Barbara Stock was "too stupid" to see the axe

[Frank Underwood]

I think the idea was good, in theory.
JR with a grown son, with a woman that he may have truly loved.
It also gave us a chance to see a different JR, one that had a better nature

Clearly, it didn't work, or at least not as much as was hoped.

Yes, it was mainly the execution that was the problem. I felt the casting of James was rather poor as well.

 

[Laurie Marr]

Mitchell was cast as eye candy. Not sure that was the best approach to luring people back to the show. His, erm, idiosyncratic acting style didn’t help either.

Gayle Hunnicut is a fine actress, but Vanessa and JR never seemed compatible to me. A leopard doesn't change its spots, and I don't think any woman could make JR "better."

That said, I've always disliked the "Granny Beaumont" comments that have been made over the years. They're usually made by disgruntled Sue Ellen fans, even though Linda Gray is 3 years older than Gayle Hunnicut. Of course, making negative generalizations about "old cis-men" isn't helpful either. In fact, many of Vannesa's critics are women.

As for Barbara Stock, I thought she was another example of a good actress in a thankless part. It was obvious that she and Cliff were doomed to fail, as were Vanessa and JR. The fact that they both joined the show when it was in decline didn't help matters either. Vanessa felt especially shoehorned in as a way to give JR a grown son to battle with.

I am also rather tickled by the fact that Hunnicut - the quintessential ‘English Rose’ - was born in Fort Worth. She and Larry were probably the only bona fide Texans on the show by that point.

 

[tommie]

I've never had anything against Vanessa as a character. Just the concept of the sudden introduction of a "one true love "we'd never heard of before, when we'd always been led to believe that Sue Ellen's eyes were the only ones for him - despite his repeated infidelities over the years.

I agree - I don't mind the notion of a high school sweetheart or w/e being out there and having a secret child, but they laid it on way too thick and I can see why Sue Ellen fans saw it as a slap in the face. It was bad writing (and the casting for James didn't help to sell the story).

 

[Rove]

I can't be bothered to read the People article but does Barbara Stock discuss her 2 stints on Dallas? She was first played Heather in Season 5. I only ask because when I was watching the closing credits the name Barbara Stock was listed and I instantly thought of discussions about her here on tellytalk playing Liz Adams in later seasons.

 

[Toni]

LAD started in midseason 13, and BS debuted a couple of episodes after she left. I also think they should have swapped roles.

Mitchell was not worse than Lamas on FC or J.James on Dynasty. We sex symbols are always so discriminated!

Signed,
Miss Piggy

PS: Appearing in the Opening as Starring actually meant they would be getting less money that on a guest star basis. At least upon Knots rules.

 

[Taylor Bennett Jr.]

Mitchell was not worse than Lamas on FC or J.James on Dynasty.

I dunno, I’ve only seen clips of Lamas on FC, but he was at least able to carry Renegade… not exactly The Wire or Beyond The Cul-de-Sac, but a thespianic notch above Step By Step, maybe?

it’s like late 50s and early 70s Brando (and little sis Jocelyn?) right there in one shot!

 

[Bobby Southworth]

Hmm.. interesting. TPTB must have really tried to keep the morale up in those last days of the show because it's hard to imagine anyone other than maybe Larry or Patrick really not wondering if 'this' could be their last scene. Where on earth did the show have to go from here, based on the few that were left? It went out with a whimper , not a bang, as was promised in those weeks prior to the finale.

That fact that Barbara is finishing her scene, walking out with a suitcase, but it didn't dawn on her this may be her exit...in fairness, again..we don't know how it was being presented to the actors, especially the newbie(s)..It just seemed pretty obvious to the viewer. Hindsight is always 20/20, but dang.. I'm no expert, but it certainly seemed like a sinking ship almost from the first episode that season.

You had no Miss Ellie. Characters who were supposedly dead, still appearing in the opening credits. Regular characters(Kimberly Foster) that didn't appear until like 5/6 episodes in. Cally, who after....episode 10, was it? was gone until the last few episodes. What a mess. Then there's the ratings to consider. Yes, shows are sometimes filmed well in advance, but by episode 17, I would think they'd have a pretty good idea. Not to mention, if I recall, Dallas started later it's last year..maybe November? So, how far in advance were the episodes that year, or did they just hold off on screening? I dunno.. it wouldn't exactly be screaming job security to me.

 

[Bobby Southworth]

Truth be told, Liz could have been good for Cliff. I almost kind of liked them together, but it might have been even better if Afton came back, and Cliff was forced to choose..I don't see how he wouldn't pick Afton, though, especially if Pamela Rebecca was his daughter, and he was made aware..so not much of a competition.

Liz wasn't really a bad character, but the Johnny Dancer plot.. Laugh. I get done saying she wasn't a bad character, but the Johnny Dancer stuff, that I don't recall being crazy about- was a good portion of her character. Smh. We will just put it that I think she was a good actress, that wasn't really a bad character for the time she was unfortunate enough to hit the show, but she had potential, and maybe could have done more at another point in the series.

I remember Leslie Anne Down more towards the middle of season 13, and she stayed until about to prior to the last 3/4 episodes. Stock did pretty much come on almost as Leslie departed. They could only afford one of them? LOL Or Leslie was never meant to be around long?

 

[Monzo]

I preferred the character of Liz to Stephanie, though I like Lesley-Anne Down more as an actress than Barbara Stock. It was an advantage that Liz knew Bobby, creating a (forced) connection between them, whereas Stephanie was essentially just Leslie Stewart 2.0.

I remember Leslie Anne Down more towards the middle of season 13, and she stayed until about to prior to the last 3/4 episodes. Stock did pretty much come on almost as Leslie departed. They could only afford one of them? LOL Or Leslie was never meant to be around long?

As I recall, magazines reported that Larry Hagman and Lesley-Anne Down were neighbors in Malibu and that he had wanted her on Dallas for years. She agreed once the price was right, but I read that she was so appalled by the poor script that she wanted out of Dallas quickly. I wonder if that’s true? A few years after Dallas, Lesley-Anne Down ended up in daytime television—first on Sunset Beach, then on The Bold and the Beautiful—and her character on B&B, Jackie Marone, was that kind of (un)funny diva you often saw in daytime in the 2000's. It’s hard for me to imagine daytime TV being an improvement over Dallas' season 13 for her as an actor.

 

[Toni]

Lesley-Anne Down got $250,000 for playing Stephanie. She only worked in a total of 7 days spread across 10 weeks (which would piss me off big deal), and, as you well say, she was Larry´s neighbor in Malibu. I think her role was the laziest one they ever wrote in "Dallas". Actually, I´d say they just used the "British b*tch" trope with her, and made everything up as episodes passed by. The conclusion was disappointing, and in first watch, I had no idea what she was doing at Cliff´s and J.R.´s back. Too bad because she was one of the most glamorous actresses of the era.

 

[Grangehill1]

I’ve said this before but the time span in season 14 is all over the place

The first 5 or so episodes must theoretically take place in real time across a week to ten days? But this isn’t mirrored in the episodes. So you’ve got in real time JR in the sanitarium and Bobby and April in Paris stretched over a month which was painfully slow. But story wise it was only meant to be about a week.

But then on the other hand the pace of Cliff and Liz’s romance is absurd and it’s as if they’ve been together for years but story wise it’s about 2 weeks.

Then suddenly after Cally leaves, the in vision time frame suddenly speeds up and she’s had the baby and met somebody else very quickly in real time but in story time it must have been over a few months.

In previous seasons of Dallas you got the sense each episode was maybe a day later or a couple of days or a week later so you were experiencing the invision stories in real time. They mirrored real life time. Season 14 was so different!

 

[Bobby Southworth]

I preferred the character of Liz to Stephanie, though I like Lesley-Anne Down more as an actress than Barbara Stock. It was an advantage that Liz knew Bobby, creating a (forced) connection between them, whereas Stephanie was essentially just Leslie Stewart 2.0.

I can see thinking Leslie might have been a better actress, but that had just been done before on Dallas..these types of characters, and the writing seemed off with Leslie.

With Barbara, I just feel like she played a likable character too close to the end. Quite frankly, I almost wish she had been Bobby's love interest during his split with Pam, rather than Jenna. I say that, but as I said before, she could have been good with Cliff.

As I recall, magazines reported that Larry Hagman and Lesley-Anne Down were neighbors in Malibu and that he had wanted her on Dallas for years. She agreed once the price was right, but I read that she was so appalled by the poor script that she wanted out of Dallas quickly. I wonder if that’s true? A few years after Dallas, Lesley-Anne Down ended up in daytime television—first on Sunset Beach, then on The Bold and the Beautiful—and her character on B&B, Jackie Marone, was that kind of (un)funny diva you often saw in daytime in the 2000's. It’s hard for me to imagine daytime TV being an improvement over Dallas' season 13 for her as an actor.

 

[Bobby Southworth]

Quite frankly, maybe have Bobby hook up with someone like Liz instead of April.

 

[Toni]

Quite frankly, maybe have Bobby hook up with someone like Liz instead of April.

You cant have a burger when you are used to roastbeef.

 

[Michelle Stevens]

I dunno, I’ve only seen clips of Lamas on FC, but he was at least able to carry Renegade… not exactly The Wire or Beyond The Cul-de-Sac, but a thespianic notch above Step By Step, maybe?

it’s like late 50s and early 70s Brando (and little sis Jocelyn?) right there in one shot!

Dallas could have used the writing genius of Stephen J Cannell in the 1990's. He always had the pulse of what Americans wanted on TV. Just imagine if we had Reno Raines and Bobby Sixkiller on Dallas .

 

[Taylor Bennett Jr.]

Dallas could have used the writing genius of Stephen J Cannell in the 1990's. He always had the pulse of what Americans wanted on TV. Just imagine if we had Reno Raines and Bobby Sixkiller on Dallas .

Lucy and Mr. T would have been the ultimate 80s power couple. Imagine him instead of Mitch in those awkward Southfork scenes with Jock..

 

[Bobby Southworth]

Dallas could have used the writing genius of Stephen J Cannell in the 1990's. He always had the pulse of what Americans wanted on TV. Just imagine if we had Reno Raines and Bobby Sixkiller on Dallas .

"Works for me".