Dallas 2.0: Discussion Thread

She's just a dullard, which most of the new cast seem to be. I think they should have gone more for pop and energy, not gloss.

The always bring the typical substitute for Pam in these reunion shows...remakes...post Pam....so irritating....I just have hated all of them.

She's just a dullard, which most of the new cast seem to be.

Same.

http://www.washingtonpost.com/entertainment/tv/tnts-dallas-a-satisfying-roll-in-the-sentimental-hay/2012/06/06/gJQAKTTZLV_story.html

TNT’s ‘Dallas’: A satisfying roll in the sentimental hay

What I like about TNT’s “Dallas” is its reverence for the deceit and despair that so thoroughly colored the original. “Dallas,” always an epic tragedy, has learned important contemporary tricks from “Desperate Housewives” (from which it also borrows some of its new ensemble), “Revenge” and even some telenovelas, while mostly avoiding the pitfalls of the self-conscious camp displayed in ABC’s fizzled “GCB.”

The new version also has a healthy respect for the general “Dallas” canon, embracing 13 years of convoluted story lines and long-gone characters instead of pretending the whole mess never happened. Not only is Hagman back as J.R. (a miracle of modern medicine), but Patrick Duffy is also back as Bobby and Linda Gray returns as Sue Ellen. True, they’re all a lot older than you’d ever imagined them being, but nobody here pretends to be something they’re not. They’re just a bunch of ornery survivors.

Recall if you will that Bobby and Pam (RIP?), after attempts to conceive, adopted a baby boy named Christopher. Recall, too, how at the height of her alcoholism struggle, Sue Ellen presented J.R. with a male heir in the first season, John Ross Ewing III, who turned out to be something of a demon seed. These acts of narrative recollection are in fact “Dallas’s” small reward for loyalists: Ken Kercheval’s Cliff Barnes, J.R.’s eternal nemesis, ambles in and out of the storyline, rich beyond his wildest dreams; illicit lovers Ray Krebbs and Lucy Ewing (Steve Kanaly and Charlene Tilton) show up to family events on the ranch, all smiles and double chins. You’ll forget why you ever despised any of these folks and remember only why you loved them. Reunions are like that.

...John Ross’s attempts to drill, baby, drill on Southfork brings J.R. out of his mute decline. Soon enough, thanks to John Ross’s inept scheme, everyone is double-crossing everyone else — fist-fighting at wedding receptions, hiring private investigators, and blackmailing one another with the latest available phone apps, thumb drives and spycams. The bed hopping isn’t quite as prevalent as it used to be, and although cable TV affords the Ewings a chance at saltier vocabularies, the show seems quaintly chaste when it comes to sin.

Metcalfe, who briefly held the world on a string as the shirtless lawn boy on “Desperate Housewives,” is a surprisingly apt fit as Christopher, who struggles to balance Bobby’s lessons of morality with the rest of the family’s penchant for betrayal. The show’s real weakness is John Ross — Henderson gives a lunky, forgettable performance, coming nowhere near anyone’s idea of a stronger, meaner version of J.R. Thanks to the rest of its ensemble, however, the new “Dallas” gains some traction and kicks up a little dust.

I want to look forward to this so much. It's a continuation, rather than a reboot or some silly parody of the original saga. But, damn, Brenda Strong? Josh Henderson? Jesse Metcalfe? That was the best these people could do? Really?

I kind of get the feeling they are ashamed of how dramatic the original show could be. There's always a sense of shame in primetime "soaps" now.

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She's just a dullard, which most of the new cast seem to be. I think they should have gone more for pop and energy, not gloss.

I thought Brenda Strong was pretty amazing on Sports Night, I don't really rate her based on Desperate Housewives. I also like that her one night stand with Cliff on the original series could come in handy eventually. From the episode I worked as an extra on, I noticed that she carried a big presence. Her acting was great and she seems to know what she wants from the character. If the writers write a strong character then Ann will be golden. I don't want a simple good girl, she needs a rough edge and some secrets. I think she has the most potential among the female cast, and that includes Sue Ellen.

I like how I was sent an email of a big sale going on with the Dallas DVD releases celebrating the Dallas premiere on Wednesday and how Patrick Duffy and Co. are promoting the return of Dallas on TV. Too bad I have missed every single one.

Don't buy any of those DVDs! In the UK they're getting ready to release a complete series boxset. I'm sure the same will happen here.

Don't buy any of those DVDs! In the UK they're getting ready to release a complete series boxset. I'm sure the same will happen here.

I already bought them all with movies included. I had heard about a boxset here but nothing came of it. Arent UK sets Region 2 though?

Yes the UK one is Region 2, but I know they'll release the same thing here, they're probably just waited as it'll probably have new extras or something.

I am so excited for this show you guys you have no idea.

I really REALLLLLY want them to get Victoria Principal back though...I think that would be the biggest TV accomplishment of the 21st century.

The reruns from 79 begin on 6/14. Got the DVR ready!

WHAT CHANNEL?