K
Karin Schill
Guest
Yes I do know that Ted Shackelford's wife is from Denmark. I think it's cool. 
International Broadcasts
- Thread starter Billy Nolan
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The BBC didn't seem totally satisfied with Knots Landing's ratings in the UK in either the primetime Saturday slot (Season 1) or Friday night slot (Season 2, first 13 episodes of Season 3). Season 1 episodes were often broadcast in a different order in the UK to the US. The broadcasts of the first 2 seasons in the UK were months behind the US broadcasts, but not all that far behind. Season 1 in the UK aired April-July 1980, and Season 2 in the UK aired May-October 1981. By the time that the first 13 episodes of Season 3 were shown in the UK (September-December 1983), the UK were already 2 years behind the US broadcast, and then the BBC suddenly pulled the series.
When the BBC bought Knots Landing back 3 years after that in October 1986, it was now broadcast in a daytime afternoon slot, and the UK were now nearly 5 years behind the US broadcasts, later reducing to 4 years or less. Knots stayed in the daytime afternoon slot in the UK until the very end from the Season 3 episode "Cricket" onwards, finishing its run in January 1996 with Gary and Valene back together and Abby returning to live on the Cul-de-sac.
I think it shows, like in the US, that Knots Landing wasn't as good in the ratings as Dallas during the early to mid 1980s, so struggled to keep a primetime slot for long over here in the UK, but found its popular niche in the afternoon slot alongside other daytime soaps on the BBC in those days like Neighbours. My nan always watched Knots Landing in the afternoon. Knots was also more down to earth, and took a while to get into its stride. It didn't just burst onto the scene like Dallas. Knots needed to warm up a bit. If Knots in Seasons 1-2 had been as grander as they were Season 5-8 time, I'm sure it would have stayed primetime.
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Strange thing is that Knots on the BBC actually finished 8 months later than on UK Gold. UK Gold did a daily rerun and for one reason or another was allowed to catch up and overtake the weekly BBC broadcasts.
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Yes it was a shame the Beeb didn't keep season 3 going just that bit longer. Once it got over that mid-season lull, episodes like Night and China Dolls would i'm sure have pulled in more viewers and then set things up for the rollecoaster of seasons 4 - 6.
Problem was, the odd self-contained episodes like Three Sisters, Reunion and Rose and the Briar, were not reflective of what Knots was really about or was about to become, so if you happened to tune in as an occasional viewer, they were unlikely to make you want to come back for more. But by the end of Season 3 Knots had become a continuing drama and I think the viewing figures would have improved hugely.
I think another problem was that the BBC also showed Dallas and Dynasty in prime time so perhaps they thought they had too many soaps. We only had 3 channels until Channel 4 came along in 1982, but so many US shows were being shown in prime time, dominating the schedules - all the cop dramas, Hart To Hart, Magnum, ITV also had Falcon Crest and I think it also did Flamingo Road.
When UK viewers finally got to see Seasons 6 and 7 in the late 80s, it was tucked away in an afternoon slot, but was way better than Dallas and Dynasty were, which BBC were still showing in prime time. They had both gone to the pits by 1989, so it's a pity the BBC didn't decide to move Knots back into primetime then, even though we were several years behind. It was just too good to be relegated to daytime. I remember recording 'The Longest Day' epsiode and then watching it back in the evening with my parents and they were really impressed with how good it was. My dad had never even heard of it. For me, my sister and a few school friends it was a much loved guilty pleasure!
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Someone has re-posted the Quebec opening for Season 9 which had Lisa Hartman and Doug Sheehan inserted! I didn't remember that Lisa Hartman's credit is at the wrong spot though as it ruins the alphabetical order.
And here's a version of what was used in Italy before Rete 4 bought Knots and made its own openings (posted before but can post again )
And here's a version of what was used in Italy before Rete 4 bought Knots and made its own openings (posted before but can post again
)
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Quebec apparently had the S9 opening sequence (with some 'tinkering') tacked onto episodes from previous seasons. Hartman and Sheehan were gone by S9, and we see Sheehan in that clip sequence previewing the episode. I don't recall the exact episode these clips come from, but it has to be S7 or S8. The dubbing actress for Abby sure was fired up!
The editor did a pretty good job of editing Sheehan and Hartman into the opening titles, or as good as one could do. There was only one extended "lull" in the original sequence of stars so LH and DS ended up out of traditional, alphabetical order, but it was preferable to throwing off the entire rhythm just to preserve the AO that a lot of people never even notice.
The editor did a pretty good job of editing Sheehan and Hartman into the opening titles, or as good as one could do. There was only one extended "lull" in the original sequence of stars so LH and DS ended up out of traditional, alphabetical order, but it was preferable to throwing off the entire rhythm just to preserve the AO that a lot of people never even notice.
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It sounds just that little bit more venomous in French, doesn't it?
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It's season 7, Abby is annoyed about Gary's gift of empire valley to the twins or so... If you open it on YT, it's written it's from season 7. They took the opening from season 9 and modified the credits...
Most of the time, Quebec does their own dubbing, but for KL they used the one from France...
Abby's voice sounds actually more venomous in French, that's right @Seaviewer
Usually they are good at finding dubbing actors/actresses with similar voices (Karen and Val's voices for example are very resemblant to their real voices), but in Abby's case, they were not...
I didn't like KL french dubbing in general (I don't like dubbing anyway), especially Abby's voice that makes her much more mean than she really is, and ruins some of her scenes.
I was so pleased when I saw the original version for the 1st time (my father's cousin from England she was crazy about KL as well, she used to bring some vhs with KL episodes especially for me when visiting us during summertime).
Most of the time, Quebec does their own dubbing, but for KL they used the one from France...
Abby's voice sounds actually more venomous in French, that's right @Seaviewer
Usually they are good at finding dubbing actors/actresses with similar voices (Karen and Val's voices for example are very resemblant to their real voices), but in Abby's case, they were not...
I didn't like KL french dubbing in general (I don't like dubbing anyway), especially Abby's voice that makes her much more mean than she really is, and ruins some of her scenes.
I was so pleased when I saw the original version for the 1st time (my father's cousin from England she was crazy about KL as well, she used to bring some vhs with KL episodes especially for me when visiting us during summertime).
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Never seen before German opening as it was initially intended (titled "California - Under der Sonne Kaliforniens") but was never broadcast because at the last minute the channel had to drop the title "California" due to a competitor launching Santa Barbara and calling it "California Clan". The subtitle was then made the title and the show became "Under the Californian Sun".
Just stills for now but I may get the video from my source!
Also Quebec title card from season 11 (from a TVA promo)
Just stills for now but I may get the video from my source!
Also Quebec title card from season 11 (from a TVA promo)
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Probably just as well. The first version is redundant anyway.
Does anyone know what they were thinking in the French provinces of Canada to name the show "Les Héritiers du Rêve"? Whose heirs and whose dream? I just don't get it. It doesn't seem to capture the spirit of the show unless I'm maybe missing a certain connotation or (hidden?)ambiguity in these words. My French is very rusty though. What do our native French speakers have to say?
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Very weird. No one had to translate California to Kalifornien in the underline title in the 1980s. I'll never understood what went on in Germany's dubbing studios prior to the 1990s.
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Agree. US shows in the 70s and 80s in Germany and what was done to them blows my mind.
I also don’t like that they put a random huge O on these titles but didn’t actually do anything with it… which to their credit they did after changing the title (making the O animate like it does on the original opening sequence).
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I like the sound of that. Quite fortuitous having an O in the middle of both words.
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Wow! This is so interesting! I have old promotional images for this title. At that time they wanted a uniform Western European title. In Spain and Italy the series is also called "California". Do you have the video of this opening credits? I would love to see it. Here are the promotional photos I have.
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Thanks @Billy Nolan for reminding me. I do indeed now have the video of the unused German opening. A former colleague was involved in a big archive clear out and found a U-matic tape.
The quality of the video isn't great. It's very dark. It was on a U-matic tape but it looks like it was badly transferred from film way back when. I think it must be raw edits of the opening sequence dumped on tape because there is also a short version after the full sequence (I think the theme version used is part of the first or second season theme). If my memory isn't playing tricks then when Knots was shown on Saturdays on ZDF the "second part" always used to have a short opening even though it had a different episode title (why?!) so I would think it was meant for that.
The index card of the U-matic tape didn't help much. It only said KM BETA CALIFORNIA Knots Landing 1987 DACH which I believe are the initials of the German distributor, the dubbing studio, German title, original title, the year of the edit and DACH usually stands for Germany-Austria-Switzerland.
The video isn't on my YouTube account but I've been given the ok to share, at least for now. Unlikely that anyone has any complaints (I doubt anyone even remembers anything about this!) but I can't guarantee that the video will stay up.
The quality of the video isn't great. It's very dark. It was on a U-matic tape but it looks like it was badly transferred from film way back when. I think it must be raw edits of the opening sequence dumped on tape because there is also a short version after the full sequence (I think the theme version used is part of the first or second season theme). If my memory isn't playing tricks then when Knots was shown on Saturdays on ZDF the "second part" always used to have a short opening even though it had a different episode title (why?!) so I would think it was meant for that.
The index card of the U-matic tape didn't help much. It only said KM BETA CALIFORNIA Knots Landing 1987 DACH which I believe are the initials of the German distributor, the dubbing studio, German title, original title, the year of the edit and DACH usually stands for Germany-Austria-Switzerland.
The video isn't on my YouTube account but I've been given the ok to share, at least for now. Unlikely that anyone has any complaints (I doubt anyone even remembers anything about this!) but I can't guarantee that the video will stay up.
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Hello, thank you very much for posting the video! That's really exciting. Apparently they wanted to have one Western European title for "Knots Landing". Knots Landing was also called “California” in Italy, Spain, Catalonia and Portugal. In Germany they apparently decided against the "California" title at the last minute because "Santa Barbara" with the title "Clifornia Clan" was starting around the same time. "Unter der Sonne Kaliforniens" was originally supposed to be just the subtitle. I have some old photo material from the TV channels on which the German "California" logo can also be seen. If
Knots Landing had 2 episode titles here. There was always a commercial break in the episode when it first aired. After the commercial break (from season 4 onwards), KL got a 2nd title. I suspect that's why the short opening credits (at the end of your video) were produced.
Knots Landing had 2 episode titles here. There was always a commercial break in the episode when it first aired. After the commercial break (from season 4 onwards), KL got a 2nd title. I suspect that's why the short opening credits (at the end of your video) were produced.
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I think we now have pretty much all existing versions of the opening (German as seen on TV and the unused one, the different Italian ones, French, Quebec). Obviously not all the different seasons and maybe we are lucky one day to find some more.
Spain, Portugal, the Nordic countries and many others usually showed the original openings of US shows with the local title just superimposed like the subtitles (or spoken over the theme!).
However, apparently there is one Spanish version where the title (California) was written on a California license plate (a bit like LA Law). I’ve seen this mentioned in a few different places but have never seen it.
Also, I wonder if there’s a version of the opening used in Italy when Knots was first shown as “Da Dallas a Knots Landing”.
Spain, Portugal, the Nordic countries and many others usually showed the original openings of US shows with the local title just superimposed like the subtitles (or spoken over the theme!).
However, apparently there is one Spanish version where the title (California) was written on a California license plate (a bit like LA Law). I’ve seen this mentioned in a few different places but have never seen it.
Also, I wonder if there’s a version of the opening used in Italy when Knots was first shown as “Da Dallas a Knots Landing”.