Dallas: Discussion Thread

[Soaplovers]

I will agree that Cidre was able to craft some strong scenes such as the scene where the men were helping a calf be born... but she also seemed to not understand that one of the strengths of the original Dallas was the breakfast scenes out by the pool, the dinner scenes in the dining room, and also the post dinner drinks in the living room/family room.

Those scenes were where the family would talk about Ewing Oil, the ranch, and also their family/marital situations.  There could have been scenes with Bobby/Ann/Sue Ellen trying to have conversations with Christopher/John Ross/Pamela... and the generational divide between conversations and technology.

There were ways that a competent show runner could have updated the show to the 2010s and still had it be Dallas.

[te.]

I mean, she admitted herself that shooting a scene like that previously was really hard work and by all accounts the Dallas' actors actually hated doing those scenes for the exact reasons she stated. Still, making a good show isn't all about comfort and I agree - the dinner scenes, breakfast scenes and drinks in the living room were severely missed. I guess you could argue that the Ewing family was fractured at that point, but if that was the case the show would've been about bringing everyone back into the fold.

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[SoapDope]

I lost interest in Dallas once Victoria left. I hated how they handled things with her departure. To be honest, I also hated how they wrote Jock out. I think they should have had Miss Ellie find him passed away in his sleep at Southfork. That stupid crap about Steve Forrest as potential Jock was tacky writing and a insult to the legacy of Jim Davis. 

I also found Patrick Duffy (and Larry) insufferable after he returned to the show. I wish they told him that it was a done deal and sorry, but Bobby is dead. You pissed away your job. Good luck finding work. He screwed things up with his return. 

I also get the impression that Patrick is passive agressive with his feelings toward Victoria. There's times he will praise her, then times he will throw shade. 

[Khan]

Victoria Principal's exit had to be one of the stupidest ever.  Pam had enough time to apply the brakes or swerve to avoid hitting the side of that tanker.  But what does she do?  What women always do in these situations on TV and in the movies: she screams, she takes her hands off the wheel and then she covers her eyes.

I agree.

I also agree that Lorimar should have told Patrick Duffy and Larry Hagman that Duffy returning to the show as Bobby was impossible.  Obviously, they were concerned about the ratings, but as @kalbir and @Paul Raven have pointed out in this thread and elsewhere, ratings for all the primetime soaps were declining due to changing tastes.

Edited May 28, 2023 by Khan

[Vee]

How many more years did they get with Bobby back? 3-5? That's not nothing for a cast and crew especially in those days, but the show suffered big losses with the women.

[kalbir]

5 seasons, but not long after Patrick Duffy's return budget mode started and that brought on what I suspect to be the salary dumpings of long-time female cast members and sweet young things hired on the cheap. We saw budget mode leading to the salary dumpings of long-time female cast members and sweet young things hired on the cheap across all three of the CBS primetime soaps.

In the grand scheme of things, Victoria Principal and Linda Gray were smart to walk away when they did. In theory getting Victoria Principal and Linda Gray expensive contracts off the books should have freed up cash but budget mode probably lead to a salary cap and I think the bulk of the salaries at that point were probably going to Larry Hagman and Patrick Duffy.

Edited May 28, 2023 by kalbir

[Vee]

VP and Susan Howard had to be huge losses in and of themselves. They're two of the key things that keep me watching in various segments on FreeVee, not that I think Pam has ever measured up onscreen the same after the first season/miniseries.

I've said it before and I think @DRW50 theorized it was because of the star salaries on Dallas, but I've always felt KL and its various sets and location shoots looked so much more beautiful and sweeping than the chintzy patio set and so on at the mothership. You put that pool and patio next to the Westfork ranch or Lotus Point on KL and it's no comparison.

[SoapDope]

As I previously stated, I found Patrick/Bobby (and Larry) insufferable in the later years. He just comes across smarmy, hammy, and self important.

Instead of giving the women vital story, Katzman and company runs them off and gives the salaries to finance Patrick and Larry's backstage playground antics and lets their characters eat the show. The shows production values even started to look low budget. I don't think they shot on location in Dallas after about 1987.

 

[kalbir]

Well there was certainly enough cash to finance the 1989 remotes in Vienna and Moscow, and the 1990 remote in Paris.

[Khan]

That's true, @Vee.  I hadn't looked at it that way.  On the other hand, it wasn't as if Bobby's return brought DALLAS back to the top of the ratings, or to the top three or top five.  If anything, I think his return - or, more appropriately, the enormous liberties with realism taken to make his return possible - might have hastened the show's (unfortunate, but inevitable) decline.

Edited May 28, 2023 by Khan

[Soaplovers]

The thing I liked about the mini series and the 1st full season with Pam was that she may have pulled herself up by the boot straps by working at the department store and marrying Bobby.. but there were times we were reminded that in her heart, she was a Waco girl... and had a coolness/strength that radiated.

Sadly.. that was lost as the show pressed on... though she could deliver a slap that packed a punch (i.e. Katherine when discovering she forged a letter to Bobby, and JR a few times).

Katzman didn't understand that the show was about JR and Pam... not JR and Bobby.

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@Khan

Glad you're back!

Bobby's return in the cliffhanger(#3) and the season premiere(#4) got Dallas back in the top 5. The problem was the explanation to his return. @AbcNbc247 said it should've been Bobby dreaming the whole season while in a coma and waking up in the season premiere. That would've been more plausible. 

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