Members Khan Posted September 7, 2014 Members Share Posted September 7, 2014 Don't quote me on this, but I think we have Tori Spelling to thank for Emma Samms on THE COLBYS and DYNASTY. Pamela Sue Martin was leaving (or had left -- I admit I ain't TOO up on my BTS knowledge of this show) so Tori, a GH fan, suggested to her dad that they recast with Samms. At least, that's the story I've heard over the years. Ironically, David Paulsen, who took over producing the show in the final year, was all set to can Samms and bring back PSM. According to an interview with some DALLAS-related website, he had an idea to have Fallon surprise Jeff in the dark by slipping into bed with him or something like that. When Jeff reaches over to turn on the light, surprise, it's Pamela. Then, DP met Samms while planning the new season. He found her to be witty, relaxed, down-to-earth -- IOW, the complete antithesis of everything she had been asked to play for the past several seasons. When he realized the producers perhaps hadn't been playing to her personal strengths, he changed his mind about the un-casting and created the character of Det. Zorelli as a way of bringing out Samms' spark. Did Samms know she was about to replaced with her predecessor? No, she discovered that later (although I think something might have been in the wind, so to speak, and she figured she should play up to Paulsen in order to keep her job). Did Paulsen really see something in Samms that no one else did? Perhaps, although my more cynical side suspects they did more than chat in his office. But, anyways, that's the story. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Khan Posted September 7, 2014 Members Share Posted September 7, 2014 It was just as well he didn't do the reunion movie (which, from what I have heard, hardly anyone in the cast enjoyed doing). IIRC, Adam and Kirby reunited at the end, a WTF? move if ever there were one. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members titan1978 Posted September 8, 2014 Members Share Posted September 8, 2014 Dynasty was so of the 1980's it was really hard to keep that show in its truest form alive beyond the me decade. Dallas too. Knots Landing did a better job moving with the times, but it was a more grounded soap. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members amybrickwallace Posted September 8, 2014 Members Share Posted September 8, 2014 Yeah, I guess Gordon Thomson wasn't missing much by not getting to do the reunion show!! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members SFK Posted September 11, 2014 Members Share Posted September 11, 2014 I always say two bitches are better than one, a la Sable and Alexis. I think it would have been stronger if they kept Fallon's edge and kept the fire burning between her and Alexis. They moved Sammy-Jo in as the new young vixen and went the classic soap route of softening Fallon once we expressly knew "why she was the way she was". Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members applcin Posted September 11, 2014 Members Share Posted September 11, 2014 Did AW's Grant Harrison's stories/demeanor change right away when Mark Pinter took over from Dack Rambo? The two actors' styles just seemed very different to me. Granted (no pun intended), I wasn't a regular viewer during that time so I mostly think of Pinter's Grant as devious and neurotic. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members amybrickwallace Posted September 11, 2014 Members Share Posted September 11, 2014 Khan, David Hofstede's excellent book, What Were They Thinking?: The 100 Dumbest Events in Television History confirms the Tori Spelling story about bringing Emma Samms to her dad's attention because she was a GH fan and thought she'd be the perfect Fallon recast. Of the 100 dumbest television events (and 25 not-so-honorable mentions), the Fallon recast comes in at #32 (between Pink Lady & Jeff and Michael Jackson destroying a car in the "Black and White" video). David Hofstede writes, "On Dynasty, the selection of Emma Samms to follow Pamela Sue Martin as Fallon never had a chance. Never. It was like casting Audrey Hepburn as Batgirl." He also confirms David Paulsen's initial desire to get Pamela Sue Martin back. "After one year, Dynasty supervising producer David Paulsen considered replacing Samms, hoping to bring back Pamela Sue Martin. But after meeting Emma, he couldn't go through with it. 'I fell in love,' he told the Lifetime Network. That's understandable, but it might have been better for both Samms and the series had he made the switch. Martin's return would have restored the character to her true nature, and Samms certainly would have found other work in either film or television." Besides Dynasty, the book also pans three other soap decisions, yet these were based on plot and not casting. They were the stories of Marlena's possession on DAYS, the Leviathans on Dark Shadows, and (you guessed it) Bobby Ewing in the shower. Then you mix that in with the likes of the XFL, Cop Rock, Supertrain, Cousin Oliver, Coy and Vance on Dukes of Hazzard (the latter played by Chip Mayer, who would go on to play the gigolo TJ on Santa Barbara), the fate of Chuck Cunningham, My Mother the Car, The Brady Bunch Variety Hour, Al Capone's vault, Scrappy-Doo, and Rob Lowe dancing with Snow White at the Oscars - how can any TV fan lose? P.S. My mom watched Geraldo's "special" on the vault and was also a regular viewer of Dallas. To this day, she says she can't decide which was more anti-climactic - the empty vault or Bobby Ewing in the shower. LOL Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Khan Posted September 11, 2014 Members Share Posted September 11, 2014 I have said this before and I will say this again: DALLAS never should have brought back Bobby Ewing. I realize the ratings were down. I realize, too, everyone on the set and at home missed him. His death, or "death," left a hole which was nearly impossible to fill. But telling America (and everyone else) that it had all been a nightmare was a cop-out. Pure and simple. Many felt cheated by that decision, and rightly so. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members amybrickwallace Posted September 11, 2014 Members Share Posted September 11, 2014 Well, there could have been other ways to bring Bobby Ewing back alive. It was a soap; surely someone could have come up with a semi-plausible idea. The silver lining is that other shows since have parodied "it was just a dream" with hilarious results - the best example being the last episode of Newhart. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members cassadine1991 Posted September 11, 2014 Members Share Posted September 11, 2014 I remember hearing a rumor about a soap in 2013 having all the events of 2012 were going to turn out to be a dream Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members John Posted September 11, 2014 Members Share Posted September 11, 2014 That Rumor belonged to Days . But I believe it was in 2012 when Tomlin came back as HW. He thought about erasing 2011 thru someones dream but NBC and Sony said no Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members amybrickwallace Posted September 11, 2014 Members Share Posted September 11, 2014 Gary Tomlin had that idea? Why am I not surprised? LOL Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Cheap21 Posted September 11, 2014 Members Share Posted September 11, 2014 MarDar's Days was awful so I wouldn't have been upset with a reboot Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Vee Posted September 11, 2014 Members Share Posted September 11, 2014 Typical. Was there not enough Dr. Dan in the less than a year he was away? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members cassadine1991 Posted September 11, 2014 Members Share Posted September 11, 2014 Didn't Tomlin basically do that, when he changed Parker to be Daniel's son again instead of Phillip Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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