Knots Landing is a primetime television soap opera that aired for 14 seasons, from December 27 1979 to May 13 1993 on CBS. Set in a fictitious coastal suburb of Los Angeles in California, the show initially centered around the lives of four married couples residing in a cul-de-sac called Seaview Circle. Though initially intended to be a "scenes from a marriage" type drama series, storylines also included rape, murder, kidnapping, assassinations, drug smuggling, corporate intrigue and criminal investigations. By the time of its conclusion, Knots Landing had become one of the longest-running primetime dramas on U.S. television after Gunsmoke, and tied second place with Bonanza (although Bonanza had made far more episodes).

Knots Landing was created by David Jacobs (one-time writer of Family and later producer of Lois & Clark: The New Adventures of Superman) and Michael Filerman (who also co-produced Falcon Crest), who were initially rebuffed by CBS in 1978, as the network instead accepted the more "saga-like" Dallas. After Dallas became a hit, CBS asked Jacobs to adapt Knots Landing as a spinoff of that show, hoping to extend its success. The series was based on the 1973 Ingmar Bergman movie, Scenes from a Marriage, but with four marriages. Though initially not as popular as Dallas, Knots Landing would progress through fourteen seasons (eventually outlasting Dallas itself) and would win much critical acclaim. The show starred Tony-nominated Broadway singer and actress Michele Lee as Karen Fairgate MacKenzie, the feisty matriarch of the cul-de-sac, who is the only star that appeared in every episode of the series and until recently the record for most appearances as a character on American primetime television (344 episodes). She now is in second place behind S. Epatha Merkerson's character on NBC's "Law & Order". The series initially performed more modestly in the ratings in comparison to Dallas, and it peaked during the 1983-84 season with a 20.8 rating (finishing in 11th place) and a 20.0 rating for the 1984-85 season (when it finished 9th). This can be attributed, in part, to more dramatic storylines as the series became more soap-opera like, and the gradual inclusion of newer characters to interact with the original cast. By the 1988-89 season, Knots Landing was ahead of Dallas in the ratings, though audiences for both shows by this time were significantly less than their earlier years.

Years after the show ended, in 1997, much of the cast reunited for a two-part television movie called Knots Landing: Back to the Cul-de-Sac. In 2005, they reunited again for a nonfiction special called Knots Landing Reunion: Together Again.

A popular night time soap opera, it followed the adventures of five families living in a small California community: Gary and Valene Ewing, relatives to the popular Ewing clan of Dallas; Sid and Karen Fairgate, their all-American neighbors; Richard and Laura Avery; Kenny and Ginger Ward, a newlywed couple; and divorcee Abby Cunningham, Sid's scheming sister. Written by Phil Fernando

Knots Landing followed the lives of several families living in a small California town. Gary Ewing and his wife, Valene, arrive from Dallas to make a new start for themselves. They becomes friends with their neighbors, Sid and Karen Fairgate. Sid's wicked sister, Abby Fairgate Cunningham, seduces Gary and Val divorces him. Gary later marries Abby, and even more shocking things happen when Val realizes she is pregnant with Gary's children! Written by

Gary and Valene Ewing, relatives to the popular Ewing clan of Dallas, arrive in Knots Landing to make a new home for themselves. However, schemeful Abby Fairgate-Cunningham breaks up their marriage when she seduces Gary... Written by Anonymous