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Knots Landing : Synopsis, Pictures, Photos, Trivia, Filming Locations

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Knots Landing

Knots Landing Dates : 1979 - 1993
344 episodes of 45 min
First broadcasting : 12 avril 1988
Creator(s) : David Jacobs
Producer(s) : David Jacobs et Michael Filerman
Music : Shuki Levy, Haïm Saban et Alain Garcia
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French Traduire

Synopsis

This soap opera tells the life of four couples, all living in the same dead end (cul-de-sac), the "sea roundabout" (Seaview Circle), in the small (fictitious) town of Knots Landing (in the south of California). Among these couples there is that formed by Gary Ewing (J.R.'s brother and Bobby du soap opera Dallas) and his wife Valene, Karen and Sid Fairgate (mechanic), Laura and Richard Avery (lawyer) and Kenny and Ginger Ward (producer of music). And long before Wisteria Lane, there too, women are at home and most often desperate! Over the seasons, among others will appear Abby Cunnigham (Sid's sister, with a devouring ambition), Mack Mackenzie (lawyer then prosecutor), Paige Matheson (his daughter) and Greg Sumner (politician then blasé businessman).

Côte Ouest (Knots Landing in original version) was an American television series in 15 seasons which was broadcast between 1979 and 1993. The series was centered on a fictitious residential community called Knots Landing, located in a wealth suburb of Los Angeles, California . It was created by David Jacobs, who had also created the famous Dallas soap opera.

The series featured a group of main characters, mainly couples, who lived in luxurious houses and tried to sail in the troubled waters of daily life in their upscale community. The characters were often involved in complex intrigues and personal dramas, and the series tackled subjects such as marital infidelities, family conflicts and drug problems.

The casting of the series included actors such as Michele Lee, Kevin Dobson, Donna Mills, Ted Shackelford, Joan Van Ark and William Devane. The series was a critical and commercial success, and has won numerous awards, including a Primetime Emmy Award for the best actress in a dramatic television series for Michele Lee.

Although Côte Ouest was initially a Dallas spin-off, the series quickly established its own tone and its own universe, and has become one of the most popular and lasting television series of the 1980s. It was Broadcast in many countries around the world, and has won a large base of faithful fans. Despite its end in 1993, the series remains popular with television fans around the world.

The Actors

William Devane - Gregory

William Devane


(Gregory "Greg" Sumner)

Photos

Photos Knots Landing n_0 Photos Knots Landing n_1

Trivia

Two cast members remained with the series from the first episode in 1979 until the final episode in 1993: Michele Lee and Ted Shackelford. Lee is the only actor to have appeared in all 344 episodes.

During the first few seasons, there was always a certain amount of interplay between this show and "Dallas" (1978), from which it was a spin off. Gary and Val both appeared in the final episode of "Dallas" as the angel showed J.R. how different their lives would have been if J.R. wasn't born.

This show was actually created before "Dallas" (1978), but the producers were unable to sell it. They developed Dallas instead and when that became a success, and the network asked for a spinoff, they were able to dust off the Knots Landing idea.

Even though Gary got a phone call telling him Bobby was dead, the whole Pam dreaming Bobby was dead/Bobby returning that happened in Dallas was never resolved in the Knots Landing storyline. The producers of Knots Landing chose not to go along with its parent series in order not to confuse viewers, so Bobby Ewing remained dead on Knots Landing, and the series never associated itself with Dallas again.

The character of Sid Fairgate was killed off because Don Murray quit the show in 1981 over a salary dispute.

The actual cul-de-sac used to film the series is located at Crystalaire Place in Granada Hills, California. The owners of the homes allowed filming to take place on the outside exteriors of the houses, but all interior shots were filmed on a studio soundstage.

The opening credits show that the cul-de-sac is near by the Pacific Ocean. This image is actually altered in post-production as the actual cul-de-sac used to film the series is butted-up against a golf course. The nearest beach is several miles away.

The Season Nine episodes (Noises Everywhere, Part one and two) were the shows 200th and 201st episodes respectively. Dealing with the death of Laura and her funeral, the episodes were conceived by the cast members who spent a weekend at producer David Jacobs ranch and improvised their scenes before filming them.

Donna Mills once claimed that she did all her own make-up for her character Abby Ewing.

Michelle Phillips was asked to reprise her character as scheming Anne Matheson to fill the void of the shows main villain following the departure of Donna Mills in 1989. But audiences felt she was too weak a character and someone they couldn't sympathy for compared to the more popular Abby Ewing so the writers created Claudia Whitaker played by Kathleen Noone who was seen as a more Abby like character.

Lisa Hartman-Black and Stacy Galina both played characters that were killed off, only to re-appear as another character.

Larry Riley had been on Knots Landing for five seasons playing cop-cum-attorney Frank Williams when in February 1992 audiences were shocked when they saw his haggard appearance after the show had been on a five-month hiatus. Larry explained had he had lost 80 pounds (from 220) during that time due to kidney trouble which he attributed to "high blood pressure" and would be on dialysis for the remainder of his life. After his death only four months later, his widow Nina disclosed that Larry's renal failure was actually due to AIDS

Michelle Lee divorced her real life husband James Farantino during the shows early days. In the scene whereby her character Karen Fairgate took off her wedding ring at her husband Sid's grave, she was actually taking off her real wedding ring from her marriage to Farentino for the last time in order to make the scene appear more real.

It was decided that the shows 13th season (1992-1993) were to be the last. Due to falling ratings and high production cost, the producers and the Network decided that less episodes would be produced and all actors were required to be absent from at least some of the episodes. Michelle Lee believed that audiences wouldn't accept a Karen-less episode and offered to film some of episodes free, Therefore she became the only character to appear in all 344 episodes.

The theme song, written by Jerold Immel was re-arranged for every season.

After the series' finale, both Kevin Dobson and Nicollette Sheridan, attended the funeral of the late Telly Savalas, who died in 1994 of prostate cancer. Long before Dobson's role of Knots, his first co-starring role was with Savalas in the critically-acclaimed 1970's cop series, 'Kojak', as Sheridan is Savalas's stepdaughter in real-life.

After 4 years of playing Richard Avery, John Pleshette wanted to leave the show in hoping to direct some episodes of Knots Landing, when the producers wouldn't allow him to at that time. Jacobs' gave Pleshette permission to direct the episodes, midway throughout Season 10.

At the beginning of the fifth all the way through the thirteenth season, Gary Ewing's character (played by Ted Shackelford) owned a ranch called, Westfork. In real-life, the ranch where Shackelford's character lived is called: Sandstone Horse Sales, a place for horse racing and breeding located in Thousand Oaks, California.

Joan Van Ark and Ted Shackelford were cast as a couple as a result of appearing together in an episode of _"New Adventures of Wonder Woman, The" (1976)_ (though their characters were adversaries on that show, they had chemistry).

Filming

Filming locations:

Authors of the card

  • Creation date: 2008/11/30 by fredonissa74

. Source(s) : http://fr.wikipedia.org/wiki/C%C3%B4te_Ouest_(feuilleton_t%C3%A9l%C3%A9vis%C3%A9)

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