MovieChat Forums > Knots Landing (1979) Discussion > Laura's Death! Noises Everywhere.

Laura's Death! Noises Everywhere.

posted 8 years ago by Rajesh_pimp06
9 replies | jump to latest

Those few episodes after Laura's death were some of my favorite, where they were all in the house together. Greg, Richard, Karen, Mac, Val, Gary, Abi etc... Val being annoyed that she wasn't told, Richard annoyed that Laura died on her own. Abi talking about what a bad husband Richard had been, Mac wanting to know why Greg wasn't more upset then he should be then the video Laura made addressing each of them. They played some music throw those episodes which worked really well also.

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[–] amsmith41-1 8 years ago

Did you know the really interesting thing about those two episodes was the fact they were filmed at Producer David Jacobs' home, and there were no scripts. There was an outline of what was to happen, but the actors were free to ad lib! I think that was so cool!

[–] Rajesh_pimp06 8 years ago

No I didn't know that, that's very interesting, thanks for sharing. That makes those episodes even more impressive .

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[–] radrobd 8 years ago

Did you know the really interesting thing about those two episodes was the fact they were filmed at Producer David Jacobs' home, and there were no scripts. There was an outline of what was to happen, but the actors were free to ad lib! I think that was so cool!

That's not exactly what happened. The cast was called to David's house for two days, during which they were to ad lib in character and it was taped. However, the ad lib taping was not the final episodes that aired. As Donna Mills said in the reunion, Knots Lanidng: Together Again, the writers then watched the tapes and WROTE a script based on the ad lib performances (of course, they changed some things as necessary).

Per the producers, however, the biggest surprise was Teri Austin's performance. Jill wouldn't have much to do at Laura's funeral so Teri ad libbed the part about Jill being upset about finding Peter's ashes on Sumner's coffee table so the writers wrote that in. Good for Teri, that led to the writers beefing up her character and writing her more as a villain rather than as a girlfriend to Gary.

[–] chancedelhomme 8 years ago

I was JUST thinking about those two truly outstanding episodes centering around Laura's death, especially the final scene of a totally Emmy-worthy William Devane's Greg Sumner character falling apart over Laura's last video left for "Ace"! I heard that the actors wrote their own lines for these shows...if so, they were superb!

[–] Rajesh_pimp06 8 years ago

Yeah William Devane was great also. You could tell Greg was really upset over Laura's death but had trouble showing it in from of other people, so people assumed he didn't care but you knew when he was alone with his own thoughts he was devastated.

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[–] engle_james 8 years ago

I'm pretty sure only the first part of "Noises Everywhere," the one with just the 6 main characters and Richard, was adlibbed. Part 2, which featured all the cast members at the actual funeral reception, was scripted.

I mention this because most people remark on the scenes with Jill as being some of the most memorable. Teri Austin did indeed knock it out of the ballpark, so to speak, but she wasn't adlibbing. The scene where she confronts Paige about her role in Peter's death is one of my all time favorites!

[–] Rajesh_pimp06 8 years ago

The thing I remember about Jill from that episode was that she took her brother's Peter Holister's ashes off of Greg's table.

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[–] engle_james 8 years ago

Yes, Jill was horrified when Richard pointed out that Peter's ashes were on the table, like a knick-knack, so she put the urn in her purse; later, a drunk Jill confronts Paige about "accidentally" killing Peter and hits her with her heavy purse. When Paige says "that hurt," Jill says "sorry, it was an accident."

This is the also the same episode where Jill, furious at how Greg kept Peter's ashes on the coffee table, made one of the nastier comments I've ever heard on the series; Greg asks Jill if she's enjoying the memorial for Laura, and she says "next time, I'd pick a different theme." Ouch!

[–] Rajesh_pimp06 8 years ago

Those were some good scenes. Those episodes are some of my favorites from KL. They played some music as well during those that worked really well. I never get tired of watching them.

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