TV Flashback: My 10 Favorite 'Knots Landing' Episodes

In honor of Valene Ewing's (aka actress Joan Van Ark) 66th birthday today (thanks, Ken, for letting me know), we're going to take a trip down memory lane to Seaview Circle, the infamous cul-de-sac on TV's Knots Landing. The series, which is still my favorite primetime soap opera, began on December 27, 1979, and ran for 14 seasons on CBS until May 13, 1993.



Although it was not easy to choose only 10 episodes out of the 344 that were filmed, I was finally able to narrow my list down while enjoying all the old clips. So here are my favorite Knots episodes (in chronological order):

1) "Critical Condition" (Episode 33, Season 3 - November 19, 1981): Sid dies! This episode is a real shocker as the doctor comes out of the operating room and tells Sid's wife, Karen, the bad news. And, of course, we're all assuming the guy will survive surgery and make a complete recovery from his paralysis. It's unusual for a show to kill off one of its main characters, but apparently actor Don Murray either wanted to concentrate on other projects or he left over a salary dispute. I've heard that he now regrets his decision. But this dramatic twist certainly gave actress Michele Lee a chance to shine as Karen, whose later marriage to Mack MacKenzie was a perfect fit.




2) "Living Dangerously" (Episode 53, Season 3 - May 6, 1982): Val leaves Gary! It's a new beginning for Valene after she finally discovers that her husband and that tramp, Abby, are doing the dirty deed behind her back. She gets in her car and drives off, leaving Gary to realize what a mess he's made of his life. Of course, Abby is quick to get her claws into him--and his Ewing money.




3) "Celebration" (Episode 71, Season 4 - February 10, 1983): Ciji is murdered! One of the best storylines of the entire series revolved around Lisa Hartman's Ciji Dunne, a sweet singer whose dead body washes up on the beach at the end of this episode. Many folks have a motive for murdering her, including Richard Avery, who incorrectly suspects that his wife is having an affair with the girl, and Abby, who incorrectly believes that her husband is having an affair with Ciji. Then there's Val, who gets into a fight with Ciji over Gary's drinking problem. But poor drunk Gary is the one who's arrested for her murder, and he can't even remember if he's guilty or not. It's eventually revealed that Chip Roberts (played by the wonderful Michael Sabatino) killed Ciji, who was threatening to ruin his romance with Diana Fairgate by revealing that she was pregnant with his baby. Lisa Hartman was so popular on the show that she returned in Episode 82 as Ciji's look-alike, Cathy Geary.




4) "The Long and Winding Road" (Episode 130, Season 6 - May 23, 1985): Val's babies are still alive! Everyone finally realizes the truth about Valene's "stillborn" twins, who were actually stolen from the hospital and sold in a black market scheme. This season finale ends with a great slow-motion shot of a distraught Sheila Fisher (who illegally adopted the twins) screaming to her husband, "Harry, they want to take the babies!", as Val turns around to see him driving off with one of her kids. It's one of the best cliffhangers of the series.




5) "Rise and Fall" (Episode 140, Season 7 - December 5, 1985): Joshua dies! The sexy Alec Baldwin makes his final appearance as Val's crazy half-brother, who falls off a building to his death after his furious mother, Lilimae (the great Julie Harris), calls him a monster. Joshua was a great character and nice eye candy, and I was sorry to see him go.



6) "No Miracle Worker" (Episode 177, Season 8 - January 8, 1987): Abby's tough love! Apparently this is one of Donna Mills' (Abby) favorite episodes, and I can certainly understand why since it gave the actress a chance to show another side to her nasty character. When Abby puts her druggie daughter, Olivia (the talented Tonya Crowe), under house arrest, the fun begins. It's Knots Landing's own version of Valley of the Dolls.




7) "Cement the Relationship" (Episode 190, Season 8 - May 14, 1987): Abby buries Peter! Here's another fabulous Abby episode as the vixen comes up with a brilliant plan to get rid of the dead body of her former lover, Peter Hollister (played by the handsome Hunt Block). She decides to bury him in the cement that is being poured for a new playground in order to protect Olivia, whom she believes killed him. This season finale ends with a structural crack being discovered in the cement! Uh-oh! Of course, Peter's body is later found, but it turns out that his death was an accident that occurred during an argument with Mack's daughter, Paige.




8) "The Gift of Life" (Episode 196, Season 9 - October 29, 1987): Laura leaves! I adored Constance McCashin as Laura Avery Sumner, who was one of my favorite characters. So I was very sad to see her character killed off due to budget cuts on the show. Suffering from an inoperable brain tumor, poor Laura refuses to let her devastated husband, Greg (William Devane in his best role), watch her die, so she says goodbye to him and their young daughter, Meg, and drives off to a clinic to die alone. It's one of the most emotional episodes of the series.



9) "Noises Everywhere, Part 2" (Episode 201, Season 9 - December 10, 1987): Laura's funeral! This two-part episode saw the return of Laura's first husband, Richard, but it's William Devane's performance as the newly widowed Greg Sumner that will put a lump in your throat. When he watches a video of his late wife and asks her how she could leave him all alone, get out the tissues. Devane should have won an Emmy for the scene, but he was never even nominated for one. However, he did receive a Golden Globe nomination in 1987 for Best Performance by an Actor in a TV Series - Drama.



10) "The Perfect Crime" (Episode 219, Season 9 - May 12, 1988): Jill tries to kill Val! The best Knots Landing villainess was the psychotic Jill Bennett (played by Teri Austin), who in this episode comes up with an elaborate plot to murder Val--and get her out of Gary's life--by making her death look like a suicide. It's a great season finale cliffhanger with poor Valene passed out on the floor from sleeping pills. Of course, she has to survive, but once again no one believes her story about Jill trying to kill her. Eventually the truth comes out, and Jill stages her own death in order to frame Gary for murder. The lady was looney tunes, but I loved her.