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Dallas: Discussion Thread

John

By John
in DTS: Cancelled Soaps

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Melroser Community Regular

Melroser

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Just finishing S9, the "dream season". I am curious if anyone knows when the producers/writers knew that Patrick Duffy would be back for S10. Was it a last minute addition for the finale? Did they know a few months before the season ended? Curious if his return impacted the last few episodes or if at the time of the writing they had fully intended to pick up where they were leaving off. I wonder what the writers thought if they were moving forward with their own vision and then told to scrap it all because Duffy was coming back. 

Sorry, I love backstage stuff. haha. 

I started watching Dallas as a teen when Duffy returned for S10. I just, for the first time, watched through from Episode One thru S9. 

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Soapsuds Grand Master

Soapsuds

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Patrick Duffy return was announced at the beginning of 1986. I remember looking at the ratings to see if Dallas would get a boost from the news. It never did until the cliffhanger. The last half hour of the show that featured Pam's wedding to Mark, the two explosions and Bobby in the shower peaked at 26.2 in the ratings. 

I don't believe any of the stories were changed due to Duffy returning. All the stories were played as planned until the cliffhanger. One scene that was edited/cut was when Pam opened the shower door. It was Mark in the shower and not Bobby. And the scene with Pam and Mark in the shower was suppose to appear towards the middle of the show. I recall VP mentioned that she wondered what had happened to that scene. But then recognized it at the end only to be edited with Bobby in the shower.

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j swift Grand Master

j swift

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I unsuccessfully tried to find the SOD issue when they asked various soap writers how they would solve the Bobby in the shower cliffhanger that was published prior to the reveal of the dream season.

It was a great idea for a story to see how others in the field would've solved the issue, and I wish they had done that more frequently.

If anyone can find a link to the article, it would be fun to read it again.

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j swift Grand Master

j swift

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I found it on the tellytalk forum.

I was most taken by Stephen Birmingham's Gaslight inspired solution.  While it wouldn't have created more opportunities to tell stories about Bobby for future seasons, the idea of Mark turning into a villain is fun.

And, who knew there were five types of liquid paper?

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j swift Grand Master

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https://www.chicagotribune.com/1986/09/02/bobby-ewings-return-is-nothing-viewers-havent-come-to-expect/

A couple of theories that don`t turn up in TV Guide include the Rotating Miss Ellie Theory, which posits that it`s impossible to confuse ”Dallas” fans with casting changes.

After all, Barbara Bel Geddes was Miss Ellie when the show was hatched in 1978. Medical problems put Bel Geddes on the sidelines, and she was replaced for a time by Donna Reed. But, eventually, the original Miss Ellie, eminently decent and dumb as a post where her fussin` and feudin` boys are concerned, returned to Southfork.

Then there was brother Gary, played for two seasons by David Ackroyd and two more by Ted Shackleford, who eventually moved the role to ”Knots Landing.” Gary was the lubricous Miss Lucy`s dad, and a megawimp even when compared to his sniveling brother, Bobby.

Meanwhile, actor David Wayne played ”Digger” Barnes for a season, and was then replaced by Keenan Wynn in the demanding role of Bobby`s father-in-law.

But ”Dallas” steamed ahead despite the changing faces, with J.R. protecting his fortune, and his wife Sue Ellen sneaking drinks, and the whole family sitting on that veranda, waiting for J.R. to foreclose on their futures.

Clearly, a show with this staying power and an audience with a certifiable weakness for buying ranchettes in northern Idaho sight unseen isn`t going to have any problem if Bobby comes back as an Evil Twin, or the Six Million Dollar Mope, or an Alien Life Force.

After eight seasons, the premise of ”Dallas” is stretched so tight the writers might as well start freezing characters to rise up later on, or get into some serious, Tarrant County, Texas voodoo.

Why not? How many worthless Asian oil leases can J.R. sell to his friends? How many of J.R.`s business partners can Sue Ellen get into the sack? As a people, as a society, we waited for the answer to ”Who Shot J.R. back in 1979-80 with the same numerical fervor with which we followed Geraldo Rivera into Al Capone`s vault this year.

We deserve what we get. One way or another, we`re getting Bobby Ewing.

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SoapDope Proficient

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I think David Wayne was replaced because he had signed on to do the short lived series " House Calls" At the time he was appearing as Digger on Dallas, he also appeared on Eight Is Enough (another Lorimar series) as the absentee father of Tom Bradford( Dick Van Patten). The 2 part episode was filmed on location in Hawaii. 

When they did the EIE Hawaii episodes in 1979, Lorimar should have had episodes where the Ewings visit Hawaii. Maybe the Honeymoon that Bobby and Pam never had etc... 

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soapfan770 Veteran

soapfan770

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Dallas ended 33 years ago today. I still find it dumb the producers actually thought there was going to be another season, just like what happened to their former colleague Paulsen at Dynasty just two years earlier, especially being like #58 in the ratings. At at least over at Falcon Crest (and later Knots) they saw the writing on the wall and wrapped everything up to a more or less a satisfying conclusion. 
 

I had some actual 91-‘92 season materialized it would have been about Michelle getting her revenge, maybe?

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