434 Knots Landing

First  viewed  : 26  April  1980

While  the  nation  sweated over  the  fate  of  J.R.  and  the  identity  of  his  assailant  our  thirst  for  all  things  Ewing  was  partly  salved  by  a  spinoff  series  following  the  fortunes  of  errant  middle  brother  Gary  and  his  white  trash  wife  Valene  as  they  started  a  new  life  together,  far  away  from  you-know-who,  in  California.

The  idea  for  Knots  Landing   actually  pre-dated  Dallas  in  the  mind  of   their  creator   David Jacobs  but  it  was  not  until  the  success  of  the  latter  that  he  got  the  green  light  for  it  by transplanting  Gaz  and  Val  into  the  new  setting. It  was  trailed  by  an  episode  early  on  in  the third  season  of  Dallas  where  Gary  appears  with  a  new  head  ( Ted  Shackelford  )   reunites  with  Val  ( an  unchanged  Joan  Van  Ark )  and  Miss  Ellie  buys  them  a  house  in  a   suburban  cul-de-sac  somewhere  in  California.

Gary  and  Valene  were  just  one  of  four  married  couples  in  the  crescent; the  other  three  had  no  connection  to  Dallas.  Their  neighbours  were  Sid  and  Karen  Fairgate  ( former  Monroe  co-star  Don  Murray  and  Michele  Lee )  and  their  three  kids , sleazy  lawyer  Richard  Avery ( John  Pleshette )  and  wife  Laura  ( Constance McCashin ) who  had  one  son  and  a  younger  couple  , record  producer  Kenny  Ward  ( James  Houghton ) and  wife  Ginger  ( Kim  Lankford )  who  were currently  childless. Sid  helps  in  getting  Gary  back  on  his  feet  by  giving  Gary  a  job  at  his   car  dealership.     

Though  relatively  affluent  the  characters  were   middle  class,  not  super-rich  like  the  Ewings   and  subject  to  economic  vicissitudes. Therefore  the  series  had  a  much  greater  emphasis  on contemporary  social  issues  and  more  youth-related  storylines  with  the  Fairgates'  teenage children  to  deploy. In  the  first  couple  of  seasons  there  were  frequent  guest  appearances  by other  more  familiar  Ewings  but  as  the  series  found  its  own  feet  these  were  gradually  phased out.  When  Dallas   "jumped  the  shark "  by  resurrecting  Bobby  from  the  dead, the  producers  of Knots  Landing  decided  to  cut  the  umbilical  cord  and  there  was  no  more  crossover  between the  two  series; as  far  as  Gary  and  Val  were  concerned , Bobby  remained in  his  grave.*

Although  usually  regarded  as  the  poor  relation,  Knots  Landing  eventually  overtook  Dallas  in the  ratings  and  survived  for  long  enough  after  the parent  show's  demise  to  become  the longer-running  of  the  two  shows. It  finished  in  1993  with  an  inevitable  two-part  mini-series  four years  later. Michele  Lee  appeared  in  every  episode.

In  the  UK  the  first  series  went  straight  into  the   Saturday  night  time  slot  vacated  by  Dallas. It  took  some  getting  used  to  because  it  was  so  different  from  Dallas  but  it  finished  very strongly  with  a  harrowing  two-parter  when  Gary  fell  off  the  wagon  and  you  saw  a  whole different  side  to  him . Both  Shackelford  and  Van  Ark  were  terrific  in  it  and  established  Gary and  Valene  as  strong  characters  in  their  own  right.

The  second  series  a  year  later  was  switched  to  Friday  nights.  It  saw  the  introduction  of  Donna  Mills  ( Clint  Eastwood's  girlfriend  in  Play  Misty  For  Me )  as  Sid's  sister  Abby  , a  homewrecker  and  all  round  nightmare  who  quickly  became  the  series'  J.R.  figure. She  was  a  plus  but  the  series  was  a  bit  uneven. There  was  a  strong  episode  where  the  Fairgates' youngest  son  turned  out  to  have  ADHD  , all  the  better  for  not  having  a  glib  conclusion  and then  a  terrible  one  where  their   eldest  son  saves  an  overdose  victim  and  the  other  characters keep  saying  he  is " the  man  of  the  hour"  ad  nauseam.

At  the end  of  the  season,  Sid's   sabotaged  car  plunged  off  a  cliff  leaving  him  on  life  support. We  had  a  long  wait  to  learn  his  fate  as  the  series  didn't  return  until  September  1983 , again  on  Fridays. Don  Murray  wanted  to  quit  the  series  so  Sid  eventually  copped  it  in  Episode  Two. I  may  have  seen  one  more  episode  before  I  headed  off  to  university  and  abandoned  Knots  Landing  for  good. Just  as  well  really  because  the  Beeb   axed   it  before  the  season  was  complete  that  December.

I  can't  remember  too  much  protest  at  the  time. It  was  reinstated  almost  three  years  later  when  it  became  part  of  the  new  daytime  schedule  in  October  1986. I  remember  Wogan  being  pretty  sarky  about  "the  long-awaited  return  of  Knots  Landing"  and  I  never  watched  any  more  of  it. To  its  credit  the  Beeb  started  it  where  they  had  left  off   and  showed  the  entire  series, though  always  at  least  three  years  behind  the  US , through  to  the  finish, which  in  the  UK  came  in  1996.

* Gary  and  Val  appeared  briefly  in  the  recent  revival  of  Dallas   with  Bobby  but   of  course   Knots  Landing  was  long  since  over  by  then.      

433 Russ Abbot's Madhouse

First  watched :  Spring  1980

This  is  another  plank  to  support  the  argument  that  Little  and  Large  weren't  the  worst  comedy  act  around.

Russ  Abbot  had  been  a  member  of  The  Black  Abbots  , a  comedy  musical  troupe  similar  to  The  Grumbleweeds , during  the  seventies  but  first  appeared  as  a  solo  performer  on  the  ill-fated  Bruce  Forsyth's  Big  Night.  Russ  emerged  from  the  wreckage  with  his  own  show.

At  33  - and  he  looked  every  year  of  it - Russ  was  no  spring  chicken  and  to  me  came  across  as  a  self-conscious  uncle  doing  a  silly  turn  at  a  wedding. He  would  have  been  fine  on  Crackerjack  but  to  someone  now  looking  to  be  entertained  as  an  adult  he  seemed  an  insult  to  the  intelligence. As  a  result  any  announcement  that  he  would  be  featuring  was  the  equivalent  of  a  "Beware : Radiation"  sign  on  the  door.

Obviously  Russ  did / does   have  an  audience   and  is  still  popular  today  although  he's  moved  into  straight  roles  in  recent  years.    

432 The Sun Trap

First  viewed : 25  April  1980

Here's  another  show  that's  fallen  through  the  cracks and  a  reminder  that  most  comic  writers have  something  that  didn't  quite  work  on  their  c.v.

The  Sun  Trap  was  the  next  series  written  by  David  Nobbs  after  The  Fall  and  Rise  of Reginald  Perrin.   It   concerned  a  group  of  middle-aged  British  expats  living   on  an  un-named Mediterranean  island  who  can  find  nothing  better  to  do  than  meet up  in  the  bar  to  grumble  about  the  state  of  things  back  home  and  their  unfulfilled  lives.

That,  I  think,  was  the  main  problem, expecting  the  viewers  to  find  any  warmth  towards  these  privileged  whingers  while  unemployment  crept  up  towards  three  million.  There  was  no  Everyman  figure  like   Reggie  with  whom  you  could  sympathise . The  only  similarity  with  Perrin   was  the  use  of  catchphrases  but  here  it  seemed  like  the  scripts  were  relying  on  them  alone  for  laughs. Despite  this  over-reliance  on  catchphrases,  the  only  one  I  can  actually  remember  was  appalling  bore  Robert   ( Derek  Waring )  regaling  all  and  sundry  with  how  he'd  blown  his  weather  forecasting  debut   - "forecast  deep  snowdrifts  in  the  Irish  Sea". Not  exactly  "I  didn't  get  where  I  am  today"  is  it ?"

There  was  a  decent  idea  for  a  Play  for  Today  in  the  situation  but  it  didn't  work  as  a  comedy.

The  show  was  universally  panned  and  taken  off  air  after  just  six  episodes. Nobbs  himself  took  the  criticism  on  the  chin  and  acknowledged  he'd  got  it  wrong.  The  Beeb  of  course  didn't  learn  their  lesson  and  a  dozen  years  later  brought  about  an  even  bigger  debacle  by  deciding  to  base  a  nightly  soap  in  a  similar  setting.

431 When Terry Met J.R.

First  viewed : 25  April  1980

We've  already  touched  on  this  in  the  post  on  Dallas   but  it's  worth  re-emphasising  just  how  big  the  series  was  at  this  point  in  time.  That  wasn't  all  down  to  Terry  Wogan's  running  commentary  on   Radio  Two  but  he  certainly  drew  more  viewers   to  the  show   which  in  turn  attracted  its  undoubted  star  over  to  the  UK.  It  was  obvious  that  he  should  meet  the  show's  greatest  publicist.

This  was  a  re-broadcast  of  the  interview  which  had  taken  place   a  month  earlier  on  BBC2's  late  night  chat  show  Friday  Night.....Saturday  Morning , previously  best  known  for  the  notorious  couple  of  episodes  hosted  by  ex-Prime  Minister  Harold  Wilson  who  ran  out  of  things  to  say  in  an  early  intimation  of  his  Alzheimer's  condition.  That  show, the  first  Wogan  had  hosted, went  out  at  23.55 pm  so  there  was  a  big  clamour  for  a  repeat  at  a  more  godly  hour.

The  interview  was  an  amiable  encounter. Both  guys  clearly  liked  each  other  and  Hagman , though  clearly  still  a  bit  bemused  by  his  stardom  at  48  after  three  decades as  a  solid supporting  player, proved  to  have  a  sense  of  humour. He  had  brought  along  a  gift  for  Terry in the  form  of  a  jar  of  "genuine  Texas  bullshit "  which  stayed  in  the  repeat  despite  the  pre-9pm time  slot.  He  did  have  another  agenda  though  ; his  visit  to  Britain  was  part  of  a  lengthy contract  re-negotiation  strategy  to  prove  he  was  indispensable  and  his   successful   brinkmanship  made  him  one  of  the  highest-paid  stars  on  television.

The  encounter  worked  out  well  for  Wogan  too  as  it  marked  the  start  of  his  career  as  a  chat  show  host   which   lasting   for   over  a  decade. That  was  a  mixed  blessing  as  it's  generally  acknowledged  that  his  TV   stint   temporarily   neutered  one  of  the  most  slyly  subversive  voices  on  radio. We'll  come  back  to  that  of  course.

One  other  thing  to  mention  here  is  that  Wogan's  Dallas  fixation  did  popularise   watching  television  with  a  sense  of  irony.  No  doubt  Oxbridge  undergraduates  had  been  doing  that  for  years  but  now  everyone  cottoned  on  to  the  fact  that  you  could  justify  watching  the  most  lowbrow  trash  if  you  could  come  up  with  some  intelligent  quips  about  it. People  have  made  a  living  out  of  doing  little  more  than  that  ever  since.

430 The Enigma Files

First  viewed :  Spring  1980

This  is  one  I'd  forgotten  about,  a  precursor  to  other  cold  case  cop  shows  like  Waking  The  Dead  or  New  Tricks .  Tom  Adams   from  General  Hospital   played  Nick  Lewis,  a  Detective  Chief  Inspector   whose  unit  specialised  in  re-opening  unsolved  crime  cases.  This  being  the  era  of  Mrs  Thatcher,  he  had  a  female  boss  who  changed  from  Sharon  Maughan  to  Carole  Nimmons  halfway  through  the  series.  Yorkshire  comedian  Duggie  Brown  provided  some  light  relief  as  the  unit's  lab  technician.

It  was  on  BBC 2  at  9.30  pm  on  a  Tuesday  night  and  I  doubt  I  caught  more  than  a  couple of  episodes,  without  getting  much  involved. Adams  was  always  the  blandest , least  interesting of  the  doctors  on  General  Hospital   and  was  more  of  a  supporting  player  than  a  leading man. He  was  also  getting  on  a  bit  for  the  action  scenes . The   series  wasn't  recommissioned   after  15  episodes  although  it  was  repeated  in  full  as  part  of   BBC1's  Friday  night  schedule   in  1982. Adams  wouldn't  lead  a  series  again  and  as  time  wore  on  you  were  more  likely  to see  him  doing  adverts  for  DFS  than  TV  drama. He  died  in  2014.

Contrary  to  what  wikipedia  currently  says, there  was  a  DVD   of  the  series  but  it's  hard  to  find  now.

429 Armchair Critics

First  viewed :  12  April  1980

This  only  lasted  for  six  weeks  on  a  Saturday  night  on   BBC2   but  there  are  some  interesting  aspects  to  it.

It  was  a  TV  review  discussion  programme   in  which  three  critics  ( unfortunately  not   identified  by  Genome )  discussed  three  shows  broadcast  that  week, usually  one  each  from BBC1  , BBC2  and  ITV. That  in  itself  was  highly  unusual  at  the  time. Nowadays  we're  well used  to  the  channels  plundering  each  other's  archives  for  clips  but  this  was  the  first  show  I can  remember  where  the  BBC  acknowledged  ITV  even  existed.

The  host  was  Susan  Hill  who , I  recall, looked  like  a  librarian. On  the  balance  of  probabilities  I  think  she  was  the  same  person  as  the  successful  novelist  but  I  can't  find  any  definite  proof.

As  you  might  expect  I  only  tuned  in  when  they  were  discussing  something  I'd  watched  so  I only  saw  three  at  the  most  including  the  first  when  they  discussed  Yes  Minister  (  which  I hadn't  watched  at  that  point   but  this  encouraged  me  to  do  so ) , Rebecca  and  Death  of  A Princess. If  it  is  the  same  Susan  Hill,  it's  worth  noting  that  she  later  wrote  a  sequel  to Rebecca. I  also  definitely  saw  the  one  where  they  discussed  Not  The  Nine  O  Clock  News and Coronation  St  in  the  same  episode.

The  show  was  superseded  by  the  longer -running  , more  ambitious  Did  You  See  ?  later  that  year.

428 Dr Hook

First  viewed :  7  April  1980

This  was  an  Easter  Monday  Special   giving  the  good  time  US  country  rock  band   a  50  minute  showcase   - though  at  22.05  pm - for  their  musical  wares.

I  was  never  a  great  fan  of  the  band  though  their  first  hit  Silvia's  Mother  is  a  good  tune   and  only  tuned  in  towards  the  end, almost  certainly  hoping  to  catch   special  guest  star  Kate Bush  ( unsuccessfully  as  it  turned  out ).

Instead  my  sister  and  I  just  caught  the  last  couple  of  band  songs,  the  second  of  which was  a comic  number  about  the  perils  of  marijuana  "  I  Got  Stoned  And  I  Missed  It "  which  at  that time  neither  us  really  understood. At  the  end  of  it, there  was  a  coda  where   Ray  Sawyer  ( the guy  with  the  eyepatch  demanded  the  audience  jump  up  and  shout  "I  Got  Stoned " on  the seventh  drum  beat.  Without  any  form  of  communication  passing  between  us  both  my  sister and  I  did  as  we  were  told  which  is  a  testament  to  the  charisma  of  the  guy. Without  that   shared  silly  moment  I  very  much  doubt  this  entry  would  be  here.

Dr  Hook  were  in  the  Top  10 at  the  time  with  Sexy  Eyes   but  this  show  turned  out  to  be  effectively  their  last  hurrah. For  the  full  story  check  out  my  charts  blog  Hello  Goodbye.