Dallas Killed Off Way Too Many Good Characters.

[Matthew Blaisdel]

Donna Reed, if she was now playing Jock instead of Ellie?

 

[Snarky Oracle!]

 

[Jock's Ghost]

Would they? Did they accept Parmalee? Donna Reed, if she was now playing Jock instead of Ellie?

Again, recasting core characters in primetime shows almost never works.

they accepted Gary, Kristin and Digger as other actors. It would have been fine. Same goes for replacing Pam. I still stand by that as the superior and only move really.

 

[Snarky Oracle!]

they accepted Gary, Kristin and Digger as other actors. It would have been fine. Same goes for replacing Pam. I still stand by that as the superior and only move really.

Gary. Kristin and Digger had only been bit parts, characters the audience barely knew and had barely seen. You can stand by your opinion all you want to, but if you think recasting major roles like Jock and Pam "would have been fine" then why did everybody go cringe-y over Donna Reed?

DALLAS wasn't a daytime soap, quite unlike DYNASTY (which desperately wanted to be).

 

[Billy Wall]

Gary. Kristin and Digger had only been bit parts, characters the audience barely knew and had barely seen. You can stand by your opinion all you want to, but if you think recasting major roles like Jock and Pam "would have been fine" then why did everybody go cringe-y over Donna Reed?

DALLAS wasn't a daytime soap, quite unlike DYNASTY (which desperately wanted to be).

I think it depends on the character. Donna Reed's Miss Ellie was practically a different character. She went from the matriarch of a ranch family to a socialite. Could you even picture Donna Reed's Miss Ellie telling Ray to "go get the shotgun out of the closet?" I sure couldn't.

A character like JR couldn't be replaced because he had an over the top personality. It would be like trying to recast the Fonz on Happy Days. Jock was a supporting character and if they recasted him with the right actor, it could have worked. I still think Buddy Ebsen could have been recast as Jock. He was about the same age as Jim Davis and had his stature.

 

[Snarky Oracle!]

Could you even picture Donna Reed's Miss Ellie telling Ray to "go get the shotgun out of the closet?"

Oh, sure. If she followed it with "dear."

 

[Popular Piggy Defying Gravity]

Oh, sure. If she followed it with "dear."

In an alternate universe...

"...And now, dear reporter, get out if you pleeeeaaase...!"​