Dallas: Discussion Thread

[Khan]

I agree, @Vee.  Leonard Katzman should have made the conscious decision to end DALLAS rather than wait for CBS to end it for him.  The show had already declined; a fifteenth season on the air would not have reversed anything.

I think they should have just killed off Pam (wrapped in bandages) in the following season's premiere.

[Chris 2]

I liked the idea of Christopher being JR’s. But Dallas loved the status quo, and Christopher being JR’s would have made it difficult to return to the status quo. Same thing with Kristin having JR’s baby. How would they have gotten JR and Sue Ellen remarried if Kristin was hanging around with a baby? Even Lucas’ messy parentage was resolved cleanly by Bobby basically becoming a deadbeat dad.

Had they been able to persuade Principal to stay, they could have killed off Jenna and done a custody storyline between Bobby/Pam and Ray. Again, though: the producers wouldn’t have like that because it would have permanently altered Ray’s relationship with the family.

I agree about Bobby becoming less likable upon his return. Part of it was that Duffy demanded that Bobby be stronger when he was revived. Part of it too was the way he treated Pam and Jenna. When you think about it, it was awful that he proposed to Pam before he officially broke his engagement with Jenna. He didn’t need to pair his announcement of his engagement to Pam with his breakup. He could have waited a bit before he started publicly dating Pam.

The producers blundered by not properly building the show around Pam as the new protagonist after Bobby died. There was so much story potential there. They didn’t need to bring back Mark (but the love of the status quo and the familiar struck again). And they quickly returned to the status quo when the ratings really fell in the second half of the dream season. They - and Hagman - felt that Dallas was a “man’s show”. And the women were disposable. Too bad, because the second half of the series could have been much stronger without that sexist approach.

[kalbir]

That was across all three CBS primetime soaps. Granted, Dallas was the only one of the three that had no long-time female cast members left in the final season. Falcon Crest would have been that way too if Jane Wyman hadn't returned for the final three episodes.

[Chris 2]

I think Falcon Crest considered most/all cast members disposable, male or female. Only Wyman and Lorenzo Lamas lasted from beginning to end.

I know Knots gets grief for losing Constance McCashin and Julie Harris, but they also dropped male cast members like John Pleshette, James Houghton, and Doug Sheehan.

Dallas seems worse by comparison - Charlene Tilton, Barbara Bel Geddes, and Susan Howard all went before any significant male cast members were let go.

 

[te.]

I've been re-watching Dallas a bit and the change they do to Pam's character between seasons 4 and 5 is so incredibly jarring. While the back-and-forth with the baby stuff is mildly annoying in those first four seasons, ultimately it's about a woman asserting her rights to bodily autonomy despite immense pressure to throw caution to the wind and produce a heir. Then in the season 5 premiere Bobby suddenly mentions that "Pam's been so high and low" and a few episodes later she's gone so looney she's catatonic and ready to jump off roofs - at that point I'm surprised the writers didn't just throw in that she had a wandering uterus causing her to go insane!

Like, I get that it's a set up for them to adopt Kristin's baby but they could've handled it much better wrecking Pam as a character.

[Chris 2]

Agreed - it’s frustrating to see the Pam character like that. Plus, Victoria Principal was still fairly green as an actress. Her acting style changed around the time Pam divorced Bobby and she become a more polished actor.

I wish we could have seen Pam’s spunkier characterization from the early days of the show after Principal matured as a performer. We certainly saw signs of it in later years, but not consistently enough. I cringe a a bit when I think about when she went to work at Ewing Oil and felt overwhelmed and needed Mark to help her. Or when she tried to get Jenna to let her adopt her baby. Ugh. Early Pam was confident and wouldn’t have behaved that way.

[YRBB]

Yes, unfortunately, along with the neurofibromatosis storyline (which I liked), Pam became increasingly shrill and so did Victoria Principal. The writing was not stellar for the character of Pam and the acting followed suit, especially in Seasons 4 and early 5.

Miraculously, halfway through Season 5, with that great twist of Pam assuming Christopher was for her, something just fell into place. Principal 'woke up', so to speak, and started to become better and better. With the significant improvement of writing for Pam in Season 6 came a calmer but stronger Pam.

By Season 7, Principal was a solid draw, turning in consistently stellar, intriguing performances. She had relaxed. She was magnetic. Season 8 was a highlight. She carried Season 9. It's only when she was thrown back into the Ewing household that it somehow diminished but then she left.

I haven't seen anything quite like it before. In my mind, it was a reaction to her material - either she didn't like it or did, and it showed.

Edited June 9, 2023 by YRBB

[Chris 2]

Very well put. My guess is that Victoria is like most people: she does better work when she’s passionate about it. And she probably didn’t like the nervous breakdown material, or the times when Pam merely existed to support Bobby’s storyline (Pam feels neglected by workaholic Bobby and turns to Alex Ward, for example), rather than as character in her own right.

JR says at the end of episode 1, “It seems I’ve underestimated the new Mrs. Ewing. I surely won’t make that mistake again.” That, to me, is the series distilled to its very essence: JR vs Pam (with Bobby caught in the middle). I wanted to remind the writers of later episodes to go back and watch that scene!

Edited June 9, 2023 by Chris 2

[te.]

Season 5 really takes the cake with the whole JR/Cliff thing and whose the most sociopathic - and the prize as always goes to JR. 

Cliff might be obsessed with destroying the Ewings and JR BUT he actually shows remorse. He shows emotions when he [!@#$%^&*] up and that's ironically his biggest weakness; meanwhile JR just keeps wheelin' and dealin' throughout the season no matter what comes his way. He literally shows no real emotions, even selling what he thinks is his son for some shares. And to top it off, he uses the abuser handbook 101 on Sue Ellen by working HARD to get her isolated; he gets rid of both Clay and Cliff, men who've she's depended on and trusted, just to get her back on Southfork. 

 

Not so romantic when you look at it that way, eh?

[kalbir]

JR was never meant to be an anti-hero/romantic leading man, he was a clear-cut villain.

[te.]

Also, Pam finally shows her backbone again by vowing to fight JR 'til her last breath for Christopher's custody as JR only uses and abuses people - again, a lost opportunity to amp up the war between Pam and JR.

Not according to some! I think people genuinely confuse Hagman's natural charm with JR's vile ways; same as confusing Linda and Larry's immense chemistry with Swellin' and JR being in love. It's a huge credit to the actors though for selling it. 

[Soapsuds]

The Dallas reunion is coming to Palm Springs June 13 with Linda Gray, Patrick Duffy, Charlene Tilton, Steve Kanaly, Audrey Landers, Cathy Podewell, Joan Van Ark, Sheree Wilson and Michael Preece.

[Soapsuds]

Arrived for the reunion. An early get together before tomorrow.

 

Please register in order to view this content

[Soapsuds]

Please register in order to view this content

[Soapsuds]

https://people.com/dallas-cast-reunites-palm-springs-photos-exclusive-7511720