Vee

Puck's premiere starfucker Dylan Byers has written a somewhat sniffy and defensive piece of Lewis (who parlayed his favor with an exclusive interview months ago) which I will not link to, as he is the outlier in Washington rn and Puck is bought and paid for by money and power above all.

So I realize that usually my Dallas posts are in fact ungrateful Dallas diss posts, in which I submit a rambling series of repetitive insults about the equally repetitive, misogynistic and simplistic storylines on the show or many of its characters who I often find two-dimensional. But like so many others I couldn't stop watching it on FreeVee, in spurts, dribs and drabs here and there across its first eight seasons, like junk food. I wanted to see what all the fuss was about, some of the characters keep you coming back and it's easy to watch and just let its recurring bouts of ridiculousness wash over you. I still don't totally appreciate the show as a whole but you can't not appreciate much of the core ensemble, particularly Larry Hagman, Barbara Bel Geddes, the very early material for Victoria Principal as Pam, Patrick Duffy, Jim Davis and Howard Keel, Steve Kanaly and Susan Howard, etc. (I loved Linda Gray on Models Inc. but Sue Ellen is all over the map for me - more on that below.) Most of all I wanted to get to a place where I was situated for the dream season, where Lorimar swapped its Knots Landing dream team with David Paulsen from Dallas and vice versa, so I could watch the swap seasons in tandem. I was baffled by the swap and very curious to see what Peter Dunne and co. would do with a show so thematically different (IMO anyway) from Knots. I've been fairly impressed so far with the first few episodes, though I know it will likely go very south. "The Family Ewing" was so good I initially thought it was purely the new team, but I'm a pigeonholing dope as it was indeed written by the legendary and/or notorious Leonard Katzman, briefly outgoing guru of Dallas. Directed beautifully by storied KL vet Nick Havinga, I was not expecting them to pick up minutes after Bobby's death but Barbara Bel Geddes dives right back in and gives one of her best performances over the next several episodes, putting the lie to anyone (as in Donna Reed's hilariously bitchy, apocryphal letters to friends) complaining about her acting tics. The family is instantly destabilized and we see actual vulnerability between J.R. and Miss Ellie, both separately and together, which surprised me. He's clearly struggling back at the ol' watering hole in the living room/study/whatever, and she's the one who tries to make him man up for her because she can't do it alone - I guess that is the Ewing way, though I wish she'd just comforted him instead. The silent scene of Ellie out in the fields, near Bobby's treehouse, was beautifully performed and scored and very Knots, as was her amazing monologue to Clayton about the treehouse and Bobby's youth - but again, this is all Katzman (with Havinga, mind you) so I need to give credit where it's very much due. I've just almost never seen Dallas in such a tender or thoughtful mode. I'm sure part of that is due to dipping in and out of the show for stretches of episodes at a time, but still, it can get pretty repetitive and one-note over the years. Oh God, I'd already forgotten Jenilee Harrison's Jamie is newly married to Cliff Barnes, Texas' latest nubile pagan sacrifice to Dallas' premier horny goatman. I don't know why they keep doing this grotesque, tiresome storyline with every young chick that comes on the show. Her new Nancy Reagan helmet of hair isn't holding up much better than her acting; she feels instantly superfluous to the ensemble now, even if she was originally intended as a likely replacement for Lucy - Jamie was never interesting to me after her first few rough-hewn episodes, and Harrison can't hack it onscreen from what I've seen. Nothing changes about odious Cliff in these episodes; he is the same hacky joke he has so often been. I did find Pamela's visceral, hysterical grief over Bobby hard to watch, as much as Ellie's in a very different way. Also loved Pam deliberately not telling Ellie the truth about why Bobby was at her house that morning - letting them live (for now) with the sweet fiction for Jenna's sake. Little Omri Katz (who I grew up crushing on in Eerie Indiana about a decade later) as John Ross comforting J.R., getting him to lay down with him and telling him to go to sleep in the premiere was very sweet. While this is apparently Katzman it reminds me again of the preternatural wisdom you see in the kids on Knots, where often they could be more intelligent or insightful than their star power parents. That's never really happened much on Dallas from what I can see, and the conversation a couple episodes later between Jenna Wade and Charlie (neither brilliant thespians, both of whom should be gone) also is strong character work, this time penned by Peter Dunne himself. They feel fleshed-out and equal onscreen, having conversations with actual weight vs. pablum and platitudes. Same goes for the wonderful scenes between Ray and Donna Krebbs, pondering a new addition to their home, furniture, etc. as they prep for a baby - cute, witty domestic stuff you would regularly get on Knots but never on Dallas, til now. Ending this couple is such a huge mistake later on, I love those two together. How can Sue Ellen still be insisting she is not an alcoholic? Incredible! I did love Ellie's tough love for her and J.R. comforting all the crying secretaries at Ewing Oil, and telling them to not start in because he'll start crying himself - again, a note of vulnerability I don't think you'd publicly get from him before. A little surprised they didn't spring to get Donna Mills' Abby Ewing out to the ranch with Gary for the funeral, but I guess that would've been wild and become a whole other episode lol. It is crazy to realize Gary and poor Clayton have never met, while Lucy is sent off to the Twilight Zone cornfield over the phone. Good riddance. I did a triple take at Gary thanking Ray Krebbs for 'taking care' of her, as IIRC Uncle Ray and Lucy were fúcking in Season 1. Was it necessary for Dusty to cold-cock Sue Ellen and haul her over his shoulder unconscious out of that bar? Probably not, but that's Dallas for you. I did not realize this was the season where Sue Ellen famously hits rock bottom among the winos (and Lou Diamond Phillips) and then ends up dried out in a sanitarium in a legit terrifying series of sequences in first a drunk tank and then the institution - yes, both the material and Linda Gray's performance often veer over into hysterical raccoon-eyed camp as she goes full Fire Marshall Bill trying to keep the bottle of hooch from her lips, but she also becomes positively reptilian at times, turning into a power-mulleted Gollum on her hospital cot, and you have to applaud that kind of fearlessness in a performance as well as the new commitment to gritty realism in the surroundings by Peter Dunne and Havinga. It's at last as hardcore as Gary's own alcoholic meltdown on Season 4 of KL if not moreso. I personally think Sue Ellen should've gotten herself straight at least 3 repetitive, meandering seasons ago as the character has had maybe two notes up til now, but better late than never. Dack Rambo as Jack was a character I'd seen very little of and was prepared to dismiss as another Fake Shemp superfluous nobody a la Jamie, but he's very handsome and also very intriguing in the hints of background mystery introduced in his nice scenes with Ray out on the range. I wonder what the intention ever was there. Unfortunately both the milksop Jamie and the unbelievably dire Mandy Winger as J.R.'s latest PYT get more screen time. Episode 3 ("Those Eyes") is a tour de force for a lot of people starting with Peter Dunne and Linda Gray re: the aforementioned meltdown, but it's also got an incredible scene for Larry Hagman where suddenly and somewhat inexplicably, J.R. is shaken to his core by Sue Ellen's total collapse and gets another amazing monologue like Ellie's in the premiere - remarkably vulnerable and different for his character as he goes into a deep, affecting reverie about his wife and how they met, which smartly and silently drives Mandy completely away from him without his even noticing her exit from his office. (And that should've been the end of her character there!) "I knew she'd win," J.R. marvels to himself about Sue Ellen in the running for Miss Texas all those years ago - winning is how he relates to love. Is all of this sudden realization and examination all a bit abrupt of a 180 for J.R. re: Sue Ellen? Absolutely, it's not done on this show much, unlike KL where they often take careful time to layer in and set up character shifts, where Dallas has spent years driving the contempt between this couple deeper. Do I care much that they didn't? Not really, because it's a lot more interesting than what I'd been watching. Bobby's will reading is deeply cathartic for the cast, who all seem to be getting very emotional or at least acting their hearts out. Pam getting Bobby's shares (via Christopher) of Ewing Oil is the crux of the show as it was originally intended by David Jacobs from the beginning IIRC, yet I am aware they will apparently soon squander this. Still, it's good to see. I loved the bit with Pam screaming her way down the highway in her speeding sports car in anguish and frustration over this, only to be told by a clueless highway patrol guy 'you're a very lucky lady.' A moment of regrettable auteur theory: Is it possible Dunne and co. earmarked BBG as their go-to heroine at the time? Because she's been absolutely carrying a lot of the weight of these early episodes with incredible performances that are much more layered and complex than the recent seasons of her squinting, sighing and mumbling 'oh, J.R.' She has a range of colors and emotions, and an inner strength and emotional intelligence here in these eps that rank up with the best of the ladies of Knots. All in all, compelling stuff so far. I know it will go sideways, but the creative swap has been fascinating to see play out. I think it's benefitted Dallas considerably more than Knots atm, though the effect on KL is still relatively minor by comparison at this early juncture IMO. (I discussed this in that thread.) Thank for enduring this post. And yes, I did catch Dr. Ackerman as one of J.R.'s cohorts in this season.

Huh? A 9 to 5 factory worker doesn't get a hit put out on him by a longtime rival, as has been done with Sonny many times (see: Michael). He doesn't 'steal shipments' and nurse a criminal feud for years. Morgan was tangled up with the Jeromes because Ava and Julian made it their business to target him years ago as part of their war with Sonny. He would not have been there if not for the Jeromes' relationship to Sonny - in the mob.

The point, I think, is Morgan would not be dead/'dead' if not for Sonny and his business. Just like Michael would not have been shot or raped if not for Sonny and his business. Whereas Sam repeatedly divested herself of both Julian and the Jeromes to protect herself and her son. She doesn't have a responsibility for anything that happened there.

At this point I suspect a final season of that will ultimately be the only show Fuller gets off the ground again tbh. It's an easy financial win for him at Amazon or wherever else.

Enzo couldn't act.

I could buy them calming down and approaching each other more kindly and maturely after Jason was gone in 2012. I could not buy them being super friendly or BFF any more than Carly and Liz or Sam and Liz, which is what's often happened since. So them being at each other's throats again doesn't bother me at all. I expect when PM's work is totally gone Korte will reset it all back to Carly's World and Amazing Friends.

Unsurprising: Longtime Politico hack Sam Stein finally goes mask off and jumps to The Bulwark. Not that they don't have some solid columnists and aren't anti-Trump, but The Bulwark is ultimately a center-right Republican outfit, period.

Sam also was in no way involved in the Jerome family business and repeatedly distanced herself from Julian over it. Unlike Carly.

What does Julian and Olivia Jerome's bullshít have to do with Sam? Lest we forget that pre-rewrites, that bomb that took out Morgan was supposed to be set by Sonny.

The show is a mess, but Trevor also got bored very fast.

This week's Tales of the TARDIS will be a cutdown version of Pyramids of Mars with new FX, bookended by segments with the Fifteenth Doctor and Ruby.

What in the hell is Hayley Erin wearing?

I still think you might like Hannibal if you watched it! But yes, the Bryan Fuller project merry-go-round has been one I have largely checked out on in recent years because of all the drama. I'm amazed he managed to fund and shoot his own feature film recently (with a stacked cast).

What I said in my post. I specifically indicated upthread that GH could've either lied to outlets about Bryan Craig or simply changed their plans. The latter is exactly what they did re: Brando filling Jason's role in Sonny's organization back then, which is all I was referring to from what you said in 2021. I was never even remotely implying that SON was claiming that Brando was going to somehow transmogrify into Jason Morgan, and I think you know me well enough by now to know I wouldn't leap to that. You can quibble about my wording, but we're saying the same thing.

Bezos tries to both calm the newsroom and stand by Lewis. Not gonna work.

Nor was I saying that.

It did, but I also think many things are true: A24 was unprepared to properly mount an ongoing series vs. movies, Bryan Fuller was uncompromising and likely overbudget and Peacock/Universal likely also tried to weasel out on a writers room and paying people for their early work, which was a key issue in the strikes. Shameful of the studios.

I agree, it's stupid, but then stupid is Bryan's brand. And GH is desperate and FV does not want to bring back stars who outshine him or his ensemble. Allegedly, Morgan was integral to the D&C Pikeman storyline with Jason that supposedly got them fired and Mulcahey hired. If they are rolling back to that, Morgan would play into that.

Or they lied or changed things up. Not to diss Errol, but I remember when Steve left last time and SON had heard that Brando would become the new Jason.

If it's true and I assume it is (I still can't make out the connection in that photo to the photoshoot, but it sure looks like the set) then I would be shocked if they don't just go back to CVE's bad storyline planned.

Brydog Lives. Ugh. It's not rumored, it's his actual social media history.

As a horror fan, the collapse of this dream project did not surprise me for many reasons. Two things can also be true, though: 1) Bryan Fuller's ego and behavior is often his own worst enemy, he splashes out on budgets and has failed to launch numerous dream projects over the last decade. And 2) Bryan Fuller has brilliant creative instincts and is also often stymied by outside risk-averse bullshít, of which there appears to have been a lot here. The saddest part for me is that it's almost certain Adrienne King (the wonderful heroine of the first film, who was unceremoniously killed off in the opening of the second without a scripted scene while King went into seclusion for years to avoid a stalker) will no longer be involved in any new iteration - Fuller had hired her among many other talented people mentioned to write for the new show and possibly be on-camera again (King can still act and has done a short Friday fan film). The same goes for the likely dismissal of brilliant directors like Vincenzo Natali, and the disappearance of Kevin Williamson's chase-centric episode on the frozen Crystal Lake. Williamson has had many sins since Scream, but his recent pandemic film Sick shows he still knows how to write horror. The one silver lining here is the mention that Nick Antosca may take over - Antosca is a brilliant writer (also from the Hannibal writers' room) who more recently did some of the excellent Channel Zero anthology series for SyFy, as well as writing Antlers, writing on Chucky and doing a very good, unproduced Friday the 13th feature script in the last decade, which was very much a mood piece full of daylight horror, half Dazed & Confused coming of age movie and half slasher with a lot of unexpected turns.

Thanks! Danny seems to have pretty decent recall of Cujo around the same period (which he was very very good in) so I wouldn't be surprised if he remembers his time.

Not to turn the topic too insular to my current obsessions, but does that shifting trend in the mid-late '80s (which I do agree with) possibly explain why Knots Landing (which was less OTT glam and still ostensibly about a semi-relatively grounded neighborhood of people) had a slight edge on the other primetime soaps for outlasting them by a year or two?