Knots Landing: Season 03 (1981)

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Season Three of Knots Landing picks up where the previous season left off, as Sid Fairgate (Don Murray), owner of Knots Landing Motors and the boss of series protagonist Gary Ewing (Ted Shackelford), hovers between life and death after his car "accidentally" plummets over a cliff, the end result of Sid's cooperation with the FBI in bringing the crooked owners of the Orchid Cab Company to justice. Ultimately Sid dies, leaving his wife Karen (Michelle Lee) in charge of the family business. Karen's partners in this endeavor are the aforementioned Gary Ewing, and Sid's conniving, predatory sister Abby Cunningham (Donna Mills). In other developments this season, Julie Harris joins the cast as Lilimae Clements, the mercurial, slightly larcenous mother of Gary's long-suffering spouse Val (Joan Van Ark); Val herself pens a "roman a clef" about the oil-rich Ewing family titled "Capricorn Crude"; and Karen Fairgate's brother Joe Cooper (Steven Macht) makes the first of several memorable appearances. The season ends as Abby finally succeeds in her strenuous efforts to get Gary into bed with her--and with Val walking out on Gary when she realizes anew that he can't be trusted as far as he can be thrown. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi