Dallas 2.0: Discussion Thread

Just watched the first episode and it was decent. It doesn't all click but I think I had really bad expectations to begin with, so that possibly helped. The original cast still works very well and John Ross and Christopher (especially John Ross) were OK. Elena and Rebecca... no. But I did get the sense that Rebecca may not be as innocent as she may seem. Loved the back and forth concerning who had conned who. This, actually, feels very promising.

Little things that bothered me was the horribleness of the interior, and John Ross's blatant disrespect to Miss Ellie. The writing (and performance) should have allowed for a lot more respect and conflict on John Ross's part for his grandma. That would allow for some internal conflict along the way that could be interesting as well as humanize the character a bit. I have no problem with SOB characters but it seems much more multi-dimensional to me that a character feels guilty but does it anyway instead of just playing it as a spoiled rich kid that just wants his toys. Nobody identifies with that.

In any case, I remained interested in seeing the rest. I think a fight for Southfork Ranch (as opposed to Ewing Oil) is a great idea for a season-long arc.

The original Dallas had whimsical music for whimsical scenes, too.

No. Up until Season 8 on DVD (which I am currently watching), I do not recall a single moment of comedy that wasn't played straight and not whimsical. If there are examples of this in the first 200 episodes, I would love to know because it's possible I don't recall lol

Edited June 14, 201213 yr by YRBB

Little things that bothered me was the horribleness of the interior, and John Ross's blatant disrespect to Miss Ellie. The writing (and performance) should have allowed for a lot more respect and conflict on John Ross's part for his grandma.

That would mean nuance, and that's not something shows want today. It's shock value, and we're probably supposed to think he's a stud for trashing his grandmother, similar to when Y&R had Chompers trash John Abbott just to show us how cool he was.

I can also imagine he hates Miss Ellie because of the time she asked him why he wiped cat litter on his face.

That would mean nuance, and that's not something shows want today. It's shock value, and we're probably supposed to think he's a stud for trashing his grandmother, similar to when Y&R had Chompers trash John Abbott just to show us how cool he was.

I can also imagine he hates Miss Ellie because of the time she asked him why he wiped cat litter on his face.

lmao

That's very true. I'm thinking of the sheer amount of plot the first episode went through. All this "move it forward" mentality may seem fun and allow for shock value, but it completely hinders all nuance and character development. A definite misfire in the writing of a key villain. It seems shows today can mostly either do completely evil or completely good. I don't get why there is this moratorium on complicated characters. I was hoping that, this being on cable, would prevent that.

The idea of writing today is the more a man is abusive and nasty, the hotter he is. That's what has ruined soaps. And this thing is the same way.

http://www.medialifemagazine.com/dallas-steams-up-6-9-million-viewers/

I think it did fine in TNTs target demo. Lets just see how it holds up next week

It would appear the "new" DALLAS is more MELROSE PLACE than "old" DALLAS.

No. Up until Season 8 on DVD (which I am currently watching), I do not recall a single moment of comedy that wasn't played straight and not whimsical. If there are examples of this in the first 200 episodes, I would love to know because it's possible I don't recall lol

Watch the mini-series and the first season again, then. There were many times when they used comedic music to poke fun at JR, like when Sue Ellen left him for Cliff in the first season and he turned to drinking.

Hmmm...I noticed that sales for the Dallas DVDs on Amazon have gone up since the reboot.

I noticed that too Ron

The seasons are decently priced, when I get more money I'm going to start buying seasons

Watch the mini-series and the first season again, then. There were many times when they used comedic music to poke fun at JR, like when Sue Ellen left him for Cliff in the first season and he turned to drinking.

Again, no. I don't think so. Comedic music is not the same as whimsical music. One compliments the actual funny-ness of the scene, while the other screams at you "this is supposed to be funny! Laugh!" and (usually unsuccessfully) tries to create comedy, all with a wink-wink air about it. But thank you for instructing me to watch again.

Edited June 14, 201213 yr by YRBB

The numbers seem fine. They were the most watched show in their timeslot, what more could they realistically ask for? I don't think any show whose selling point is 80 year old Larry Hagman and nostalgia is living and dying by 18-49 demos. It's cable, they have more leeway than networks do, but it does beg the question what would their ratings have been if it was on CBS.

It seems to have been a rather good beginning. Now let's see if the numbers/demos hold in the next episodes.

Again, no. Comedic music is not the same as whimsical music. One compliments the actual funny-ness of the scene, while the other screams at you "this is supposed to be funny! Laugh!" and (usually unsuccessfully) tries to create comedy, all with a wink-wink air about it.

Oh...well, I didn't hear any "whimsical" music last night, then. Definitely not of the Desperate Housewives/Brothers & Sisters variety.

It would appear the "new" DALLAS is more MELROSE PLACE than "old" DALLAS.

I wouldn't go that far.

I liked it a LOT more than I expected to, especially since I thought Cynthia Cidre's only other attempt writing a soap, Cane, was a mess despite a good cast, and had heard the grumbles aboput creator David Jacob's offer to be a consultant being rejected. That's not to say I loved it, or am even half confident it won't lose interest quickly, we'll see.

It DOES feel a lot like a simple continuation of the show, as if it had never left, rather than a reboot (I admit I was expecting something as disastrous as Melrose Place's reboot, despite the fact that even in its last years Dallas always had a better core). I admit I was a bit disappointed by the wedding cameos--will we see more of Lucy at least? (Or her Knots Landing parents, not that they ever paid much attention to her...)

My main problem is the young cast. They're awfully pretty, and also kinda bland. They're decent actors (well aside from Jesse Metcalf, who at least isn't trying to play a bad boy), but I am still a bit worried about a bait and switch with, after a few episodes, nearly all of the drama revolving around them with just cameos of the three former stars--particularly given Hagman's health and the fact that Linda Gray has hinted at not being featured as much as she thought she would. But, we'll see. It's nice to have a full on, irony-free, primetime soap again (though Revenge filled some of that niche for me), even if Dallas ranks third out of my 80s primetime soap list (Knots being first, then Dynasty, though Dynasty fell apart worse than Dallas, then Dallas and then Falcon Crest, in case anyone cared).

The critical reaction has been surprisingly strong too, though nearly everyone seems to think the yougn cast needs to get more interesting (I think one problem is, true to most modern youth soaps, they just are so pretty--so was the original Dallas cast but they also had more distinctive and different looks from one actor to another, not so homogonized).

Ent Weekly this week had a nice oral history/interview about Dallas in the past, how awful the TV movies were (which are largely being ignored), etc. I didn't know Victoria Principal ostracized herself so much from anything, and anyone Dallas, or that Hagman spent every single day drunk (at least tipsy) until 1995 when he had liver issues. Of course I never watched Dallas "live" until its final year and had to catch up with the TNN reruns.

Oh, and I didn't hear any whimsical music either--thank god. (Even on a show I *loved*, Herskovitz/Zwick's Once and Again, I cringed at Snuffy Walden's "cutesy" musical cues he'd do for some of the lighter scenes which, without the music, would have been fine).

Oh, I also enjoyed the opening credits (though I wondered why they got rid of cast photos), and even the closing credits werer in nice retro yellow on black (this may have only been here in Canada where it's shown on Bravo--no relation to the US Bravo--, I am guessing TNT may have had the usual cutaway end credits).

Edited June 15, 201213 yr by EricMontreal22