's dead. You bastard."
Season Five cliffhanger: Cliff Barnes' year had not been a good
one. Sue Ellen, with whom he'd had an off-and-on relationship, decided to
return to J.R. and plans to marry him again (which J.R. manipulated solely

so he can benefit from his father's will). In addition, J.R. helped to nearly
drive Cliff's mother's company into bankruptcy, which cost Cliff his job.
Cliff attempts suicide with an overdose of pills, and a guilt-ridden Sue
Ellen rushes to his bedside as Cliff lies in a coma. J.R. tries to convince Sue
Ellen that it was not anybody's fault but Cliff's for what happened, but Sue
Ellen disagrees and says she does not know if she can remarry J.R. if Cliff
dies, thus potentially jeopardising J.R.'s inheritance.
Season Six cliffhanger: A drunk Sue Ellen and Ray Krebbs' cousin
Mickey Trotter are involved in an accident, in a car belonging to J.R., just
outside Southfork. Sue Ellen emerges unhurt, but Mickey is paralyzed and
in a coma. Ray finds out that the driver of the other car was Walt Driscoll,
J.R.'s rival. He also learns that Driscoll deliberately caused the accident,
thinking that J.R. was driving, as a means of revenge for being put in jail
by J.R. earlier in the year. An angered Ray comes to Southfork late at night
demanding answers from J.R., who was not expecting to see him. J.R. asks
him what is going on and Ray says he's going to kill J.R. for what
happened. J.R. throws a candle holder at Ray, which misses him and
knocks over another candle holder with lit candles in it. As the two brawl,
the candles ignite a fire and the smoke starts to creep into both John Ross
and Sue Ellen's bedrooms as they sleep. J.R. notices the fire and tries to
break free of Ray, finally knocking him out with a telephone, and runs
upstairs to try to save his wife and son. Ray recovers and runs after J.R.
but is consumed by smoke and falls. J.R. is hit with a falling beam as he
gets upstairs and both men are unconscious as Southfork burns.

Season Seven cliffhanger: In what appears to be a copy of the


season three cliffhanger, a mysterious figure enters the Ewing Oil building
late one night. Proceeding to J.R.'s office, the figure produces a gun and
fires three shots into the back of J.R.'s chair in which somebody is sitting.
As the victim falls out of the chair and to the ground, we see it is Bobby
Ewing that has been shot.
Season Eight cliffhanger: Bobby, who has been divorced from
Pam for over a year and is now engaged to Jenna Wade, decides that he
wants to remarry his ex-wife instead, and Pam agrees. The next morning,
as Bobby is leaving Pam's house, someone drives a car at high speed
toward Pam. Bobby shoves her out of the way just before she is hit but
cannot get out of the way of the car in time to save himself. Bobby is
rushed to the hospital where he later dies.
Season Nine cliffhanger: Evil businesswoman Angelica Nero
intends to kill J.R. and his cousin Jack for double crossing her, but J.R. has
her apprehended by the police. Unfortunately, Angelica has already had a
bomb attached to Jack's car, which explodes with Jamie inside. After
hearing this on the phone, J.R. runs out of his office to go to Jack's
apartment. As he leaves the office, Sue Ellen arrives in the other elevator
looking for him. As soon as she enters J.R.'s office, another bomb left by
Angelica goes off, and the entire floor that houses Ewing Oil explodes,
showering debris onto the street below. The scene then shifts to Pam in
bed, the day after her marriage to Mark Graison. Pam wakes up to hear
the shower running. Assuming it's Mark, she opens the shower door, only
to find Bobby Ewing, alive and well. (In the Season Ten premiere, Bobby's

death and all of Season Nine would be revealed as a dream that Pam was
having).
Season Ten cliffhanger: The Ewings suffer a devastating loss as
Ewing Oil is closed down by the US State Department as punishment for
J.R.'s shady dealings which caused an international incident. Pam, on her
way home to Bobby from the doctor's office after finding out she can
finally conceive a baby, crashes into a fuel tanker which then explodes.
Season Eleven cliffhanger: J.R. and Sue Ellen's new beau Nicholas
Pearce fight in J.R.'s penthouse hotel suite, and during the course of the
fight Pearce goes over the balcony and falls to his death. Shocked by what
she has just seen and believing that J.R. has killed her lover, Sue Ellen
then picks up a gun from the floor and shoots J.R. three times. She then
picks up the phone and tells the police she would like to report a double
murder.
Season Twelve cliffhanger: Sue Ellen prepares to leave Dallas for
good, but before she does she has one last surprise for her ex-husband
J.R. Sue Ellen has made a biographical motion picture about her marriage
to him (with actors portraying them and the other Ewings) and previews
the film to J.R. who is shocked by what he has just seen. Sue Ellen tells J.R.
that she is leaving Dallas, but if he ever crosses her again in the future
or even if she wakes up on the wrong side of bed one morning she will
release the film and J.R. will be made "the laughing stock of Texas" and
ruined forever. She then leaves Dallas, triumphant at last.
Season Thirteen cliffhanger: After deliberately committing
himself into a sanitarium in order to persuade a patient (Clayton's sister

Jessica) to sign over her voting majority in Weststar Oil, J.R.'s plan
backfires when Cally Harper, his latest scorned woman, and his
illegitimate son James Beaumont coerce him into signing a property
waiver before they will allow him to be released. Once he does, James
tears up J.R.'s release papers anyway leaving him trapped in the
sanitarium with no means of escape.
Season Fourteen cliffhanger: After finally losing Ewing Oil to Cliff
Barnes, control of Southfork to Bobby, and being abandoned by his wife
and children, a drunk and despondent J.R. begins walking around the
ranch alone with a loaded gun wishing he had never been born. A gunshot
is later fired in J.R.'s bedroom as Bobby returns to Southfork, and he
rushes up to J.R.'s room and gasps, saying "Oh, my God!" as the series
ends.
Spinoffs, sequels and adaptions[edit]
Knots Landing[edit]
Main article: Knots Landing
Prior to Dallas' premiere, series creator David Jacobs originated the
idea for a drama series about four married couples in different stages of
marriage, inspired by Ingmar Bergman'sScenes from a Marriage. However,
CBS wanted a glitzy "saga-like" show, resulting in Jacobs creating Dallas.
[28]

When the series proved to be a hit, CBS reconsidered Jacobs' original

idea, which evolved into Dallas spin-off series Knots Landing, premiering
during the mother series' third season, in late 1979.
Knots Landing followed the lives of Lucy's parents, Gary (Ted
Shackelford) and Valene (Joan Van Ark), as they move to California to start

a new life. During the first seasons, severalDallas actors (Larry


Hagman, Patrick Duffy, Charlene Tilton, Mary Crosby and Eric Farlow)
made guest appearance in the new series, portraying
their Dallas characters, and Shackelford and Van Ark continued to make
occasional appearances in Dallas.
The ongoing bond between the two series was eventually cut in
1986, as the Dallas' tenth season premiere declared Bobby's death the
previous year, a dream. Bobby's death had had major influence on
the Knots Landing storylines as well (including the naming of Gary's
newborn son "Bobby" in honor of his deceased uncle, and causing Gary's
relapse into alcoholism). Unlike the Dallas producers, the Knots
Landing writers were not ready to reset their series, resulting in the two
series drifting apart, never to intervene with each other again.
Shackelford and Van Ark did however reprise their roles for
the Dallas series finale, which showed what would have happened to their
characters if J.R. had never existed.
Films and reunions[edit]
A prequel story, Dallas: The Early Years, was a made-for-TV movie
that first aired on March 23, 1986 on CBS during the ninth season of the
TV series. The movie starred David Grant as Digger Barnes, Dale
Midkiff as Jock Ewing, Molly Hagan as Miss Ellie Southworth Ewing, David
Wilson as Jason Ewing, and Hoyt Axton as Aaron Southworth, and was
introduced by Larry Hagman, in the role of J.R. Ewing. Detailing the origins
of the Barnes-Ewing feud and the creation of Ewing Oil, and covering a

timespan from 1933 to 1951, the movie was written by series


creator David Jacobs.
There were also two made-for-TV reunion movies that aired
on CBS several years after the series ended: Dallas: J.R. Returns (1996),
which resolved the series finale cliffhanger; and the 20th anniversary
movie Dallas: War of the Ewings (1998). Alongside returning series stars
(Patrick Duffy, Larry Hagman, Linda Gray, George Kennedy, Ken
Kercheval and Steve Kanaly), and recurring cast (Omri Katz, Audrey
Landers, Deborah Rennard and George O. Petrie), the two telefilms also
introduced new characters most notably up-and-coming lawyer Anita
Smithfield, played by Tracy Scoggins. The younger characters Christopher
Ewing, and Cliff and Afton's daughter Pamela Rebecca were recast
with Chris Demetral and Deborah Kellner taking on the roles.
On November 7, 2004, CBS aired a prime-time special enitled Dallas
Reunion: The Return to Southfork, in which the stars reminisced about
their work on the series (by coincidence, actor Howard Keel, who
played Clayton Farlow, had died earlier that same day).
Revival series[edit]
Main article: Dallas (2012 TV series)
In 2010, cable network TNT announced they had ordered a pilot for
the continuation of the Dallas series. After viewing the completed pilot
episode, TNT proceeded to order a full season of 10 episodes.
The new series premiered on June 13, 2012, centering primarily
around John Ross and Christopher Ewing, the now-grown sons of J.R. and
Bobby. Larry Hagman, Patrick Duffy and Linda Gray returned in full-time

capacity, reprising their original roles. The series is produced by Warner


Horizon Television, a subsidiary of Warner Bros., which holds the rights to
the Dallas franchise through its acquisition of Lorimar Television and is a
sister company to TNT, both under the ownership of Time Warner.
The new series is a continuation of the old series, with the story
continuing after a 20-year break. It does not take the events of the TV
movies Dallas: J.R. Returns or Dallas: War of the Ewings as canon. Instead
we find the characters as they are today, 20 years after the events of the
Season 14 cliffhanger.[29] In an interview with UltimateDallas.com, Cynthia
Cidre was asked to describe the new Dallas. She responded, "I tried to be
really, really respectful of the original Dallas because it was really clear to
me that the people who love Dallas are [like] Trekkies, really committed to
that show and I really did not understand that before, so I never wanted to
violate anything that had happened in the past. On the other hand that
was the past, twenty years had gone by, so at the same time I think we're
properly balanced between the characters of Bobby Ewing, J.R. and Sue
Ellen. I also have the new cast and it's John Ross and Christopher, the
children of Bobby and J.R., and their love interests. Total respect and a
balance of old and new."[30]
Books and other media[edit]
During the series' heyday, several magazines, books and
merchandise were produced.
In 1980 a novel entitled "Dallas", based on the original five-episode
miniseries, written by Lee Raintree, was published by Dell Publishing. It
was later followed by another three novels, adapting the subsequent

seasons: "The Ewings of Dallas", "The Men of Dallas" and "The Women of
Dallas", all written by Burt Hirschfeld. Also, in 1985, "Dallas: The Complete
Ewing Family Saga" written by Laura Van Wormer, was published, detailing
the Dallas characters, the Ewing family, and the origin of the Southfork
ranch.
In 2004 and 2005, 2 documentary novels written by Barbara A.
Curran named "25 Years of Dallas: The Complete Story of the World's
Favorite Prime Time Soap" and "Dallas: The Complete Story of the World's
Favorite Prime-Time Soap" were released, published by Cumberland House
Publishing. Both of the novels contains extensive research and interviews
from most of original cast. The latter book contains a foreword by Victoria
Principal and an Introduction by David Jacobs.
In 1984 Datasoft released the video game Dallas Quest, and during
the 1980s the LA Times Syndicate produced a Dallas comic strip for
newspapers, written by Jim Lawrence. Illustrating the strip were Ron
Harris, Thomas Warkentin, Padraic Shigetani, Deryl Skelton, and others.
Legacy[edit]
Main article: Dallas (TV series) in popular culture
Dallas and the Cold War[edit]
Dallas is alleged to have helped partially hasten the downfall of
the Eastern Bloc country of Romania during the final years of the Cold
War.
Romanian President Nicolae Ceauescu allowed airings of Dallas,
one of the few Western shows allowed to be aired in the Communist state
during the 1980s. The belief that the show would be seen as anti-

capitalistic backfired on the regime as Romanian citizens desired and


sought the luxurious lifestyle seen in the show, compared to the despotic
situation in Romania at the time. Shortly after the execution of Ceauescu
and his wife on Christmas Day 1989, the pilot episode of Dallas, which had
been edited for a sex scene, was one of the first Western Shows aired on
the newly liberated Romanian TV.[31]
Other[edit]
In 2007, British comedian Justin Lee Collins went searching for all
the stars of Dallas to bring them together for a special reunion party. The
show was broadcast at 9 p.m. Sunday, May 27, 2007, on UK television
network Channel 4 as part of the Bring Back... series.
After hunting down most of the main cast by any means necessary
(e.g., climbing over security fences and ambushing hotels), Collins
interviewed them and gained more knowledge about some of the
decisions made throughout the show's seasons.
The participants amongst the cast were Larry Hagman, Linda Gray,
Patrick Duffy, Ken Kercheval, Charlene Tilton, Susan Howard and Mary
Crosby.
He held his own Oil Baron's Ball, where none of the main cast turned
up. However, the actor who played baby Christopher (Eric Farlow)
attended. Charlene Tilton spoke in an interview in 2011 about the
program, which she said was one of her and the cast's worst experiences
ever.[citation needed]
On November 8, 2008, a reunion to commemorate the show's 30th
anniversary was held at Southfork Ranch in Parker, Texas, reuniting

original cast members Larry Hagman,Patrick Duffy, Linda Gray, Ken


Kercheval, Steve Kanaly and Charlene Tilton. Other cast members in
attendance were Susan Howard, Audrey Landers, Mary Crosby and Sheree
J. Wilson.
The front and back lawn of the fictional Ewing family home played
host to a massive barbecue filled with people from the Dallas area, across
the U.S. and around the world (who paid as much as $1,000) to reminisce
and celebrate the series, as well as meeting with cast members.
During the festivities, Kercheval said he was shocked to see the
continued support for the show 17 years after it last aired. "I don't
understand it," he said. "The staying power. Who knew?"
Linda Gray also fondly remembered her time on the show: "I think it
was a special time. It was a time when there weren't a hundred million
channels and the Internet and all of the other things that came to
existence."[citation needed]
In March 2011, the Texas Theatre in Dallas began showing two
episodes of Dallas on the big screen every Sunday; over 100 patrons,
some in costume of their favorite characters, appeared at the free
screenings every week.
However, the screenings came to an abrupt end in May 2011 after
Warner Bros. issued a cease-and-desist against the Texas Theatre for
unauthorised showings, citing the fact that those that were involved in the
show's production were not getting paid or benefiting from these
screenings.[32]

J.R. Ewing's hat, a foremost symbol of the show's inherent


"Americanness" that contributed to its hold over audiences on a global
scale, is currently held in the Smithsonian'sNational Museum of American
History's collections.[22]
In a popular Forbidden Broadway parody, an actress playing Mary
Martin sings the song "Never Never Panned" to the tune of "Never Never
Land" from the musical Peter Pan. One of the lines sung is "you too can be
a star, like my son who plays J.R. on Dallas! We're never never
panned!"[citation needed]
The series is mentioned in the lyrics of Swedish pop band ABBA's
1982 single "The Day Before You Came". The line sung is: "There's not, I
think, a single episode of Dallas that I didn't see"
Country singer Hank Williams, Jr. had a hit with a song called "This
Ain't Dallas" comparing his and his wife's life together with J.R. and Sue
Ellen.[citation needed]
References[edit]
1.

Jump up^ Jacobs, David (April 15, 1990). "TV VIEW; When the
Rich And the Powerful Were Riding High". The New York Times. Retrieved
August 31, 2010.

2.

Jump up^ Hyatt, Wesley (2012). Television's Top 100. US:


McFarland. p. 169. ISBN 978-0-7864-4891-3.

3.

Jump up^ Poniewozik, James (September 6, 2007). "The 100


Best TV Shows of All-TIME".Time (Time.com). Retrieved March 4, 2010.

4.

Jump up^ Jordan, Chris. "TNT, TBS Order 4 Pilots, Including


'Dallas' Update" TV Squad; September 8, 2010

5.

^ Jump up to:a

6.

Jump up^ Meisler, Andy (May 7, 1995). "TELEVISION; When J.

TVShowsOnDVD.com - Dallas

R. Was Shot The Cliffhanger Was Born". The New York Times. Retrieved
August 31, 2010.
7.

Jump up^ "TV's Top 100 Episodes of All Time". TV Guide. June
15, 2009. pp. 3449.

8.

^ Jump up
to:a

9.

http://www.ultimatedallas.com/episodeguide/dreamzonefaq.htm
Jump up^ "Actors Pay Price Of Aids Stigma" Orlando Sentinel;

November 27, 1991


10.

Jump up^ Lipton, Michael A. "Dack Rambo's Brave New

World" Orlando Sentinel; November 27, 1991


11.

^ Jump up to:a

b c

12.

Jump up^ "Victora Principal leaving 'Dallas'" Wilmington

Ultimate Dallas: Actor Trivia

Morning Star; January 29, 1987


13.

^ Jump up to:a

"Hagman not happy that Victoria Principal is

leaving 'Dallas'", Houston Chronicle; January 30, 1987


14.

^ Jump up to:a

Steve Kanaly, Uncut Channel 4 Interview

15.

^ Jump up to:a

Ultimate Dallas Interviews: Susan Howard

16.

Jump

up^ http://www.ultimatedallas.com/dallasinterviews/lindainterview2.htm
17.

Jump up^ "21 As Dallas' New Miss Ellie, Donna Reed Trades

the Kitchen for a Home on the Range" People Magazine; November 19,
1984

18.

Jump up^ Times Wire Services: "Donna Reed, 64, Dies of

Cancer at Her Home" Los Angeles Times; January 14, 1986


19.

Jump up^ Barbara Bel Geddes Obituary, The Telegraph,

August 12, 2005


20.

^ Jump up to:a

b c d

Haithman, Diane. "The Baron of 'Dallas' :

Producer Reminisces on 10th Anniversary" Los Angeles Times; April 1,


1988
21.

Jump

up^ http://www.ultimatedallas.com/backstage/behind5.htm
22.

^ Jump up to:a

"Dallas Nielsen Ratings". Dallas The Official

Website. Retrieved May 15, 2012.


23.

Jump up^ Dallas - Complete Season 1-14

24.

Jump up^ Dallas - Season 12 at Amazon.co.uk

25.

Jump up^ Dallas - Season 13 at Amazon.co.uk

26.

Jump up^ Dallas - Season 14 at Amazon.co.uk

27.

Jump up^ Goodbye Texas, hello Woking!

28.

Jump up^ Knots Landing Net Official Guide

29.

Jump up^ Patrick Duffy, "Dallas Round Up", "Dallas Round

Up", June 2012


30.

Jump up^ Colin Hunter, Interview with Cynthia Cidre, "Official

Dallas Website", 2011


31.

Jump up^ "How 'Dallas' Won the Cold War". Washington Post.

April 27, 2008. Retrieved April 20, 2012.

32.

Jump up^ "Warner Bros. Tells Texas Theatre to "Cease And

Desist" Dallas Screenings. Now.". Dallas Observer. May 13, 2011.


Retrieved April 1, 2012.

Knots Landing
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Knots Landing is an American primetime television soap
opera that aired from December 27, 1979 to May 13, 1993 on CBS. A spinoff of Dallas, it was set in a fictitious coastal suburb of Los Angeles, and
centered on the lives of four married couples living in acul-de-sac,
Seaview Circle. By the time of its conclusion, Knots Landing had become
one of the longest-running primetime dramas on U.S. television
after Gunsmoke and Bonanza.[1]
Knots Landing was created by David Jacobs (one-time writer
of Family and later producer of Lois & Clark: The New Adventures of
Superman) in conjunction with producer Michael Filerman (who would also
later co-produce Falcon Crest). Although it became a spin-off of Dallas, the
concept predates that series, and was initially rebuffed by CBS in 1977, as
the network wanted something more "saga-like." Jacobs then
created Dallas, which the network accepted and premiered in 1978.
After Dallas became a hit, Jacobs was then able to adapt Knots Landing as
a spin-off series by way of incorporating characters originally introduced
in the parent series. The series was largely inspired by a 1957 movie No
Down Payment but also by the 1973 Ingmar Bergman television
miniseries Scenes from a Marriage. Storylines also included rape, murder,
kidnapping, assassinations, drug smuggling, corporate intrigue and
criminal investigations. Though initially not as popular as Dallas, Knots
Landing eventually outlasted it and garnered much critical acclaim. The
series peaked during the 198384 season with a 20.8 rating (finishing in

11th place) and a 20.0 rating for the 198485 season (when it finished
9th). This can be attributed, in part, to more dramatic storylines as the
series became more soap-opera like, and the gradual inclusion of newer
characters to interact with the original cast. By the 198889 season, Knots
Landing was ahead of Dallas in the ratings, though audiences for both
shows by this time were less than their earlier years.
In 1997, much of the cast reunited for a two-part mini-series
entitled Knots Landing: Back to the Cul-de-Sac. In 2005, they reunited
again for the non-fiction special Knots Landing Reunion: Together Again in
which the cast reminisced about their time on the show.Dallas itself
was revived in 2012, with characters from Knots Landing appearing in its
second season.
Background[edit]
Gary Ewing was the middle son and the black sheep of the Ewing
family from Dallas. Gary was an alcoholic, whose father Jock and older
brother J.R. had never treated as an equal. The insecure Gary
met Valene when they were aged 17 and 15 years old respectively. They
were married briefly and had a daughter, Lucy, but Gary left Southfork
Ranch and later divorced Valene. With Gary gone from Southfork Ranch,
J.R. had Valene followed and 'run out of town' as he took her daughter and
manipulated Gary away from her. Years later, Valene and Lucy
reconnected, causing Valene and Gary to reunite. They remarried and
Gary's mother, Miss Ellie, bought the couple a house in California. Knots
Landing is officially spun-off from Dallas in the third season episode
entitled "Return Engagement".

Credited cast[edit]
See also: List of Knots Landing cast members
Michele Lee (Original cast) as Karen Cooper Fairgate
MacKenzie (344 episodes)
First married to Sid Fairgate, and later to Mack McKenzie, and the
mother of Diana, Eric and Michael Fairgate. She and Mack later adopted
Meg, (Laura's daughter with Greg Sumner). Karen worked as a community
activist and later proved herself to be a good businesswoman by running
Knots Landing Motors and Lotus Point, of which she was a joint-owner with
Gary and Abby. (Michele Lee would also become the only cast member to
appear in all 344 episodes.)
Don Murray (Original cast) as William Sidney Fairgate (1979
1981; 33 episodes)
Karen's first husband, and the owner of Knots Landing Motors. Hard
working, fair and at times stubborn, Sid was killed when his car was
sabotaged.
Ted Shackelford (Original cast) as Garrison Arthur "Gary"
Ewing (342 episodes)
The son of Jock and Ellie Ewing, first introduced in the TV
series Dallas. Gary, the middle Ewing son between J.R. and Bobby, was the
family blacksheep and a recovering alcoholic. The true love of Valene's life
and father of their daughter Lucy (from Dallas) and twins Bobby & Betsy
Ewing. After his arrival in California, he began working for Sid Fairgate at
Knots Landing Motors, where he was eventually promoted to vice
president. He was later fired by Karen after Sid's death, and his marriage

to Val was wrecked by his affair with Abby. After his father (Jock Ewing)
died, he inherited $10 million and later married Abby, though the
marriage ended after a couple of years. After a relationship with the
scheming Jill Bennett, he later remarried Valene. (Ted Shackleford is the
only castmember along with Michele Lee to remain in the series
throughout its entire run, but he did not appear in every episode)
Joan Van Ark (Original cast) as Valene "Val" Clements Ewing
Ewing Gibson Waleska Ewing (19791992, 1993; 327 episodes).
The true love of Gary's life, she is the mother of his three children,
including Lucy Ewing (Charlene Tilton) of Dallas, and twins Bobby & Betsy
Ewing, born in 1984. Valene originally came from Tennessee, and married
Gary in the 1960s while they were still in their teens, but she was outcast
from the Ewing family by J.R.. After she and Gary remarried in 1979, they
moved to Knots Landing where she became Karen's neighbor and best
friend. After their marriage failed again, she later married journalist Ben
Gibson, and then psychotic Danny Waleska, before finally marrying Gary
for the third time. (Joan Van Ark appears in all but six of the episodes for
her thirteen seasons, and returned for the series two-part finale in 1993)
Constance McCashin (Original cast) as Laura Avery
Sumner (19791987; 198 episodes).
The wife of Richard Avery, and later, Greg Sumner. Initially an
oppressed housewife, she later became a successful real estate agent.
Laura died in 1987 of a brain tumor.
John Pleshette (Original cast) as Richard Avery (19791983,
1987; 77 episodes).

A lawyer, and later a restaurant owner. Unhappily married to Laura,


he struggled to assert himself after she launched a successful career in
real-estate. In 1982, he suffered a nervous breakdown (where he held
Laura hostage at gunpoint) and left town in 1983 without his family and
he and Laura divorced. He returned briefly in 1987 to attend her funeral.
James Houghton (Original cast) as Kenny Ward (19791983;
75 episodes).
A young record producer who, at first, cheated on his wife Ginger,
but reformed upon the birth of their daughter Erin Molly. Both he and
Ginger moved away from Knots Landing in 1983.

Kim Lankford (Original cast) as Ginger Ward (19791983; 75


episodes).
Married to Kenny, Ginger was a kindergarten teacher with
aspirations of being a singer. She gave birth to a daughter, Erin Molly, in
1981.
Patrick Petersen (Original cast) as Michael Fairgate (1979
1991; 182 episodes).
Sid and Karen's younger son who would become romantically
involved with Mack's daughter Paige Matheson and later have an affair
with his older brother Eric's wife, Linda Fairgate.
Claudia Lonow (Original cast) as Diana Fairgate (19791984,
1993; 81 episodes).
Karen's daughter who fell in love with the evil Chip Roberts (Michael
Sabatino). She eventually left Knots Landing to study in New York City.

Julie Harris as Lilimae Clements (1980, 19811987; 165


episodes).
Valene's mother. Though they'd been estranged for many years,
after Lilimae virtually abandoned Valene as a teenager in her quest to
become a country singer, Lilimae reappeared in Valene's life during
Season 1. In Season 3, she moved in with Valene and Gary, remaining in
Knots Landing until Season 9.
Donna Mills as Abby Fairgate Cunningham Ewing
Sumner (19801989, 1993; 236 episodes).
Sid's sister, and the neighborhood troublemaker. After divorcing her
first husband, Jeff Cunnningham, Abby decided to move to Knots Landing
where she began working as a bookkeeper at Knots Landing Motors. She
engaged in affairs with Richard, and later Gary, destroying his marriage to
Val. Abby then married Gary herself (mainly to get his inheritance) but
they divorced a couple of years later, though by this time she was working
with both Gary and her former sister-in-law, Karen, as joint-owners of
Lotus Point. She later married Greg Sumner (for political reasons) but the
marriage lasted only a few months before Abby moved to Japan. Although
Abby adored her brother Sid, Abby and Karen rarely got along. Donna Mills
appeared in almost all the episodes of the series for her nine seasons,
with the exception of one episode during the 198889 season.
Tonya Crowe as Olivia Cunningham Dyer (19801990; 137
episodes).

Abby's rebellious daughter who became addicted to drugs. She later


married mobster's nephew Harold Dyer against her mother's wishes,
making Abby cut her off financially.
Kevin Dobson as Marion Patrick "Mack" MacKenzie (1982
1993; 291 episodes).
Karen's second husband; an attorney who worked for the Governor's
office before opening his own private practice. He first met Karen when he
worked as the Federal Prosecutor, helping to catch the men responsible
for Sid's death. He later worked for his old classmate, Senator Greg
Sumner, at his crime commission though later quit because he could not
tolerate Sumner's schemes which led to the pair of them becoming rivals.
(From joining the series in Season 4, Kevin Dobson appears in all the
episodes of the series with the exception of two, during the final season).
Lisa Hartman as Ciji Dunne (19821983; 17 episodes) /Cathy
Geary Rush (19831986; 78 episodes).
Ciji and Cathy were both singers. Ciji was murdered, leaving almost
everyone in Knots Landing as a suspect. Some months later,
Ciji's doppelgnger Cathy Geary showed up after being released from
prison. Gary was interested in helping Cathy get a fresh start on life, even
falling into a brief affair with her, but it was revealed she was hired by
Abby to distract him. Despite this, they remained friends. She later
married Lilimae's son, Joshua Rush, who became abusive towards her.
William Devane as Greg Sumner (19831993; 269 episodes).
Mack's ex-best friend and classmate who attended law school with
him and offered him a job working for the crime commission. Initially a

politician, Greg became a businessman after inheriting his father's


corporation. He married Laura, with whom he had a daughter, Meg. After
her death in 1987, he later married Abby, but had an on-off relationship
with Paige, Mack's daughter.
Douglas Sheehan as Ben Gibson (19831987; 112 episodes).
Valene's second husband. He was a journalist, who later worked at
Abby's television station but disappeared in South America.
Alec Baldwin as Joshua Rush (19841985; 40 episodes).
Lilimae's son whom she abandoned as a baby. He was raised by his
preacher father and came to Knots Landing as a rather innocent young
preacher. He later became a televangelist and married Cathy Geary, but
became mentally ill and extremely violent. After he tried to kill Cathy, he
accidentally fell off a roof and died.
Teri Austin as Jill Bennett (19851989; 96 episodes).
An ex-colleague of Mack's and later had a relationship with Gary.
She became threatened by Gary's close friendship with his ex-wife Valene
and tried to murder her. She accidentally killed herself after locking
herself in the trunk of Gary's car in an attempt to frame him for
kidnapping.
Nicollette Sheridan as Paige Matheson (19861993; 181
episodes).
Mack's daughter with Anne Matheson. She became romantically
involved with Karen's younger son Michael Fairgate, Peter Hollister (whom
she was engaged to before she accidentally killed him), Greg Sumner

(whom she also worked for), police detective Tom Ryan, and also Pierce
Lawton who tried to kill her.
Michelle Phillips as Anne Matheson (1987, 1989, 19901993;
88 episodes).
Paige's mother and Mack's first love. She initially tried to split up
Mack and Karen, but after failing she turned her attentions to Greg and
also attempted to cheat Paige out of her inheritance from her grandfather.
Larry Riley as Frank Williams (19881992; 99 episodes)
Frank moved to Knots Landing with his wife Pat and daughter Julie
as part of the witness protection program. He eventually took a job in
Mack's law firm.
Stacy Galina as Kate Whittaker (19901993; 71 episodes)
Claudia's daughter who resembled Greg's late daughter MaryFrances. She was a semi-professional tennis player, but broke her arm
which ended her budding career. She later became romantically involved
with Gary Ewing.
Kathleen Noone as Claudia Sumner Whittaker (19901993;
67 episodes)
Greg Sumner's sister, who moved to town under the guise of
accompanying her daughter for college; in reality, she wanted to meddle
in Greg's affairs.
Other recurring characters[edit]

Steve Shaw (Original cast) as Eric Fairgate (19791990)

Karen and Sid's eldest son who had a brief romantic relationship
with Greg Sumner's daughter Mary-Frances before later marrying Linda,
who would have an affair with his brother Michael.

Bobby Jacoby as Brian Cunningham #1 (19801985)


Abby's son.

Stephen Macht as Joe Cooper (19811982)


Karen's brother.

Michael Sabatino as Chip Roberts (aka Tony Fenice) (19821983)


Diana's husband and the murderer of Ciji. He died when he
accidentally fell onto a pitchfork.

Joanna Pettet as Detective Janet Baines (1983)


Investigated Ciji's death and had feelings for her co-worker, Mack
MacKenzie.

Danielle Brisebois as Mary-Frances Sumner #1 (19831984)


Greg Sumner's teenaged daughter.

Laurence Haddon as Dr. Mitch Ackerman (19841985)


The doctor that delivered Valene's twins and then helped with the
ruse that they had died. He later killed himself when confronted by Karen
and Mack.

Hunt Block as Peter Hollister (19851987)


Jill Bennett's brother who was killed accidentally by his former fianc
Paige.

Wendy Fulton as Jean Hackney (19861987)

Brian Austin Green as Brian Cunningham #2 (19861989)

Abby's son.

Joshua Devane as Young Greg Sumner (19861987; 1990)

Doug Savant as Young Mack McKenzie (1986-1987)

Lar Park Lincoln as Linda Fairgate (1987, 19891991)


Eric Fairgate's wife who had an affair with his brother Michael, and
later on have a romantic relationship with her boss Greg Sumner. She was
brutally murdered.

Lynne Moody as Pat Williams (19881990)


Wife of Frank Williams and mother of Julie. A former doctor, she and
her family were in the Witness Protection Program but she died when she
was hit by Danny Waleska's car.

Paul Carafotes as Harold Dyer (19881990)


The nephew of a mobster who later became Olivia's husband.

Peter Reckell as Johnny Rourke (19881989)


Singer and ex-lover of Paige Matheson.

Kent Masters-King as Julie Williams (19881991)


Teenage daughter of Frank and Pat Williams.

Melinda Culea as Paula Vertosick (19881990)


An environmentalist who became close to Mack and had an affair
with Greg Sumner.

Robert Desiderio as Ted Melcher (19881989)


A consultant who worked with Abby and Greg Sumner but later
plotted to kill Paige.

Betsy Palmer as Aunt Virginia "Ginny" Bullock (19891990)

Valene's aunt who comes to live with her for a while.

Sam Behrens as Danny Waleska (19891990)


Valene's violent third husband.

Joseph Gian as Det. Tom Ryan (19891991, 1993)


A dirty cop who almost married Paige.

Lorenzo Caccialanza as Nick Schillace/Dimitri Pappas (19901991,


19921993)
A shady Itialian playboy who became involved with both Anne
Matheson and Claudia Whittaker.

Thomas Wilson Brown as Jason Lochner (1990-1991)


A teenager with an abusive father who goes to live with Mack and
Karen.

Bruce Greenwood as Pierce Lawton (19911992)


A businessman who became involved with Paige but later tried to kill
her.
Plot summaries[edit]
See also: List of Knots Landing episodes
Season One (197980)[edit]
13 episodes (113)
Produced by: Joseph B. Wallenstein
Upon arriving in Knots Landing, California, newly remarried Gary and
Valene Ewing (Ted Shackelford and Joan Van Ark) meet their neighbors at
their new cul-de-sac home of Seaview Circle. Next door are Sid and Karen
Fairgate (played by Don Murray and Michele Lee) and their three children,

Diana (Claudia Lonow), Eric (Steve Shaw), and Michael (Patrick Petersen).
Also living in the cul-de-sac were corporate lawyer Richard Avery and his
wife Laura (John Pleshette and Constance McCashin), parents of a young
son, Jason, and young newlyweds Kenny Ward (a record producer) and his
wife Ginger (James Houghton and Kim Lankford).
Gary and Val's daughter Lucy (Charlene Tilton) came to visit them
from Dallas, but opted not to stay in California. Gary took a job at Knots
Landing Motors, a Ford-Lincoln-Mercury car dealership (hence, the show's
early sponsors) owned by Sid. He was soon promoted but, although a
recovering alcoholic, he got drunk at his promotion party and then
went binge drinking in the two-part season finale, Bottom of the Bottle.
Ginger caught her record producer husband, Kenny, cheating on her with
a singer, Sylvie (Louise Vallance), and broke up with him. Meanwhile,
unhappily married Richard and Laura Avery were having problems of their
own. When Richard wanted to borrow money from Laura's father, Laura
only agreed on the condition that Richard let her go to work instead of
being a full-time housewife. Richard was forced to relent, and Laura saw
that she did not have to live by her husband's rules all the time. During
the season, Laura was also raped by a man she'd met in a bar.
Season Two (198081)[edit]
18 episodes (1431)
Produced by: Joseph B. Wallenstein
Following her divorce, Sid Fairgates sister Abby Cunningham (Donna
Mills) moves to Knots Landing with her two young children, Olivia and
Brian. Abby was 14 years Sid's junior, and hed always been oblivious to

her scheming ways, but Karen was suspicious of almost everything Abby
did. When Abby took a job at Knots Landing Motors as a bookkeeper, she
helped Gary out of a bind with mobsters by going to his brother J.R. Ewing
(Larry Hagman), with whom she slept. Abby went out of her way to make
sure Val found out Gary was cheating on her with Judy Trent (Jane Elliott),
the attractive wife of Earl Trent, a man he was sponsoring in Alcoholics
Anonymous. Even though Abby set her sights on Gary, she settled for
Richard, taking no great effort to conceal the affair from Laura, who took
on a career in real estate and began a flirtation with her boss, Scooter
Warren (Allan Miller). Abby dumped Richard when her ex-husband Jeff
Cunningham (Barry Jenner) threatened to take her children away. During
an episode where the women of Knots Landing held a baby shower for
Ginger which was interrupted by intruders who held them all hostage,
Abby seduced one of the thugs in order to get out of the situation.
Ginger began dating the father of one of her students while
separated from Kenny, but took Kenny back upon discovering that she
was pregnant. Meanwhile, Richard's career as a lawyer took a turn for the
worse. Sid and Abby's nephew Paul Fairgate (Kale Browne) made his only
appearance on the show in the episode "Players". At the end of the
season, Abby's ex-husband Jeff succeeded in taking their two children
away without Abby's permission, leaving her frantic. When Sid discovered
some car parts that Gary and Abby had been buying were actually stolen,
his brakes were tampered with in order to keep him from testifying to this
in court. Sids car went off a cliff, with Sid and his FBI agent bodyguard
Salmaggio inside.

Season Three (198182)[edit]


22 episodes (3253)
Produced by: Joseph B. Wallenstein
Salmaggio was pronounced dead, but Sid was still alive and rushed
to hospital. However, when a blood clot rendered him paralyzed from the
neck down, Sid asked Karen to sign papers allowing him to undergo liferisking surgery in order to regain the use of his legs. After some argument,
Karen reluctantly agreed to sign. Sid died during the operation, leaving
Karen a widow with three children. Karen's unwillingness to discuss her
husband's death distanced her from her children, especially from her elder
son Eric (Steve Shaw), who was angry after she decided to sell Sid's
classic hot rod shortly after his death.
Karen took over the running of Knots Landing Motors, firing Abby.
Karen would be forced to hire Abby back because Abbys style of
bookkeeping could not be easily deciphered. Meanwhile, Abby tricked her
ex-husband Jeff Cunningham (Barry Jenner) into returning her children to
her.
Ginger became annoyed as Kenny refused to take interest in her
aspirations as a singer. However, both become closer as their first child,
Erin Molly, is born, and Karen's dry-eyed composure surrounding Sid's
death finally crumbles when Kenny and Ginger put the baby into her arms
and ask her to be their new daughter's godmother. Karen's brother, Joe
Cooper (Stephen Macht) took on a job as a bookkeeper at USC and briefly
stayed with the Fairgate family.

Valene attempted to forge a bond with her estranged mother


Lilimae (Julie Harris), who moved in with her and Gary. Lilimae had
abandoned Valene as a child when trying to pursue her fruitless dream of
becoming a country music singer. Meanwhile, Valene began writing a book
based on the Ewings of Dallas which drove a wedge between her and
Gary.
Laura began an affair with her boss Scooter after years of being
unhappily married to Richard. She planned to leave Richard, but then
discovered she was pregnant. She planned on aborting the pregnancy, but
decided not to after Richard got violent. Richard was becoming the
company pimp after being asked to supply entertainment by his boss for
some clients at his law firm, a pattern that kept repeating itself. This was
eventually revealed on the news, and Richard's employer denied any
involvement with him. After losing his job, Richard became depressed and
had a nervous breakdown. After holding Laura at the children hostage at
gunpoint, Richard was sent to a mental institution.
After Karen passed up the opportunity to fund a methanol-powered
vehicle project, Gary and Abby devoted hours to making it work without
her help. Abby made repeated passes at Gary, and finally they slept
together. In the season finale, Valene walks in on them both and flees the
cul-de-sac in tears.
Season Four (198283)[edit]
22 episodes (5475)
Produced by: Peter Dunne

Valene returns to her house in Seaview Circle and throws Gary out.
She later becomes a best-selling author with "Capricorn Crude", her thinly
veiled expose of the Ewings of Dallas. Gary moves into a beach house
with Abby and her two children, and inherits millions from his father's will.
Investing money in several ways, he decides to go into the record
business and teams up with Kenny who produces the record of a beautiful
young singer Ciji Dunne (Lisa Hartman).
With the charges dropped against Sid Fairgates killers, an angry
Karen marches into the office of federal prosecutor M. Patrick Mack
McKenzie (played by Kevin Dobson). Mack was as upset as Karen, and so
they worked together to bring the men to justice. They fell in love, and
married half-way through the season.
Upon finding a suicide note at the house, a guilty Laura decided to
reconcile with Richard. Richard then proceeded to open a restaurant
called Daniel (named after their newborn son). Abby financed the
restaurant using Gary's money, and in a cross-promotion, demanded that
Ciji sing there every night. Ginger resented Ciji, as Kenny spent a lot of
time worrying about Cijis career and almost no time at all on Ginger's.
Laura and Ciji became best friends, which prompted the insecure Richard
to fear the women were having a lesbianrelationship.
Valenes publicist Chip Roberts (Michael Sabatino) convinced Lilimae
to let him live with them. Chip dated Karens daughter Diana and Ciji at
the same time, and panicked when he found out Ciji was carrying his
child and that Ciji had discovered he was actually a criminal called Tony

Fenice. Shortly afterwards, Ciji's dead body washed up on the beach. Gary,
who had again started drinking, was arrested for her murder.
Realizing Laura no longer loved him, Richard left Knots Landing,
which made Laura believe he was Ciji's murderer. Kenny and Ginger also
left Knots Landing, with Kenny being offered a job in Nashville. In the
season finale, Gary languished in a prison cell awaiting trial for Ciji's
murder, while Lilimae discovered Chips real identity. By this time, Chip
had left town with Diana, leaving Karen horrified that her daughter was in
the hands of a killer.
Season Five (198384)[edit]
25 episodes (76100)
Produced by: Peter Dunne
Gary was acquitted of Cijis murder due to a lack of evidence. Chip
(now revealed to be murder suspect Tony Fenice) and Diana fled town as
Chip became the primary suspect. Although Chip confessed to Diana that
he'd killed Ciji, they married while on the run so that she would not have
to testify against him in court. When it looked as though Chip would get
away with the murder, Lilimae took matters into her own hands by
running him down with her car. However, Chip was merely bruised by the
impact.
Meanwhile, Abby and Sid's uncle died, leaving Abby and (by default)
Karen land inheritance at Lotus Point, California. Abby then formed
Apolune Corp., a secret subsidiary of Garys company, with which to build
her power base. Abby convinced Gary to marry her in order to get half of
his inheritance. Valene began a relationship with journalist Ben Gibson

(Douglas Sheehan). Before marrying Abby, Gary slept with Valene one
more time. Valene discovered she was pregnant with Gary's children
(twins), Valene opted not to tell him as he was now married to Abby and
she herself was in love with Ben. However, Ben could not come to terms
with the fact she was pregnant with another mans babies and they broke
up.
Abby hired a Ciji look-alike, Cathy Geary (Lisa Hartman), to keep
Gary distracted so he would not learn about her crooked business
practices. Gary hired Cathy to work at his ranch, but when Chip (who had
been hiding out at the ranch with Diana) saw Cathy, he accidentally fell
backward onto a pitchfork and was killed. The ordeal with Diana caused
Karen to become more depressed, and she became addicted to
prescription painkillers. Abby inherited some land from her dead uncle,
but discovered Karen had inherited half of it as she was Sid's widow.
Without Karen's knowledge, Abby schemed to build a resort on the land
called Lotus Point while cutting Karen out of her plans. Politician Greg
Sumner (William Devane), an old college friend of Mack's who was running
for US Senator, received the endorsements of Mack and Karen, as well as
Abby, who wanted to buy herself a senator. Greg hired Mack to lead his
Senate Crime Commission investigating the sinister Wolfbridge Group, but
when Abby convinced Greg to get her an illegal land variance to build on
Lotus Point, Greg pinned it on Mack, thus ending their friendship.
After Karen's recovery from drug addiction, she and Diana
reconciled. Wolfbridge forced Abby to let them become her partners in the
development of Lotus Point. When Mack discovered that Apolune owned

all the land in Lotus Point, except Karen and Abbys inheritances, he
thought Apolune was a division of Wolfbridge. Laura confessed that
Apolune was Abbys company and Gary decided to divorce Abby. When
Mack faked Gary's death to get Wolfbridge, Karen left him, believing his
obsession with Wolfbridge had cost her everything. In the season finale,
Mack tried to trick Mark St. Claire (Joseph Chapman), the head of the
Wolfbridge Group, into trying to shoot Gary, but St. Claires assassin hit
Karen instead. Abby was kidnapped by the Wolfbridge Group when they
realized they had failed.
Season Six (198485)[edit]
30 episodes (101130)
Produced by: Peter Dunne (ep. 101-119) /Lawrence Kasha (ep. 120130)
Greg Sumner kills Mark St. Claire, who was holding Abby hostage on
a boat. After being shot, Karen was given only months to live after
declining to have risky surgery due to her fear that she would die on the
operating table like Sid had. Meanwhile, Gary and Abby reconciled and the
couple, along with Karen, agreed to become partners in Lotus Point.
Lilimae's secret son Joshua (Alec Baldwin), whom she'd abandoned as a
baby, came to live with her and Valene. He began dating Cathy, who'd
moved in with Laura.
Abby also began running the television station, World Pacific Cable,
that Ben worked at after Gary bought it. She was shocked to learn that
Gary was the father of Valenes babies. Abby told Scott Easton (Jack
Bannon), an influential lobbyist with shady connections, about her

problem. As a "gift" to Abby, he had Valenes babies kidnapped after their


birth, though without Abby's consent. Valene was told that the babies
were stillborn, and when she insisted that she'd heard them crying,
nobody believed her. Heartbroken over the loss, Valene left Knots Landing
for Tennessee, where she developed psychosomatic amnesia, calling
herself Verna Ellers (a character from one of her novels) and becoming a
waitress.
Karen took Mack back on Garys insistence after she confided to him
that she was dying. Mack convinced Karen to have the risky life-saving
operation she needed, which was a success. Paul Galveston befriended
Gary, and offered him a chance to develop Empire Valley, a large piece of
real estate. Gary began construction to develop a business and residential
park at the site. Galveston died, leaving his company to his son, Greg
Sumner. Assuming he would inherit Empire Valley, Greg resigned from the
Senate, but Galveston left Empire Valley to Gary. Gregs meddling mother
Ruth Galveston (Ava Gardner) paid him an extended visit. She took a liking
to Abby but disliked Laura whom Greg had become closely involved with.
Joshua became a televangelist at World Pacific Cable. He and Cathy
married, though on their wedding day she had second thoughts because
fame had warped him. Valene (still believing herself to be Verna)
became engaged to a man in Tennessee, but Gary finally found her and
brought her back to Knots Landing where she re-united with Ben but still
refused to believe that her babies were dead. Karen and Ben discovered
that Valenes doctor had paid off a nurse to assist in the deceit. Mack
tracked down Valenes babies that had been adopted on the black market.

Abby confided to Greg that she had inadvertently caused Valene's babies
to be stolen from her and asked for his help in recovering them as not
even she would knowingly steal another woman's children, however Greg
attempted to blackmail her with the information instead. With Ruth
Galveston's help, Abby manages to get the address of the couple who
have Val's babies. She goes to Val and tells her she knows where her
babies are, in the hopes of reuniting them and therefore covering her
involvement in their kidnapping. They drive to the home of Harry and
Sheila Fisher, the couple who adopted the babies on the black market, but
find Mack, Ben, Gary and Karen are already there. Sheila Fisher talks to
Karen and Mack at the front door, holding one of Valene's twins in her
arms. Sheila disbelieves their claims that the children were stolen and
illegally adopted. At that moment, Harry Fisher passes in front of the
house in his car with Valene's other baby. His wife shouts and warns him,
"They want to take the babies..." at which point Harry drives off with
Valene's other baby before anyone can stop him.

This season finale, entitled "The Long and Winding Road", ranked as
the #1 program for the week in the Nielsen ratings. It is the only episode
to rank #1 for the week during the series' 14 seasons.
Season Seven (198586)[edit]
30 episodes (131160)
Supervising producer: David Paulsen
Produced by: Lawrence Kasha
After a frantic battle to expose the black market adoption, Valene's
babies were returned to her in the second episode of the season. Abby

successfully covered her tracks in the matter by simply telling Gary that
she had received a phone call for "Mrs Ewing" telling her that the babies
were still alive and where they could be found, and assumed the phone
call was meant for Valene. Valene and Ben agreed to raise the babies
together, and they married. Also married this year were Laura and Greg,
whose estrangement ended when he convinced her that his interfering
mother was out of their lives for good. Gary received news about his
brother Bobby's death, and headed back to Dallas for the funeral (in the
1986-87 season premiere of Dallas, Bobby Ewing's death was revealed to
be part of a dream, however this was never acknowledged on Knots
Landing.)
Empire Valley went awry when Gary discovered that Galveston
Industries and its partners were secretly building an
underground espionage operation there. Gary blew up Empire Valley to
stop this. Gary blamed Abby, who had helped Greg and gone behind his
back. Gary informed Abby at the end of the season that he would divorce
her.
Gary bequeathed part of Empire Valley to Val's kids Betsy and Bobby
(named after his recently deceased brother), who were being raised as
Ben's children. Peter Hollister (Hunt Block) went to work for Greg, and Jill
Bennett (Teri Austin) became Macks new colleague. It was later revealed
that Peter and Jill were brother and sister, whose family had been swindled
by Paul Galveston and wanted revenge. Jill abandoned her side of the plan
when she fell in love with the now-single Gary, while Peter, in going
through Gregs files, discovered a woman named Sylvia Lean (Ruth

Roman) whod been receiving monthly payments from Galveston


Industries for over 20 years. She had given birth to Galvestons nowdeceased son, whom Peter pretended to be, demanding compensation
from Greg. Abby discovered the truth and demanded 51% of Peters
compensation in return for keeping it secret, but when Peter discovered
that Abby had known that Valenes babies had been kidnapped from the
start, he used this against her.
With his sanity slipping away, Joshua became abusive toward Cathy,
who then left him. Not wanting to lose her, he decided that they should
die together. He tried to throw Cathy off of a rooftop, but Lilimae arrived in
time to stop him. She disowned Joshua, but he fell from the roof and died.
Lilimae spent the rest of the season mourning him, while Cathy moved on
to Ben, whose marriage to Valene was failing due to the continued
presence of Gary, who by now knew that he was the father of her twins.
Ben cheated with Cathy and in the season finale, prepared to leave Valene
and go on a singing tour with Cathy as her manager. Meanwhile, angry
and disillusioned with her mother Abby after learning the truth herself
about the kidnapping of Valene's babies, Abby's teenaged daughter Olivia
(Tonya Crowe) developed a drug problem. A young woman named Paige
Matheson (Nicollette Sheridan) arrived at Macks door claiming to be his
daughter. But on the same day, Karen disappears and finds herself being
held hostage in a basement by a stranger who knows her name.
Season Eight (198687)[edit]
30 episodes (161190)
Produced by: Lawrence Kasha

Karen's kidnapper was Phil Harbert (Louis Giambalvo), an old friend


of Greg's and Mack's who was bitter toward Mack, whom he blamed for
having caused the death of his wife. Ben returned to Valene and promised
to make their marriage work, however this promise was compromised
when he was contacted by Jean Hackney (Wendy Fulton), who had tried to
trick Ben into doing a mission for an underground organization to kill Greg
Sumner. When Valene's children were threatened, Ben finally agreed to do
this. Luckily, with the help of Mack, Ben foiled the plan, although Jean
Hackney's insistence on following him meant that he had to leave the
country and Valene at the end of the season. Although Valene also helped
in stopping the situation, an angry Laura, whom Val failed to tell what was
going on, blamed her for the whole incident and ended their friendship.
Laura announced to Greg that she was pregnant, though he was not
enthusiastic about it. Mack had a difficult time handling Paige, who moved
in with the Mackenzies and seduced Karens son Michael. When Karen
discovered Paige Matheson was dead, Paige told the Mackenzies she'd
faked her own death in order to escape her wealthy, controlling
grandparents. Paige's mother (and Mack's first love) Anne (Michelle
Phillips) arrived in Knots Landing to be with her daughter, whom shed
believed dead. Anne moved in to Lauras house on the cul-de-sac and
attempted to seduce Mack but failed, even staging a suicide bid for
attention. She later attempted to seduce Greg, but left Knots Landing.
Abby's daughter Olivia's drug problem escalated into a full-scale
addiction which led Abby to resort to drastic measures to get her clean.
When her drug dealer beat up her younger brother Brian, she finally gave

up her stash of drugs to Abby. Olivia then became friends with Peter
Hollister, but developed a crush on him. Peter, however, was only
interested in Paige. At the end of the season, Abby found Olivia standing
over Peter's dead body. They both assumed the other had killed him. Abby
frantically buried Peters corpse under the soil at Lotus Point where
cement was to be poured the next day. Some weeks later, believing she
had successfully hidden all the evidence, Abby was informed by Karen
that there was a crack in the cement and it would have to be dug up and
redone.
Season Nine (198788)[edit]
29 episodes (191219)
Produced by: Lawrence Kasha/Mary-Catherine Harold
When Peter's body is discovered, Olivia is threatened with
prosecution for his murder. However, Abby steps in and pretends that she
did it in order to save her daughter, but it is then revealed that Paige had
accidentally caused Peter's death. No charges were brought against her,
but Abby swore that she would make Paige pay for nearly letting Olivia
take the blame for the crime. A melancholy Laura made up with Valene
after a talk with Karen. Laura told Greg that she was dying of a brain
tumor. Greg refused to accept it, and Laura left him to go to a clinic where
she died. Laura's funeral brought the return of Richard, who moved his
and Lauras sons back to the east coast with him and his new wife. Greg
was left to raise Meg, his and Laura's infant daughter. Overcome with grief
and feeling unable to raise the child by himself, Greg asked Karen and
Mack to adopt her, which they did. Meanwhile, Lilimae left Knots Landing

with a new man in her life. Abby rekindled an old romance with her first
love, wealthy business executive Charles Scott (Michael York). The two
married briefly, but Abby ended the relationship after discovering his
ulterior motives about plans for the Lotus Point Marina.
Frank and Pat Williams (Larry Riley and Lynne Moody) and their
daughter Julie (Kent Masters-King) moved into Laura's old house on the
cul-de-sac. Mack and Karen were suspicious of them at first, but became
their friends upon discovering they were in the Witness Protection
Program. Business at Lotus Point began to slow down, and Karen, Gary,
and Abby agreed to expand the marina to accommodate the business of
Manny Vasquez (John Aprea).
Paige began to work for Greg, and found herself attracted to him.
Paige and Michael went on an archaeological dig in Mexico. When it
became apparent that Manny Vasquez (John Aprea) was selling drugs
through Lotus Point, its owners tried to stop him. He told them that Paige
and Michael would not re-enter the United States until he was allowed to
conduct business at Lotus Point.
Gary took an increased interest in Valene's twins, initially at Valenes
resistance. His attention to Val and the children was an annoyance to Jill,
who was now living with Gary and became jealous. Jill made an elaborate
plan where she edited audio recordings of Bens voice to make Valene
think Ben was trying to contact her, and forged letters from him. In an
attempt to make Valene look unstable, Jill then stole the tapes of Bens
messages and the letters, leaving Valene with no proof when she tried
telling people. In the season finale, Jill broke into Valene's house at night

and forced Valene at gunpoint to take a whole bottle of sleeping pills in


order to make it look like Valene had killed herself. The following morning,
Valene was seen laying motionless on the floor.
Season Ten (198889)[edit]
28 episodes (220247)
Co-executive producer: Lawrence Kasha
Produced by: Mary-Catherine Harold/Lynn Marie Latham/Bernard
Lechowick
Frank found Valene unconscious and phoned for an ambulance.
Valene survived and said that Jill had tried to kill her, but Jill had provided
herself with an alibi; she had flown up to San Francisco and slipped drugs
into a mans drink and brought him to her hotel room. He passed out, at
which point Jill flew back down to Los Angeles where she attempted to kill
Valene, but as she was back in San Francisco by the time the man woke
up in the hotel room the following morning, he assumed she'd been there
all night. When the man got anSTD and Jill and Garys tests turned up
negative, Gary investigated and found that the man remembered nothing
of the night he had supposedly slept with Jill. With doubt on her
innocence, Jill was left friendless and so she tied herself up and put herself
in the trunk of Garys car so hed be framed for trying to abduct her.
However, Jill actually died and Gary was suspected of killing her. Mack was
able to get the charges dropped when evidence showed that Jill closed the
trunk of Gary's car herself and the whole thing was exposed as a plot to
frame Gary. Meanwhile, Valene's Aunt Ginny (Lilimae's sister) came to stay
with Valene on Seaview Circle.

A con artist tried to extort money from Frank and Pat by threatening
to reveal their location to the men who had threatened Pat's life when she
testified against them. Mack halted the con artist, and used dental records
from a deceased family to make the men believe that the Sollars family
(the original identity of the Williamses) were dead. Paige and Michael were
able to get out of Mexico, and Manny Vasquezs nephew Harold Dyer (Paul
Carafotes) (who was also dating Abbys daughter Olivia) killed his uncle
when Manny tried to kill Mack. Paige seduced Greg and the two began
dating. Unfortunately, Greg wanted to become mayor of Los Angeles and
he realized the much-younger Paige would not make a good political wife.
He asked Abby to marry him instead, and Abby got her revenge against
the broken-hearted Paige, who still kept her job at Gregs company
nonetheless. To assist in his election campaign, Greg then tried to tried to
regain custody of Meg from Karen and Mack, her adoptive parents, which
led to a highly charged legal battle.
Mack had a mid-life crisis and quit his job, opening a private law
practice. Following a health and safety report, the Lotus Point resort has to
be sold. However, it was revealed that Abby had falsified the report after
she discovered that there was oil underneath Lotus Point, and created a
company to conceal who was buying the resort from her partners. Paige
discovered that the whole thing was a scam initiated by Abby and her
cohort Ted Melcher which infuriated Karen who was now intent on sending
Abby to jail for fraud. Abby narrowly avoided prosecution and agreed to
donate Lotus Point to the city as a public park. She then left Greg (and
Knots Landing) for a Trade Envoy job in Japan (a job Greg himself had

planned to get after his failed attempt to become mayor of Los Angeles).
Paige, meanwhile, finds herself caught between Greg and Ted Melcher,
one of whom is a murderer.
Season Eleven (198990)[edit]
29 episodes (248276)
Co-executive producer: Lawrence Kasha
Produced by: Mary-Catherine Harold/Lynn Marie Latham/Bernard
Lechowick
Valene and Gary became separately involved with another divorced
couple, Danny and Amanda Waleska. Gary learns that Danny (Sam
Behrens) had beaten and raped Amanda (Penny Peyser), but when he tells
Valene she refuses to believe him and ends up marrying Danny. However,
when she finally realizes the truth, Valene tries to kick him out of her
house. However, Danny becomes increasingly violent and refuses to leave
so Val takes the twins and goes to stay with Gary at his ranch. While
drunk, Danny hits Pat with his car, and she is left on life support at the
hospital. When told she is brain dead, Frank makes the difficult decision to
have her life support switched off.
Olivia marries Harold, but they have monetary woes due to his
gambling and Abby's decision to cut Olivia off financially. They eventually
decide to leave Knots Landing and move to Miami. Eric's wife Linda stays
at the Mackenzie household and has an affair with Erics brother Michael.
Linda then divorces Eric and goes to work at the Sumner Group where she
competes with Paige. Gregs daughter Mary Frances (Stacy Galina) visits
him after a six-year estrangement and is shot dead in Greg's office,

making Greg believe he was the intended target. Greg himself is then shot
by Mary Frances' activist boyfriend Robert, though he survives. Robert
blames Greg for manufacturing poisonous agricultural chemicals that are
banned in the US because they cause liver cancer and confesses that he's
the one who shot Mary Frances because she was already dying of the
disease and he wanted to publicize their cause. Robert then injects Greg
with the chemicals so that he'll suffer like his victims have.
Now broke, Paige's mother Anne returns to Knots Landing in an
attempt to cheat Paige out of an inheritance that her grandfather left her.
By pretending to be Paige using her ID, she sets up a bank account to
fraudulently claim the money, but her plan goes awry.
Paige falls in love with dirty cop Tom Ryan (Joseph Gian) and the two
plan to marry, but on the day of their wedding, Tom jilts her after Greg
blackmails him. Gary proposes to Valene, who accepts. Karen starts
presenting a television talk show, but becomes the target of an obsessive
fan who starts terrorizing her from afar. When she believes that the stalker
has finally been caught, it is then revealed that the real stalker is actually
Jeff Cameron (Chris Lemmon), one of her show's producers. Jeff then starts
a page for Karen in a scrapbook he keeps of television personalities that
have been murdered.
Season Twelve (199091)[edit]
27 episodes (277303)
Co-executive producer: Lawrence Kasha
Produced by: Mary-Catherine Harold/Lynn Marie Latham/Bernard
Lechowick

Jeff plots to murder Karen, but is eventually caught. With Greg's


health deteriorating, his half-sister Claudia (Kathleen Noone) arrives in
Knots Landing along with her daughter Kate, who shares an uncanny
resemblance to Greg's dead daughter Mary Frances (both characters were
played by Stacy Galina). When she realizes she is not yet in Greg's will,
Claudia schemes to get him a new liver for a transplant so that he'll live.
Kate meets Steve Brewer (Lance Guest), a man claiming to be her brother.
Steve, who had been put up for adoption by Claudia, was the product of a
tryst between Claudia and Paul Galveston (her mother's ex-husband and
Greg's father). Kate and Steve become close friends, but Claudia does not
want him around and so she plants a gun in his car. As he is a former
felon, the gun violates his parole and he is shot dead while fleeing from
the police.
Mack befriends a high school student named Jason Lochner (Thomas
Wilson Brown), who was being beaten by his abusive father. Mack recalls
the memories of his own physical abuse at the hands of his own father,
and invites Jason to live with him and Karen. Jason dates Julie Williams for
a while. Frank passes his lawyer bar exam and after briefly working at a
corporate law firm, goes to work as a lawyer with Mack at his small
practice.
Danny continues harassing Val. He then assaults Gary with a bat
and, after forcing him to drink alcohol, puts him in his car which he sends
over a cliff, hoping to make it look like an accident. Miraculously, Gary
survives (saved by the airbag), but Danny is later found dead, floating in
the Williams' swimming pool. After a police investigation in which almost

everybody is a suspect, it is discovered that Danny tried to attack Julie


while he was drunk, fell into the Williams' pool, and drowned. Valene falls
from a horse and develops psychiatric problems for a while. She is
eventually cured and she and Gary remarry. Anne meets Italian Nick
Schillace (Lorenzo Caccialanza), with whom she falls in love with and
embarks on a series of illegal schemes to make money. Their plans all
backfire and when Nick leaves town, Anne is left broke and homeless and
is forced to live on the streets. Paige and Linda become rivals at the
Sumner Group, made worse when Linda and Greg have an affair.
While Karen and Val are out one day, Karen is shot in the back with
a paintball by some teenagers in a car. Furious, Karen gets into her own
car and a high-speed chase ensues which ends when the teenagers' car
crashes into a truck. Karen rushes over to the crashed car and she sees
the blood-splattered bodies of the teenagers. One of them is Jason.
Season Thirteen (199192)[edit]
22 episodes (304325)
Co-executive producer: John Romano (ep. 304318)
Supervising producer: Joseph Hardy
Senior producer: Ann Marcus (ep. 319325)
Produced by: Mary-Catherine Harold
Staff writers ("story editors"): Rachel Cline, James Magnuson, Donald
Marcus, Lisa Seidman.
Jason survives the crash but one of the other teenagers dies. Kate
blames Claudia for Steve's death and cuts her mother out of her life, but
they reconcile after Claudia takes an overdose of pills. After living on the

streets, Anne meets shady Benny Appleman and they scheme to make
money together. She agrees to pose nude for a magazine and then starts
hosting an advice show on night-time radio which becomes a smash hit.
After getting herself involved in dangerous schemes, Linda is
murdered by the crazy Brian Johnston, who then holds the Mackenzies
hostage at gunpoint in their home for an entire episode. Jason leaves the
Mackenzie household to visit Sweden for a year, while Julie also leaves
Knots Landing to move back east to live with relatives. Frank dates
schoolteacher Debbie Porter (played by Halle Berry), though he too later
leaves town.
Gary invested in a project that turned energy from the ocean's tides
into usable electric energy. The man behind it, Joseph Barringer (Mark
Soper), became Kates boyfriend. Paige joined Gary, along with her new
boyfriend Pierce (Bruce Greenwood). A former flame of Pierce's, Victoria
Broyelard (played by Marcia Cross), revealed that Pierce had killed his
previous girlfriend, but Paige did not believe it. Paige was shot by Pierce
(aiming for Greg, whom he hated) and temporarily paralyzed, giving a
delusional Pierce (who thought she was the previous, pregnant girlfriend
he'd already killed) a chance to kidnap her. He takes off with her on a
yacht, but is followed by Mack and Greg. They rescue Paige after Greg and
Pierce fight and fall into the water, but Pierce's body is never found and he
is presumed to have drowned.
Alex Barth (Boyd Kestner), the nephew of the Galveston's
housekeeper, blackmailed Claudia for refusing to help her ailing mother
Ruth Galveston with her medication and thus allowed her to die. Claudia

said that she wanted to end her mother's pain. Meanwhile, Claudia took a
dislike to Joseph Barringer and asked Greg to get him a job in order to get
him away from Kate. Gary, who had tied up all his money in Tidal Energy,
was left bankrupt. Valene attempted to console him, and the two of them
spent the rest of the season enjoying a happy marriage back at their
house in Seaview Circle. Valene was asked by her publisher to write a
biography on Greg Sumner. Mary Robeson (Maree Cheatham) told Valene
that she was Megs grandmother, as she was Lauras biological mother.
Valene refused to believe it, and when she investigated Mary Robeson
further, she was kidnapped in Florida. Meanwhile, as Paige got into her
car, she looked into the rear-view mirror mirror and was horrified to see
the psychotic Pierce waiting for her in the back seat.
Season Fourteen (199293)[edit]
19 episodes (326344)
Co-executive producer: Barbara Corday
Supervising producer: Ann Marcus
Produced by: Mary-Catherine Harold
While trying to find Valene, Gary sees a car she is in explode. Greg
decides to retire from the Sumner Group, and leaves one-third of the
company to Claudia, one-third to Paige, and one-third to Mack and Karen
(in a trust for Meg). Anne's pregnancy prompts him to return to Knots
Landing to marry her, but Anne then finds out that she has suffered
fromhysterical pregnancy. Anne old flame Nick returns to Knots Landing.
Mack sought $1,000,000 to bribe Mary Robeson to stop her seeking
custody of Meg. Claudia gives him $500,000 from the Sumner Group

Foundation funds, and gives the other $500,000 to Nick to start a


restaurant. Paige demanded an audit, and Claudia had to ask Nick for the
$500,000 back, but Nick had already spent it. Karen did not believe Mack
would stoop to such methods to get Mary Robeson off their backs and
leaves him, going to stay with Diana in New York City. Meanwhile, a shady
financial organization run by a man named Daniel Treadwell attempts to
take over the Sumner group, even plotting to kill Greg and Paige in the
process. Meanwhile, Gary and Kate start a relationship.
In the two-hour series finale on May 13, 1993, Karen returns to
Mack. The presumed dead Valene returns to Knots Landing, astounding
Gary. She explains that she was not in the car that exploded and has been
in hiding for the past year as Treadwell's people had kidnapped her after
she stumbled onto some sensitive information while she was researching
her book about Greg. Although she escaped, she could not let Gary know
she was alive for fearing that the organization would come after him and
the children. At the same time, another familiar face returns to Knots
Landing as Treadwell's partner is revealed to be Abby, who has been
orchestrating the takeover of the Sumner Group all along. However Greg
thwarts her scheme by threatening to reveal her dirty dealings in Japan
with some well documented evidence that he had just acquired. As
Treadwell prepares to kill Nick, who has been working for him, Treadwell
himself is killed by Vanessa Hunt (Felicity Waterman), defeating the
organizations plans once and for all. Anne offers Greg a divorce allowing
him to get back together with Paige whom he loves. Claudia decides to
move to Monaco, and at the airport she meets up with Anne and Nick who

are also leaving town. Back at Seaview Circle, Gary, Val, Mack and Karen
prepare to have a barbecue as a new couple begin moving into Franks old
house on the cul-de-sac. At that moment, another car pulls up and Abby
emerges. She informs everyone that she is buying Claudias house (the
house which had originally been hers when she lived on the cul-de-sac).
Valene simply smiles and welcomes Abby back to the cul-de-sac before
rushing Gary away. Abby is left face to face with Karen, to whom she
proclaims "Just like old times, isn't it?"

The series finale, "Just Like Old Times", garnered a 19.6 rating and
at the time was one of the Top 20 most watched TV finales in American
television history.
Knots Landing/Dallas crossover episodes[edit]
Between Seasons one and four, there were nine episodes
where Dallas characters appeared, played by their respective actors.
Season 1

Episode 1: "Pilot". Guest starring Patrick Duffy as Bobby Ewing.

Episode 2: "Community Spirit". Guest starring Larry Hagman as J.R.


Ewing.

Episode 6: "Home is For Healing" Guest starring Charlene


Tilton as Lucy Ewing.
Season 2

Episode 5: "Kristen". Guest starring Mary Crosby as Kristen Shepard.

Episode 9: "A Family Matter". Guest starring Larry Hagman as J.R.


Ewing.

Episode 13: "The Loudest Word". Guest starring Patrick


Duffy as Bobby Ewing.

Episode 17: "Designs". Guest starring Larry Hagman as J.R. Ewing.


Season 4

Episode 2: "Daniel". Guest starring Larry Hagman as J.R. Ewing.

Episode 6: "New Beginnings". Guest starring Larry Hagman as J.R.


Ewing, Patrick Duffy as Bobby Ewing and Eric Farlow as Christopher Ewing.
Dallas (2012 TV series)[edit]
With the 2012 continuation of Dallas, rumors began surfacing that
both Joan Van Ark and Ted Shackelford would reprise their roles as Valene
and Gary Ewing on the new series. Shackleford passed on the small role
the producers offered him during the first season, but accepted a multiepisode role during the second season. Shackleford returned to Dallasfor
three episodes and Van Ark returned for one. This was the first time the
characters had been seen onscreen since the 1997 mini-series Knots
Landing: Back to the Cul-de-Sac. Although both Shackleford and Van Ark
appeared in the 1991 series finale of Dallas playing "alternative" versions
of Gary and Valene (the episode depicted an alternate reality in which J.R.
Ewing had never been born), there have been no real crossovers of story
or characters from Knots Landing to Dallas or vice-versa since the 1985-86
season of each show (which, on Dallas, turned out to be a dream had
by Pam Ewing).
Who lived where[edit]

The series' signature cul-de-sac, Seaview Circle, was actually


Crystalaire Place in 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.
16961 Seaview Circle[edit]

Kenny Ward (Seasons 14)

Ginger Ward (Seasons 14)

Erin Molly Ward (Seasons 34)


16969 Seaview Circle[edit]

Abby Cunningham (Seasons 24, 14reunion)

Brian Cunningham (Seasons 24)

Olivia Cunningham (Seasons 24)

Gary Ewing (Season 4)

Claudia Whittaker (Seasons 1214)

Kate Whittaker (Season 12)

Alex Barth (Season 13)


16975 Seaview Circle[edit]

Richard Avery (Seasons 14)

Laura Avery (Seasons 18)

Jason Avery (Seasons 18)

Daniel Avery (Seasons 48)

Cathy Geary (Seasons 6, 7)

Anne Matheson (Season 8)

Patricia Williams (Seasons 911)

Frank Williams (Seasons 913)

Julie Williams (Seasons 913)


16972 Seaview Circle[edit]

Karen Cooper Fairgate Mackenzie (Seasons 114, reunion)

Sid Fairgate (Seasons 13)

Diana Fairgate (Seasons 14)

Eric Fairgate (Seasons 19)

Michael Fairgate (Seasons 112)

Joe Cooper (Seasons 3-4)

Mack Mackenzie (Seasons 414, reunion)

Mary Frances Sumner (Season 5)

Paige Matheson (Seasons 810, 13)

Linda Fairgate (Season 11)

Meg Mackenzie (Seasons 914, reunion)

Jason Lochner (Seasons 1213)

Abby Cunningham (reunion)


16966 Seaview Circle[edit]

Gary Ewing (Seasons 13, 1314, reunion)

Valene Ewing (Seasons 113, 14reunion)

Lilimae Clements (Seasons 39)

Chip Roberts (Season 4)

Joshua Rush (Seasons 67)

Cathy Geary (Seasons 67)

Bobby Ewing (Seasons 714, reunion)

Betsy Ewing (Seasons 714, reunion)

Ben Gibson (Seasons 78)

Aunt Ginny (Seasons 1012)

Danny Waleska (Seasons 1112)


Behind the scenes[edit]
The actors 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 David Jacobs, saying, "There has to be
one stable couple on the show."

[2]

The extramarital affair storyline was

nixed, and Michelle Phillips, who had been signed to a contract, was
written out for a few 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."

[3]

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.[2] 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.
The writing team of Bernard Lechowick and Lynn Marie
Latham (the head writers 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 cast member during their tenure
and harbored resentment because the writing team, who had been
represented by his wife, moved to a different agency.[4] 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 and Donna Mills'
favorite Knots Landing writer was Peter Dunne,[2] 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 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 Landingevery 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,[5] firing head 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
regular characters did not appear in each episode. In one episode in the
final season ("My Kingdom for a Horse"), only three of the fourteen
regulars cast for season 8 appeared (Devane, Phillips, and Lee.) 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."
Music[edit]
The theme song, which lasted all 14 seasons was composed
by Jerrold Immel. Immel, along with Craig Huxley composed the
background music for the pilot. The original background music cues by
Immel and Huxley were never fully abandoned by the show, and were
heard as late as the final season. The early Knots Landing background
music cues heavily emphasized the brass section, and were often played
with a very sparse bass line accompaniment. It was, in fact,
the only aspect of the series ever to win an Emmy award, for the music
orchestration during its 197980 season.
By season 4 of Knots Landing, the lushness of the 1980s was in full
swing and Knots Landing's background cues reflected that style. The new
dramatic cues emphasized full orchestral arrangements as formerly
middle class Knots Landing became upwardly mobile. The background

music of seasons 47 was frequently composed by either Lance Rubin or


Ron Grant.
Season 8 introduced a completely new score for Knots Landing. By
1986 New Wave artists and bands had taken America by storm and the
new style of music cues made good use of the synthesizer instead of a full
orchestra. Bruce Miller was one of the main composers during this era.
Updated orchestrations of the by-then-familiar Lance Rubin cues were also
re-arranged to be played by the synthesizer, and the Immel/Huxley cues
were similarly utilized, albeit less commonly.
In the early 1990s, soft contemporary acoustic music became
popular and Knots Landing began incorporating this into its background
music during season 12. Lance Rubin's music cues were completely
phased out at this point. Patrick Gleeson and Kennard Ramsey composed
during this period.
Opening credits[edit]
Knots Landing had five completely different styles of opening credits
over its 14 years, in contrast to Dallas, which changed only to a variation
on its original style for its final two seasons.

(December 27, 1979 March 26, 1981) The original opening


of Knots Landing designed by Wayne Fitzgerald features a rotating aerial
shot of a California beach which dissolves to a rotating aerial shot of roads
and houses, gradually zooming in to a freeze-frame of the Seaview Circle
cul-de-sac. The camera then zooms in to the top of each house in turn,
showing a brief shot of the residents of each home. Photo credits for each
of the main actors then appear superimposed over the shape of the cul-

de-sac. In the pilot, however, it had the photo credits of the main actors
shown superimposed over the house the roles live in.

(November 12, 1981 May 14, 1987) Knots Landing unveiled a new
opening at the start of season 3. In what is probably the best-remembered
introduction, the sequence designed by Gene Kraft begins with a fast
moving aerial shot of the ocean which then tilts up as it approaches the
coastline and the series title appears. The picture, except for the title,
fades to black and the title scrolls from right to left followed by a montage
of clips of the show playing in small boxes. Each cast member is credited
below a larger box showcasing a close-up of their character, accompanied
by three or four smaller boxes showing that character in scenes with other
characters.

(September 24, 1987 May 18, 1989) At the beginning of the ninth
season, Knots Landing's producers decided to break tradition with the
opening. The intro designed by Sandy Dvore now features a slow panning
shot over a painting similar to the splattered style of Jackson Pollock. As
the zig-zag panning continues, the cast montage appears, featuring black
and white shots of the actors inside of small ovular cameos. The posed
cameos were dropped in the 198889 season in favour of color close-ups
taken from the show.

(September 28, 1989 May 16, 1990) The eleventh season of Knots
Landing saw the show unveil its fourth title sequence. The new opening
designed by Castle/Bryant/Johnsennow showcases sandcastle structures
of the cul-de-sac houses as well as some skyscrapers representing Los
Angeles on a beautiful beach. It is the only version of the opening without

pictures of the cast. The camera twists through this sandcastle community
with only the actors' names appearing. Another and never-seen
particularity appears right from the second episode of this season: the
opening splits in two. The cutting takes place during the staff credits. The
main theme is adapted as well. Between the two parts of the opening is
presented a summary of what happened in the past episodes.

(September 13, 1990 May 13, 1993) To redefine the show for the
1990s, Knots Landing made one final change to the opening credits by
returning to its famous across-the-screen style of scrolling clips though
with faster moving, color-framed boxes. This version was designed
by Castle/Bryant/Johnsen to be "safe" for the 1990s. Eventually it would
bring Knots Landing through its final three seasons on the air.
Reruns[edit]
Reruns of Knots Landing were first packaged into syndication for offnetwork broadcast in local markets by Lorimar in 1984. Before the show
opening, each episode was preceded by a "Lorimar Presents" logo,
followed by a narrated recap of the previous episode with the theme
music played under. The first 190 episodes were packaged in this manner,
but only the first 160 episodes were syndicated to local stations.
Knots Landing later appeared on the cable channel TNT in
September 1992 and ran through May 1993; as with the syndicated run,
only the first 160 episodes were broadcast. TNT would later become the
first network to broadcast all 344 episodes of Knots Landing during its
second syndication run of the series beginning in 1995.

Soapnet later acquired the rights to the series when it first went on
the air in January 2000. Knots Landing has not been seen in United States
syndication since Soapnet quit broadcasting it.[when?]
Foreign markets[edit]
The UK satellite channel CBS Drama began airing the series in its
entirety starting from April 1, 2013. This was the first time the show had
been rerun in the UK since the 1990s. RT television in Ireland[which?] had
broadcast the first seven seasons in an early morning weekend slot during
2011.
International broadcasts[edit]

In the United Kingdom, the series premiered on BBC1 on 26 April


1980, in a primetime Saturday night slot. Season 2 began a year later on
8 May 1981, now in a Friday night slot. Season 3 did not begin until 16
September 1983, but only the first 13 episodes of the season were shown,
at which point the BBC pulled the series from its Friday night slot with no
immediate plans of showing any more episodes. The BBC then brought the
series back in October 1986, picking up from the middle of season 3
where they last left off, but now it was screened in the afternoon as part of
their new daytime line-up. They continued to screen the series until the
end, though UK audiences tended to be some 3 4 years behind the US.
The series concluded in 1996.

In France, the show was known as "Cte Ouest" (translated as "West


Coast") and was first shown on TF1 in 1988 with a new lyrical theme song
(sung in French by a French male vocalist, though variations were made
over the years). From 2000, the show was rerun from beginning to end on

FoxLife, a now defunct satellite channel broadcasting on CanalSat


provider.

In Germany, the show was known as "Unter der Sonne


Kaliforniens" (translated as "Under The Californian Sun"). The premium
digital channel Passion currently airs reruns of all episodes.

In the Philippines, the show was formerly aired on GMA 7.

In Sweden, the show was called "JRs bror Gary Ewing" (JR's brother
Gary Ewing). The series premiered in 1988 on TV3.

In Ireland, the show was not broadcast on terrestrial TV until 1989


(although viewers with access to BBC were able to watch earlier
transmissions). RTE first broadcast the series daily in late 1989 as part of
its early afternoon schedule. It proved to be popular and was eventually
given an early evening timeslot in February 1991 when RTE moved the
show (after showing the first nine seasons) from a daily afternoon
timeslot, to a weekly primetime Thursday night slot on its sister channel
Network Two (now RT Two). All remaining episodes were shown without a
break (the end of each season was followed by the first episode of the
next season the following week) until Christmas 1993 when the final
episode was broadcast followed by the retrospective Knots Landing Block
Party.

In Israel, The show aired on The Family Channel (later on renamed


as Channel 3) on Cable TV on Fridays evenings at 19:00 from 1990 for the
entire first four seasons. Later on, it aired on Sundays at 21:45 for the
season & a half that followed, from February 1992. In November 1992, the
show was rerun from the beginning, every weekday evening at 20:45. All

14 seasons had aired by April 1994, making it the most popular foreign
drama series at this run. From late 1995, the show was rerun in its entirety
again in the afternoons (15:50) and the last five seasons at night
(01:30). Back To The Cul-De-Sac aired as a holiday special in Autumn
1997.

In Italy, the first season was named Da Dallas a Knots


Landing (translated: "From Dallas to Knots Landing") though was
eventually rebroadcast with the definitive name of"California". Only nine
seasons were aired.

In Spain, the series was aired by the regional channels under the
FORTA umbrella. The series did not arrive in Spain until at least 1992, and
initially was only aired in various regions, normally in a weekday afternoon
slot accompanying Dallas which also arrived late in Spain. Neither series
completed their run in Spain and neither have been rescreened there in
full or in part.
Legacy[edit]

The game World of Warcraft, which features a coastal resort town


called "Schnottz's Landing" which spoofs the series.[6]
References[edit]

Van Wormer, Laura (1986). Knots Landing: the saga of Seaview


Circle. Doubleday. ISBN 978-0385236362.
Notes[edit]

1.

Jump up^ Both Bonanza and Knots Landing were eclipsed in


2004 by Law & Order.

2.

^ Jump up
to:a

3.

b c

http://www.knotslandingonline.com/joan_van_ark_interview.html
Jump

up^ http://www.knotslandingonline.com/michele_lee_interview.html
4.

Jump
up^ http://www.knotslandingonline.com/john_pleshette_interview.html

5.

Jump
up^ http://www.knotslandingonline.com/ted_shackelford_interview.html

6.

Jump up^ http://www.wowpedia.org/Schnottz's_Landing 1


External links[edit]

Knots Landing at the Internet Movie Database

Knots Landing at TV.com

KnotsLanding.Net Official Guide to the Series

Falcon Crest
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Falcon Crest is an American primetime television soap opera which
aired on the CBS network for nine seasons, from December 4, 1981 to May
17, 1990. A total of 227 episodes were produced.
The series revolves around the feuding factions of the wealthy
Gioberti/Channing family in the Californian wine industry. Jane
Wymanstarred as Angela Channing, the tyrannical matriarch of the Falcon
Crest Winery, alongside Robert Foxworth as Chase Gioberti, Angela's
nephew who returns to Falcon Crest following the death of his father. The
series was set in the fictitious Tuscany Valley (modeled after the Napa
Valley) northeast of San Francisco.
Concept[edit]
The show was created by Earl Hamner, who had previously
created The Waltons, which had just finished its final season in 1981.
Hamner wanted to create a family drama involving the wine industry, but
CBS requested he make the show more along the lines ofDallas which was
the network's biggest hit at that time.[1] CBS then scheduled Falcon
Crest at 10 p.m. on Friday nights, right afterDallas. The Dallas-Falcon
Crest one-two punch proved lucrative for the network and Falcon
Crest was a Top 20 show in the Nielsen Ratings for several years. Both
shows (like The Waltons) were produced for CBS by the same
company, Lorimar Productions.
The show revolved around Angela Channing (Jane Wyman), a
corrupt, tyrannical matriarch who ruled the Falcon Crest vineyards with an

iron fist. Angela's honorable nephew, Chase Gioberti (Robert Foxworth),


was new to the area, having just inherited a portion of the Falcon Crest
vineyards and winery from his late father, Jason Gioberti (Angela's brother,
who died after a fall in the winery during the premiere episode). The
rivalry between Angela and Chase (whom Angela saw as an interloper) set
the tone for much of the series.
Angela's family consisted of her daughters, Julia (Abby Dalton) and
Emma (Margaret Ladd), and her lazy playboy grandson, Lance (Lorenzo
Lamas), who aided her in her battles against Chase and, later, against
Richard Channing (David Selby). Julia worked as chief winemaker, though
often felt oppressed by her domineering mother. Emma did not work in
the family business and was emotionally troubled but kind natured. Lance
was Julia's playboy son from her failed marriage to Tony Cumson. Lance
loved money and yearned for power but lacked Angela's discipline and
determination, which was proven after she persuaded him to work in the
vineyards. Her ever-tightening grip on him eventually sent him to work for
his grandfather's newspaper, The San Francisco Globe. Aiding Angela in
her quest for more power was her crooked lawyer Phillip Erikson (Mel
Ferrer), who would later become her second husband.
Chase's family consisted of sympathetic wife Maggie (Susan
Sullivan), and his two grown children, Cole (William R. Moses) and Vickie
(Jamie Rose, later Dana Sparks). Maggie was a freelance writer who later
worked at The New Globe newspaper. Cole worked with Chase at the
winery, whereas Vickie was just finishing school when the series started.
Eventually realizing that she would not gain control over Chase's land

anytime soon, Angela hoped to enlarge her empire by forcing Lance into
an arranged marriage with winery heiress Melissa Agretti (briefly played
by Delores Cant, later by Ana Alicia), the daughter of Carlo Agretti who
owned the much-coveted Agretti Vineyards. However, much like Angela,
Melissa was also a selfish schemer and would cause trouble for many
residents of the Tuscany Valley. Cole was also romantically interested in
Melissa and the two had a brief affair before Melissa spurned him for
Lance, even though she was carrying Cole's child when they got married.
But none could truly rival Angela until the conniving Richard
Channing (David Selby) arrived in the show's second season. He was
believed to be the illegitimate son of Angela's ex-husband Douglas
Channing, and inherited most of his father's shares in the family
newspaper after Douglas died, which placed him in a position of
considerable power. Bent on retribution for the way he had been outcast,
Richard later got into the wine business and made several attempts to
wrest control of Falcon Crest from both Angela and Chase.
Plot[edit]
Early seasons[edit]
Despite its reputation as merely being "Dallas with grapes, Falcon
Crest soon found its own niche amongst the prime-time dramas of the
1980s, occupying the middle ground between the two extremes of the
genre being more glamorous than Dallas yet not quite as outrageous
as Dynasty. The distinctive location filming in the Napa Valley and the dry,
wryly humorous tone of the scripts gave the series a personality of its
own.

The rivalry among Angela, Chase and Richard stayed at the core of
the show for several years, as more romantic entanglements spun around
them. Lance and Cole found themselves not only caught up in their family
battles for control of Falcon Crest, but were also competing for Melissa's
affections.
Like Dallas and Dynasty, Falcon Crest employed the use of
memorable end-of-season cliffhangers to boost ratings. The 198283
season climaxed with the culmination of a murder mystery "whodunit"
plot (surrounding the death of Melissa's father, Carlo Agretti) that had
spanned most of the season. The killer was confronted in front of the
entire cast, only to produce a handgun. Shots were fired (and heard from
outside as the camera panned away from the mansion), which then faded
into the final scene of a coffin being lowered into the ground, leaving the
audience to wonder who had been killed.
The third season cliffhanger in 1984 involved a plane crash carrying
most of the major characters, resulting in the deaths of three of them. A
bomb explosion which ended the fourth season left Richard and Maggie in
peril, and an earthquake that rippled through the valley ended the fifth
season. The cliffhanger of the sixth season put Chase, Melissa, Richard,
newcomer Dan Fixx and Maggie's baby in danger of drowning in the San
Francisco bay area. At the end of the seventh season, Melissa had finally
wrested complete control of Falcon Crest away from Angela, while Richard
was apparently murdered by "The Thirteen", a powerful group of shady
businessmen whom he had turned against.

The series also frequently cast former Hollywood royalty in guest


roles; Lana Turner, Gina Lollobrigida, Cesar Romero, Robert Stack, Cliff
Robertson, Celeste Holm, and Kim Novakall appeared in Falcon Crest. This
aspect to the series seemed to be well embraced by the producers, who at
one stage instituted a rotating guest star policy. Leslie Caron, Lauren
Hutton, Eddie Albert, Eve Arden, Roscoe Lee Browne and Ursula
Andress all made appearances during the 19871988 season as did Rod
Taylor who would remain with the series until its final season. After
producer Jeff Freilich left the series at the end of the 1988 season, fewer
special guest stars came aboard to boost ratings, one of them
being Susan Blakely in the final year.

Later seasons[edit]
With the departures of many of the core cast, coupled with the
shifting tastes of the public in the mid 1980s, ratings began to drop (as
had ratings for all of the primetime soaps of that era). In the late
1980s, Soap Opera Digest named eighth season on Falcon Crest as "Most
Ruined Show". In the spring of 1988, the series placed 52nd in the ratings.
The series attempted to revitalize itself, much in the way that rival
soap Knots Landing had successfully done, but by the beginning of the
ninth (and final) season in 1989, Angela, Lance, and Emma were the only
three characters from the original first season cast remaining on the
series. During the 198990 Jane Wyman was absent for most of that
season due to her health problems.[2] The final season then revolved

around a battle between Richard and newcomer Michael Sharpe for


control of Falcon Crest.
CBS executives made the decision to end Falcon Crest when ratings
during the ninth season dropped to 81st place, and Jane Wyman defied
doctors' orders to return to the show for the last three episodes.[2] After
the many traumatic events over the course of nine seasons of the wine
country saga, Falcon Crest ended happily with a family wedding taking
place on the grounds of the mansion. Taking a walk outside, Angela
delivered a monologue (written by Wyman herself) that brought the series
to a conclusion, mentioning past characters and events but looking
forward to the future. The final scene of the series shows her toasting the
land, "A toast to you Falcon Crest, and long may you live."

Cast and characters[edit]


Main characters[edit]
Angela Channing (ne Gioberti) Jane Wyman
Angela is the tough, tyrannical matriarch of Falcon Crest and a
powerful woman in the Tuscany Valley, who is the principal character of
the series. Having two daughters Julia and Emma from her first
marriage to newspaper owner Douglas Channing, she goes on to marry
three more times. Determined to preserve and expand Falcon Crest for her
heirs, she ruthlessly combats any challengers, with her nephew Chase and

her ex-husband Douglas' allegedly illegitimate son Richard proving the


most formidable of her opponents. Angela married her devious lawyer
Phillip Erikson, but became a widow a short time later. She later married
her old flame, billionaire Peter Stavros though the marriage was
shortlived, and then married her old friend Frank Agretti. Angela was
almost killed by Charley St. James, who tried to smother her with a pillow.
She was left in a coma for several months before making a full recovery
and returning home. Jane Wyman appeared in almost every episode of the
series, for eight seasons, plus the first two and last three episodes of the
ninth season, for a total of 208 of the 227 episodes of the series, missing
19 episodes (mostly in the final season) due to health problems.
Chase Gioberti Robert Foxworth (19811987)
A former commercial airline pilot and Vietnam veteran, Chase
moves back to the Tuscany Valley from New York after the death of his
father. Having inherited some land from his father, Chase is determined to
make a go of running the winery which in turn brings him into conflict with
his aunt Angela. The mysterious nature of his father's death eventually
makes him half-owner of Falcon Crest, much to Angela's dismay.
Throughout the course of the series Chase is shot (twice) and later is
swept away by the waters of the San Francisco Bay (Robert Foxworth left
the series in 1987).
Lance Cumson Lorenzo Lamas
Lance is Julia's son and Angela's heir and grandson. A handsome
ladies' man, he enjoys a playboy lifestyle but is also used by Angela as a
henchman in her schemes. For a short time, Lance worked for his

grandfather's newspaper. His grandmother forces him to marry Melissa


Agretti purely so she can acquire the adjoining Agretti lands. After
divorcing Melissa, Lance then marries Richard's stepdaughter Lorraine,
who later dies. After relationships with singer Apollonia and a second
relationship with Melissa (who dies in the fire), Lance eventually marries
Pilar Ortega, the vineyard foreman's daughter. Lorenzo Lamas is the only
actor to appear in all 227 episodes of the series.
Cole Gioberti William R. Moses (19811986, 1987)
Chase and Maggie's adult son, he supports his father in his new
venture running the vineyards, foregoing his ambition to become an
archeologist like his grandfather Paul Hartford. He falls in love with Melissa
Agretti, and fathers her son, Joseph. After Melissa's divorce from Lance,
Cole marries her though the marriage is equally as brief. Cole also fathers
a child with Melissa's cousin Robin, who agreed to be a surrogate mother
for the couple but kept the child (Hope) herself. Cole leaves the Tuscany
Valley for Australia in 1986, though was seen again in 1987 when Melissa
and Joseph went to visit him.
Vickie Gioberti Jamie Rose (19811983), Dana
Sparks (19861988)
Chase's and Maggie's daughter, she initially struggles with her
family's move from New York to the Tuscany Valley, and has particular
trouble with the men in her life. In 1983, she married Nick Hogan who
turned out to be using her. After the marriage was dissolved, Vickie then
leaves the valley. She returns three years later (now played by actress
Dana Sparks), more grown up but still choosing the wrong men. She

eventually marries Angela's stepson, Eric Stavros, but the marriage is


turbulent and does not last. However, she later leaves the valley for good
when Eric's father Peter begs her to help Eric after he has a nervous
breakdown and is institutionalized and presumably moves to Australia
near her brother Cole.
Julia Cumson (ne Channing) Abby Dalton (19811986)
Angela's eldest daughter and the mother of Lance and Father
Christopher (a son she thought was stillborn). Julia works as a wine-maker
at Falcon Crest, but is continually oppressed by her domineering mother
who succeeded in driving her husband Tony away. She had an affair with
Carlo Agretti and murdered him to protect Falcon Crest from falling into his
hands. When confronted about the first killing, she pulled a gun and killed
Chase's mother Jacqueline Perrault in the ensuing struggle. Originally she
was sentenced to life in prison without the possibility of parole, but she
was deemed unfit and was institutionalized. Having escaped from the
psychiatric hospital to kill Angela for the years she controlled her life, she
presumably died in a cabin fire when a Sheriff's deputy shot at her and hit
a kerosene lamp instead. She returned the following year having known a
way out of the cabin before going into it. She left for a convent in Oregon
and her sentence was later commuted. She suffered hysterical blindness
after the earthquake and returned to the convent anyway and was never
seen on Falcon Crest again. She was mentioned a few times though, in
passing and a pregnant Emma left to visit her near the end of the series.

Maggie Gioberti Channing (ne Hartford) Susan


Sullivan (19811989)
Chase's wife, Maggie is a freelance writer who supports her husband
in his endeavour to build a new life for their family in Tuscany Valley. A
warm-hearted but resilient woman, Maggie becomes the sympathetic
heroine of the series. Maggie later marries Richard Channing after Chase's
death, though the marriage does not run smoothly and she suffers with
alcoholism while married to him. Susan Sullivan appeared in all the
episodes of the series for eight seasons, plus the first two episodes of the
final season at which point Maggie was killed when she drowned in a
swimming pool.
Emma Channing Margaret Ladd (19811989)
Angela's younger daughter, she played a central role in her uncle
Jason's accidental death and has been emotionally fragile ever since.
Despite her fragile nature, Emma is good-hearted and kind-natured,
though she eventually learns to resist Angela's constant attempts to
control her. Much unlucky in love, her relationships with men always end
in heartache or tragedy. Eventually she had a baby and named it after her
mother, Angela.
Chao-Li Chao-Li Chi
Angela's faithful Chinese majordomo and chauffeur.
Phillip Erikson Mel Ferrer (19811984)
Angela's unscrupulous lawyer, and eventually her second husband.
Phillip made a career out of advancing Angela's reputation and control of

the Tuscany Valley. He dies only a short time after their wedding in the
plane crash that also killed Dr. Michael Ranson and Linda Caproni.

Melissa Agretti - Delores Cantu (1982), Ana Alicia (1982


1988)
Melissa is a feisty, selfish young heiress who inherits her father's
land, the Agretti Vineyards. She agrees to a marriage of convenience with
Lance in order to gain control of Falcon Crest. Melissa is the mother of
Joseph Gioberti, following an affair with Cole Gioberti whom she later
marries. Ana Alicia joined the cast later in the first season (replacing
Delores Cantu, who played the part for one episode only) and left early in
the eighth season when Melissa died in a fire. However, the actress
returned for several episodes later in the eighth season to play a Melissa
lookalike, Samantha Ross.
Richard Channing David Selby (19821990)
A ruthless businessman, Richard first appears as the allegedly
illegitimate outcast son of Angela's husband Douglas, having inherited
half of his father's newspaper, the San Francisco Globe. Richard proves to
be a formidable adversary of both Angela and Chase, and later even
manages to gain a one-third ownership of Falcon Crest. Bent on revenge
for being outcast as a child, it is later discovered that Richard is actually
Angela's son who was reported to have died as a newborn infant by
doctors. He is also the father of Michael Channing, following his
relationship with businesswoman Cassandra Wilder. He is blackmailed into

marrying Terry Hartford (Maggie's sister), and later marries Maggie herself.
Following Maggie's death, he marries Maggie's second cousin, Lauren
Daniels. After he joined the series in 1982, actor David Selby appeared in
all the episodes until the series concluded in 1990.
Terry Hartford Laura Johnson (19831986)
Maggie Gioberti's younger sister. Beautiful but devious, she is a
former call girl who creates scandal in Tuscany Valley with her attempts to
move up the society ladder. After marrying Chase's cousin Michael
Ranson, she inherits his wealth following his death in the plane crash at
the end of Season 3, and later blackmails Richard Channing into marrying
her. However she was killed a short time later in an earthquake that shook
the valley.
Pamela Lynch Sarah Douglas (19831985), Martine
Beswick (1985)
Personal assistant and brief love-interest to Richard Channing and a
former employee of the deadly mafia-type organisation, the Cartel.
Capable of being ruthless and scheming, she also had a softer side and
was especially fond of Richard Channing's stepdaughter Lorraine Prescott.
After finding out Richard had been recording every conversation in his
office, even hers, she betrays him by giving Maggie taped evidence that
clears Lance of trying to kill Angela. She also gains control of a winery
needed by Angela, Richard and Chase and earns a $10 million dollar profit
by selling it them at a higher price. In revenge, Richard turns her file over
to Interpol and she then tries to kill Richard by blowing up his house,

injuring him and Maggie. In order to evade capture, she then had plastic
surgery to alter her appearance.
Greg Reardon Simon MacCorkindale (19841986)
A sharp British lawyer who works for Angela, though he rarely
approves of her methods. He first pursues Melissa Agretti, then later
becomes involved with Terry Hartford. After he discovers she was working
for Richard Channing, he later becomes involved with lawyer Jordan
Roberts whom he eventually leaves the Tuscany Valley with.
Gustav Riebmann Paul Freeman (1984)
The son of a Nazi war criminal, he becomes the head of the sinister
Cartel after he assassinated his own father. He moves to the Tuscany
Valley in an attempt to gain control of Falcon Crest, knowing that there
was a priceless art treasure buried under the estate decades earlier.
Gustav along with his assistant Renee are both perish in a cave in.
Father Christopher Rossini Ken Olin (19851986)
Priest and illegitimate son of Julia Cumson and the late Dominic
Rossini. Julia became pregnant with Christopher when she was only a
teenager, at which point Angela ran Dominic Rossini out of the valley.
After he was born, Angela told Julia that the baby had died and allowed
him to be raised in a Catholic orphanage in Marysville, Connecticut. When
Dominic's wife Anna and daughter Cassandra returned to the Tuscany
Valley years later to wreak revenge for what Angela allegedly did to their
family, Angela was forced to tell Christopher he was her grandson.
Peter Stavros Cesar Romero (19851987, 1988)

Billionaire Greek industrialist and an old flame of Angela's who helps


her win Falcon Crest back from the Rossini family. He eventually becomes
Angela's third husband.
Eric Stavros John Callahan (19861988)
Peter Stavros' playboy son, who first romances Melissa but later
marries Vickie Gioberti. He is brainwashed by The Thirteen to kill Richard
Channing but is later institutionalized.
Dan Fixx Brett Cullen (19861988)
Son of Tucker Fixx and his first wife Elizabeth Bradbury, old
acquaintances of Angela's. He later becomes a ward and friend of
Angela's.
Frank Agretti Rod Taylor (19881990)
Uncle to Melissa, Robin and Chris Agretti and father to Nick Agretti.
He is a friend of Angela's and becomes her fourth husband out of
convenience - to help her leave the psychiatric ward so she can live under
his conservatorship.
Nick Agretti David Beecroft (19881989)
Frank Agretti's son with his ex-wife Claire and Melissa's cousin, who
becomes the executor of her estate (Falcon Crest and the Agretti
Vineyards) after her death to manage it for until her son Joseph's 21st
birthday. Nick's teenage son, Ben, is a product of his past relationship with
the Italian heiress Anna Cellini, though Anna's tyranical father never
approved of Nick, he wants to claim Ben as his grandson. Angela uses Ben
to blackmail Nick into signing Falcon Crest back over to her.
Pilar Ortega Kristian Alfonso (19881990)

Former teenage sweetheart of Lance Cumson and eventually his


wife. Her father, Cesar, is the Falcon Crest Winery foreman.
Lauren Sharpe Daniels Wendy Phillips (19891990)
Maggie's second cousin and love interest for Richard Channing, who
later becomes his wife.
Michael Sharpe Gregory Harrison (19891990)
Maggie's second cousin, brother of Lauren, and a ruthless
businessman who becomes an opponent of Richard Channing in a battle
for control of Falcon Crest.
Genele Ericson Andrea Thompson (19891990)
Frank Agretti's murderous sister-in-law.
Recurring characters[edit]
Joseph Gioberti - Jason Goldberg (19831987)
Joseph is the son of Cole Gioberti and Melissa Agretti. Although
Melissa was already pregnant with Joseph by the time she married Lance,
it emerged that Cole was his father and a bitter custody battle ensued.
Angela later convinced Melissa to give Joseph to Cole in return for Chase
returning her half of Falcon Crest after a legal dispute. Melissa agreed on
the condition that she was to become Angela's sole heir. Years later, when
Melissa became increasingly unstable, Joseph eventually went to live with
Cole in Australia.
Douglas Channing Stephen Elliott (19811982)
Angela's estranged first husband and father of Julia, Emma and
Richard. He is owner of The San Francisco Globe newspaper, and following
his death he bequeaths half of his shares to his illegitimate son Richard.

Tony Cumson John Saxon (1982, 19861988)/ Robert


Loggia (1982)
Julia's husband and Lance's father who was driven away by Angela.
Father Bob Bob Curtis
Catholic priest and Angela's friend and confidant.
Carlo Agretti Carlos Romero (1982)
Melissa's wealthy father and owner of the Agretti vineyards. He is
murdered by Julia Cumson.
Anna Gioberti - Vanna Salviati (1982)
A distant Gioberti relative who gives Cole a collection of mysterious
letters, which underscore the enduring bitterness between Angela and
Jason.
Gus Nunouz Nick Ramus (19811982)
Foreman at the vineyard and a friend to Chase.
Mario Nunouz Mario Marcelino (1982)
Gus Nunouz's son who becomes romantically involved with Vickie
Gioberti. He leaves town with his mother Alicia following his father's
death.

Alicia Nunouz Silvana Gallardo (1982)


Wife of Gus Nunouz, and mother of Mario. She leaves town with her
son following her husband Gus's death
Diana Hunter Shannon Tweed (19821983)
Personal assistant to Richard Channing who is working for the
sinister Cartel organization.

Darryl Clayton Bradford Dillman (19821983)


Film producer who works with Maggie Gioberti on a screenplay she
is writing, but is actually part of a plot by Angela to destroy her marriage
to Chase.
Katherine Demery Joanna Cassidy (1982)
The owner of a small vineyard who has a brief romantic involvement
with much younger Cole Gioberti before leaving the valley.
Nick Hogan Roy Thinnes (19821983)
Vickie Gioberti's first husband, who married her for her family's
fortune. He was later exposed and Vickie ended the marriage.
Sheila Hogan Katherine Justice (19821983)
Former wife of Nick Hogan, whom she is still secretly involved with
as he marries Vickie Gioberti.
Amanda Croft - Anne Jeffreys (1982-1983)
Phillip Erikson's love interest.
Linda Caproni Mary Kate McGeehan (19831984)
Cole Gioberti's first wife who dies in a plane crash.
Vince Caproni Harry Basch (19831984)
Linda's father who disapproves of her marriage to Cole Gioberti.
Following his daughters, he leaves the valley to live with relatives.
Joel McCarthy Parker Stevenson (19841985)
Terry Hartford's unsrupulous ex-husband and a drug addict. He
comes to the Tuscany Valley to blackmail Terry as their marriage was
never divorced (meaning her marriage to Michael Ranson was never

legal). He is paid by Melissa to frame Lance for the attempted murder of


Angela.
Lorraine Prescott Kate Vernon (19841985)
Stepdaughter of Richard Channing and love interest for Lance.
Though neither Angela or Richard approve of their relationship, Lorraine
marries Lance after she becomes pregnant with his child, but she and her
unborn baby are later killed after a fall.
Charlotte Pershing Jane Greer (1984)
Maggie's biological mother who gave her up for adoption at birth.
She has a gambling addiction that Angela uses to her advantage.
Connie Gianinni Carla Borelli (1985)
The beautiful owner of the Gianinni Vineyards, she begins working
with Chase whom she is attracted to.
Damon Ross (Rossini) Jonathan Frakes (19841985)
Brother of Cassandra Wilder, and son of Anna and Dominic Rossini.
Damon works for his sister at Wilder Advertising, a top San Francisco ad
agency, from where they both plot to take over Falcon Crest and ruin
Angela for her alleged crimes against their family. He briefly romances
Emma which deters him from taking part in the final takeover.
Robin Agretti Barbara Howard (19851986)
Melissa's cousin, the daughter of Philip and Theresa Agretti. Robin
comes to visit Melissa, and later agrees to help her and Cole by being a
surrogate mother as Melissa cannot have any more children. However she
becomes attracted to Cole and undermines his marriage to Melissa at
every opportunity. When she eventually gives birth to a baby girl (named

Hope), she leaves the valley with the child, determined that Melissa will
never raise her. Robin's father Phillip dies sometime before Frank Agretti
returns to the Tuscany Valley.
Apollonia Apollonia Kotero (19851986)
A singer who becomes romantically involved with Lance. When her
career eventually takes off, she leaves San Francisco.
Dwayne Cooley Daniel Greene (19851986)
A dashing truck driver who falls for Emma Channing. He later goes
into the wine distribution business with Chase. Dwayne and Emma intend
to marry (much against Angela's wishes) but he is killed in the earthquake
that devastated the valley in 1986.
Jeff Wainwright Edward Albert (1986)
A press agent for a book written by Maggie Gioberti, but whose
interest in Maggie takes on a disturbing nature. He begins stalking Maggie
and later kidnaps and rapes her.
Li-Ying Chi Rosalind Chao (1986)
Chao-Li's daughter who comes to the Tuscany Valley to visit her
father. Li-Ying works as a seismologist and she predicted the deadly
earthquake that occurred in the Tuscany Valley.
Erin Jones Jill Jacobson (19851986)
An unscrupulous woman who performs underhanded work for
Angela (such as infecting Chase's vineyards with a parasite). She later
works for Richard Channing, tries to doublecross him, but her plan
backfires. Responsible for shooting Chase Gioberti.
Meredith Braxton Jane Badler (19861987)

Erin Jones' sister, and later assistant to Richard Channing after her
sister's death. After being spurned by him, she later turns on Richard and
provides Angela with information that will ruin him.
Guy Stafford Jeff Kober (1986)
Hired killer sent to kill Kit Marlowe.
Vince Karlotti Marjoe Gortner (19861987)
A charlatan posing as a psychic medium who has Emma Channing
under his spell. When he marries her, it is revealed that he is a
polygamist.
Francine Hope Melba Moore (1987)
An adoption attorney who tries to help Maggie Gioberti trace her
baby.
Gabrielle Short Cindy Morgan (19871988)
Love interest for Chase following the end of his marriage to Maggie.
Dina Wells Robin Greer (19861987)
Love interest for Lance who is crippled after a racing car accident
and is killed by a psychotic nurse. Greer and Lamas were also briefly
engaged in real life, but split up in 1987. Their onscreen relationship
followed suit.
Garth Carl Held (19861989)
Personal assistant and head of security for Richard Channing.
John Remick Ed Marinaro (1987)
Vietnam veteran and an old friend of Chase's who visits Maggie
following Chase's death.
Carly Fixx Mariska Hargitay (19871988)

Dan Fixx's alleged half-sister who has romantic feelings for him.
When they discover they are not actually related, they become involved
and leave the Tuscany Valley. During her stay, Carly becomes a close
friend of Angela's.
Ben Agretti Brandon Douglas (19881989)
Son of Nick Agretti and Anna Cellini.
Anna Cellini Assumpta Serna (19881989)
An old flame of Nick Agretti's and the mother of his son, Ben. Her
relationship with Nick was thwarted by her powerful, tyranical father. Anna
comes to the Tuscany Valley to re-establish contact with Nick and Ben
when she discovers she is terminally ill.
Cesar Ortega Castulo Guerra (19881989)
Pilar Ortega's father who works as the foreman at Falcon Crest.Cesar
left the valley with his two sons to live near his sister Mercedes.
Mercedes Vargas Martha Velez (1988)
Aunt to Pilar Ortega who is secretly raising Pilar's daughter Lisa.
Tommy Ortega Dan Ferro (19881989)
Pilar Ortega's brother who goes to work at the Tuscany Herald
newspaper and becomes attracted to Maggie.Tommy leaves town with his
father Cesar and his brother Gabriel to live near his Aunt Mercedes.
Gabriel Ortega Danny Nucci (19881989)
Pilar Ortega's younger brother who befriends Ben Agretti.
Chris Agretti - Chris Young (1989)

Nephew to Frank (son of a late unnamed Agretti brother), who ends


up becoming involved with Sydney before being killed by her husband Ian
St. James
Charley St. James Mark Lindsay Chapman (19891990)
Sleazy villain who manipulates his way into Emma's affections and
tries to kill Angela.
Ian St. James David Hunt (19891990)
Charley St. James' brother who is responsible for the deaths of
Emma's husband R.D. Young (a.k.a. Daniel Cabot) and Frank's nephew
Chris Agretti.
Sydney St. James Carla Gugino (19891990)
Young wife of Ian St. James who has an affair with Chris Agretti.
Danny Sharpe David Sheinkopf (19891990)
Headstrong young man who believes that Michael Sharpe is his
father but later finds out Richard Channing is.
Walker Daniels Robert Ginty (19891990)
Lauren Daniels' unstable husband.
Special guest stars[edit]
Jacqueline Perrault Lana Turner (19821983)
Chase's flamboyant mother and a bitter enemy of Angela. She was
co-founder of the Cartel. Years earlier, Jacqueline had an affair with
Angela's first husband Douglas and later told Richard that she was his
mother - though it later emerged that this was not true. When Julia
Cumson was revealed the murderer of Carlo Agretti and began shooting,
Jacqueline was killed.

Dr. Michael Ranson Cliff Robertson (19831984)


Jacqueline's nephew & Chase's cousin who starts working as a
neurosurgeon at the Tuscany Valley's hospital. He later marries Terry
Hartford but is killed in the plane crash that also killed Phillip Erikson and
Linda Caproni.

Francesca Gioberti Gina Lollobrigida (1984)


Angela's Italian half-sister who visits Tuscany Valley with a claim to a
share of Falcon Crest, which she later sells to Richard.
Paul Hartford - Andrew Duggan (19841985)
Maggie's and Terry's archeologist father. Paul adopted Maggie with
his late wife Margaret.
Cassandra Wilder Anne Archer (19841985)
A cool, calculating businesswoman who becomes involved with
Richard. She later manages to gain controlling interest in Falcon Crest
which she plans to destroy because of Angela's crimes against her family.
Daughter of Anna Rossini, brother of Damon Ross (Rossini), half-brother of
Father Christopher Rossini. Cassandra becomes pregnant with Richard's
child (Michael) but she dies in childbirth.
Anna Rossini Celeste Holm (1985)
A bitter widow with an old score to settle with Angela. Mother of
Cassandra Wilder and Damon Ross. She was institutionalized after trying
to kill Angela by setting Falcon Crest on fire, as part of her revenge against
Angela for supposedly driving her husband to commit suicide. Aware of,

but in denial of the affair her husband had with Julia Cumson, that led to
the birth of Christopher Rossini.
Jordan Roberts Morgan Fairchild (19851986)
A glamorous attorney who works for Richard Channing and helps
him rebuild his empire after he loses his share of Falcon Crest and goes
bankrupt. Although a sharp, intelligent woman, Jordan hides a dark secret
as she suffers from multiple personality disorder following years of abuse
at the hands of her father who molested her as a child. She later becomes
involved with Greg Reardon and, after receiving treatment for her
condition, the two of them leave the Tuscany Valley.
Kit Marlowe Kim Novak (19861987)
A woman with a shady past who poses as Peter Stavros' dead stepdaughter. She causes mayhem when she arrives in Tuscany Valley, and is
pursued by a deadly gangster Roland Saunders, who is intent on killing
her. Kit eventually becomes involved with Lance's father Tony and the two
of them leave to go and live on Peter's private island, only to later part
ways.
Roland Saunders Robert Stack (1987)
Mafioso-type criminal who is out to kill Kit Marlowe. He is killed by
Peter Stavros.
Nicole Sauguet Leslie Caron (1987)
Wealthy French woman and old friend of Chase's who arrives in the
valley following his death claiming she loaned him 30 million dollars.
Liz McDowell Lauren Hutton (1987)

A businesswoman who has dealings with (and romantic designs


towards) Richard Channing.
Carlton Travis Eddie Albert (1987)
Villain whose dealings with Angela and Richard turn deadly.
Lillian Nash Darlington Eve Arden (1987)
A Washington society hostess and the wife of a Supreme Court
judge whom Angela asks for help in dealing with Carlton Travis.
Rosemont - Roscoe Lee Browne (1988)
The apparent leader of The Thirteen, a group of corrupt
businessmen with whom Richard Channing gets entangled with. He and
The Thirteen are later eliminated by John Remick, following orders of his
brother, U.S. Senator Peter Ryder.
Madame Malec Ursula Andress (1988)
An exotic woman whom Richard Channing deals with in his efforts to
rescue Vickie Gioberti from a white slave ring. She is later found murdered
in Richard's bed.
The Vintage Years[edit]
A pilot episode for the series entitled The Vintage Years was filmed
in the spring of 1981 but never aired, and featured a number of significant
differences from the series that would air in December. The character of
Richard Channing was present in the original pilot, played by Michael
Swan; this alternate Richard was Angela's biological son fighting for his
domineering mother's favor. Abby Dalton's character, Julia, was called
Dorcas, Jane Wyman wore a grey wig as Angela, and Chase and Maggie
were played by Clu Gulager andSamantha Eggar respectively. Emma was

not seen but there was a subplot concerning a mysterious woman crying
for her mother while locked away in one of the upstairs rooms.[3]
Though never broadcast or released on DVD, The Vintage Years pilot
was made available for download on the AOL video-on-demand
service In2TV.
Behind the scenes[edit]
Lorimar producers searching for a location to use as the principal
backdrop for the show decided upon Spring Mountain Vineyard, a winery
located in St. Helena, in California's Napa Valley. This site contained the
1884 Victorian mansion "Villa Miravalle", the exterior for which was used
as the Falcon Crest mansion where Angela lived with her daughters Julia,
Emma and her grandson, Lance, as well as the winery building which had
just been constructed in the mid-1970s.[4] As a tie-in, the Spring Mountain
Winery also produced a "Falcon Crest" wine during the show's run.
Barbara Stanwyck had been considered for the role of Angela
Channing but turned it down. The role then went to Stanwyck's friend Jane
Wyman.
According to rumor, Jane Wyman had a running feud with Robert
Foxworth, to the point where they measured each other's dressing room
trailers just to make sure they were equal in size.[5] When Foxworth
became a director for the show, Wyman demanded CBS add a clause to
her contract also allowing her to be a director. Although she ultimately
never directed any episodes, Wyman was pleased that she had the same
designation as Foxworth.[citation needed]

It was reported that Wyman had had a long-running feud with fellow
movie star legend Lana Turner which dated back to their Hollywood years.
[6]

Reportedly, the two actresses quickly refused to speak to each other

and the producers had to film their confrontational scenes separately and
then splice them together; Turner was written out of the show soon after.
[7]

Reportedly, a few years after she appeared on the program, Turner

noted that she believed Wyman was negative in demeanor due to the fact
that her ex-husband, Ronald Reagan, was elected President during the
1980s, something that Turner believed Wyman could not reconcile within
herself.[8] Lana Turner appeared on The Phil Donahue Show in 1982 and
emphatically denied the rumors of the reported feud. "It's a bunch of bull.
It's all publicity trying to drum up a feud between us. I adore Ms. Wyman. I
respect her as a lady and an artist, and there is no feud."[9]
Sophia Loren was set to star in the role of Francesca Gioberti,
Angela's secret half-sister who comes to the valley to threaten Angela's
control of Falcon Crest. Loren was to play thirteen episodes, and producers
promised a fabulous wardrobe and a dynamic character that would
rival Dynasty's Alexis Carrington. At the last minute, negotiations with
Loren fell through and Gina Lollobrigida was then cast in the role, but only
signed on for four episodes. Interestingly, Loren was also Aaron Spelling's
first choice for the role of Alexis Carrington in Dynasty, but was passed
over as she was requesting too much money, thus allowing the role to go
to Joan Collins.
According to Dallas creator David Jacobs, before auditioning
for Falcon Crest, Robert Foxworth turned down the role of J. R.

Ewing on Dallas because he did not want to play such an unsympathetic


character. The role ultimately went to Larry Hagman.[10]
Possible reboot[edit]
With the success of the relaunch of Dallas, stars of the CBS
primetime soap have been approached about appearing in a reboot of the
show. It has been proposed that the series would focus on William Moses'
character, Cole Gioberti and David Selby's Richard Channing.[11]
Nielsen ratings[edit]

Season 1 (19811982): #13 (21.4)

Season 2 (19821983): #8 (20.7)

Season 3 (19831984): #7 (22.0)

Season 4 (19841985): #10 (19.9)

Season 5 (19851986): #24 (18.1)

Season 6 (19861987): #23 (17.3)

Season 7 (19871988): #42 (N/A)

Season 8 (19881989): #52 (N/A)

Season 9 (19891990): #81 (N/A)

Music[edit]
Falcon Crest's theme tune was composed by Bill Conti, who also
composed the themes to Dynasty, The Colbys and Cagney & Lacey.
Several variations of the main theme were commissioned throughout the
series' run, though the most different of these was the theme for season 9

which was done in a heavily synthetic, new-age style by musician Patrick


O'Hearn.
There were also stylistic changes to the incidental music. During
seasons 1 to 5, the music was performed by an orchestra; composed
mainly by Dana Kaproff and Peter Myers. In seasons 6 and 7, the
background music became electronic-based and was performed by single
artists using a synclavier, one of the early high-tech synthesizers. Mark
Snow, who later composed the theme of The X-Files was the main
composer and performing musician from 1986-88. During season 8, the
music returned to a more classical style, before the composers returned to
the electronic style for the final season with the score provided by newage composer Patrick O'Hearn.
Opening credits[edit]
Like Knots Landing, Falcon Crest ran different styles of opening
credits. The opening scenes of the introduction show Angela Channing
being driven from San Francisco to the Falcon Crest vineyard as the Bill
Conti composed theme music begins to play. After she arrives at the
Falcon Crest mansion the Falcon Crest coat of arm and title cards appear.
In season 1 and in the first half of season 2, each actor's title card was
followed by a multi-picture combo. In the second half of season 2 and in
seasons 3 and 4, the multi-picture combos were replaced by location
footage transitions.
In season 5, the scenes of the limousine driving Angela from San
Francisco to Falcon Crest were eliminated and the title cards appeared

directly over the location footages, in a similar style to the opening credits
of Dynasty. The previous logo for the first four seasons was updated.
In seasons 6 and 7, rippling elliptical transitions between the title
card and cast credit screens were added. The logo was also redesigned
with new colors and typeface. In season 7, the falcon graphic was
animated to fly across the screen before freezing in the centre and
becoming the coat of arms. Season 8 had a more basic variation of this
style.
The final season utilized a completely different style. Each actor's
title card was immediately followed by footage depicting sex or violence in
order to cultivate the atmosphere of a crime drama.
DVD releases[edit]
The rights to the series are held by Warner Bros. (successor-ininterest to the original production company Lorimar). The first season was
released on DVD in various European countries in April and May 2009 and
the second season was released from October 2009 onwards, again in
various European countries.[12]
Warner Bros. has released the first three seasons on DVD in Region
1. Seasons 2 & 3 were released via the Warner Archive Collection as
Manufacture-on-Demand (MOD) releases. Season 3 was released on May
28, 2013.[13]
See also[edit]

List of Falcon Crest episodes


References[edit]

1.

Jump up^ "Findings:@Everything2.com". Everything2.com.


Retrieved 2012-09-19.
^ Jump up to:a

2.

"Jane Wyman biography". Archived from the

original on March 1, 2005. Retrieved 2009-03-31.


3.

Jump up^ "Deutscher FALCON CREST - Fanclub / German


FALCON CREST Fan Club". www.falconcrest.org. 2012-02-13. Retrieved
2012-09-19.

4.

Jump up^ "Spring Mountain Vineyard: Winery History".


Springmtn.com. Retrieved 2012-09-19.

5.

Jump up^ "Falcon Crest Behind the Scenes". Archived


from the original on February 9, 2005. Retrieved 2009-03-31.

6.

Jump up^ "Jane Wyman". The Times (London). September 11,


2007. Retrieved May 2, 2010.

7.

Jump up^ "Internet Archive Wayback Machine".


Web.archive.org. 2009-10-27. Retrieved 2012-09-19.

8.

Jump up^ http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0081858/trivia

9.

Jump up^ "Lana Turner Interview 1982 (Falcon Crest)".


YouTube. 2010-01-02. Retrieved 2012-09-19.

10.

Jump up^ Simon Hoggart, "Simon Hoggart's week: High-class

rolling stones in Boulder", The Guardian April 15, 2006


11.

Jump up^ [1]

12.

Jump up^ "Deutscher FALCON CREST - Fanclub / German

FALCON CREST Fan Club". www.falconcrest.org. Retrieved 2012-09-19.


13.
is...Today!

Jump up^ 'The Complete 3rd Season' DVD's Release Date

External links[edit]

www.falconcrest.org (authorized fan club website)

Falcon Crest at the Internet Movie Database

Falcon Crest at TV.com

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