Dallas: What Went Wrong?

[Roman]

I now have Seasons 3-8. I can now say something I couldn't say back then: Season 7 & 8, while good, do not hold a candle to the mini-series all the way through Season 4: The Battle For Ewing Oil.

Just wondering what others thought.

[Daphne]

My opinion won't be popular, but for me, DALLAS didn't mean as much once Pam left. I loved her and Bobby. But I don't remember when Victoria Principal left. Can you please tell us what occurred during Season 7-8?

[Soapsuds]

Pam left in Season 9. The show wasnt the same without her. I agree with you.

[Chris B]

I was shocked at how much I enjoyed the later years actually. Cally was a GREAT addition to the cast and Cathy Podewell had amazing chemistry with Larry Hagman. She brought a sweet innocence to the show which was nice. Season 12 (or 13 on DVD) was absolutely sublime as well. I'm really excited about seeing that one again.

Many people hate the later years solely because of exits, but I can overlook that. By the time Pam and Sue Ellen left they were stale anyway. Hell, I would've written off Sue Ellen in season six or seven. I think it dumped her down to keep going back to JR and doing the same storyline.

[DaytimeFan]

I think what happened to 'Dallas' is the same thing that happened to 'Dynasty'...The first half of the seasons were more 'serious' in their tone while the second half were sloppier and more over the top. I have to say that I think the merry go round storylines that Pam and Sue Ellen were involved in got repetitive. The same thing happened with 'Dynasty' after the Moldavian Royal Wedding, Alexis and Krystle and Blake just went on the same merry go round one too many times and the show became more tongue in cheek.

Granted, both shows were quite different, but the creative breakdowns were the same.

[Paul Raven]

Dallas and other primetime soaps faced the same problems -the shows had to revolve around the same characters.

Dallas always had to be about JR,Pam,Cliff etc -unlike daytime where the characters can be backburnered for a while.Also those characters got older and a new generation weren't there to take over.Having JR have a son was a plot that happened too late.Or Sue Ellen could have a had a daughter that she gave up years before.

The only younger character was Lucy and she was never given much to do.

Although there were only 30 eps a season,story moved faster and there were fewer stories and shorter scenes than daytime so a lot of story was eaten up.

I agree that Callie was a good addition(Whatever happened to the actress?) and that later seasons were entertaining,but the whole 'phenomena'was based around JR/Sue Ellen and Pam/Bobby and viewers lost interest along the way-especially the boring Anjelica years.

BTW Dynasty was never a patch on Dallas!

[sungrey]

People always say the dream wrecked it for them, but personally I think it was the only thing Dallas could have done to rescue what had turned into an awful season. The season that followed, with Sue Ellen getting ballsy with JR and the B.D. Calhoun subplot, was one of the best seasons in the show's history.

I was a faithful fan to the end, but for me the turning point was Victoria Principal's departure. Bobby had great chemistry with Sheree J. Wilson, but it just felt like a big part of the original series had gone away.

[sheilaforever]

"Dallas" started to get stale the season after Patrick Duffy returned. Once Victoria Principal left I actually thought the show was on an upswing again. I also liked April and as long as there were hints that Pam might return the whole show moved along nicely.

This fell flat and so did the last 2 seasons with the last being exceptionally painful.

[Matt P.]

Victoria Principal's exit in 1987 was my first memory of a soap opera. My mom and dad watched Dallas for the longest time and I remember asking "why did Pam get into a car axident?" (Thinking that her car was axed and then blown up.) But hey I was 2!

I wish she should've returned because maybe she could've survived after all. You can't always believe what a character says and it's a soap opera, if Pam's husband could come back to life via a dream so could she.

[EricaKane70]

TIIC were what happened to dallas, they made the show too male-dominanted and they wouldn't let sue ellen and pam do anything different other than be a drunk and be bobby's perfect wife. In the later year to try to draw in more male fans or whatever they were trying to do they bring on these blonde bimbos that couldn't be on sue ellen and pams level even on a good day. An alot storylines got ruined by the dream season, like donna/rays down syndrome storyline, sue ellen finally letting go of the bottle, and jr being a good husband/father. Its like the writers were there own worst enemy, they didn't have any creativity and when they did they messed it up.

I loved the seaon where sue ellen finally had jr's number, and thats why the showed jumped the shark for me, I wanted to see more but LG was gone. Jr pretty much got to do what he wanted with her gone, cally was just blah.

[juppiter]

My problem with Dallas is the middle years. They lost all their good female characters. The early years and the later years (11-13) were great, IMO.