@Soapsuds How many takes do you think it took each year to get them syncopated?

 

Can someone remind me?

How was the 1988 season finale resolved when Nicholas Pearce (aka Jack Scalia) fell to his death after being pushed from a balcony during a fight with JR, and then Sue Ellen shot JR with her gun?

I just saw the scene on TikTok, and it feels as if they wrote themselves into a corner.  However, one assumes they found a way out of it with a single episode.

47 minutes ago, j swift said:

How was the 1988 season finale resolved when Nicholas Pearce (aka Jack Scalia) fell to his death after being pushed from a balcony during a fight with JR, and then Sue Ellen shot JR with her gun?

From memory, it was pretty much stale-mate between Sue Ellen and JR (due to him throwing Nicholas off the balcony / her shooting him in return) which led to charges being dropped and fueling her to do the pointless movie.

J.R.'s battles with Sue Ellen were becoming as cartoonish as his battles with Cliff, as J.R. and his opponents kept fighting the same fights over and over, with no real repercussions for J.R.

56 minutes ago, te. said:

From memory, it was pretty much stale-mate between Sue Ellen and JR (due to him throwing Nicholas off the balcony / her shooting him in return) which led to charges being dropped and fueling her to do the pointless movie.

The exterior shot looks suspiciously like the building that Mark Jennings fell from on Dynasty.  At the very least, they both appear to be on the Wilshire corridor in LA and neither in Dallas nor Denver.

How did they explain JR surviving being shot?  After Kristen, did he wear a bulletproof vest whenever he was around the Sheppard women?

Edited December 24, 2024Dec 24 by j swift

2 hours ago, Khan said:

J.R.'s battles with Sue Ellen were becoming as cartoonish as his battles with Cliff, as J.R. and his opponents kept fighting the same fights over and over, with no real repercussions for J.R.

That is why my mom stopped watching it. She returned briefly when Bobby popped out of the shower.😂

Edited December 24, 2024Dec 24 by Soapsuds

1 hour ago, Soapsuds said:

That is why my mom stopped watching it. She returned briefly when Bobby popped out of the shower.😂

So your mom stopped watching in the aftermath of Bobby's car accident, but then stopped again after it was all a dream?

 

35 minutes ago, kalbir said:

So your mom stopped watching in the aftermath of Bobby's car accident, but then stopped again after it was all a dream?

 

Yes, pretty much.

Any time that I re-read the season summaries, it always amazes me how much story they told in a season.  I mean, they had 28–32 episodes to fill, so there had to be some clunkers.  But, it is fun to read all the minor arcs, and bottle episodes that occurred.

For example, in the season after Nicholas went over the balcony, somehow his father shows up to threaten JR halfway through the season.  But, he quickly leaves, and we never hear from him again.  Then, there's one of my favorite episodes when JR and Bobby get stuck in the elevator.

However, given the number of episodes, there are also details that just get glossed over.  For example, I still couldn't figure out how Carter took over WestStar from creepy Jeremy Wendell.  And, it never makes sense why people have to sell each other their land, or stock, rather than just leveraging it for a loan.  These people were billionaires, yet somehow one bad deal causes their entire fortune to go into bankruptcy.  Finally, the whole story of JR's tanker hitting WestStar's tanker happens entirely off-screen, so the audience never knew the truth of what happened. 

 

 

On 11/24/2024 at 9:18 AM, SoapDope said:

What are some of you favorite storylines or scenes from the early years of the show ? 

Some of mine are:

Lucy takes off on her birthday and is picked up by Willie (played by Greg Evigan) in his custom van complete with shag carpet and 8 track. It was cheesy fun and screams late 70's. About a week after this episode aired Evigan would debut in his own series B.J. & The Bear on NBC. 

Jock's heart attack. Pam catches a half lit Sue Ellen playing lady of the manor on the stairs and confronts her. Miss Ellie walks in as Sue Ellen tells Pam she plans to take over and throw her out.

Bobby & J.R.'s plane goes down and the family tries to keep the news from Jock. Sue Ellen starts hitting the sauce and tells Pam she thinks she's a gold digger. Pam slaps the piss out of Sue Ellen knocking her to the floor. This may be one of the first bitch slaps on a soap. 

Lucy & Kit are engaged and Kit confesses to Bobby he is gay and wants to break the engagement. Bobby discusses it with J.R. who already knows all about Kit's past. He argues with Bobby that Lucy should still marry him despite the fact.

Sue Ellen is drunk falls down the stairs and Lucy is high on pills hovering over her. Ray comes in and tries to handle the situation.

You're reminding me of how strong that first season or two were. Given the times I was especially impressed with how they handled the gay storyline.

56 minutes ago, DRW50 said:

You're reminding me of how strong that first season or two were. Given the times I was especially impressed with how they handled the gay storyline.

I loved those early seasons. I know most of the episodes were self contained, but a lot of gems in there. The gay storyline was groundbreaking for the late 70's with the Kit character being written with respect. Charlene did a surprisingly good job with that material.

The Alan Beam character was a lot of fun. Too bad he never returned in the later years seeking revenge.

Mary Crosby was excellent as the scheming Kristin. I felt they killed her off way too soon. She could have driven story for years.