Sandy Dvore designed the main title of 'Knots Landing' for the seasons 1987-89. Sandy Dvore shared with fans on his website, "I created the logo and the opening title paintings for the project. I went to a meeting at MGM with the executive producer and the producer, a woman named Catherine (Mary-Catherine Harold). She said, 'We saw your sample tape and we are going to let you, and one other designer submit your ideas, and then, we will choose one of you for the project.'
"I said, 'I see, you get my idea for free and then what's it worth ... you already got it.' The executive producer laughed, he knew me for years. He looked over at me and her and said 'How much?' I told him. He said 'Okay.' I went back to my studio and did a painting fast. I didn't like it and threw it out in the garbage. My lady friend said, 'Where is the painting you did?' I said, 'I threw it out.' She went to the garbage and it was still there." Sandy Dvore also designed the logo for 'The Young and the Restless' in 1984.
David Jacobs had said, "We paint on a relatively small canvas compared to 'Dallas' and 'Dynasty'. We are more fragile. We can't upset the balance of believability." David Jacobs also made the point that 'Dynasty' spent much more money on clothes and sets than 'Dallas'. 'Knots Landing' was considered a poor relation. "When 'Dallas' goes to Paris they'd be bumpkins. When 'Knots Landing' goes to Paris they'd be tourists. But when 'Dynasty' goes to Paris they'd have apartments there."
Speaking to 'Soap Opera Digest', Aaron Spelling remarked, "I think 'Dynasty' was right for what happening in our country at the time." In 1996, Aaron Spelling offered the world 'Savannah', described as "a young 'Dynasty' ... with a little touch of 'Gone With the Wind' if it were done in 1996." Scott D. Pierce noted, "And that isn't too far off the mark (because) the real credit here goes to the husband-and-wife executive producer/writing team of Jim Stanley and Diane Messina Stanley (of 'Knots Landing'). The show is shot in Atlanta and Savannah itself and has a particularly lush feel to it - up to and including the musical score. If you miss 'Dallas' and 'Dynasty', 'Savannah' may just be the thing for you."
When 'Knots Landing', the series, concluded in 1993, David Zurawik of 'The Baltimore Sun' lamented, "The '80s are ending - at least on television." Along with shows such as 'Quantum Leap' and 'The Wonder Years', 'Knots Landing' was regarded one of "the last major holdovers from TV as we knew it then … Their departures mean big changes in the look and feel of prime time.
"Just as the politics of the '80s lingered until George Bush's defeat last year (in 1992), so has an '80s sensibility lived on in prime-time TV. That sensibility includes nostalgia, much talk of family and a preoccupation with material goods and success … And there is no programming genre more of the '80s than the prime-time soap opera.
"In one way or another, all the prime-time soaps were about rich people, great clothes, fabulous homes, big corporations, power, sex and families. Those were also among the major concerns of the culture at large during the '80s. It is no accident that a show featuring J.R. Ewing was one of the most popular on TV during a time when Donald Trump was a high-gloss celebrity. It is also no accident that Blake Carrington of 'Dynasty' so resembled President Reagan.
"Of all the prime-time soaps, 'Knots Landing' capitalized least on the worst aspects of the '80s … In the main, the characters in ('Knots Landing') were not fabulously rich like those in 'Dynasty' or 'Dallas' ... The show stayed suburban (middle class - OK, upper middle class) in outlook, which made it possible for viewers to identify with the characters in a way they never could with the richer-than-life Ewings, Carringtons or Channings.
"Maybe the most appealing difference between 'Knots Landing' and the others, though, was the primacy of the female characters and an emphasis on relationships." Michele Lee mentioned, "It's the women who understood my character and would warn Kevin (Dobson) when he was out in a supermarket never to cheat on me … The conversations I had with Mack in bed at night struck home - that's what I was told. We represented hope for a working marriage."
David Zurawik continued, "In this way, it was more like the daytime soaps than anything else in prime time. The rest of '80s TV was very much about patriarchy. From 'Miami Vice' to 'Dallas' and 'The Cosby Show', men were firmly in control. But on 'Knots Landing', the women were in control." Speaking to KNT News Services in 1986, Ted Shackelford acknowledged, "'Knots Landing' appeals mainly to a female audience, and women want to see women in aggressive, take-charge roles."
David Zurawik continued, "Abby Cunningham was the one who made things happen. She was the J.R. Ewing of 'Knots Landing'. And the yin to her yang was Karen MacKenzie. And then there were Valene Ewing and Paige Matheson. These are memorable characters. The only man on the show who could ever really play in their league was Greg Sumner. And while he had all the earmarks of a J.R. Ewing, he never managed to wrest control away from the women.
"But as distinctive as it has been in some ways, 'Knots Landing' ultimately is a soap opera. And prime-time TV in the '90s has no place for soaps … There are other aspects of 'Knots Landing' that make it out of sync with the '90s. It's virtually all-white at a time when the audience seems to be looking for shows that more accurately reflect the diversity of American life. There was an African-American family, the Williamses but the producers and writers never involved them in the flow of the series."
Speaking to 'The Washington Post' in 1988, David Jacobs elaborated, "We decided to write it colorblind. It's just a new couple coming to Knots Landing, and here are their problems. We're not doing it this way because it's safe - we're doing it because it's good." Lawrence Kasha added, "We try to have our characters behave as characters naturally behave."
David Zurawik continued, "It's also about getting rich, when the audience seems more interested in shows about getting by. Think 'Roseanne'. No one in the Conners' household is ever going to be named US trade representative to Japan (reason to send Donna Mills' character off 'Knots Landing'). Or think about the schedule of new shows for next fall (1993-94), which ABC introduced this week (in May 1993).
"Three of the 11 new shows deal with single mothers 'trying to make ends meet', in the language of the network descriptions. Each of the shows signing off this week and next (in May 1993) is rooted in the '80s and out of step with '90s TV in one way or another. 'The Wonder Years' is about nostalgia for the suburbs and the '60s. 'Quantum Leap' is about an actual longing to return to the past. On the other hand, '90s shows are about the here and now whether it's in glut of prime-time newsmagazine or in ripped-from-the-headline made-for-TV movies."
When 'Knots Landing', the series, concluded in 1993, David Zurawik of 'The Baltimore Sun' lamented, "The '80s are ending - at least on television." Along with shows such as 'Quantum Leap' and 'The Wonder Years', 'Knots Landing' was regarded one of "the last major holdovers from TV as we knew it then … Their departures mean big changes in the look and feel of prime time.
"Just as the politics of the '80s lingered until George Bush's defeat last year (in 1992), so has an '80s sensibility lived on in prime-time TV. That sensibility includes nostalgia, much talk of family and a preoccupation with material goods and success … And there is no programming genre more of the '80s than the prime-time soap opera.
"In one way or another, all the prime-time soaps were about rich people, great clothes, fabulous homes, big corporations, power, sex and families. Those were also among the major concerns of the culture at large during the '80s. It is no accident that a show featuring J.R. Ewing was one of the most popular on TV during a time when Donald Trump was a high-gloss celebrity. It is also no accident that Blake Carrington of 'Dynasty' so resembled President Reagan.
"Of all the prime-time soaps, 'Knots Landing' capitalized least on the worst aspects of the '80s … In the main, the characters in ('Knots Landing') were not fabulously rich like those in 'Dynasty' or 'Dallas' ... The show stayed suburban (middle class - OK, upper middle class) in outlook, which made it possible for viewers to identify with the characters in a way they never could with the richer-than-life Ewings, Carringtons or Channings.
"Maybe the most appealing difference between 'Knots Landing' and the others, though, was the primacy of the female characters and an emphasis on relationships." Michele Lee mentioned, "It's the women who understood my character and would warn Kevin (Dobson) when he was out in a supermarket never to cheat on me … The conversations I had with Mack in bed at night struck home - that's what I was told. We represented hope for a working marriage."
David Zurawik continued, "In this way, it was more like the daytime soaps than anything else in prime time. The rest of '80s TV was very much about patriarchy. From 'Miami Vice' to 'Dallas' and 'The Cosby Show', men were firmly in control. But on 'Knots Landing', the women were in control." Speaking to KNT News Services in 1986, Ted Shackelford acknowledged, "'Knots Landing' appeals mainly to a female audience, and women want to see women in aggressive, take-charge roles."
David Zurawik continued, "Abby Cunningham was the one who made things happen. She was the J.R. Ewing of 'Knots Landing'. And the yin to her yang was Karen MacKenzie. And then there were Valene Ewing and Paige Matheson. These are memorable characters. The only man on the show who could ever really play in their league was Greg Sumner. And while he had all the earmarks of a J.R. Ewing, he never managed to wrest control away from the women.
"But as distinctive as it has been in some ways, 'Knots Landing' ultimately is a soap opera. And prime-time TV in the '90s has no place for soaps … There are other aspects of 'Knots Landing' that make it out of sync with the '90s. It's virtually all-white at a time when the audience seems to be looking for shows that more accurately reflect the diversity of American life. There was an African-American family, the Williamses but the producers and writers never involved them in the flow of the series."
Speaking to 'The Washington Post' in 1988, David Jacobs elaborated, "We decided to write it colorblind. It's just a new couple coming to Knots Landing, and here are their problems. We're not doing it this way because it's safe - we're doing it because it's good." Lawrence Kasha added, "We try to have our characters behave as characters naturally behave."
David Zurawik continued, "It's also about getting rich, when the audience seems more interested in shows about getting by. Think 'Roseanne'. No one in the Conners' household is ever going to be named US trade representative to Japan (reason to send Donna Mills' character off 'Knots Landing'). Or think about the schedule of new shows for next fall (1993-94), which ABC introduced this week (in May 1993).
"Three of the 11 new shows deal with single mothers 'trying to make ends meet', in the language of the network descriptions. Each of the shows signing off this week and next (in May 1993) is rooted in the '80s and out of step with '90s TV in one way or another. 'The Wonder Years' is about nostalgia for the suburbs and the '60s. 'Quantum Leap' is about an actual longing to return to the past. On the other hand, '90s shows are about the here and now whether it's in glut of prime-time newsmagazine or in ripped-from-the-headline made-for-TV movies."
