Final scenes with Victoria Principal.......

[Rove]

The downside is of course the reaction by the audience to yet another dream season!

The reaction from fans would be swift and painful I'm afraid. Already burnt by the explanation for Bobby's return I don't think another dream scenario - just to get Pam (Victoria) back - would have saved Dallas anyway. Many (me included) would have rolled our eyes and changed the channel on the remote.

Many argue the departure of Pam (Victoria) was the final straw for Dallas and I agree. As stated above;

The 1985-86 was the best opportunity to reboot the series, after a decade on the air big changes were needed and Bobby's death was necessary, but then along comes the dream scenario and it messes everything up.

Bobby's death was just what Dallas needed. A seismic shift in how the Ewing family and others were going to react it. I couldn't wait for the next season. I'm sure most viewers had considered the same thing after just witnessing the death of a favourite character.

The season return of Dallas after the death of Bobby should have seen the series go down a darker path. Instead of that constant winning smile of JR I would have preferred to see the JR of old. A cold-hearted bastard hell bent on destroying the Barnes family once and for all. Hell I wouldn't have cared if it meant he WAS somehow responsible for Pam's death since Victoria had announced she was leaving and NOT coming back. Not directly responsible otherwise JR would have been up for murder charges but somehow one of his delicious schemes backfired, resulting in her death.

 

[Rove]

Victoria says she didn’t mind the cliffhanger knowing she would be killed off.

She did say it was the exclamation mark on her exit from Dallas. What the producers decided after this was on their head.

 

[Chris2]

I think that of all the friendships on DALLAS Pam and Lucy is the one I wished the writers kept up.

I can’t stand the line in “Swan Song” where Bobby casually announces to Pam, “Lucy got married today. To Mitch Cooper. Again.” Lucy not even bothering to tell Pam about this herself, let alone not inviting Pam to the wedding, rang false to me.

Pam’s indifferent reaction of “Oh?”, when Bobby tells her the news, isn’t much better.

 

[Mustard]

I can’t stand the line in “Swan Song” where Bobby casually announces to Pam, “Lucy got married today. To Mitch Cooper. Again.” Lucy not even bothering to tell Pam about this herself, let alone not inviting Pam to the wedding, rang false to me.

Pam’s indifferent reaction of “Oh?”, when Bobby tells her the news, isn’t much better.

Yes, agreed. Pam and Lucy were always close from the end of the second episode of the show up to Pam leaving Southfork late in Season 6 DVD. I can understand Pam and Lucy perhaps losing touch a bit once Pam left Southfork, as friends and family in real life can lose touch at times without really intending to, but I don't get the indifferent "Oh?" from Pam in Swansong. That bit should have been redone with Pam showing more interest and enthusiasm. I do wonder, as Lucy was being written out of the show while Charlene Tilton wanted to stay, if her departure had anything to do with that scene?

 

[Top Jimmy]

Yes, agreed. Pam and Lucy were always close from the end of the second episode of the show up to Pam leaving Southfork late in Season 6 DVD. I can understand Pam and Lucy perhaps losing touch a bit once Pam left Southfork, as friends and family in real life can lose touch at times without really intending to, but I don't get the indifferent "Oh?" from Pam in Swansong. That bit should have been redone with Pam showing more interest and enthusiasm. I do wonder, as Lucy was being written out of the show while Charlene Tilton wanted to stay, if her departure had anything to do with that scene?

I agree with you both. Pam should have shown more interest and enthusiasm and asked Bobby a question or two on how their second marriage came about.

 

[jeffy66]

I think Dallas would have done better if they had avoided the dream season entirely. Yes, have Bobby "die" off screen but instead of having him die on screen, have a scene where he is captured in South American or some foreign country (kidnapped perhaps?) and make it appear that he is killed and have it believed that he is dead. Then have him suddenly come back when Patrick Duffy is ready to return to the show. I think this would have saved the credibilty of the show in the long run.

 

[Snowcat]

They would have been better off killing Pam off right there. Nobody would survived those flames that we saw. However, not only did Victoria catch them by surprise when informing them late in the season that she was definitely leaving, it's clear that the Dallas brass were afraid to do a storyline like they had done 2 years prior with Bobby, and the audience would have been cynical because of that, asking if Pam's death was another dream. David Jacobs said that the worst thing about the dream revelation was how it insulted the viewers who had mourned Bobby's death. This, and having those same viewers on a string for 31 episodes afterwards with storylines that would get annulled.

My mother was a big Dallas fan. She loved Pam and Mark together, Jamie and Cliff together, Donna and Ray's storylines that season with patching up their marriage, the down's syndrome, miscarriage, adoption of Tony, Sue Ellen hitting rock bottom and sorting herself out with high self-esteem for the first time, was riveted to Angelica Nero's plans and her attempt to kill J.R. and Jack, Jamie apparently getting killed, and Sue Ellen getting blown up in J.R.'s office at the end. Of course, none of it happened as far as the next season was concerned. Not only was Bobby alive, but Mark had never returned, Donna was still pregnant, her marriage with Ray was having problems which only got worse, Sue Ellen was never blown up and her self-esteem was back down (at least at first), Jack reduced to virtual irrelevance until he left the series, Cliff never genuinely loved Jamie and Jamie was killed off again for definite this time, the women were weakened etc.



Hard to imagine Dallas without Pam, full stop. However, killing her off and having people mourn her would have been better than mummifying her and turning Pam's story into a dog's breakfast like they did.

Victoria told them 2 years in advance that she planned to leave. I have said repeatedly on this board that they should have just let her die. Give her a proper funeral. Her mother abandoned her. There’s no way she would have done that to Christopher

 

[Rove]

I have said repeatedly on this board that they should have just let her die.

Totally agree. Just when Pam has good news to deliver that happiness is pulled right out from under her and Bobby. Our Romeo and Juliet never get their happy ending.

 

[the-lost-son]

It's amazing that a show managed to produce the best character's exit (Jock) and the worst one (Pam). It's all so pointless, lackluster, cheap. The hillbilly car chasing scene leaves me baffled - what's the point? A simple plane crash that's all what we needed to write off VP's exit and leave the door open for a return.

The problem obviously is the follow-up. With EwingOil gone Pam's last will should have been Bobby taking her place at Barnes-Wentworth fighting with Cliff and a third party (Katherine or another child of Herbert Wentworth maybe with JR in the mix).

I mean, imagine Jock being a mummy after his helicopter crash and then disappearing, leaving a letter...?

The writers did a marvelous job with Bobby&Pam. But if you succeed in creating such a Romeo&Julia chemistry, there is no coming back. That's way it was impossible to pair Bobby with anyone else till '91, in the reunion movies and TNT Dallas. They should have both send them off into the sunset, but that was not possible as Bobby was needed as a Ewing and counterpart to JR.
But in my fantasy world that's what happened.

 

[DallasFanForever]

Totally agree. Just when Pam has good news to deliver that happiness is pulled right out from under her and Bobby. Our Romeo and Juliet never get their happy ending.

Perfect place for the character to die. All Pam ever wanted was a child of her own. She had Christopher but now she could finally carry a baby to term as well. She had evolved full circle and killing her off right then and there would’ve made the most sense. If not for the dream scenario maybe she would’ve been killed off immediately after the accident.

 

[Rove]

That's way it was impossible to pair Bobby with anyone else till '91, in the reunion movies and TNT Dallas.

Rather than being wishy-washy with Pam's exit us the viewers would have accepted Bobby with someone else IF there was some finality to Pam. The producers appeared to think Victoria might return.

 

[Monzo]

I get why they didn't want to let Pam die. After all, it could have happened that Victoria Principal changed her mind just like Patrick Duffy did. I even find the idea of Pam leaving her family interesting because she doesn't want to subject her family to her disfigured appearance - and probably doesn't want to face her family's pity. The weak point in her departure, however, was Katherine. As cool as the twist was to suddenly see Katherine standing at Pam's hospital bed, I can't imagine that Pam, despite all the painkillers, forgot that Katherine wanted to kill Bobby twice and just believed her that she had changed. They should have found someone suitable to help Pam, but who? Maybe her old friend Liz.

Didn't Victoria Principal announce in good time that she was leaving after season 10? Couldn't Pam have broken up with Bobby during the season so he could get together with pregnant Jenna? She could have quickly met a new guy and left Dallas with him at the end of the season, similar to what Sue Ellen did two years later.

 

[DallasFanForever]

Rather than being wishy-washy with Pam's exit us the viewers would have accepted Bobby with someone else IF there was some finality to Pam. The producers appeared to think Victoria might return.

Maybe, but I still think it’s a big “if.” Pam and Bobby were so synonymous with one another that I’m afraid neither character could ever be fully accepted with someone else long term.

 

[Snowcat]

Maybe, but I still think it’s a big “if.” Pam and Bobby were so synonymous with one another that I’m afraid neither character could ever be fully accepted with someone else long term.

We would have always mourned Pam and Bobby, but if she was dead we wouldn’t have had a choice

 

[kenneth]

Knowing Katzman he probably figured since an alpha male like Duffy could not resist coming back a mere woman probably would not resist either.

 

[Chris2]

Victoria likes to say now that she told them two years in advance that she was leaving. But she was reportedly negotiating another contract shortly before she left. The sticking points were money (she wanted salary parity with Patrick Duffy) and length (she wanted to extend for one season and producers wanted two).

 

[Mustard]

Victoria likes to say now that she told them two years in advance that she was leaving.

Would probably be leaving. It wasn't set in stone in 1985 that she would be going in two years time, but that was her plan.

But she was reportedly negotiating another contract shortly before she left. The sticking points were money (she wanted salary parity with Patrick Duffy) and length (she wanted to extend for one season and producers wanted two).

There were negotiations, yes. The length factor was the biggest disagreement. I think she'd have done 1 more season, but not 2 more seasons. Given that the brass were seemingly taken by total surprise at Victoria planning to leave at the end of Season 10 DVD, one has to wonder why they didn't just sign her to one more year and write Pam out properly.