Courtesy/CBS
Yesterday, after the taping of today’s airshow of CBS’ The Talk, On-Air On-Soaps went backstage and had our own very special Knots Landing reunion! As fans saw, Michele Lee (Karen), Joan Van Ark (Valene), and Donna Mills (Abby) appeared on the daytime talker to reminisce about perhaps the greatest primetime soap of them all!
And if that wasn’t enough, Michele, Joan, Donna, along with Ted Shackelford (Gary Ewing) will be seen this coming Tuesday night, January 22nd on a very special episode devoted to Primetime Soaps on PBS’ Pioneers of Television series, at 8PM EST! Make sure to also check local listings in your area.
In the meantime, to get you ready for Tuesday’s stroll down memory lane we sat down with the legendary and beloved trio to talk to them about: some of the greatest moments of ‘Knots’ history, why the show is missed by so many fans, if they would be up for a Knots Landing reboot, where they see their characters today, and much more! It was a special treat for us to chat with Michele, Joan, and Donna, and we hope this “quickie” interview is a treat for you too!
MICHAEL:
Courtesy/CBS
Let’s kick this off by discussing one of the most memorable cliffhangers of all-time on Knots Landing. I am referring to when Val’s twins were taken from her. In the final shot of a monumental season finale there was a slow motion shot of Valene turning as the babies were driving away in a car! It certainly was an, “OMG, Poor Val!” moment!
JOAN:
I know! It’s the only time that an episode of Knots Landing was the number one show of the week! I am so proud of that.
MICHELE:
I called all my friends …
JOAN:
… She called all four of them! (Laughs) I remember when I met Los Angeles Laker greats Magic Johnson and Kareem Abdul-Jabbar. I recall Magic saying, “When you got the twins back, and Karen came in, and Val was at the bottom of the stairs, and Lilimae cried, you cried, and everybody cried, that was the best!” (Laughs)
MICHAEL:
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Why do you think that Knots Landing resonated with so many people? Fans still tell me to this day it is their favorite primetime soap … ever! And just for the record … it was mine too! Never missed an episode!
JOAN:
It was because it was about real people, and not cartoonish, or people who were over the top that were pushing it a bit.
MICHELE:
Dallas and Dynasty were huge hits about materialism and flaunting what you had. We lived in a cul-de-sac and it was mostly about that before that bitch Donna Mills came in! (Laughs)
DONNA:
… And got them out of the garage, and out of all those boring places they inhabited! (Laughs)
MICHAEL:
I am so glad the Pioneers in Television special on Primetime Soaps, which airs on Tuesday night, has clips and interviews with the three of you! I know Dallas and Dynasty are also represented, but if ‘Knots’ wasn’t in there, there would be blood! (Laughs)
DONNA:
Courtesy/CBS
I thought that it was really fitting that ‘Knots’ was included in the special, because it meant so much to people at the time and still does!
MICHELE:
We were on opposite of the biggest hits on television … Hill Street Blues. We were doing continuing stories; shows like Hill Street Blues were self-contained. Yes, they explored the relationships with the characters and with each other, but they did not have character arcs in terms of continuing story. And I will say and bet my bottom dollar, that because of a show like Knots Landing it influenced primetime shows of today. No matter how fabulous the writing is, and the awards they are bestowed, such as great programs like Homeland, and all of them, you see the relationships on them and that is what I think we started.
JOAN:
They do that on every single show that is a hit now. I think truly, and I don’t know how many times this had been said, but I can only do this in banner headlights. I think Knots Landing was the original Desperate Housewives. The truth is what Michele is saying; that every show now is following the template that we set of a continuing story, which then hooks the viewer. You get to know and love the characters, and so you invite them into your bathroom, living room, bedroom, wherever. You invite those people into your life Thursday night at 10PM, or whenever that show you love is on.
MICHAEL:
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What happened with Constance McCashin (EX-Laura)? She was never really as evidently popular as the three of you were, but one amazing actress! Why did she get “killed-off”? It was a very big deal at the time! And there was nothing sadder than the episode where Karen, Val, and Greg watched Laura’s videotape that she left behind! Hankies!
MICHELE:
The real answer to that is we had many main characters. And as the show goes on and advertising dollars get less, (and every show went through this) they had to save money. And not that Constance was not an incredible actress, and not that the audience was “killing” themselves because she was going to be leaving, but the producers and the writers had to decide. People remember that storyline because Constance was so brilliant.
JOAN:
She had a look too! Constance was very classy and very east coast. She was not as “California” as some of us. She was amazing, working with William Devane (Ex-Gregory Sumner). It was very special, and of course people miss her. It was that same season that Julie Harris was written-off as my mother, Lilimae Clements!
MICHAEL:
So Joan, you are just about to reprise your role as Valene Ewing when you go tape your much-anticipated scenes in the TNT Dallas reboot! But I hear you are not part of J.R.’s (the late Larry Hagman) funeral or memorial episode! Is that true?
JOAN:
Courtesy/CBS
They are filming the funeral as we speak. You’re surprised I am not there? My heart is broken! The truth of the matter is Valene and J.R. had no love loss. I am going to assume that is the reason. My heart, as I said, broke that I would not be at the funeral graveside. I do know the storyline that they have for Val and Gary, and the payoff will be when I go down there next week to film it.
MICHAEL:
Donna, you played a delicious evil bitch so well! Abby was so iconic, she ruined so many lives! Do you think Michele and Joan were jealous of you because you got to play bad, and they were, for all intent and purposes, goody-goodies? And speaking of the three of you, Michele was the only one who was ever nominated for an Emmy from ‘Knots’!
DONNA:
It was great fun playing the bitch, and more fun than anybody could imagine. But, I think we made it look too easy. It seemed so natural and so right that it did not seem like acting. I think that is one of the reasons we did not get nominated much for Emmys.
MICHELE:
I think also we had the moniker of being a soap opera, no matter how brilliant our actors were, they just saw it as a “soap opera” and that might have hurt our chances.
MICHAEL:
Courtesy/CBS
Much has been made about all the big stars that appeared on ‘Knots’, including Alec Baldwin, who played Val’s brother!
JOAN:
He was Val’s brother, and there was a picture of us in the Hollywood Reporter, and you would not recognize either one of us. I was pregnant with the twins on the show and had a scary David Bowie-esque mullet, and Alec did not look anything like the Alec Baldwin we know and love now.
MICHAEL:
Joan, on The Talk you got very emotional reminiscing about Knots Landing, and working with these women. Is it still emotional for each of you thinking about the 14 years you were together performing on the most beloved television shows of all-time, and that you have forged lasting relationships with each other?
MICHELE:
I will say first, that I truly love these women. And, we have so much fun. And, yes we do see each other socially.
JOAN:
We are in some way closer now, oddly enough, because we do see each other, and we socialize with each other.
DONNA:
Courtesy/CBS
Now when we see each other we can talk to each other, as opposed to being on a set when you are running here and there.
JOAN:
Right! We would have other obligations, and which set to be on to think about. But now it’s chitchat about: how is Donna’s daughter, Chloe … or Michele’s son, David? And it just goes on, and on, and on from there. It is truly delightful.
MICHAEL:
It has been much bantered about that everyone would love to see a Knots Landing reboot, especially since the success of TNT’s Dallas revival. Don’t you think it would be great to see where each of you characters are now, and then to see their grown up children and how that affects and intertwines their lives, similar to how Dallas has done it?
MICHELE:
No! It would not be good, because my children would be too old, and then they would have children, and then I would be a grandmother! I am not playing a grandmother, but maybe a great grandmother! (Laughs)
DONNA:
I would play a grandmother!
JOAN:
Oh, I would love it! I want Valene to be a biker grandma! The same way as in Sons of Anarchy! I want Valene in black leather and studs. I want Valene to be so different; either the head of a studio like Sherry Lansing, or I want her to be a biker grandma.
DONNA:
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Abby I think is running a small country somewhere!
MICHELE:
Karen could be wearing all the clothes the biker grandma would be wearing, but at home! (Laughs) We are all strong women, and it might be boring in the reboot with us all being strong women at one time, don’t you think? (Laughs) Look, if it’s done right and written right, it would be great if there was a reboot.
So soapers, do you still miss Knots Landing, and would you like to see a reboot? If so, how would you structure the show? Looking back at the storylines and history of ‘Knots’, what was your favorite moment? Who was your favorite character? Let us know!
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