Would Dallas Have Been Better Off To Not Bring Patrick Duffy Back?

[Kenny Coyote]

I beg to differ. A recent viewing of Lorimar Dallas leads me to believe the writers were steering Pam to take the fight to JR. I'm not sure how much notice Patrick Duffy had given the producers but subtle hints were planted how tough Pam could be in standing up to JR. The time she stormed his office an ripped into him after discovering JR's involvement in sending Pam around the Caribbean searching for Mark. Pam confronting JR outside the Ewing building after Cliff's arrest for the attempted murder of Bobby.
From the series premiere this was always about 'that Barnes woman' and her acceptance into the Ewing family. Eventually Jock, Miss Ellie, Lucy and to a lesser extent Sue Ellen accepted her. Not JR, not ever.
After the reading of Bobby's Will I was looking forward to what the writers had in store for us. JR may have been devious but he would have been placed in an uncomfortable position knowing that if he pushed Pam too far he would have to answer to Mamma. JR may have desperately wanted Ewing Oil but Miss Ellie was about saving the family.
Besides if the writers had been game and lit those fireworks between JR and Pam I believe Larry and Victoria would have relished those scenes. Every-time those two squared up it was electrifying to watch.

Don't blame the character for the not having the guts, blame the writers for wimping out on developing Pam into a strong willed woman.

I don't blame the character and I don't think the writers wimped out. Running a two billion dollar oil business was simply never something Pam aspired to do. She even tried to convince Bobby to leave Ewing Oil when he was fighting JR for control of Ewing Oil. She asked him how much more money they needed and told him that earning more and more and competing in business just weren't important to her. She told Bobby she just wanted to live a happy, normal life that didn't include constant fighting.

Frankly it was out of character for Bobby to even put Pam in the position of having to work with JR. That's the last thing he would have wanted her to feel obligated to do; it would have been very cruel to put Pam in that position. In all the time they were married when did Pam show any inclination that she'd even want to work at Ewing Oil? She never asked Bobby to teach her the oil business did she?

Confronting JR in his business office about sending Pam to the Caribbean looking for Mark was fine but it's an entirely different thing from demonstrating that she had the business acumen and expertise to work at the highest level of a multi billion dollar oil company isn't it? Acquiring those qualities would have required her to demonstrate she had the desire to do so and to invest the time necessary to acquire the qualifications to compete at the highest levels of the independent oil industry.

 

[Rove]

In all the time they were married when did Pam show any inclination that she'd even want to work at Ewing Oil?

None. But that didn't stop her from going to work with Cliff and learn the ropes. I'll relent and agree with you Pam did not have the expertise however she had something JR didn't have, the trust of those around her namely Cliff, Jamie, Ray, Donna and even Miss Ellie and she was prepared to learn. If Bobby (Patrick) had not returned then Pam would have had the biggest support of all, Mark. Most of the characters previously mentioned had a good knowledge of JR's wicked ways. I expected the writers to act accordingly and write the series to exploit JR and Pam's strengths and weaknesses. What was the point of placing Pam's beautiful derriere in Bobby's office chair if nothing was going to come of it? In hindsight, nothing. A wasted opportunity to develop a strong story arc involving the characters we truly cared about since 'that Barnes woman' arrived at Southfork.

It's a pity Victoria did not hand in her notice during the 'Dream Season' as they diluted her character anyway when Patrick returned. Now that would have created a wonderful mess for the writers. Besides the Romeo and Juliet story was short-lived when Victoria had decided enough was enough.

 

[ArchieLucasCarringtonEwing1989]

That was the beat thing about Bobby dying, because it did put Pam in a position that she never wanted to have, yet the series up to season 9 was slowly building up to this, nearly a decade of building up the animosity between Pam and JR to this confrontation only for it to have been wiped away in the worst possible explanation, and by doing so, it set the show back several seasons.

 

[Snarky Oracle!]

Frankly it was out of character for Bobby to even put Pam in the position of having to work with JR. That's the last thing he would have wanted her to feel obligated to do; it would have been very cruel to put Pam in that position.

Oh, I don't know. What people put their wills isn't always an ideal scenario. Obviously. Because they'll be dead.

It's not that improbable that Bobby might have named Pam as administrator over Christopher's part of the company in the event of death just to have somebody with some familiarity with the oil business in the Ewing Oil office other than his dastardly brother who couldn't be trusted, J.R.

Would it be fair to Pam? No, not really. But Bobby could have easily requested under those circumstances.

That was the beat thing about Bobby dying, because it did put Pam in a position that she never wanted to have, yet the series up to season 9 was slowly building up to this, nearly a decade of building up the animosity between Pam and JR to this confrontation only for it to have been wiped away in the worst possible explanation, and by doing so, it set the show back several seasons.

Oh, I know. And 31 years later people still try to rationalize that it was "the best possible explanation" despite what it did to the series. Immediately.

 

[Snarky Oracle!]

I wanted Pam's death to become a mystery, to develop in the background over the remaining years of the show once the writers decided what explanation they wanted to offer up.

While Bobby is pouting and no one at Southfork seems inclined to mention her, Cliff uncharacteristically becomes suspicious of Pam's disappearance and the reason for it delineated in that note.

I want to find out that Jeremy Wendell was behind it, for muddled reasons that almost make sense but are never made completely clear aside from Cliff's and Bobby's guesses --- and since Jeremy's arrest and removal from the show was so stupid (to say nothing of an unacceptable loss) it turns out that he's remained McKay's boss all along and the whole 'I-got-busted' thing was a scam to lull the Ewings into a smug and unvigilant calm while Wendell plans something evil and awful.

Seriously. It could have been done.

And then I want, near the end of the series, for the men to learn that Pam is probably dead, and may have expired as the result of neurofibromatosis -- so she was a blood Barnes after all.

If Bobby stayed dead, however, all the above wouldn't be necessary.

 

[Rove]

I wanted Pam's death to become a mystery, to develop in the background over the remaining years of the show once the writers decided what explanation they wanted to offer up.

I could have easily lived with that. An air of mystery is sometimes a good thing, not everything has to be spoon fed to us. It's funny how many fans were pushing for Pam's return to TNT Dallas, only because her supposed death in Lorimar Dallas was not absolute.

 

[Rove]

and since Jeremy's arrest and removal from the show was so stupid (to say nothing of an unacceptable loss)

Wholeheartedly agree. William Smithers (even his real name sounds evil) was perfectly cast for that role. His dialogue delivery was sublime. While JR was a character we loved to hate Jeremy Wendell was a character I loathed.

 

[ArchieLucasCarringtonEwing1989]

Oh, I know. And 31 years later people still try to rationalize that it was "the best possible explanation" despite what it did to the series.
Immediately.

I know, I cannot believe people would ever justify the dream resolution, there were plenty of ways to resolve this and the bravest one would've been to have kept Bobby a corpse and end DALLAS in 1987.

 

[Mustard]

I also wonder why they didn't beef up Jack's role more. He had a certain resoluteness about him combined with an air of mystery about his past. Wasn't Jack brought in take over much of what Bobby used to do? There's a potential for conflict there, with Jack torn between the interests of Ewing Oil and the devious J.R. on one side, and his sister Jamie and the Barnes-Graison alliance on the other side.

To throw all this potential and new dynamics overboard, and instead to insult viewers' intelligence by telling them that the previous year's storylines were all a dream, is frankly crazy. And what was the end result? One more good season after Bobby's return, mostly based on nostalgia with the old team all together for one last hurrah, before the following years saw Dallas' quick decline, ending on a whimper with J.R. and Bobby shells of their former selves in a near empty Southfork. Was it really worth it?

 

[Presea]

I also wonder why they didn't beef up Jack's role more. He had a certain resoluteness about him combined with an air of mystery about his past. Wasn't Jack brought in take over much of what Bobby used to do? There's a potential for conflict there, with Jack torn between the interests of Ewing Oil and the devious J.R. on one side, and his sister Jamie and the Barnes-Graison alliance on the other side.

To throw all this potential and new dynamics overboard, and instead to insult viewers' intelligence by telling them that the previous year's storylines were all a dream, is frankly crazy. And what was the end result? One more good season after Bobby's return, mostly based on nostalgia with the old team all together for one last hurrah, before the following years saw Dallas' quick decline, ending on a whimper with J.R. and Bobby shells of their former selves in a near empty Southfork. Was it really worth it?

If they had focused more on Jack's role, than I would have liked to see him be something of a sidekick for JR. Maybe like the brother he never had. I would have hated it if they had just tried to make Jack into a clone of Bobby, though.

 

[Rove]

Was it really worth it?

Judging by how quickly viewers moved on from Dallas, no. It's clear there were some inflated egos behind the scenes which caused enormous damage to the brand. If Lorimar Dallas wasn't bad enough they inflict us with the reunion movies, just more nonsense. I beg of you not to get me started on TNT Dallas.

 

[Rove]

I also wonder why they didn't beef up Jack's role more.

Wasn't it rumoured Larry did not like Dack?

 

[Mustard]

If they had focused more on Jack's role, than I would have liked to see him be something of a sidekick for JR. Maybe like the brother he never had. I would have hated it if they had just tried to make Jack into a clone of Bobby, though.

Jack wouldn't have been a clone of Bobby. Jack was more laid back and had a certain sense of mystery and moral ambiguity. Bobby had a short temper and high morals.

Judging by how quickly viewers moved on from Dallas, no. It's clear there were some inflated egos behind the scenes which caused enormous damage to the brand. If Lorimar Dallas wasn't bad enough they inflict us with the reunion movies, just more nonsense. I beg of you not to get me started on TNT Dallas.

And it's clear that what Dallas became in those years would not have been a successful show at all, let alone world famous.

Wasn't it rumoured Larry did not like Dack?

There are those rumours. Did Larry and Dack have to get on for the character of Jack Ewing to have a more prominent onscreen role? If so, that shows how rotten things were getting behind the scenes.

 

[Karin Schill]

I could have easily lived with that. An air of mystery is sometimes a good thing, not everything has to be spoon fed to us. It's funny how many fans were pushing for Pam's return to TNT Dallas, only because her supposed death in Lorimar Dallas was not absolute.

Well I think that was because she didn't actually die on Dallas. They left it open ended in case VP did a PD and decided to come back later on they didn't dare killing her off.

So since Pam was a favorite character for many it's only natural that we wanted her to return on Dallas TNT. I mean if she had the way she was written out of Dallas would have been worth it. But with the crap TNT gave us it was all for nothing.

Besides since we only saw a death certificate on Dallas TNT I am still not convinced Pam actually died since that could easily have been faked...

 

[lbf522]

If they had focused more on Jack's role, than I would have liked to see him be something of a sidekick for JR. Maybe like the brother he never had. I would have hated it if they had just tried to make Jack into a clone of Bobby, though.

Yes making Jack a clone of Bobby would have been awful. I also would have liked for JR and Jack to have a close relationship as well. One of the things that always bothered me was how the writers went over board with JR never having anyone in his corner and everyone instantly on him for no reason.

I liked JR and Ray's "friendship" until the writers decided to make Ray Jock's son and then made him as much a hypocrite as everyone else and a hothead like Bobby.

So having someone in JR's corner would have been nice.

 

[Rove]

So having someone in JR's corner would have been nice.

For a while there I thought we had that in the character of Alan Beam.

 

[Alexia]

I think the idea was that JR couldn't have any real genuine lasting friends on the show, because he couldn't help but screw people in the end. Like, he was kinda friends with Ray for a while, but then he just had to sleep with Garnett McGee (who Ray was smitten with), and that was the end of that friendship...

 

[Rove]

Besides since we only saw a death certificate on Dallas TNT I am still not convinced Pam actually died since that could easily have been faked...

With Cynthia Cidre running the show anything - as ridiculous as it sounded - could have been thrust onto the viewer. When it was mentioned JR had been searching for Christopher's mother I swear my heart missed a beat. Then...

...when we see that still shot of a woman in a black hat, I honestly thought it was Katherine Wentworth. If we couldn't have Pam back I sure as hell would have been happy to see one of my favorite characters return.

 

[lbf522]

Yes JR was wrong to sleep with someone Ray was smitten with (it clearly was not mutual) but unknown to JR was Ray having a long affair with his then underage niece Lucy and that one night stand with Sue Ellen.

 

[ArchieLucasCarringtonEwing1989]

Well I think that was because she didn't actually die on Dallas. They left it open ended in case VP did a PD and decided to come back later on they didn't dare killing her off.

So since Pam was a favorite character for many it's only natural that we wanted her to return on Dallas TNT. I mean if she had the way she was written out of Dallas would have been worth it. But with the crap TNT gave us it was all for nothing.

Besides since we only saw a death certificate on Dallas TNT I am still not convinced Pam actually died since that could easily have been faked...

Well, we could always dismiss TNT Dallas just like they dismissed the reunion films of the 90s, therefore we could say that after years of treatment in Europe and the Middle East, Pam returned to Dallas in 1998 and remarried Bobby in 2000, we can live in hope @Karin Schill ;-)