Although I disliked season 13 as well, I do feel a little bad for the producers who took over. I mean, they did try some new things, like having Gary start Tidal Energy and compete with Greg, and then they had Paige work with Gary. The new character combinations were interesting and had possibilities. And having Karen getting more involved with Claudia was a step in the right direction.
The problem was, the new producers TOTALLY disregarded everything the previous producers had done in the cliffhanger. I mean, those people left KL in great shape, with Brian Johnston missing, and Paige framed for his presumed murder by Linda; Steve possibly killed due to Claudia's machinations; Anne being down and out; and of course, Jason's life hanging by a thread due in part to Karen; plus the return of Tom Ryan! I will never forget tuning into season 13 and being like, WTF? Paige has a new boyfriend she met off-screen and Tom is already gone? The police are completely ignoring ALL that evidence against Paige? Anne trapped in another boring retread of a get rich quick scheme? And worse yet, Karen sitting at Jason's hospital bedside while Mack nonchalantly asks if she wants a cup of coffee? I was expecting Mack to be furious at Karen, or at least broken up about Jason, but no, he acts like Jason just had his tonsils taken out.
I really think if the show had dealt with the fallout of the cliffhangers and played them out a bit, finished off the Brian Johnston story and THEN introduced Pierce and the Solar Energy stories, the season would have been a good one, but the producers wanted to bring their ideas in right from the start, which was a mistake. This show would have gone on at least another 2 seasons if they had played their cards better.
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radrobd
8 years ago
This show would have gone on at least another 2 seasons if they had played their cards better.
That's debatable. The reason the show ended was not because it was cancelled or because it had low ratings. The producers decided to end the series due to costs. In the final season, producers did the best they can to keep the series going. They reduced the number of episodes, they had castmembers not appear in several episodes. Even Michele Lee who did appear in every episode of the series was supposed to be written out for three episodes (when Karen visited Diana in New York). Michele Lee asked the producers/writers to keep her in those episodes as she had appeared in every episode of the series up to that point. Producers agreed and Michele Lee agreed to work for scale (minimum wage) for those three episodes.
Joan Van Ark had left voluntarily at the end of season 13. William Devane and Nicollette Sheridan had announced they would both leave the series at the end of season 14, if it was renewed for another season. Season 14 was scaled back in terms of cast. As much as I would have wanted to see a season 15, it's hard to imagine how they could go on with such a small cast (Michele, Kevin Dobson, Ted Shackelford, Stacy Galina, Michelle Phillips and Kathleen Noone).
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engle_james
8 years ago
The reason I thought the show could have gone longer was based on 2 things; if the ratings hadn't dropped so much in season 13, there might not have been the need for the drastic budget cuts, and if the actors hadn't been so unhappy (Nicollette Sheridan and Bill Devane were especially vocal about their unhappiness with season 13) it's possible they would have stayed another year or two. A show like Knots, which had been on for so long, always faces budget cuts, but like I said, if the show hadn't taken such a tumble, the cuts wouldn't have had to be so severe. Just a theory.
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radrobd
8 years ago
I think Sheridan would have left after season 14. Her contract was up, she was still young and had been on the show for 7 years and may have been eager to do other things. She was in the 1992 motion pictures, Noises Off.
Devane may or may not have stayed, but I don't believe his reason for leaving at the end of season 14 was because season 13 was so bad or because the show asked him to not appear for a few episodes. He was actually very vocal about the show during season 13. The show actually shut down production mid-season for re-tooling. Originally, there were to be 28 episodes produced, but only 22 episodes were produced. Producers spent the money on new writers, new castmembers. At the time, during the shutdown, Devane said that perhaps the show should end, but with some dignity. So he may have been thinking about leaving then.
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poplion
8 years ago
Yes, killing off Linda was a huge mistake and a real head-scratcher for me. While it led to an exciting stand off with Linda's killer, her dying like that really made me angry. It was like they were deepening her character just to kill her off and in such an awful scary way. I was not happy about that and it still annoys me when I think about it. Linda was great on the show.
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Rajesh_pimp06
8 years ago
I was so sick of Linda by then I was actually rooting for the guy who killed her. A shame as well because I really like Lar Par Lincon. As soon as she went to work for the Summner group that was it for me. She was just too unbearable to watch by then. Those seasons of KL weren't my faves especially with Claudia who I couldn't stand from day one. I tend to avoid those episodes. I prefer the episodes that came before that.
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