"Pilot" is the first episode in the first season (1979-1980) of the television spin-off of Dallas

Dallas (TV series)

Dallas is an American serial drama/prime time soap opera that revolves around the Ewings, a wealthy Texas family in the oil and cattle-ranching industries. Throughout the series, Larry Hagman stars as greedy, scheming oil baron J. R. Ewing...

, Knots Landing

Knots Landing

Knots Landing is an American primetime television soap opera that aired from December 27, 1979 to May 13, 1993 on CBS. Set in a fictitious coastal suburb of Los Angeles in California, the show centered on the lives of four married couples living in a cul-de-sac, Seaview Circle...

.

Plot

It is explained that with the help of Miss Ellie, Gary

Gary Ewing

Garrison Arthur Ewing was a character in the CBS television series Knots Landing and Dallas. The character of Gary Ewing was played most notably by Ted Shackelford and briefly played by David Ackroyd .-Dallas:...

 (Ted Shackelford

Ted Shackelford

Ted Shackelford is an American actor best known for his role as Gary Ewing on the CBS television series Knots Landing, in which he starred from 1979–93...

) and Valene Ewing

Valene Ewing

Valene "Val" Ewing is a fictional character in the American television series Dallas and, more prominently, its spin-off series Knots Landing. She was played by Joan Van Ark....

 (Joan Van Ark

Joan Van Ark

Joan Van Ark is an American actress, most notable for her role as Valene Ewing, which she originated on the CBS series Dallas and continued for thirteen seasons on its spin-off, Knots Landing...

) were reunited after seventeen years. Miss Ellie buys them a house in California

California

California is a state located on the West Coast of the United States. It is by far the most populous U.S. state, and the third-largest by land area...

 as a wedding present.

Gary and Val are brought to their new home by Gary's brother Bobby. They move into their new house and meet their new neighbors, Sid (Don Murray

Don Murray (actor)

Donald Patrick "Don" Murray is an American actor.-Early life and career:Murray was born in Hollywood, California on July 31, 1929, the only child of Dennis Aloisius, a Broadway dance director and stage manager and Ethel Murray, a former Ziegfeld performer...

) and Karen Fairgate (Michele Lee

Michele Lee

Michele Lee is an American singer, dancer, actress, producer, director and frequent game show panelist of the 1970s. She is best-known for her role as Karen Cooper Fairgate MacKenzie on the 1980s prime-time soap opera, Knots Landing...

). The Fairgate family hold a dinner party that is interrupted Sid's drunken daughter, Annie (Karen Allen

Karen Allen

Karen Jane Allen is an American actress best known for her role as Marion Ravenwood in Raiders of the Lost Ark and Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull...

). They also attend a house party which allowed Gary and Val to meet their other neighbors, Laura (Constance McCashin

Constance McCashin

Constance McCashin is an American actress.McCashin was born in Chicago. She is best known for her role as Laura Avery Sumner on the prime time drama Knots Landing, which she played from the show's debut in 1979 until 1987 when the character died of a brain tumor and her funeral was the basis of...

) and Richard Avery (John Pleshette

John Pleshette

John Pleshette is an American actor, perhaps best known for being an original cast member of the long-running primetime television drama Knots Landing playing Richard Avery...

); and Ginger (Kim Lankford

Kim Lankford

Kim Lankford is an American actress and businesswoman.-Personal life:She is an ex-girlfriend of Warren Zevon. Kim Lankford has never been married or had any children.-Acting career:...

) and Kenny Ward (James Houghton). Annie, from Sid's first marriage to Susan Philby, does not usually live with the Fairgate family. The problems between Sid and Annie were solved with Val's help, and because of that, Karen and Val become best friends.