Knots Landing

The concept for Knots Landing actually predates Dallas: creator David Jacobs pitched it to CBS in 1977, but the network rejected it as wanting something more 'saga-like,' prompting Jacobs to create Dallas instead.

After Dallas became a hit, Jacobs was able to adapt Knots Landing as its spin-off by incorporating the Dallas characters Gary and Valene Ewing.

The series was largely inspired by the 1957 film No Down Payment and by Ingmar Bergman's 1973 television miniseries Scenes from a Marriage.

By the end of its 14-year run in 1993, Knots Landing had become the third-longest-running primetime drama in American television history, behind only Gunsmoke and Bonanza, and was the last scripted primetime drama debuting in the 1970s to leave the air.

The role of Gary Ewing was recast between his appearances on Dallas and his introduction on Knots Landing: David Ackroyd played him first, but Ted Shackelford took over the role when the character returned to Dallas and subsequently anchored Knots Landing.

Bobby Jacoby originated the role of Abby's son Brian Cunningham before Brian Austin Green took over the part for later seasons.

Lisa Hartman played two different characters on the show: singer Ciji Dunne and, after Ciji's death, her look-alike Cathy Geary, who was hired by Abby specifically to distract Gary.

Bobby Ewing's death on Dallas, later retconned as a dream at the start of that show's tenth season in 1986, was acknowledged on Knots Landing only through Gary attending the funeral, and the retcon was never addressed on Knots Landing, as Bobby was never mentioned again.

Between seasons 1 and 4, Knots Landing featured nine crossover episodes in which Dallas actors appeared in character, including Larry Hagman as J.R. Ewing, Patrick Duffy as Bobby Ewing, Charlene Tilton as Lucy Ewing, and Mary Crosby as Kristin Shepard.

In 1997, much of the original cast reunited for a two-part miniseries titled Knots Landing: Back to the Cul-de-Sac, and in 2005 they reunited again for the non-fiction special Knots Landing Reunion: Together Again.