Kenny Coyote
Telly Talk Star
Before TNT made their show, was there ever another network that seriously considered making a Dallas continuation?
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Did Another Network Seriously Consider A Dallas Continuation?
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Kenny Coyote
Telly Talk Star
Thanks. Dallas was such a successful show that you'd think there would have been interest in doing something at least a little earlier. It makes you wonder what could have been if around 2002 or 2003 a network had gotten a showrunner with a good understanding of Dallas to make a continuation.
Jabari Lamar
Telly Talk Fan
Well, keep in mind, this sort of thing, actually bringing back old shows after cancellation, was not really a common thing at the time (and there were fewer options for where shows could air, it was still mostly the 4 major networks and some pay cable channels) , certainly not now where shows like Will & Grace and Roseanne have made successful comebacks. Even when they did, they were more like half-continuation/half-reboots, with mostly new characters, like 90210 and the Melrose Place revival.
Now Dallas might have come back sooner on CBS, if Katzman hadn't died after the J.R. Returns tv movie, which was a success. I recall reading in the TV Guide (I think) after that that there allegedly was some talk at CBS about a “Dallas: The Next Generation” show, focusing on the kids. Who knows how serious that really was? But certainly if the next Dallas tv movie had actually followed up on those plotlines with John Ross, Christopher, and Pamela and was a similar hit as the first one, it may have sparked more interest in a show revival then. At the very least, I bet we would have gotten a third TV movie a couple of years after that. And that might have heledp extend the memories of the original series and thus sparked the possibility for a revival sooner than DallasTNT did. Of course that’s all just speculation on my part.
Remember, rather than a new TV show, before DallasTNT David Jacobs was trying to get a theatrical film version of DALLAS made. Supposedly with John Travolata as J.R. and Jennifer Lopez as Sue Ellen. Imagine what a trainwreck that would have been!
Kenny Coyote
Telly Talk Star
Yeah, I don't think Lopez would have been right. They also talked about Bruce Willis playing JR. - I think he could have been good at it.
Grant Jennings
Telly Talk TV Fanatic
I remember hearing about the potential Travolta/Lopez movie and thinking it sounded like bad camp; it would have made "Fresno" look like a masterpiece. Plus, if you're going to change the ethnicity of some characters shouldn't it be the Barnes family? It could bring a hint of racism to the back-story with the implication that Ellie chose Jock over Digger because her family disapproved of her dating a Latino. Digger could accuse Jock of racism in one of his drunken rages.
Jabari Lamar
Telly Talk Fan
Oh, I think J.Lo could have been fine, she’s a decent actress and has played several “race-neutral” characters, And in my little just-for-fun pitch of Dallas reboot over in the writers thread, I recommended making Sue Ellen a Latina, which I think is something that would work in the context of “modern” Dallas unlike the way it wouldn’t have back in ‘78 on the original show. My main objection was Travolta, I just don’t see how that could have worked in any context.
I remember at one point my brother and I were discussing it, and trying to cast the movie in our heads, and I suggested Kevin Spacey for J.R., and this was based on the character he played on the old TV series WISEGUY. And of course he went on to star in House of Cards where he excellently played a character very similar to J.R., so now I’m even more convinced that he could have done it.
I don’t remember all the rest of whom we picked, other than Susan Sarandon for Sue Ellen, Hugh Jackman for Bobby, and Ashley Judd for Pam.
I distinctly remember reading an interview somewhere with Victoria Principle sometime back when this film was being discussed and she was asked whom she thought could play Pam in the movie and she suggested Halle Berry. So I guess she was thinking along those same lines (although I guess Digger could have still been White, and just married a Black woman after he was dumped by Miss Ellie and had two Biracial kids).
Miss Texas 1967
Telly Talk Addict
I remember an interview within the last few years (although I still feel 2011-2012 wasn't that long ago as the TNT show comes up so often on here) but PD and LG mentioned JLo and John Travolta even then and it made me cringe, firstly because the idea was at least a decade old at that point and neither actor was particularly popular anymore, secondly because it just seemed like repetition of information without any thought at all, and thirdly because it's a horrific idea to turn a show with a lot of thought behind it into some movie of the summer.
It's the same when we get interviews about the original show and the exact same things are said every time, you get the feeling the actors are on autopilot sometimes and repeat the same things hoping people forgot they already said them. Lucy was going to marry Kit Mainwaring in 2 episodes, Charlene was in 243 episodes, it's an easy story to tell in an interview but no thought goes into it after the hundredth time it's said. I feel the same way about the movie stuff, someone obviously threw the idea out once and it kept being repeated over and over without anyone actually questioning the idea at all.
Jabari Lamar
Telly Talk Fan
I recall reading an interview with Linda Gray somewhere during the promotion for DallasTNT season 1, when asked about how it felt to be playing Sue Ellen again after all those years and if she ever expected it, Linda actually talked about that, saying how when she'd be asked about JLo playing Sue Ellen in movie, she (Linda) would feel compelled to be "diplomatic" about and say how she was sure Lopez would do a great job, but that inside she was secretly screaming to herself "No, I'M the only Sue Ellen, dammit!"
And while I never like to say never, I suppose a DALLAS movie could work with a great script, director, and cast, it is hard to imagine. I think specifically because Dallas was an ongoing Soap Opera with continuing stories, unlike shows like Mission: Impossible or 21 Jump Street, so it's hard to see how to successfully translate that into a done-in-one movie. Unless they did go for some outright farcical pardody, like the Naked Gun film. Thus a new TV series or at least a miniseries seems more appropriate.
Rove
Telly Talk Warrior
John Travolta as JR doesn't work for me at all. Perhaps if the much mooted movie was being produced 15 years ago I actually see Jennifer Lopez playing the role of Pam, not Sue Ellen. Jennifer has that down-to-earth character trait which I believe best suits the role of Pam. The girl from the block can also dress to kill when the occasion calls for it. Imagine her turning up to the Oil Barons ball in one of the above. A few gushers certainly would have come in
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Kenny Coyote
Telly Talk Star
Probably not. Although he was good in Pulp Fiction. But I do think the other guy they talked about considering for the Dallas movie - Bruce Willis - would have been a good JR. This is the performance that made me think he could do it. There's a lot of junk at the beginning - not even from the movie, so skip ahead and start at around 8:35
Rove
Telly Talk Warrior
I don't get that vibe from Bruce Willis either to play a character like JR. I like Bruce but every movie I watch with him in it I see Bruce.
Spooky Owl!
Telly Talk Supreme
Travolta is actually a very good mimic, so don't be surprised if he could do a good Larry-as-JR... Lopez would have made a better Pam, her Latina ancestry just making her even more unwelcomed by some at snobbish Southfork.
Larry may have liked the idea of Bruce Willis in the role of JR, but Willis is just too gross.
Larry may have liked the idea of Bruce Willis in the role of JR, but Willis is just too gross.
stevew
Telly Talk Star
A movie, or better to me a tv reboot:
James Caan as Jock Ewing
Sally Field as Miss Ellie Ewing
Woody Harrelson as JR Ewing
Halle Berry as Sue Ellen Shepard Ewing
Phylicia Rashad as Patricia Shepard
Zoe Kravitz as Kristen Shepard
Maia Mitchell as Lucy Ewing
Jensen Ackles as Bobby Ewing
Jessica Alba as Pam Barnes Ewing
Benjamin Bratt as Cliff Barns
Edward James Olmos as Digger Barnes
Lee Byung-hun as Ray Krebs
Just some suggestions.
James Caan as Jock Ewing
Sally Field as Miss Ellie Ewing
Woody Harrelson as JR Ewing
Halle Berry as Sue Ellen Shepard Ewing
Phylicia Rashad as Patricia Shepard
Zoe Kravitz as Kristen Shepard
Maia Mitchell as Lucy Ewing
Jensen Ackles as Bobby Ewing
Jessica Alba as Pam Barnes Ewing
Benjamin Bratt as Cliff Barns
Edward James Olmos as Digger Barnes
Lee Byung-hun as Ray Krebs
Just some suggestions.
Sea - Boo! - Er
Telly Talk Warrior
I don't always agree with @Snarky's Ghost but I do think John Travolta could have pulled it off. Don't forget that before Dallas, Larry was best known for I Dream of Jeannie. A sitcom background could be helpful.
Spooky Owl!
Telly Talk Supreme
:eck: :eck:
Frankenstein Underworld
Telly Talk Champion
I'll never understand why Warner made the seemingly arbitrary decision to hire Cynthia Cidre as the showrunner. Even she sounded surprised at the time, admitting that she had seen very little of the original series. Her previous series Cane had been a flop, so I don't know why they thought she was the right choice to helm an iconic show. I think it would have made more sense to vet potential showrunners in order to find the best choice. I can understand Dallas ending up on TNT if Warner owned a piece of it, but it obviously wasn't a good fit there.
Miss Texas 1967
Telly Talk Addict
It's also baffling that in being chosen to write a continuation she never watched the series through subsequently, never mind about before. Episodes here and there does not result in having the depth of knowledge you need for a job like that, nor does having a team of writers who had collectively seen the whole show but not one person has actually seen it from Diggers Daughter to War of the Ewings. You can't write a character like Sue Ellen based on one season or another, she varied wildly in strengths, weaknesses and personality based on where she was in her life. The same goes for history, you have to have watched the show grow and develop to understand the world, a general idea of the overarching plots only goes so far.
Sea - Boo! - Er
Telly Talk Warrior
Shocker, right?