Dallas: Discussion Thread

[amybrickwallace]

After several days of confusion, The Hollywood Reporter has confirmed it:

 

https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/amp/news/ken-kercheval-dead-jr-archrival-cliff-barnes-dallas-was-83-1163963?__twitter_impression=true&fbclid=IwAR2rL5EDKm0XQOxKb6KW3JVFBcopmHg-jZ-U3FX7Fqs9_xwdmSpB5Pom4FI

[amybrickwallace]

The news has also been confirmed by another reliable source:

 

https://www.google.com/amp/s/variety.com/2019/tv/news/ken-kercheval-dead-dies-dallas-cliff-barnes-1203196759/amp/

[Adamski]

I really want to re-watch an episode in honour of Ken Kercheval. Which season do you guys think has Cliff's best moments?

[j swift]

I apologize that I don't have the specific episodes, but all of my favorite Cliff moments were when he was able to experience a small victory over JR (even though the rug would inevitably be pulled from underneath him the following week). 

 

In S3 (the Who Shot JR? season) there is an episode where Cliff is on some governmental board and JR needs some sort of drilling variance and Cliff is able to reject it; which I think is the first time that Cliff was able to flex his power  Then, in the S5 finale ep, Cliff and the cartel think they are able to buy Ewing Oil because JR defaults on a loan, but Cliff becomes the cliffhanger when JR double crosses him.

Edited April 26, 2019 by j swift

[Adamski]

 

Thank you! I agree it was always good when Cliff was able to have a small victory over JR. 

 

I've just re-watched Election from S1, which sees Cliff's political career sabotaged by JR dredging up a past tragedy. Ken Kercheval is very good in that episode. He really brought a lot to the show. 

Edited April 26, 2019 by Adamski

[John]

Jesse Metcalfe was totally wrong as Christopher and should have been recast

[Forever8]

Since I found out that all fourteen seasons of Dallas were on the IMDb Freedive I've been watching from Season 1 now I'm on S3:The Silent Killer the one about a recast Digger Barnes coming back to town who is diagnosed with a genetic condition that could be passed on Cliff and Pamela. 

 

This is my first time watching Dallas since I was only 1 year old when the show ended back in the day. This show along with Knots Landing are two primetime soaps that l always wanted to check out. But never got the chance since I didn't grow up with cable meaning no SoapNet to see them in reruns. 

 

Surprisingly one of my favorite characters on this show is Miss Ellie Ewing 

 

Barbara Bel Geddes brings something extra to this southern matriarch who can command respect from the men in her family without even raising her voice. I love how she even told Jock that she didn't need his last name to feel secure because she was a "Southworth" 

 

And Bobby is such a precious cinnamon roll as the youngest child who is most like his mother in terms of temperament. He definitely feels sort of the family gatekeeper. 

 

Lucy and Pamela's relationship is something l like since she is craving a motherly influence and if already her being engaged to a man who is in the closet and getting hooked on drugs with the quickest recovery known to TV. I would be pissed if my family kept going on about 

 

More thoughts on the series soon from me ...

[j swift]

Ellie changes so much in the early seasons.  In S1 she's of a bit Lady Macbeth, whispering in Sue Ellen's ear to have a baby before Pam.  She was a bit more calculating before Jock died (sorry for the spoiler), then she's docile while dating Clayton until she makes a big comeback in the final season in the fight against Carter Mckay, including that legendary visual when she drives over to confront Carter in her little white convertible. 

 

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[amybrickwallace]

I can't think of any specific favorite Cliff moments, but the JR/Cliff feud was always fun to watch. Cliff was Wile E. Coyote to JR's Roadrunner. He could never get ahead of the game (though I think Cliff gained control briefly of Ewing Oil at least once), but not for lack of trying. I was glad that Ken Kercheval got to reprise Cliff one last time in the TBS reboot.

 

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[DRW50]

The best Cliff scene I remember is in the first season when JR ruined his bid for governor by exposing that in college he'd dated a girl named Penny, who died during a botched abortion of their baby. Cliff revealed the truth at a press conference. He said her name in such a mournful and broken way, a world away from the clown that Cliff would so often become. This is when the show still had some nuance and wasn't focused on having the same scene a million times of Larry Hagman smirking into the camera, so the pain felt real. One of Ken Kercheval's best chances to genuinely act.

[DAMfan]

Any ever see "Lamb to the Slaughter" an episode of Alfred Hitchcock Presents that starred Barbara Bel Geddes and Harold J. Stone. Originally broadcast on April 13, 1958, this was one of only 17 AHP episodes directed by Hitchcock himself. 

[SoapDope]

With the recent passing of Doris Day, I read an article that mentioned in 1984/85, Doris had been offered the lead on Murder She Wrote, but turned it down and went in negotiations to join the cast of Dallas. I wonder what role she was being considered for ? Was it when Barbara Bel Geddes left and before Donna Reed was brought in ? Doris then opted to do her own cable show on CBN "Doris Day's Best Friends". The first episode was surrounded with controversy and media frenzy when her old friend and co-star Rock Hudson appeared as her first guest. He was clearly sick and lost a huge amount of weight and barely able to converse. The media started speculating he was dying and what his illness was. It would eventually be revealed he had AIDS. 

[Khan]

Doris Day replacing BBG as Miss Ellie would have made sense.

[Chris B]

I'm finally attempting a full re-watch of Dallas! Everytime something happens and I end up starting over lol. I've been wanting to try it again but was hesistant to buy all the seasons on Amazon. I finally bought the first season and was watching when they added it to Freedive for free. The commercials are VERY limited so it isn't hard to watch.

 

Right now I'm almost done with season 3, the season that ends with JR getting shot. The first two seasons were very hit or miss with quality, but this season is when they took on a fully serialized format and they've fine tuned the characters just right. I wish every soap writer had to watch this season (along with a couple from Knots Landing) as a template on how to develop characters, story arcs and cliffhangers. The cliffhanger this year only worked because each and every episode built towards it. I'm not even done with the season and can already name at least 10 viable suspects to shoot JR. He works his way through each character in such a clever way, even his parents. 

 

The one thing about Dallas I never liked was Lucy. I feel she would've thrived on Knots Landing, but she just doesn't fit in. They never made any real effort to make her work. I do like her story this season with Alan Beam and later Mickey, but her good stories were always ended prematurely. 

[SoapDope]

I agree. Lucy was a second thought character. Her stories were usually stupid or boring. The writers never knew what to do with her. David Jacobs said that the early episodes of Dallas was done as self contained episodes as a way to slowly draw viewers in, then when they got hooked it became more of an ongoing saga. The dream season really hurt the series and Victoria Principal leaving the show in 1987 pretty much killed it. The last 4 seasons coasted on fumes with original cast members leaving and new characters brought in no one cared about.