Movie Info:
Writers: Various
Director: Various
Cast: Michele Lee, Joan Van Ark, Kim Lankford, Constance McCashin, Don Murray, Ted Shackelford, James Houghton, John Pleshette
Rating: NR
Studio: Warner Bros
Release Info:
Theatrical Release: 1980
DVD Release Date: April 14. 2009
Online Availability: Amazon for $25.99
Growing up as a kid, we only had one television. This was pretty common for a lot of kids in the 80s. This meant that at some point in the day, there was bound to be something on that someone else wanted to watch. One of those things was usually soap operas or primetime soap operas. I remember watching them all in some form or fashion. Among the common culprits were Falcon Crest, Hotel, The Colby’s, Dynasty, Dallas and of course, Knots Landing.
I was only one when this show started and two during the second season, so I didn’t see or remember much about these seasons. However, by the time the show was about to end, in 1993, I was more than familiar with it. In fact, my brother was in college by this time and it was a Thursday night tradition to watch Knots before the college guys would head out for a night on the town. Of all the things they had to do, they never missed this show.
Things were just starting to get good in the second season of Knots Landing. The producers decided to kick things up to make this low-key Dallas a little bit more exciting. The funny thing is that while Dallas was looked at as a filthy rich lifestyle, the folks from Knots were perceived, in some light, as if they were poor. That couldn’t be further from the truth though. I always saw them as comfortable middle class, though they probably could have been called rich. They weren’t Dallas rich, but then again, so few were.
This season brings about a slew of interesting topics. There is sex around every corner by the adults and some of the younger residents, too. You will also see your fair share of mobsters, at least two of Gary’s relatives, a rape allegation, some murder cases, and the occasional bout of drug use. At the end of the day, it’s everything you’d expect from life in the suburbs and more!
The Knots Landing: The Complete Second Season Plot
There were 18 episodes in the second season of Knots Landing. Rather than give a brief idea of what happened, I have listed the episodes with a brief description of each episode below.
“Hitchhike Part 1″: Sid makes a bad decision when he picks up a hitchhiker that asks him for money. When he doesn’t give her any she moves on to plan B and accuses him of rape instead. Karen thinks it best if Sid seeks out another attorney rather than using Richard. Abby Cunningham arrives, new to the area, with her kids in tow.
“Hitchhike Part 2″: Sid fires Richard, which leads Richard to go on a drunken tirade and cause a scene. Karen becomes furious when she learns that Richard was planning to pay off the hitchhiker to make Sid’s troubles go away. Abby makes the decision to move to the neighborhood and Karen remembers something that could help Sid clear his name.
“Remember the Good Times”: Judy Trent hopes that Gary will help her to get her husband to take some much needed support from AA. Abby begins to show her true colors. This time it’s in the form of the seduction of Kenny and in taking advantage of Eric. Karen, ever the house mother, doesn’t like this and makes her opinions known when she confronts Abby.
“Chance of a Lifetime”: Despite the fact that Sid warns him, Gary makes a deal with the Orchid Cab Co. Soon after this, Gary hires Linda Stryker to be his mechanic. Meanwhile, Laura begins a real estate job and Val goes back to College. Richard has plans of working for a swanky Chicago law firm, so before he’s hired he quits his current job. It’s just too bad that the offer is not all it’s cracked up to be.
“Kristin”: Kristin Shepard finds herself in Los Angeles where she is in trouble due to some issues at a party with some drugs. She calls Gary and Val to get her out of trouble, but shows she’s up to no good when she “convinces” Val to let her stick around. It’s not too long after this happens that she begins causing trouble around the neighborhood. Meanwhile, Kenny tosses Sylvie to the road in hopes of hooking up with Ginger, but Kristen being around could cause a slight problem.
“Step One”: Diana is under pressure to sleep with her new boyfriend. When Val and some of the other girls are planning a benefit, she asks Gary to help her, but he’s too busy with Earl Trent and his problems. Meanwhile, Diana needs Karen’s help, but she is too busy planning the event and rehearsing. Abby ends up getting Richard in the hot tub.
“Breach of Faith”: Its BBQ time in the neighborhood to honor Laura’s successful new career as a realtor. Richard spends his time hitting on Abby and Laura learns of their plans to meet later. She informs him that if this continues they will no longer be together. A newly pregnant Ginger dumps Carl. Val is beginning to resent the fact that every time Judy calls about Earl, Gary goes running. Little does Val know that all of this comforting of Judy would lead to an affair between her and Gary.
“Scapegoats”: Abby gets a job as the bookkeeper for Knots Landing Motors. The Orchid Cab Co, under the advisement of Frank and Roy, offers Gary a chance to buy some auto parts for next to nothing. Sid wants no part of it though, so they decline the offer. Unfortunately, Gary made a verbal agreement with them and they give him a week to get $50,000 or else. When Abby learns what is going on, she tells Gary that he should just ask JR for the money.
“A Family Matter”: An oil convention is in town and with it comes JR Ewing. Gary does not want to ask JR for the money, so Abby takes matters into her own hands. Of course, she does things her own way. Abby doesn’t ask for the money, she sleeps with JR for it. Too bad for Abby that JR refuses to give Gary the money unless he asks for it. Val doesn’t want Gary to take anything from JR either, but when the pressure gets worse, Gary submits and goes to JR for help.
“Choices”: Linda wants Sid to go away with him, but he refuses to go. With Sid not interested, she moves on to Richard, but he refuses her, too. Gary decides to sell the parts he got from the mobsters to Sid’s supplier, so no one would be the wiser. Meanwhile Abby and Judy have a catfight due to their obsession with Gary. Judy informs Val that she is having an affair with Gary and that the two are in love. Val and Gary fight about this, but remain together. Instead, he informs Judy that he has no intentions of leaving Val.
“A State of Mind”: Jeff is not thrilled with the fact that Abby is having an affair with Richard in front of the children. Karen talks with Jeff on the situation, but soon finds that Sid does not approve of her getting involved in the situation. This conversation and Abby’s actions lead Jeff to file for custody, but after talking with Abby he makes it clear that he really wants her back. This leads Abby to take Jeff to bed, but after she thinks he will drop the case, she tells him it won’t be happening again.
“Players”: Ginger lets Kenny know about her pregnancy, but feels they need to work out some things before they can get back together. Karen does not like the fact that Linda has a thing for Sid. She’s worried that the two might be having an affair. Sid has the perfect opportunity to have an affair with Linda, and even kisses her, but he refuses to have an affair. Sid tells Karen what happened and though he does so jokingly, Karen is not amused in the least.
“The Loudest Word”: Kenny begs Ginger to get back together with him, but it’s for nothing because she refuses. However, after a few more arguments she agrees and takes him back. Val needs an operation for a malignant growth that is found on her colon. Gary has a breakdown about what he has done to Val and this brings Bobby to town to take care of his brother while Val is in the hospital.
“Moments of Truth”: Kenny and the guys go out for a celebration while Ginger is given a baby shower. While this happens some criminals break in and rob the ladies. Diana is able to escape and call the police. The swat team comes in when the girls are held hostage. Eventually, the situation dies down and the criminals are apprehended.
“Man of the Hour”: When Jeff takes the kids Abby becomes frantic, thinking he’s kidnapped them because she doesn’t know where they are. Ginger’s sister comes for a visit and gives Eric some marijuana that she wants him to hold for her. After a party, Cindy runs into the ocean and though Eric tries to save her, when he pulls her out, she’s unconscious. At the hospital Cindy lapses into a coma. Eric is blamed because everyone thinks that the marijuana she had was his.
“More Than Friends”: Laura and Scooter flirt so much that everyone thinks they are having an affair, though she makes it known that this could not happen. Richard wants to make things right with Laura and hopes to start over. Val learns that her night school teacher is Earl Trent. He thinks that the perfect way to get back at Gary and Judy is to sleep together. She doesn’t want too, but he thinks it’s a good idea anyway.
“Designs”: JR is back in town again, with plans of forming a corporation with Sid, but Sid shoots him down. Abby steals the plans that JR wants and gives them to him. As a reward, he sleeps with her. Sid does not believe that Abby was the one to steal the plans. Karen and Val find it odd that Jeff packs up all the kid’s belongings when he goes to pick them up. Abby doesn’t believe that Jeff is really taking them though. She thinks he’s just trying to scare her.
“Squeezeplay”: Jeff keeps the kids much to Abby’s chagrin. The FBI question Gary about his dealings with the mobsters and he admits what happened to Sid. Gary and Sid are put into a sting-type operation, which leads to Frank and Roy getting arrested. The FBI put Gary and Sid under protection until they are able to testify. Abby gets word from Jeff that he’s keeping the kids because she is a bad mother. Karen wants Sid to come home and help Abby, but when he attempts to do so he learns that the breaks won’t work. The car ends up crashing over an embankment and down on the beach.
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Audio/Visual:
The 1.33:1 aspect ratio for Knots is riddled with problems that are noticeable enough to see, but not enough to distract from the show. On the bad side you will notice some problems with compression errors, some bouts with noise, some fuzz, and a generally softer than normal picture. Of course, if you watch this on a bigger screen television these problems will be even more noticeable than if you’re checking this out on a small screen television. My television is on the bigger side so the issues were noticeable, but they weren’t ever so bad that I couldn’t watch. It was just bad enough to hope that they learn the lesson from this and clean the next season up before sending it out to potentially disgruntled fans.
Audio is provided in a Dolby Digital Mono track that sounds about what it probably sounded like back when it was on television in 1980. Whether that is good or bad, remains to be seen. It’s not comparable to the audio you would hear today. The dialogue is relatively easy to hear and there aren’t many problems to speak about. Volume toggling is not an issue. An occasional hiss can be heard, but that’s about it. In addition to the English audio, Closed Captioning is available, as well as subtitles in English and French.
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Bonus Features:
Surprisingly there are no special features for Knots Landing: The Complete Second Season. While it would have been nice to see something here, for one reason or another no features were added.
Bonus Features:
Bottom Line:
What can I say? In a world filled with Reality TV and Cop Dramas, they do not make shows like Knots Landing anymore. It’s nice to be able to relive all the moments of these dysfunctional families on DVD. The good side of this set is that it’s a complete set of the original 18 episodes from the second season. The downside is that it’s a seriously bare bones copy with no special features and a below average video transfer. As far as Knots goes, for a while the seasons get better as they go along, though they eventually start declining. Of course, if you like sex, drugs, and the occasional glance of JR Ewing, this season should suit you just fine. That being said, Knots Landing: The Complete Second Season comes highly recommended.
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Technorati Tags: TV on DVD, DVD Review, Knots Landing, The Complete Second Season, Primetime Soap Opera, Joan Van Ark, Ted Shackelford
