Chris 2

Miss Ellie is always in denial. She berates JR several times during the series for his dirty business dealings, but where did he learn that from? Jock. And Ellie had no problem accepting the money from those dealings when it saved Southfork. And the whole Lucy thing drives me nuts. Ellie was complicit in denying Lucy’s mother the opportunity to raise her or even see her. And later on, she was almost helped JR kidnap John Ross. So stop acting so holier-than-thou, you hypocritical old bag.

I wonder if something was going on behind the scenes with Lynne Moody. Pat fit in nicely and I can’t think of a logical reason why she would be de-emphasized. She was also replaced on “That’s My Mama” in the 1970s after the first season.

Her marriage to Manuel lasted three more years after leaving the show. She shoulda taken the million bucks.

I think Jeff and Nancy were expecting another baby in season 1, too. That wasn’t mentioned in season 2.

I don’t believe that’s Hope Busby - she had darker hair like Meg Bennett.

Better than “Land of the Free”?

Courtney said she was willing to stay for a certain amount of money and when they didn’t meet it, she left. She said there were no hard feelings and she was ready to go in a way (shades of Victoria Principal on Dallas).

Good episode. Was fun to hear about how challenging it was for the actors when they were doubling up on shooting episodes. Courtney said something about how sometimes, “You just had to pretend it was a standalone episode and go with it.”

The story of Gary and Val was done by the end. I like your ideas - I would have rebuilt the show around the Mackenzies and a new set of neighbors. David Jacobs was considering that (plus the Ewings, which I think would have been a mistake) but didn’t pursue it.

A good soap knows when to refresh the cast. You have to have a mix of vets and new characters. I don’t think killing off John was a bad move.

Oh, that would have been great!

“Return Engagement” is basically a standalone episode. CBS could have aired it most anytime during the season.

Later Dallas has JR losing constantly - Ewing Oil, his attempted takeover of Weststar, Callie’s brothers/Haleyville, Sue Ellen’s movie. They went too far in the other direction. He became a buffoon.

This is from the last scene of the season 2 episode “Rites of Friendship”. It starts with Doug and Kate talking in the living room, with a picture of Jane Actman as Nancy on the piano behind Kate (I cropped and zoomed in). Later in the same scene, you see Meredith Baxter as Nancy with Buddy in the kitchen, and you can see through the door to Doug and and Kate still talking in the living room. The photo of Jane Actman is gone at that point.

Yes, it’s on Tubi. And the quality is good enough that you can see a picture of Nancy #2 (Jane Actman) on the piano in an episode that was reshot with Meredith Baxter Birney (Nancy #3).

The pilot for “King’s Crossing” had a lightly classical-sounding theme. Then they went with something more bombastic from Jerrold Immel (“Dallas”, “Knots Landing”) for the series. Marilyn Jones was very appealing and Linda Hamilton was at the height of her beauty. Mary Frann’s hair needed a blow dryer. But Beatrice Straight was the best thing about the series. Too bad Lorimar didn’t use her in one of its successful soaps. You can hear the pilot theme running in the background of this promo. https://youtu.be/LW-aFHKoPuY?si=8xLpoEYaFA3k4M_U

The 2012 Dallas revival is on Tubi IIRC.

I know that someone has been saying that WB is remastering Knots and Falcon Crest. I doubt it, though. Prime has the remastered HD Dallas, and if Knots had been remastered, Prime likely would have it too.

Silly producers - having a stroke isn’t very glittery or glamorous.

I thought they missed the boat with Pat Williams because Lynne Moody is such an appealing performer. I do think it’s interesting that she was let go from both Knots and That’s My Mama (for the latter, they actually recast her role). She admits to openly expressing her unhappiness while she was on Knots.

David Jacobs said at the time that he had thought about proposing a revamp to CBS with Karen, Mack, Gary, and Valene, plus a new set of neighbors. I honestly don’t know what more they could have done with Gary and Val at that point. I could have seen Karen and Mack as the stable couple, but I don’t think you really needed the Ewings at that point.

My guess is that the actors playing Claudia and Kate didn’t make enough to make enough of a dent in the budget. They likely would have had to cut longtime vets like Ted Shackelford and William Devane.

The right time to do it was about 10 years ago. It could have focused on a widowed Frank and his kids: John, Mary, and maybe another one he and Jill had before she passed. You could have made them all in their 30s (maybe John is deaged a bit according to the original timeline). Delia is still around causing trouble, and Maeve turns up occasionally. Maybe Aunt Faith is still a part of their lives, too. I’m sure they could have gotten Geoff Pierson or Daniel Hugh Kelly to do it.

A lot of people don’t know this, but when Barbara Bel Geddes left in 1984, the original plan was to have Gladys Kravitz move in next door to the Ewings, to provide an older person to nose around in the younger Ewings’ business. That’s why she’s in that CBS promo. But the producers decided to recast Ellie with Donna Reed instead, and the rest is history.

The actor who played Ted was definitely a lightweight. But the actress playing Laken was worse - a black hole of charisma.