TNT Dallas For Beginners

[Willie Oleson]

For me, DALLAS wasn't about happiness or endings. I liked that it went on and on and on and whatever happiness there was was mostly fleeting

Well, it is a drama series after all, so I guess the happy times (usually the likeable characters) is the set up for the drama that follows.
It's very difficult to do happy endings on a soap because that often means the end of that storyline.
Those who manage to escape, as you put it. Characters like Lilimae & Al, Tony Cumson & Kit Marlowe, Jill Smith & Joe Rossi...
I like that too, but the sad or miserable goodbyes are usually more powerful imo.

Yes, I also rooted for my favourite tv families like the Giobertis, but the fact that things didn't work out so well - to put it mildly - makes it more dramatic.
I don't know if I "invested" in those characters, I simply liked them and I liked watching them.
We already invest in the show simply by watching the episodes.

But it's funny how this varies from soap to soap. The Colbys was not a "nice" show, and I thought Gary & Valene never stood a chance and yet they had a happy ending.
Many fans thought they had to be together, but I loved those awkward or poignant scenes when they were divorced, these characters secretly longing for something that cannot be, or wondering if they made the right decision - and by doing so, tantalizing the audience.

Having said that, it broke my heart when the folks of Little House On The Prairie blew up their own town and left

 

[Karin Schill]

we all have our own interpretations and how we view a show and it's great that we can share/discuss these because more often it highlights stuff that I may have missed or seen in another light.

That's very true.

Shipping is an entirely alien concept to me. Is it mostly a girl thing?

I would say yes. Even though I've also met a couple of male shippers over the years. Actually I studied different shipper groups within the Buffyverse when I wrote an undergraduate thesis at the University where I interviewed people from different shipper groups back in 2003. All together I interviewed 16 people and only 2 were men.

I think the term shipper was first coined in the 1990s. The word comes from"Relationship". The first time I came in contact with it was around 1999/2000 when I was very much into Buffy/Angel. Which ship you belonged to seemed to be very important back in those days and in some ways it shaped your preferred reading of the show.

A shipper is someone who enjoys a particular relationship on the show the most. You wanted a specific couple to be together. Or at least end up together.
You become very invested in the couple and typically read fanfics about that ship or make videos or fanart. I remember a girl in the Buffy fandom that had made over 100 Buffy/Angel videos from a quite limited material. The same scenes were used over and over.

Sometimes a shipper doesn't enjoy the character paired with anyone else but their preferred ship and if the couple you ship don't end up together it can ruin your entire enjoyment of a show on a whole. It hasn't happened to me but to some of my friends. So a shipper definitely want a happy ending.

Within the Buffyverse there were silly shipper wars between different ships back in the early 2000s. I think the cancellation of Angel more or less put an end to those when the B/S and B/A shippers joined forces in a fan campaign with the aim to save the show.

In Dallas fandom I would say some fans were shippers before the term were invented. The couples with the strongest following seem to be JR/SE, Bobby/Pam or Donna/Ray.

In new Dallas I think the pairings some people shipped were John Ross/Elena, Chris/Rebecca or John Ross/PamBecca, Chris/Elena. But due to the couple switch after season one it made shipping on new Dallas hard to do and I think it divided some fans into those groups very early on.

I think that explains what a shipper is. I hope you've found this helpful.

 

[Karin Schill]

I'm not sure what loyalty to a TV show means. I watch something because I enjoy it. If I stop enjoying it I might continue to watch for a while in the hopes that it improves, but if it doesn't, I'll eventually give up. Like Willie said, I'm more loyal to myself and my own enjoyment.

I think being loyal to a show means that you've been a fan for many years.
Just because the show is no longer on the air you don't stop being a fan of it and move on to the next new show.

I'm not a lover of fan fiction. I feel I have a good enough understanding of dramatic structure to realise that I don't have a good enough of understanding of dramatic structure to write anything that would come close to what a professional scriptwriter would come up with. Simply put, I am not worthy.

Well I'm sure you could write a fanfic if you wanted to. It's not meant to be a professional work. But simply a story written by fans for other fans to enjoy.
Some stories are amazing and some are not that good. But either way the fanfic is a labour of love. If people didn't love the show and the characters in the first place they wouldn't be invested enough to write a fanfic. It's very time consuming. But it's also creative and fun and a way to keep the characters alive long after they leave our tv screens.

I've noticed that some fanfics have been written because the fans were dissatisfied with something they saw on the screen and wanted to correct that.
I don't know how many Buffy/Angel fanfics I've read that had his curse taken care of. It seemed to be a big thing among B/A shippers.
Silly in a way but I'm sure those stories filled some sort of functions in the fans lives.

Well, it is a drama series after all, so I guess the happy times (usually the likeable characters) is the set up for the drama that follows.
It's very difficult to do happy endings on a soap because that often means the end of that storyline.

Well if the showrunners knows in advance that it's the final episode they can create a satisfying ending where they leave the characters that people have followed for a number of years on a good note.

What annoys me with Dallas TNT was how the network pulled the plug after the episode that was meant to be a cliffhanger had been aired.
The decent thing to do in a situation like that would have been to issue one final short season. But they never did.

I think it was the same thing with original Dallas. They only found out after they had filmed the final episode that that was it. Maybe if they had known it would have been the last episode they could have convinced VP to come back in 1991 and had the show come full circle with a Bobby and Pam ending.

I thought Gary & Valene never stood a chance and yet they had a happy ending.
Many fans thought they had to be together, but I loved those awkward or poignant scenes when they were divorced, these characters secretly longing for something that cannot be, or wondering if they made the right decision - and by doing so, tantalizing the audience.

I loved Gary and Val too for the same reason you did. Those scenes when they were apart were great. The talk Gary and Val had on her wedding day to Ben comes to mind. I love that scene even though it's totally bittersweet and heartbreaking.

So I don't mind my favorite couples being separated for a while on the show as long as it leads up to a pay off when they eventually get back together again.

Having said that, it broke my heart when the folks of Little House On The Prairie blew up their own town and left

Mine too. It was a crap ending for sure.

 

[Willie Oleson]

Maybe if they had known it would have been the last episode they could have convinced VP to come back in 1991 and had the show come full circle with a Bobby and Pam ending.

The thing with happy endings is that there can be an instant and temporary feeling of satisfaction, but (speaking for myself of course) these endings usually don't linger.
I'm not saying that everything has to be godawful depressing, but a perfect happy ending feels so definitive.
And because a soap is a continuing story, it looks more natural to stop continuing that story, rather than ending it with a fixed ending.
And when that happens isn't so important, I think.

I was competely devastated when Dynasty ended with that magnificent cliffhanger - and I wanted an explanation.
Well, I got it, but curiosity killed the cat - I didn't like that sugary "happily ever after" at all.

 

[Karin Schill]

I did like the Dynasty Reunion Ending. It wasn't the best story and the wrong Adam annoyed me. But at least it fixed the ending for me and it left me feeling satisfied.

You are right about how happy endings don't linger the same way the bad ones does however. In fact the reason I began writing a Dallas fanfic was because I wasn't happy with the way the show had ended.

 

[Toni]

Some stories are amazing and some are not that good. But either way the fanfic is a labour of love. If people didn't love the show and the characters in the first place they wouldn't be invested enough to write a fanfic. It's very time consuming. But it's also creative and fun and a way to keep the characters alive long after they leave our tv screens.

I've noticed that some fanfics have been written because the fans were dissatisfied with something they saw on the screen and wanted to correct that.

Miss Piggy just told me: "This Karin sweetheart seems to be talking about you. Better be a good sport!" And I answered: "Oh yeah honey. She really is!!" No need to say that I identify with the highlighted sentence...

 

[Laurie Marr]

One of my favourite scenes in the whole Dallas-verse. There's just so much going on.

I second that. I was not uncritical of the show on these boards at the time (under a different username) but this scene was splendid on every level. I can forgive a lot of the show’s shortcomings when so many layers of Dallas lore climax in a scene of this potency. Superb.

 

[ChrisEwing2003]

I have a question about the pilot of the new series. How long did they film the pilot for? If I am remembering correctly, I think it was just a couple of weeks.