Most wasted characters

CeeCee72

CeeCee72

Telly Talk Star
Don't know why I have been thinking about this, but was wondering if any of you had characters on "Dallas" that you really liked but who had their potential wasted by the writers.

For me, there are two:

1. Lucy. Charlene Tilton was fabulous in that role. She had just the right mix of innocence and spoiled rotten deviousness. Her chemistry with Larry Hagman was off the charts. Some of my favorite scenes on the whole show were of Lucy and JR trading insults. The writers put Lucy in one tired, annoying storyline after another. If they had given her better material, I think she could have been as important to the series as all the other main characters.

2. Wes Parmelee. First off, he played that part brilliantly. I hoped he was Jock. But even after they decided to write him as an imposter, imagine the drama they could have gotten out of him if they'd kept him around. JR and Clayton working together to get revenge would have been delicious. And Ellie dealing with the internal conflict of having been attracted to him even though he wasn't Jock was a real missed opportunity.

So those are my wasted characters. Any of you have others?
 
the-lost-son

the-lost-son

Telly Talk Well-Known Member
David Jacobs gave an interview once. The most difficult task for him as a writer was to address the question why don‘t the people/characters just move or stop talking to each other, especially in long-term soaps (+10years). (Knots landing had a more demanding challenge there as neighbors don‘t normally keep interacting when conflicts arise.)

The conflict in Dallas was built in the structure of the family. The connection to all multidimensional characters on Dallas was Ewing Oil. At the beginning it was Daddy‘s affection, then leaving a legacy to the next generation. This connection was built by shared ownership. (I loved these votings in the living room.) Characters without any direct/indirect link to Ewing Oil stayed one-dimensional and somehow ran their course. And this brings us to Lucy

The producers never had a clear vision for Lucy‘s character. In contrast to the many epic relationship where viewers longed for the couple to stay together/reconcile (JR&SE, Bobby&Pam, Ellie&Jock) her relationships seemed random without any longtime planning (Ray). It was just a multi-episode hit (Mickey Trotter) and miss (Casey Denault...).
When she grew older and had no reason to not move out, she should have been linked to Ewing Oil. (As ties to Knots landing were cut after the dream, Gary‘s 10% should have been given to her.) But Ewing Oil was fully owned by JR (late dream season) or got taken by the government (WB10). It was a gigantic mistake to lose the family shared ownership of Ewing (made independently both by Phil Capice and Lenny Katzman).
 
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the-lost-son

the-lost-son

Telly Talk Well-Known Member
The Wes Parmalee character had a tough start due to the dream season. Now he was sneaking, looking at pictures...again. Wes Parmalee turning out to be Jock was less likely because with Bobby back. I dislike recasts, Iwas relieved then they didn‘t go through with that storyline.

I wonder why this storyline was dropped so unceremoniously (offscreen). Probably Steve Forrest wan‘t available anymore. They seemed to start a storyline for Clayton going after Parmalee.

They should have killed him off, creating some drama. Plenty of suspects among the Ewings.
 
Ukdallasfan

Ukdallasfan

Telly Talk Fan
Completely agree about Lucy. She and Mickey Trotter made a good couple (another wasted character in my opinion) and a decent storyline for them could have made the difference. He would have supported her if she had wanted to become more involved in Ewing Oil. The 80’s was the decade for female empowerment and Lucy could have asserted her voting rights and become an ultimate adversary to JR. Instead, she was sidelined into irrelevance which was a great shame after such a strong start to her character. Towards the end, Sue Ellen became a wasted character for all the reasons discussed in this forum. Linda said she was tired of the alternate stories of drink and have an affair and she was right. Excellent topic for a thread :)
 
the-lost-son

the-lost-son

Telly Talk Well-Known Member
Willie Oleson said:
Cousin Jimmy.
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The series was in its prime when there were many Ewings and Barnes around.
I liked it when Rebecca stood up against the Ewings. It made the family feud more balanced.

Digger died too soon. Rebecca should have been kept longer. (They should have really gone through with a love triangle between Ellie, Rebecca and Clayton.)

Katherine had run her course. They should have brought more family member of the Barnes into (instead of the McKays...), an illegitimate son of Digger or a son/daughter supposed to have died of microfibramatosis (or whatever). They could have fought over the family business like the Ewings. (the fight for Ewing Oil was the best written part of Dallas imo, so why no rehash a few years later).
 
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Billy Wall

Billy Wall

Telly Talk Dream Maker
Sarah said:
Definitely Lucy. I often wonder had she had a stake in Ewing Oil or children of her own if her storylines would have been better. It wasn’t right she was the first grandchild and treated that way presumably because she wasn’t male.
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But are you surprised knowing how Jock and to a lesser degree JR was?
 
Lastkidpicked

Lastkidpicked

Telly Talk Dream Maker
Billy Wall said:
Punk Anderson. Pretty much disappeared in the later seasons.
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Spend a little time in Dallas and you'll see guys like Punk Anderson. I witnessed this exchange in real life, and you can imagine Punk having the same exact conversation.

Parking Valet: Here's your keys, Mr. Anderson.
Punk: Thank you, Jimmy. How they treating you?
Parking Valet: Oh, pretty good, Sir.
Punk: (Hands the kid a $100 bill) Well, you tell 'em Punk Anderson treats you better!
 
the-lost-son

the-lost-son

Telly Talk Well-Known Member
There is an article worth reading:
dallasdecoder.com

Charlene Tilton Remembers Lucy Ewing’s Many Loves

Poor Lucy Ewing never found Mr. Right — but not for lack of trying. To mark Valentine’s Day, Dallas Decoder spoke to Charlene Tilton about her character’s many romances. Read her memories below, al…
dallasdecoder.com dallasdecoder.com

Charlene Tilton:
„Oh. My. Goodness. It’s so funny. I don’t remember my storyline with him.“ (Bill Johnson (Nicholas Hammond)
Neither do I. Does anyone ?

Furthermore
How did Lucy actually entertain herself?
DVD 1-3 :school girl, drug addict
DVD 4-7 model
DVD 8: waitress
DVD 11-12: ?

Did I miss something?
 
the-lost-son

the-lost-son

Telly Talk Well-Known Member
Apart from Lucy my next choice is Donna. I liked it when she stepped in for Bobby at Ewing Oil and would have preferred more of that. To not introduce parents and siblings of her was a missed opportunity. I always liked it when Dave Culver showed up. Donna was the link between politics and business. That should have been used more.

And I would have liked more background of Jeremy Wendell. He was the part of the series over a time span of 9 years. At the end the character became stale.
 
Lastkidpicked

Lastkidpicked

Telly Talk Dream Maker
the-lost-son said:
My next choice is Donna. I liked it when she stepped in for Bobby at Ewing Oil and would have preferred more of that.
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Very good point!

Especially in the early seasons, Donna and Ray stood in for us as the audience. We may never be J.R. Ewing, but we could certainly be Ray Krebbs, the ranch foreman.
And we might not ever be Sue Ellen, but we could be Donna Culver and step in for Bobby at Ewing Oil.
 
CeeCee72

CeeCee72

Telly Talk Star
Sarah said:
Definitely Lucy. I often wonder had she had a stake in Ewing Oil or children of her own if her storylines would have been better. It wasn’t right she was the first grandchild and treated that way presumably because she wasn’t male.
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Female, PLUS Gary's daughter. She had two major strikes against her in Jock's eyes.

That could have been used on the storyline, with her fighting for what she believed was rightfully hers. Hate it that she just seemed to accept it with no issue whatsoever.
 
D

DallasFanForever

Telly Talk Supreme
Jory Taylor hands down
 
Barbara Fan

Barbara Fan

Admin
I would have also liked to see more of Garrison Ewing and not killed him off after Home Again with even no mention of him in next epsiode that he was RIP

And feel that Sarah Cunningham as Aunt Maggie would have been a welcome addidtion to the show, would also have liked to see more of her real life hubby and one of my favs John Randolph in Dallas who appeared as Miss Ellies divorce laywer in s3 Lincoln Hargrove - a wonderful character actor and a joy to watch in any TV or film

Maybe Dallas back in 1978 didnt think it would run for 13 years but it was a mistake to kill off Garrison Southworth

In later years Miss Ellie and Clayton were underused and given daft scripts and plotlines with Momma morphing into a Murder she wrote extra.

And i wish that Wes Parmalee had been around for at least a whole season and I wish we witnessed his conversation with Miss Ellie at the BBQ

All the above actors could act and brought something to the show that was special.
 
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