There's a certain possessiveness of writers sometimes.
Ultimately the Emmys are a popularity contest.
A show like Knots or any other show that can be called a soap opera does terribly in syndication because if you're a viewer and you miss a week you don't know what's going on.
Networks don't want a show with a continuing story. There's no backend potential.
If you watch Cheers, in 12 years they didn't age a day.
It worked well because Don Murray didn't want to be on Knots anymore.