On 9/12/2024 at 8:09 AM, Vee said:

Here's a serious question: If they had pivoted for real, and made the show about J.R. vs. Pam (as originally planned by David Jacobs going back to the miniseries) after Bobby died and leaned harder into it as opposed to whatever other mess they introduced that season, would it have made a positive change for the show or would it have simply cut the show's lifeline by a few seasons? I always figured the inertia of the popularity of Hagman, Duffy, etc. are all that kept it going in the last few years.

To me, from what I've seen, Dallas never really evolved and that is what doomed it creatively. OTOH it ran the same amount of seasons as KL, so what do I know.

I think J.R. vs Pam would've been the natural evolution of that storyline and, at least by me, was expected (and something I looked forward to tremendously).

I do agree with the delay of delivering that promise in theory (which took the shape of the jungle stuff). J.R. would 100% have come up with a scheme to keep Pam away, so the idea of it was excellent and only served to build up to a big confrontation and eventual all-out war. The execution of it, of course, was rather atrocious.

I am so sad at the potential that was wasted, especially since Principal had become quite wonderful by then. I truly think it would've creatively refocused the show, kept people interested (if done right), and maybe even enticed Principal to stick around longer (although she had very clearly been aiming to get out after her 10th season for a while).

On 9/12/2024 at 3:04 AM, Chris 2 said:

The problem was that Dallas needed to go forward, not backward. What kept Knots Landing fresh was continually bringing in fresh talent both in front of and behind the camera over the years. Dallas didn’t do that well.

To be fair, however, KL had a concept that was pretty malleable and easily expanded (and, in fact, had done so several times already before it even became a long-running show!).

With DALLAS being about a single family and that family business, how does one do that? Go too far and the show becomes unrecognizable, and if the changes are anything but really well done, they are rejected.... 

They should have focused on JR vs Pam and looked into fresher things they hadn't done that much of, and that would be enough. They didn't need to reinvent the wheel (which they did, in a way) as long as they kept the writing tight and the show entertaining. Instead, they just decided to give up and coast on the past and their stars' appeal(s).

Edited September 13, 20241 yr by YRBB

One thing I never agreed with was giving J.R. a long-lost son.  If he was going to have a long-lost child turn up, it should've been a daughter.

1 hour ago, Khan said:

One thing I never agreed with was giving J.R. a long-lost son.  If he was going to have a long-lost child turn up, it should've been a daughter.

I still say Shannen Doherty could have played J.R.s daughter if she had been cast before the series Our House. I can picture her tormenting Charlie. 

Spooky Movie?😂

Who's in the shower?😂

On 9/13/2024 at 3:54 PM, Soapsuds said:

Spooky Movie?😂

That could be fun, but probably too confusing to sell.

A CBS promo heavily featuring JR, Clatyon and Sue Ellen. Funny to see them try hard to suggest JR should ever be around your child.

 

6 minutes ago, DRW50 said:

A CBS promo heavily featuring JR, Clatyon and Sue Ellen. Funny to see them try hard to suggest JR should ever be around your child.

I love how the little girl is giving big bad Larry Hagman the stare down.

9 hours ago, DRW50 said:

That could be fun, but probably too confusing to sell.

A CBS promo heavily featuring JR, Clatyon and Sue Ellen. Funny to see them try hard to suggest JR should ever be around your child.

 

The Grandmother is played by Sandra Gould (Mrs. Kravitz from Bewitched). 

10 hours ago, DRW50 said:

That could be fun, but probably too confusing to sell.

A CBS promo heavily featuring JR, Clatyon and Sue Ellen. Funny to see them try hard to suggest JR should ever be around your child.

 

I don't think I recall that promo. A weird one..😂

A lot of people don’t know this, but when Barbara Bel Geddes left in 1984, the original plan was to have Gladys Kravitz move in next door to the Ewings, to provide an older person to nose around in the younger Ewings’ business. That’s why she’s in that CBS promo. But the producers decided to recast Ellie with Donna Reed instead, and the rest is history.

5 minutes ago, Chris 2 said:

A lot of people don’t know this, but when Barbara Bel Geddes left in 1984, the original plan was to have Gladys Kravitz move in next door to the Ewings, to provide an older person to nose around in the younger Ewings’ business. That’s why she’s in that CBS promo. But the producers decided to recast Ellie with Donna Reed instead, and the rest is history.

April 1 comes early...

Honestly, if Donna Reed had joined the show as a sibling or cousin of Miss Ellie's, with the explanation that Ellie had either passed away or was out of town for health reasons, I think viewers might have accepted her more.  Primetime isn't like daytime in the sense that you can just recast a character and expect viewers to go along with it.

Did Amanda Ewing die?

If not after a revolutionary new treatment she's  released and Donna plays her!

2 hours ago, SoapDope said:

The Grandmother is played by Sandra Gould (Mrs. Kravitz from Bewitched). 

Thanks. I never would've known.

17 minutes ago, Chris 2 said:

A lot of people don’t know this, but when Barbara Bel Geddes left in 1984, the original plan was to have Gladys Kravitz move in next door to the Ewings, to provide an older person to nose around in the younger Ewings’ business. That’s why she’s in that CBS promo. But the producers decided to recast Ellie with Donna Reed instead, and the rest is history.

They should have had her join Knots instead of Aunt Betsy.

8 minutes ago, Khan said:

Honestly, if Donna Reed had joined the show as a sibling or cousin of Miss Ellie's, with the explanation that Ellie had either passed away or was out of town for health reasons, I think viewers might have accepted her more.  Primetime isn't like daytime in the sense that you can just recast a character and expect viewers to go along with it.

I think they got cocky because Dynasty had recast a number of characters.  They may have also thought people just saw Miss Ellie as another woman, interchangeable. The difference is Dynasty never recast the older characters that tended to get the most attention. And Dynasty was a hollower show. Barbara Bel Geddes was just irreplaceable in the Miss Ellie part.

Edited September 20, 20241 yr by DRW50

2 hours ago, Chris 2 said:

A lot of people don’t know this, but when Barbara Bel Geddes left in 1984, the original plan was to have Gladys Kravitz move in next door to the Ewings, to provide an older person to nose around in the younger Ewings’ business. That’s why she’s in that CBS promo. But the producers decided to recast Ellie with Donna Reed instead, and the rest is history.

🤣