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Flamingo Road was supposed to spin out of Knots?

posted 9 years ago by engle_james
7 replies | jump to latest

So I just read an interesting story about Flamingo Road, the primetime soap that aired in 1981 for two seasons on NBC. Apparently, KL producer Michael Filerman wanted to spin off a character who was involved in construction and land deals. However, CBS didn't bite, so Filerman went to NBC and they bought the show, which became Flamingo Road. KL still introduced the character of Paul Fairgate, Sid and Abby's brother or cousin, I can't remember, who appeared on the second season episode of Knots where Karen tried to fix him up with Linda, the lady mechanic who was recurring and had a crush on Sid. On Flamingo Road, the character was renamed Sam Curtis.

I had never heard that that story and was shocked. Could you imagine Constance versus Abby? Morgan Faircild and Donna Mills could have had the mother of all catfights!

[–] Rajesh_pimp06 9 years ago

I am not sure we had that in the UK. We might have but I never saw it. Sounds good though.
Can it be watched online?

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[–] engle_james 9 years ago

I know there were episodes of Flamingo Road on youtube at one time, but I think they were removed. Both seasons can be bought on the internet, but it is a little pricey. After KL, Flamingo Road was my favorite soap. It really had the feel of a small town, and one of the best casts in soap history. I'm sure you can watch the opening theme on youtube to give you an idea of what it was like. Not too many soaps have an alligator slinking through a swamp in their opening credits, a perfect metaphor for this show!

[–] Rajesh_pimp06 9 years ago

Thanks for the info. Yeah I will try youtube just to get an idea. Sounds like something I would probably like.

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[–] paranoja 9 years ago

Uploaded it a while ago on Dailymotion:

http://www.dailymotion.com/flamingoroadtv

[–] Rajesh_pimp06 9 years ago

Cheers paranoja.

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[–] radrobd 9 years ago

Hmm... I'm not sure, I believe this. Flamingo Road was based off an old Joan Crawford movie of the same name from 1949, which was based off a novel by Robert Wilder.

Knots Landing premiered on December 27, 1979 and its first season ended in March 1980. The TV-movie/pilot of Flamingo Road aired on NBC on May 12, 1980, less than five months after Knots premiered. The TV series premiered the following season in January 1981, however, the 1980-1981 Fall TV season was delayed by a actors strike.

Both series were produced by Lorimar (as was Dallas and Falcon Crest). But Knots was still relatively new and not as successful as Dallas, so it would make no sense to spin-off a series off a spin-off that hadn't yet gotten off the ground.

The TV-movie/pilot of Flamingo Road aired in May 1980 with John Beck in the cast as Sam Curtis (who was based off the 1949 movie character, Dan Reynolds). The second season introduction of Sid and Abby's nephew happened AFTER the TV-movie/pilot aired with John Beck as Sam. The only casting change from the pilot to the series was Mason Adams being replaced by Peter Donat. Mason was a regular on Lou Grant at the time and was unavailable for the series.

Here's a link to the opening credits for the 1980 TV-movie of Flamingo Road and you can see John Beck is listed first (alphabetically).

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OnAqOwGwtAk

[–] jarrodmcdonald-1 9 years ago

Yes, I don't think 'Flamingo Road' the TV series was intended to be a spinoff of 'Knots Landing.' It was an adaptation of a classic film, like the TV version of 'Peyton Place' had been.

What I do think might be correct is Filerman trying to sell it to CBS, since that is where his other shows were airing. But instead it ended up being bought by NBC.