Knots Landing is an American primetime television soap opera that aired on CBS from December 27, 1979, to May 13, 1993. A spin-off of Dallas, it was set in a fictitious coastal suburb of Los Angeles and initially centered on the lives of four married couples living on a cul-de-sac, Seaview Circle. Throughout its fourteen-year run, storylines included marital strife, rape, murder, kidnapping, assassinations, drug smuggling, politics, environmental issues, corporate intrigue, and criminal investigations. By the time of its conclusion, it had become the third-longest-running primetime drama on U.S. television after Gunsmoke and Bonanza and the last scripted primetime drama show that debuted in the 1970s to leave the air.
Knots Landing was created by David Jacobs in conjunction with producer Michael Filerman. Although a spin-off of Dallas, the concept predates that series, and was rebuffed by CBS in 1977, as the network wanted something more "saga-like". Jacobs then created Dallas, which the network accepted and premiered in 1978.