Leonard Katzman: The Producer & Executive Producer from Season Ten Onwards

[alexpaige]

Well, yeah, I'm obviously not a total defender of Katzman.

But sometimes it's about who the writers are. It sounds like Paulsen didn't want to go in a camp direction, and wanted to leave DALLAS (even before he got the offer to be showrunner for Season 9 DYNASTY). When Paulsen left DALLAS, Larry snarked in the press that the exit was probably a good thing because Paulsen supposedly didn't have a sense of humor.

So, y'know, we saw what happened. Paulsen was able to creatively re-energize DYNASTY despite it being in disarray for years (albeit the audience was already gone and it was too late to save it from the axe). Lakin couldn't save -- or help save -- anything.

It's ALWAYS about the writing!
I agree with you, Paulsen was terrific on Dallas (not so hot on Knots).

 

[Snarky Oracle!]

It's ALWAYS about the writing!
I agree with you, Paulsen was terrific on Dallas (not so hot on Knots).

Yes, Season 7 on KNOTS had issues, but he walked into a political situation there. At least it was better than what Dunne was doing over on DALLAS while Pam was napping.

 

[alexpaige]

It really was weird what happened to that season of Dallas.
Everything seemed to be working quite well for the first half of the season, but as soon as the Angelica Nero storyline got going, it turned into a real mess.
Why was Sue Ellen suddenly happy to be working? Why did they start messing with JR's character to such an extent?

I can understand Peter Dunne trying to bring it back to more of an ensemble piece - it seemed like that's what he was trying to do, remove the emphasis on JR as the lead and spread the stories around more evenly to the other characters. But then there was that really odd excursion to Bogota and Matt Cantrell, which made no sense other than a way of writing VP out for a couple of episodes due to her "bad back" (am I the only one who thinks this was code for needing time off for some cosmetic surgery?) and then the whole Jack's double/Martinique business which was just odd, and not Dallas at all ...

And then once that storyline was done the remainder of the season seemed like a really odd patch up job ... why was Katzman suddenly back writing every second episode? That seems as if he was brought in to try to improve things, but how much leeway was he getting, how much influence in the writer's room?

It does seem like there was a lot going on behind the scenes that was having a detrimental impact on the show. Maybe once Katzman left, Capice was under pressure to assert his influence more ... Hagman did seem to blame the whole direction of the season on Capice, not anyone beneath him. I guess we won't ever know unless someone convinces Peter Dunne or Joel Feigenbaum to do an interview and put forward their side of what happened. And even then, of course, that's only one side of the story.

 

[Snarky Oracle!]

(am I the only one who thinks this was code for needing time off for some cosmetic surgery?)

Oh, no. We all assume it.

 

[DallasFanForever]

Denver Pyle

If only he had brought Bo and Luke with him. If only! The show might still be on the air

 

[Taylor Bennett Jr.]

If only he had brought Bo and Luke with him. If only! The show might still be on the air

and quite possibly *in* the air as well, with the remaining and next-generation Ewings jumping their cars all over Braddock County!

 

[Luke_Krebbs_Ewing]

and quite possibly *in* the air as well, with the remaining and next-generation Ewings jumping their cars all over Braddock County!

Yeeeeeee-ha!

Get in good buddy and let's high tail it over to Southfork!

This is probably in volume three of your magnum opus about Andy Bradley, I suppose.

 

[Bobby Southworth]

Okay, so I get the sitcom, comedy references of early season 12, but can someone please pinpoint for me what was comedic about the latter half of that season, or 13? I'm not making an argument, as clearly JR pretending to be worse off than he really was in the season premiere, and Halleyville could be taken as a comedic effort, but I'm just curious as to what was intentionally funny about seasons 13, and mostly 14 ? 14 I find horribly depressing..I guess some of the James/Michelle stuff was supposed to be funny in 14 towards the end, but.. if it was, it failed miserably.

 

[DallasFanForever]

I'm just curious as to what was intentionally funny about seasons 13, and mostly 14 ? 14 I find horribly depressing.

Well, nothing really. I think we all found it depressing. A lot of us just use the comedy references as a coping mechanism.

 

[Bobby Southworth]

I feel like what happened is that they'd had a wildly successful show for years, and those that remained as the budget was cut were kind of just past the point of really putting 100% effort and focus into making it 'great', and were just riding out the last few years having fun and making great money while they could.

It's probably easier making a semi-comedy show, especially when most of the new cast is either totally 'green' newcomers like Sasha Mitchell, et. al., who may or may not be able to do drama at all, or old pros looking for a nice fun little gig, ala Denver Pyle or Barbara Eden.

I feel that way about season 14, but not so much about 13. I think they seemed to still be trying in 13. Did it work? Obviously not much, as the rating went from #30 to....42 or so, but they tried to bring in new blood, and there was the decent story-line of the tanker collision. Season 14 I feel like was more of "it's the last season, who really cares if Miss Ellie doesn't come back under any circumstances, or Sheree J. Wilson, or Cathy Podewell appear in the credits for 15 more episodes than they are actually in".

 

[DallasFanForever]

I feel that way about season 14, but not so much about 13. I think they seemed to still be trying in 13. Did it work? Obviously not much, as the rating went from #30 to....42 or so, but they tried to bring in new blood, and there was the decent story-line of the tanker collision. Season 14 I feel like was more of "it's the last season, who really cares if Miss Ellie doesn't come back under any circumstances, or Sheree J. Wilson, or Cathy Podewell appear in the credits for more episodes than they are actually in".

These seasons are such a blur to me because I really don’t watch them that often. I did like the tanker collision storyline and season 13 did have its moments. 14, not so much for me. All in all, it’s all Dallas and no matter how bad it got I kept watching right til the end.

 

[Luke_Krebbs_Ewing]

These seasons are such a blur to me because I really don’t watch them that often. I did like the tanker collision storyline and season 13 did have its moments. 14, not so much for me. All in all, it’s all Dallas and no matter how bad it got I kept watching right til the end.

So did I.

I actually prefer season thirteen over the final season because that season at least felt like Dallas.

At least Barbara Bel Geddes and Howard Keel at least got a decent storyline that season.

I'm not surprised Barbara told them to stick Lorimar's four episode deal for the final season.

 

[Bobby Southworth]

So did I.

I actually prefer season thirteen over the final season because that season at least felt like Dallas.

At least Barbara Bel Geddes and Howard Keel at least got a decent storyline that season.

I'm not surprised Barbara told them to stick Lorimar's four episode deal for the final season.

This. Exactly.

 

[Grangehill1]

I recently saw an old interview with Larry Hagman on Dane Edna and he essentially says the show was going to be canned if they didn’t bring Patrick back and they didn’t do the dream resolution.
It would seem the ‘majority’ of the cast hated working on the dream year - the atmosphere must not have been good and obviously die hard fans feelings weren’t considered when they decided to wipe tue while year.
The final season is incredibly dark. If you watch it quickly (say over two weeks) it’s actually pretty good. There’s a somber air about it. I also adore season 13. I think it’s amazing

 

[Luke_Krebbs_Ewing]

I recently saw an old interview with Larry Hagman on Dane Edna and he essentially says the show was going to be canned if they didn’t bring Patrick back and they didn’t do the dream resolution.
It would seem the ‘majority’ of the cast hated working on the dream year - the atmosphere must not have been good and obviously die hard fans feelings weren’t considered when they decided to wipe tue while year.
The final season is incredibly dark. If you watch it quickly (say over two weeks) it’s actually pretty good. There’s a somber air about it. I also adore season 13. I think it’s amazing

Season Thirteen DVD count is probably my favourite of the last four years of the show.

It's not perfect but storyline wise it's mostly pretty good. I was one of the one's who actually liked James initially, although he does get on my nerves a bit as the season progresses. The end of season cliffhanger is pretty good too.

 

[Luke_Krebbs_Ewing]

I recently saw an old interview with Larry Hagman on Dane Edna and he essentially says the show was going to be canned if they didn’t bring Patrick back and they didn’t do the dream resolution.
It would seem the ‘majority’ of the cast hated working on the dream year - the atmosphere must not have been good and obviously die hard fans feelings weren’t considered when they decided to wipe tue while year.
The final season is incredibly dark. If you watch it quickly (say over two weeks) it’s actually pretty good. There’s a somber air about it. I also adore season 13. I think it’s amazing

Not sure I believe Hagman that the rest of the cast didn't like the season which became the dream season.

Both Linda Gray and Victoria Principal were both centre stage in that season and I'm of the opinion that might've irked Hagman's ego a bit that they were given a more prominent storyline over himself.

Dallas was and is an ensemble show at it's best. The fact that it turned into the Duffy and Hagman show in it's final four seasons was only to the detriment of the show.

Plus and you're all probably fed up with Via_The _Void for starting this (where's he gone, I wonder!) but the show really would've benefited if Ben Stivers or Wes Parmalee had really turned out to be Jock Ewing all along.

 

[Grangehill1]

Not sure I believe Hagman that the rest of the cast didn't like the season which became the dream season.

Both Linda Gray and Victoria Principal were both centre stage in that season and I'm of the opinion that might've irked Hagman's ego a bit that they were given a more prominent storyline over himself.

Dallas was and is an ensemble show at it's best. The fact that it turned into the Duffy and Hagman show in it's final four seasons was only to the detriment of the show.

Plus and you're all probably fed up with Via_The _Void for starting this (where's he gone, I wonder!) but the show really would've benefited if Ben Stivers or Wes Parmalee had really turned out to be Jock Ewing all along.

I seem to recall both Victoria and Linda effectively calling the dream year ‘a nightmare’ and not enjoying it. I don’t think the atmosphere was good

 

[WarriorsFan]

I recently saw an old interview with Larry Hagman on Dane Edna and he essentially says the show was going to be canned if they didn’t bring Patrick back and they didn’t do the dream resolution.
It would seem the ‘majority’ of the cast hated working on the dream year - the atmosphere must not have been good and obviously die hard fans feelings weren’t considered when they decided to wipe tue while year.

1985/1986 was a huge shift in US television. Sitcoms made a comeback with The Cosby Show becoming #1 overall and Family Ties, Cheers, The Golden Girls, and Who's the Boss finishing in the Top 10. Murder She Wrote became the highest-rated drama and also CBS's highest-rated scripted program.

From the 1985/1986 weekly ratings that are circulating online, 24 Dallas episodes finished behind a new episode of The Cosby Show but no episodes finished ahead of a new episode of The Cosby Show, 17 Dallas episodes finished behind a new episode of Murder She Wrote but three episodes finished ahead of a new episode of Murder She Wrote, and 13 Dallas episodes finished behind an episode of Dynasty but 13 episodes finished ahead of Dynasty.

 

[Snarky Oracle!]

I seem to recall both Victoria and Linda effectively calling the dream year ‘a nightmare’ and not enjoying it. I don’t think the atmosphere was good

I think Victoria said the dream resolution was "a nightmare" but admitted the show had already lost its way.

Linda said, as soon as Patrick's return was announced to "save" DALLAS, that she didn't know why they needed saving.

1985/1986 was a huge shift in US television. Sitcoms made a comeback with The Cosby Show becoming #1 overall and Family Ties, Cheers, The Golden Girls, and Who's the Boss finishing in the Top 10. Murder She Wrote became the highest-rated drama and also CBS's highest-rated scripted program.

From the 1985/1986 weekly ratings that are circulating online, 24 Dallas episodes finished behind a new episode of The Cosby Show but no episodes finished ahead of a new episode of The Cosby Show, 17 Dallas episodes finished behind a new episode of Murder She Wrote but three episodes finished ahead of a new episode of Murder She Wrote, and 13 Dallas episodes finished behind an episode of Dynasty but 13 episodes finished ahead of Dynasty.

All the nighttime soaps looked and felt tan or beige-y that year. They just did. Cluttered and beige-y.

 

[alexpaige]

I seem to recall both Victoria and Linda effectively calling the dream year ‘a nightmare’ and not enjoying it. I don’t think the atmosphere was good

There is an interview with Hagman on Youtube from the Archive of American Television where he talks about getting rid of Capice during the dream season.
According to Larry the working atmosphere had deterioriated from what it had been under Katzman. He tells of the new producer yelling at people on the set so he (Larry) flew to LA to take Capice out to lunch and talk about it. Capice said, "That's the way I produce" to which Larry threatened to walk off the show if he didn't leave.
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