KNOTS LANDING: BOTTOM OF THE BOTTLE {PART 2 OF 2} {FIRST SEASON FINALE} (TV)
Summary
One in this night-time drama serial, spun off from the series "Dallas," about the residents of the small southern California community of Knots Landing. In the second half of this two-part episode, Gary awakens on the beach again as his friends continue to search for him. They find the store owner who refused to give him a bottle of bourbon, and the man explains how desperate Gary seemed. Richard finds him at a bar and tries to take him home, but Gary talks him into having “one for the road” and Richard ends up getting profoundly drunk himself. Gary manages to get Richard home to Laura, and she calls Val. When she arrives, she finds Gary trying to break into their liquor cabinet, and in the struggle he accidentally hits her and cuts his hand on the broken glass. Elsewhere, at a party, Ginger finds Kenny dancing with Sylvie and asks him to take her home, but he declines to leave and she heads home alone. When he returns home early the next morning, she calls him out on his lies, but they are distracted when they hear an ambulance arriving for Gary. The paramedics tell them that they cannot commit Gary for detox against his will unless he attempted suicide, so Laura claims that he cut himself on purpose, and Val reluctantly supports her story. Gary awakens several hours later in the hospital and tries to persuade Val to take him home, promising never to behave that way again, but she tells him that he needs help and leaves him there, much to his distress.
Ginger talks to Laura, although she does not reveal her suspicions about Kenny’s affair, and Laura suggests that she needs to “meet him halfway” more than she is doing. At the studio, Sylvie has trouble with a song and says she is distracted by her problems with Kenny, and though he says that their relationship is just “business,” he agrees to work with her privately. Later, Ginger arrives at the studio and catches the two of them in an intimate moment, which seems to please Sylvie. Kenny chases Ginger back to their home, where she destroys his belongings in a rage and orders him to get out, and he seeks refuge at Sylvie’s. Karen comes to Val’s to ask about Gary’s treatment, and Val admits that she is overwhelmed by the process, but Karen assures her that she did the right thing. At the hospital, Val watches a tape of Gary’s session with a Dr. Kramer in which she confronts him about his addiction, which he still denies. He demands to call Val, but when she offers him a choice between the phone call or a drink, he picks the drink (which is not actually alcoholic), and Val is upset to witness this. Ginger takes her class to the zoo, and Kenny surprises her there and tries to win her over by telling the children that they had a fight and he wants to make it up to her. She calls the stunt “cruel,” however, and though he tries to apologize, she says she needs time alone for a while and tells him to move his things out.
Another man at the hospital, Kahil, talks to Gary and tells him about the merits of AA, saying that people there are very understanding. Sid arrives and tells Gary that he heard that he was not responding to the treatment, and Gary continues to deny that he has a problem. When Sid threatens to fire him, however, he assures him that he will attend his first AA meeting that night, and Sid is elated and hurries off to tell Val the good news. That night, however, Gary manages to steal some clothes and sneak out of the hospital, and Val is shocked when he arrives at home, telling her that he is better and can attend meetings another time. She puts her foot down, however, and says that he is “coming apart,” revealing that she saw him choose the drink over calling her. He leaves in anger, and Val goes to the AA meeting instead of following him. She listens to other members telling their stories of addiction, and at the end, Kahil announces that he is leaving the hospital, now well on the way to recovery. Just as the meeting breaks up, however, Gary arrives and introduces himself, admitting for the first time that he is an alcoholic, much to Val’s relief. Commercials deleted.
Details
- NETWORK: CBS
- DATE: March 27, 1980 10:00 PM
- RUNNING TIME: 1:00:00
- COLOR/B&W: Color
- CATALOG ID: B:27055
- GENRE: Drama, night-time serial
- SUBJECT HEADING: Drama, night-time serial
- SERIES RUN: CBS - TV series, 1979-1993
- COMMERCIALS: N/A
CREDITS
- Michael Filerman … Executive Producer
- David Jacobs … Executive Producer, Created by
- Joseph B. Wallenstein … Producer
- John Pleshette … Writer
- Robert W. Gilmer … Writer
- Roger Young … Director
- Ron Grant … Music by
- Jerrold Immel … Theme Music by
- James Houghton … Cast, Kenny Ward
- Kim Lankford … Cast, Ginger Ward
- Michele Lee … Cast, Karen Fairgate
- Constance McCashin … Cast, Laura Avery
- Don Murray … Cast, Sid Fairgate
- John Pleshette … Cast, Richard Avery
- Ted Shackelford … Cast, Gary Ewing
- Joan Van Ark … Cast, Valene Ewing
- Diana Douglas … Cast, Dr. Charlotte Kramer
- Louise Vallance … Cast, Sylvie
- Hal Williams … Cast, Store Owner
- Ellen Blake … Cast, Alcoholic Woman
- Happy Hairston … Cast, Kahil
- Pat Petersen … Cast, Michael
- Danny Gellis … Cast, Jason
- Steve Shaw … Cast, Eric
- Bill McLaughlin … Cast, Cop
- Tracy Justrich … Cast, Kim
- Mace Barrett … Cast, Bartender
- Loretta Fury … Cast, De Marco
- Larry Margo … Cast, Psychiatrist
- Ken Smolka … Cast, Tom
- James Emery … Cast, Patient
- Vincent Isaac … Cast, Alfred
- Bryan Gordon … Cast, Mark
- Jamie Benner … Cast, Alice