Dallas 2.0: Discussion Thread

[Khan]

I simply adore this "look." Very sleek and classy. Too bad DALLAS never thought to have a character this glamorous on their show.

[SFK]

Yeah, Larry objected to the Dynastyification/feminization of Dallas which he attributed to Angelica. It was very obvious what they were going for. And so unneeded, really. Dallas sure as hell did not need an Alexis clone... it had J. m'er effing R.! Alexis was the female him... it's like a snake devouring itself. Dallas wasn't really the place for exoticals like Angelica anyway, she would have been more at home on Falcon Crest, or Dynasty/The Colbys (a la Bianca Jagger).

[DRW50]

I remember Chris Schemering talking about the aftermath of the Moldavia story with Alexis being "tricked out in a nun's outfit."

[Roman]

I still remember this. For several years the tabloids used to report a 2-3 page spread on what was going t happen in the seasons finales of Dallas, Dynasty, Falcon Crest & Knots Landing. And, they always got it right. That's because they had leakers on the sets like they do now. So, Richard & Ester Shapiro wrote a fake script and had that leaked to every single tabloid, and they printed what that entire script entailed. The Star had most of it right like the others until it got to the last 20 minutes. That whole part was fake, so when the episode aired every Dynasty fan was in shock. They even had to take still photos of the wedding scene themselves and print them on and in their magazines.

[Roman]

This is very true. He always thought that Dallas was a male soap opera and that the women got their stories from the men. So after he got Phil Capice out of there (He wrote in his book that he offered PC 1 million dollars to leave Dallas) and was instrumental in not only bringing Patrick back but Leonard Katzmann as well. And, he felt that the Wes Parmelee/Jock Ewing story was great. That got changed because 2 weeks before Parmalee was supposed to be revealed as the returned Jock Ewing, the National Enquirer ran an article putting Jim's pic and Steve Forrest' pic side by side on their cover and revealing that Forrest was going to play Jock. The Dallas fans hit the roof and slammed Lorimar with calls and letters demanding that it be changed. It was, thus how haphazard the BBQ episode was.

But, if you go to Ultimate Dallas, there is debate going on till this day that Parmalee was in fact Jock, and that Jock left the family to stop the pain he was causing them.

[rlj]

Wonder if they will bring on Bobby's son with Jenna on the show?

[Soapsuds]

LINDA: "Cynthia, where the hell are my f@#$ng lines in this script? Don't pull this [!@#$%^&*] on me, you're not dealing with Charlene Tilton!"

[Soapsuds]

Josh: What do you think Larry?..you think I'm hot enough to be your TV son? I mean..I kinda look like you, except for the part of being able to grow hair.

Larry: Listen sonny...it doesn't matter if your hot or you can grow that long, greasy hair..I am going to steal this show away from you in the first two episodes and your going to spend your evenings whining on Twitter about it!

[Soapsuds]

JR: I gotta hand it to ya, Bob. Your idea to keep the peace by turning South Fork in to a nudist colony was a stroke of genius!

Bobby: Yes, I knew selling it or making it a conservancy was tearing the Ewings apart, now we can all live in peace and harmony. No more schemes and secrets - there is nothing to hide anymore!

Elena: Sorry, but I'd like to see you and JR hide something. No way do I want to see your withered old junk jiggling around. Please keep your clothes on.

Rebecca: Yeah, and Sue Ellen, at your age you might want to at least wear a bra to keep those dried up udders from hanging down.

Ann: Who are you talking to - Sue Ellen Ewing or Sue Ellen Mishke? Cause I already like to wear a bra as a top.

Rebecca: Well, both of you really. You're like, all old. Ewwww.

JR: These damn kids have no respect for our generation! Hey, where'd Cliff go?

Cliff: I'm down here on the floor! I keep tripping over my tallywacker. I've fallen and I can't get up!

PATRICK: "Smell my finger. We need to make you learn a new facial expression for the next scene. After that, you will at least have 2 to choose from"

[JaneAusten]

Last Wed Dallas

3.363 million viewers

1.0 18 to 49 demo

But it was July 4th.

[Roman]

You know, i understand the tension about the ratings. But since it's gotten renewed for a second season, and its the middle of this season, I'm not worried at all. It will pick back up towards the season finale.

[Chris B]

Even before this week the ratings are very inconsistant and we don't know where they'll settle at. I hope they don't view the early renewal as a sign the show doesn't need work. It actually needs HUGE work. They need a much stronger cast and a new Headwriter. Elena has to go, Rebecca needs to be retooling and I'd go as far as to write Christopher out. Next season I'd have a good two or three new males AND females. Try again with the next generation. Bobby & Betsy, Lucas, James Beaumont (even if he needs to be recast) and give Lucy something to do.

The show I do see getting better, but I still feel this is often as lame as those reunion movies in terms of storyline. Only thing is that this show has such a poor attention to detail since nobody involved knows the original show. It's no longer in Braddock County, we have a Cattle Baron's Ball instead of Oil although Oil is a major part of the storyline. Miss Ellie was horribly mis-represented. Lucy and Ray are presented like a couple (and wasted) when they're RELATED. You retcon the past to have Elena around when Pam was there for no logical reason.

People gush about how brilliant the show is, but I'm sure the ratings would hold better if that were the case. This is like watching Pacific Palisades.

[Y&RWorldTurner]

Despite popular belief, the ratings trend for this show isn't good at all.

TNT did renew it, which shows they're willing to wait it out before outright canceling. But if things aren't more consistent next season, I wouldn't be surprised if they pulled the plug. This show must cost a fortune for them to produce on a cable budget.

Week #5 had the lowest ratings yet (yes it was the 4th of July as well), and the show had a 1.0 in 18-49, so it likely ranked in the 20's for this week, but we won't know until the final report is out.

Here's last week's cable ratings rankings, as you can see, a lot of original programming from USA is rating higher than TNT's Dallas.

Rizzoli & Isles is TNT's highest rated original program, not Dallas which was ranked #15 last week. Keep in mind that Dallas started at #1 in its first week in the cable rankings and then fell completely out of the top 10.

True Blood is also rating higher, and HBO has less of an audience/reach than TNT.

http://tvbythenumber...-1-2012/140366/

[Chris B]

One thing I will say is that from all I heard when I appeared as an extra, what I saw and what I've read on the net, I don't think the show is as expensive as many people thought. Some of the "expensive" wardrobe came from Ross Dress for Less lol. Also, the lack of extras in many scenes, small cast and the discounts from shooting in Texas must help them. I'd say it's a very modest production. They also don't have any big name actors so you don't have to worry about salary.

[ER Tosh]

Yeah I do not see how this is a expensive cable drama at all. The ratings have to stabilize of course but I should point out that TNT has three dramas that regularly get a worse 18 to 49 rating then Dallas has ever got so far (even on the 4th) .