Donna Mills & Joan Van Ark Join ‘Knots Landing’ Cast Reunion at The Hollywood Show 2025!
The Knots Landing cast reunited at The Hollywood Show where Joan Van Ark, Donna Mills and Kathleen Noone took the stage to answer fan questions on the primetime soap’s 14-season run (1979-93).
The ladies spent two days with fans graciously signing autographs and posing for photos at the show.
When Gary and Valene Ewing (Ted Shackelford and Joan Van Ark) left Dallas for the sunny L.A. suburb of Knots Landing, no one expected this domestic primetime soap to last as long as its higher-profile parent show.
But it did, thanks to juicy characters like scheming neighbor Abby (Donna Mills), cunning politician-turned-corporate-giant Greg Sumner (William Devane), the gold-digging Anne Matheson (Michelle Phillips) and her sexual-magnet daughter Paige (Nicollette Sheridan).
From Left: Michele Lee, Kevin Dobson, Lisa Hartman, Joan Van Ark, Doug Sheehan, Julie Harris, Ted Shackelford, Constance McCashin, William Devane, Donna Mills, (1985) CBS / Everett Collection
And then there was the villainous Claudia Whittaker (Kathleen Noone), Greg’s manipulative half-sister who would do literally anything to ensure her fortune (that liver episode!).
Only one resident, however, appeared in all 344 episodes: Michele Lee as Karen Fairgate MacKenzie, the den mother of the Seaview Circle cul-de-sac, where life was oh-so complicated and the drama so incredibly addictive.
Now, 46 years later, Knots Landing is seeing a deserved resurgence, as the series has been made available on streaming platforms like Prime Video, as well as on Plex TV, where all 14 seasons are available for free.
CBS/courtesy Everett Collection
“I think it’s late to the party in a way because I think we deserve attention and [it should have been] sooner than this,” Van Ark says on the renewed interest with the show. “But we’ll take it at any point.”
Noone, who joined the cast in 1990 for Season 12, agreed and commended her colleagues for being so caring and supportive when she moved from New York City to Los Angeles, feeling like she “landed on Mars.” Coming from a stage and daytime (she played Ellen Shepherd Dalton on ABC’s All My Children) shooting schedule and then moving across country for new opportunities was quite the challenge. Her lady costars had her back.
“I came on to a team of people who were very supportive,” Noone said. “The fact that they welcomed me and helped me get my feet, I’m forever so appreciative.”
Credit: Mike Pingel
Van Ark, just like her character Val, was touched by the sentiment, adding: “We were a family both on and off the screen, and that has ties that are deep and special and treasured.”
She continued sharing how the ladies always looked out for one another. “There’s love underneath all of it — true family — and taking care of one another. I remember I drove Michele when she and Jimmy [Jim Farentino, her husband then] — when he decided to move out. She called me and said, ‘Could you drive me to work this morning?’ I was in Studio City, where we lived, and to go pick her up in the Pacific Palisades — somewhere on the ocean — there would be drive time and talk time.”
And that friendship — being there whenever a friend is needed — has never wavered, and is stronger today.
CBS / courtesy Everett Collection
Mills (at a stunning 84) made the exciting announcement that she, along with Van Ark (81) and Lee (82, who had to cancel her appearance at The Hollywood Show due to the fires), will be launching their own podcast on Knots Landing thanks largely to the resurgence of interest.
“We’re just putting it together. I’m starting it, so we don’t exactly know when it’s going be on or where you can access it, but we’ll let you know,” Mills said. “It’s going to just be us talking because the two of them [Van Ark and Lee] are crazy. It’s going to be a fun podcast.”
It can’t come soon enough!
More details on the reunion panel and the podcast, also coming!
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June 2017
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