Just finished re-watching Dallas TNT

tommie

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I dunno
Another minority opinion but I liked the original Tracy (TNT Dallas couldn't even get the spelling right). I thought she was the best of Bobby's post-Pam loves. I'm not against recasts in principle but since nothing was going to come of it there was ultimately no point in this case. Especially when all the original actors for the characters you list were ready and willing to appear.

To be fair, we don't know how Tracy would've played out in season 4 - considering they casted Melinda Clarke in the role I assume they might've had some potential future plans for the character if the audience responded well enough (Cidre indicated that she wanted to bring her back). I wasn't against re-using the McKays to be honest - better than just inventing new characters from out of nowhere since the Ewings had history with them.
 
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I think it was pointless to recast and bring back Tracy McKay. It would have made more sense to recast Pam considering her history with Bobby and that she was Chris mother. Or better yet why not bring back Priscilla Presley as Jenna and bring Lucas along?

It would have been more interesting to watch than the Tracy recast and PP was interested in coming back.
 

stevew

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I think it was pointless to recast and bring back Tracy McKay. It would have made more sense to recast Pam considering her history with Bobby and that she was Chris mother. Or better yet why not bring back Priscilla Presley as Jenna and bring Lucas along?

It would have been more interesting to watch than the Tracy recast and PP was interested in coming back.

Agreed. I never understood this nod to late-in-life Dallas and the middle finger to the core of what was Dallas that CC seemed to be doing.

And yes my grandmother did get better. She was a big Alexis and Dominque fan. Thank you.
 

Kenny Coyote

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Agreed. I never understood this nod to late-in-life Dallas and the middle finger to the core of what was Dallas that CC seemed to be doing.

And yes my grandmother did get better. She was a big Alexis and Dominque fan. Thank you.

Ha ha! Now that you mention it, if you wanted to give a middle finger to the core of what was Dallas, it seems to me that what CC did with TNT Dallas is exactly what you'd do. CC basically told the audience that the *really interesting* thing she found about Dallas was, of all people, their maid, and then she proceeded to try to overshadow the Ewing family by building the show around the maid's family.

Ray and Lucy were so underutilized that they were shown just enough to remind you that they weren't really being used at all. The other characters of the original main cast were turned into caricatures of what they'd been. Cliff's character was unrecognizable.

What better way to flip the bird to Dallas and its fans?
 
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stevew

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Ha ha! Now that you mention it, if you wanted to give a middle finger to the core of what was Dallas, it seems to me that what CC did with TNT Dallas is exactly what you'd do. CC basically told the audience that the *really interesting* thing she found about Dallas was, of all people, their maid, and then she proceeded to try to overshadow the Ewing family by building the show around the maid's family.

Ray and Lucy were so underutilized that they were shown just enough to remind you that they weren't really being used at all. The other characters or the original main cast were turned into caricatures of what they'd been. Cliff's character was unrecognizable.

What better way to flip the bird to Dallas and its fans?

Well said. Maybe she didn’t want success, just an opportunity to “f” with Dallas.
 

Snarky Oracle!

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Agreed. I never understood this nod to late-in-life Dallas and the middle finger to the core of what was Dallas that CC seemed to be doing.
Late-in-life DALLAS was apparently all they watched in preparation for nuDALLAS. After all, oldDALLAS is only the most successful drama series in global television history.
 

stevew

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Late-in-life DALLAS was apparently all they watched in preparation for nuDALLAS. After all, oldDALLAS is only the most successful drama series in global television history.

Best post I ever read on this site. Boils it down to one statement. There’s oldDALLAS, the Early Years, nuDallas, movies Dallas and tntDallas - each very distinct shows (can even add KnotsLandingDallas). I put the split between old and nu when Bobby turns around in the shower. I felt it coming on with Donna Reed and then some of the Angelica stuff, and there was a bit of a return after the dream revealed but it wasn’t long until the show split into two distinctive pieces.

I think in large part because of fearful show runners, fearful they’d loose the goose that laid the golden egg so they killed it. Instead they needed to let it evolve. People die. Let them die. People grow up, let them grow up. People come in and out of our lives, let them. Keep the foundation, JR growing Ewing Oil, Bobby trying to keep things above board but having his brother’s back, Miss Ellie trying to protect SF and keep her family together as they did in the old days.

TNT Dallas should have been built on the same foundation but go back to the original for inspiration and maybe even a few other tired and true stories. They seemed to have a Hamlet thing going on, so go with it, Uncle Bobby vs John Ross. Maybe a King David (JR) passing on his kingdom to King Solomon story - run with it, defiantly a role for Sue Ellen in that, torn between promoting her son at any cost and betraying her son (as Hamlet’s mother) - or what ever family story they wanted to tell (except it was clear they wanted to tell a story about the servants not the Ewing’s). But keep to the foundation. JR has grown Ewing Oil (unhindered by an attempting to be honest Bobby), Bobby tries to protect SF and keep his family together as they did in the old days and pass that torch onto the next generation. John Ross filling in for Jock as the head of the family, Sue Ellen for Miss Ellie trying to keep his family together, Christoper for Bobby (as they really seemed to want) attempting the middle ground while trying to be the good guy, and add Calley’s son, a JR like character attempting to grown the family business at any cost. Maybe model them after the Koch brothers. Bring in the diversity they wanted with their wives and gfs and nemesis’s.
 
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Kenny Coyote

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John Ross filling in for Jock as the head of the family

Do you think 30 year old John Ross has the maturity or wisdom to be head of the family? After JR died, Bobby was he eldest, so why have Bobby as the head of the family?

Bring in the diversity they wanted with their wives and gfs and nemesis’s.

Bringing in diversity is a non-factor to me. If they are auditioning for a role, say, a nemesis for the family, and a black or latino, middle-easterner or oriental is the best actor for the job, by all means hire that person.

If they pass over the most highly qualified actor for the part and give it to someone else because that person is a minority, that actually is racism. I believe on hiring people based on merit - not on race. I watched The Cosby show and I can't remember anyone in that show not being black. In a country that's 13% black, when everyone hired is black, clearly they were hiring based on race. It was a great show, so I enjoyed watching it, but I don't think it was great because they were blacks; it was great because the cast was talented.

For those of you who think diversity is very important, did you ever think while watching Dallas: "This show would be better if Cliff were black"? I didn't because I thought they hired the perfect actor for the job. It's hard to for me to imagine someone other than Ken Kercheval playing Cliff Barnes better than he did.
 
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stevew

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Do you think 30 year old John Ross has the maturity or wisdom to be head of the family? After JR died, Bobby was he eldest, so why have Bobby as the head of the family?



Bringing in diversity is a non-factor to me. If they are auditioning for a role, say, a nemesis for the family, and a black or latino, middle-easterner or oriental is the best actor for the job, by all means hire that person.

If they pass over the most highly qualified actor for the part and give it to someone else because that person is a minority, that actually is racism. I believe on hiring people based on merit - not on race. I watched The Cosby show and I can't remember anyone in that show not being black. In a country that's 13% black, when everyone hired is black, clearly they were hiring based on race. It was a great show, so I enjoyed watching it, but I don't think it was great because they were blacks; it was great because the cast was talented.

For those of you who think diversity is very important, did you ever think while watching Dallas: "This show would be better if Cliff were black"? I didn't because I thought they hired the perfect actor for the job. It's hard to for me to imagine someone other than Ken Kercheval playing Cliff Barnes better than he did.

Yes I think after all he went through John Ross could be the head of the family, especially his own family. He could know enough about business, Bill Gates was a young man running a giant corporation he built. He should have started married with kids by mid thirties in my opinion. He certainly could have gone and brought his younger brother to Southfork to be part of the family. He could have done the things Jock did as a young man, save the ranch from burning, get in fist fights, all the things Bobby could respect.

They seemed to have this bad Uncle Bobby idea and like in Hamlet, that doesn’t lead to the head of the family. Bobby was the head of his family with Chris as his father rather Chris liked it or not. But as for extended family with John Ross, they’d have to have a good relationship for John Ross to see Bobby as such - which is the route I’d have gone. But as they didn’t go that way John Ross would have to take on the role alone, forced yet again to main up, much like his grandfather had to grow up.

I disagree with you on race. There are many talented actors out there of all races and it wouldn’t work in most cases just to hire based on talent. What if Miss Ellie ended up black and Jock Hispanic and JR still Larry Hagman, according to your hiring process. How do you explain that? JR was adopted? Doesn’t it change a great many things about the show? Jock’s experiences would be different? Dallas was like the Cosby show, they hired those who fit the role in the story they were telling. If CC’s purpose was to tell a more diverse story, especially as wealth is now more diverse, the idea of Carlos DelSol (taken from Carlos Slim) certainly would accomplish that. I gave no problem if that was her goal verses forcing race into a story just to do so. Also marriages and relationships are also more diverse today, even diverse regarding sexual orientation. If Pam has been played by Phylicia Rashad we’d have had a much different sorry, wouldn’t we? A highly talented actress where comparisons are difficult, so who is better? Victoria Rincipsl for the story they were trying to tell. Take Rita Moreno, an extremely talented actress (at least greater awarded than anyone ever in Dallas), and closer to Larry Hagman’s age than Linda Grey. She would have change the story a great deal, if she played a Mexican American or Mexican character as opposed to Sue Ellen. Often we would have ignored her heritage, like they ignored a Hispanic American playing the daughter of Cliff and Afton, so in that case it doesn’t matter and that’s not the story they’re telling. But if they don’t just ignore race, because it is part of a persons character, then the story totally changes. Ben Kingsley did a fabulous job as Gandhi, so it can be done even when you’re telling a story regarding a person of a particular race. But they did work to make him look like Gandhi, not ignore race all together. It’s all the story one wants to tell. I have no problem with an authentic story involving racial considerations. Again one of TNT’s most under utilized characters in my opinions was DelSol and race certainly played a role. Interesting enough Carlos Slim is not Hispanic though he’s a Mexican national. He’s Lebanese.
 

Kenny Coyote

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Yes I think after all he went through John Ross could be the head of the family, especially his own family. He could know enough about business, Bill Gates was a young man running a giant corporation he built. He should have started married with kids by mid thirties in my opinion. He certainly could have gone and brought his younger brother to Southfork to be part of the family. He could have done the things Jock did as a young man, save the ranch from burning, get in fist fights, all the things Bobby could respect.

They seemed to have this bad Uncle Bobby idea and like in Hamlet, that doesn’t lead to the head of the family. Bobby was the head of his family with Chris as his father rather Chris liked it or not. But as for extended family with John Ross, they’d have to have a good relationship for John Ross to see Bobby as such - which is the route I’d have gone. But as they didn’t go that way John Ross would have to take on the role alone, forced yet again to main up, much like his grandfather had to grow up.

I disagree with you on race. There are many talented actors out there of all races and it wouldn’t work in most cases just to hire based on talent. What if Miss Ellie ended up black and Jock Hispanic and JR still Larry Hagman, according to your hiring process. How do you explain that? JR was adopted? Doesn’t it change a great many things about the show? Jock’s experiences would be different? Dallas was like the Cosby show, they hired those who fit the role in the story they were telling. If CC’s purpose was to tell a more diverse story, especially as wealth is now more diverse, the idea of Carlos DelSol (taken from Carlos Slim) certainly would accomplish that. I gave no problem if that was her goal verses forcing race into a story just to do so. Also marriages and relationships are also more diverse today, even diverse regarding sexual orientation. If Pam has been played by Phylicia Rashad we’d have had a much different sorry, wouldn’t we? A highly talented actress where comparisons are difficult, so who is better? Victoria Rincipsl for the story they were trying to tell. Take Rita Moreno, an extremely talented actress (at least greater awarded than anyone ever in Dallas), and closer to Larry Hagman’s age than Linda Grey. She would have change the story a great deal, if she played a Mexican American or Mexican character as opposed to Sue Ellen. Often we would have ignored her heritage, like they ignored a Hispanic American playing the daughter of Cliff and Afton, so in that case it doesn’t matter and that’s not the story they’re telling. But if they don’t just ignore race, because it is part of a persons character, then the story totally changes. Ben Kingsley did a fabulous job as Gandhi, so it can be done even when you’re telling a story regarding a person of a particular race. But they did work to make him look like Gandhi, not ignore race all together. It’s all the story one wants to tell. I have no problem with an authentic story involving racial considerations. Again one of TNT’s most under utilized characters in my opinions was DelSol and race certainly played a role. Interesting enough Carlos Slim is not Hispanic though he’s a Mexican national. He’s Lebanese.

I'm not sure what you meant by "this bad Uncle Bobby idea." Did you mean the idea was bad or Bobby was a bad guy?

What did you mean by Chris as Bobby's father?

Dallas was not like The Cosby Show. Dallas was a white show in a country where the majority of people are white so it's very natural. The Cosby Show was all black in a country that's 13% black so it was clearly a specific effort to make the cast all black.

The Ewings were a white family so of course, they wouldn't have a black or oriental JR (unless he'd been adopted) - I thought that went without saying.

I was using an example of casting someone who is a nemesis for the family. In that case, I say: Hire based on merit and not on the race of the actor just to fill some type of diversity quota. Quotas are the worst! If the best actor for the job is white, fine. If the best actor for the job is latino, or oriental, something else, fine.
 

stevew

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I'm not sure what you meant by "this bad Uncle Bobby idea." Did you mean the idea was bad or Bobby was a bad guy?

What did you mean by Chris as Bobby's father?

Dallas was not like The Cosby Show. Dallas was a white show in a country where the majority of people are white so it's very natural. The Cosby Show was all black in a country that's 13% black so it was clearly a specific effort to make the cast all black.

The Ewings were a white family so of course, they wouldn't have a black or oriental JR (unless he'd been adopted) - I thought that went without saying.

I was using an example of casting someone who is a nemesis for the family. In that case, I say: Hire based on merit and not on the race of the actor just to fill some type of diversity quota. Quotas are the worst! If the best actor for the job is white, fine. If the best actor for the job is latino, or oriental, something else, fine.

I meant TNT created a truly bad guy out of Bobby. He wasn’t even trying to be the good guy. He was an awful human being who was mean and hurtful to his family and at the same time judgmental and cruel. What TNT created was a man I found to be worse than JR Ewing ever was. on top of that a coward.

As Bobby was Chris’s father he could be head the family no matter what. Chris will fight with him or get along with him as his father. But to John Ross he was just an uncle, so if he wants to be taken as the head of the family with any respect he has to be someone John Ross can accept.

The Cosby Show was just as natural of a family. Majority of minority doesn’t matter. People tell stories they want to tell, not those based on a census. It wasn’t an effort to make it a mostly black cast, in a county so segregated its natural for a black family to surround themselves with mostly blacks as it was for the Ewing’s.

I’m saying hire based on the character you create. It’s not quota of you’ve got a Chinese oil company trying to take Ewing Oil to hire an Asian actor. It’s being true to the story the writer wants to tell not meeting a quota. I think CC wanted diversity in the cast and went for a Mexican billionaire friend of JR’s. I thought that was a good idea, especially to base it on Carlos Slim. I think diversity is always a good idea - broader audience. At the of the day it’s a rating game and Hispanics are a large group to include.
 

Luke_Krebbs_Ewing

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Well said. Maybe she didn’t want success, just an opportunity to “f” with Dallas.

I think she just wanted to take the show & steer it in her own direction with as little use of the legacy characters as much as possible.

When she realised the show was in trouble after Hagman's tragic death, I'm guessing she thought that killing off Christopher would get the ratings up and save it.

Unfortunately for her it was a legacy character she used for killing off. Now if it had been Elena or Pamela it might've had a better chance of going to a fourth season.

You do not under any circumstances kill legacy characters unless the actor's who played them have no interest in returning to the show, like Victoria Principal.

Cidre was just an awful showrunner and that's the truth. The show certainly had potential but she was the wrong person to be in charge of it. :(
 

stevew

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Ha ha! Now that you mention it, if you wanted to give a middle finger to the core of what was Dallas, it seems to me that what CC did with TNT Dallas is exactly what you'd do. CC basically told the audience that the *really interesting* thing she found about Dallas was, of all people, their maid, and then she proceeded to try to overshadow the Ewing family by building the show around the maid's family.

Ray and Lucy were so underutilized that they were shown just enough to remind you that they weren't really being used at all. The other characters of the original main cast were turned into caricatures of what they'd been. Cliff's character was unrecognizable.

What better way to flip the bird to Dallas and its fans?
I’d agree EXPECT she made no effort to connect Carmen to Teresa. An easy reference to my sister or Tia Teresa is all they needed.
 

DallasFanForever

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I’d agree EXPECT she made no effort to connect Carmen to Teresa. An easy reference to my sister or Tia Teresa is all they needed.
I understand what ur saying but would it have made a difference really? Did anyone care about that family, whether they tied it to Theresa or not? I don’t think it would’ve mattered. It still wasn’t Dallas as we knew it.
 

stevew

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I'm not sure what you meant by "this bad Uncle Bobby idea." Did you mean the idea was bad or Bobby was a bad guy?

What did you mean by Chris as Bobby's father?

Dallas was not like The Cosby Show. Dallas was a white show in a country where the majority of people are white so it's very natural. The Cosby Show was all black in a country that's 13% black so it was clearly a specific effort to make the cast all black.

The Ewings were a white family so of course, they wouldn't have a black or oriental JR (unless he'd been adopted) - I thought that went without saying.

I was using an example of casting someone who is a nemesis for the family. In that case, I say: Hire based on merit and not on the race of the actor just to fill some type of diversity quota. Quotas are the worst! If the best actor for the job is white, fine. If the best actor for the job is latino, or oriental, something else, fine.
I meant they made Bobby out to be a bad guy, a horrible husband, an over indulgent father, a terrible uncle, a horrible businessman, he even left a dressed Sue Ellen alone in a house with booze - I felt like he was based on Hamlet’s uncle. Not a good guy.

Sorry I mean Bobby was Chris’s father so even if Bobby and Chris fought Bobby and Chris still have a strong relationship one where maybe Chris still wants his fathers love abs respect, but when you fight with an uncle like that, I’d assume the uncle would no longer get the same level of respect. Honestly if Jason had showed up and not his kids, no way JR treats him like the head of the family. So IMO they should have made John Ross more of a good guy and allied with Bobby and Chris more ruthless and at odds with Bobby.

I’m not saying a quota, I’m saying an effort to diversify your cast and your story. Race is a part of people’s lives even if they ignore it. I have no problem with a writer adding such to the story, including that of Dallas. The idea should be how do I appeal to as many people globally as possible. Bigger market could get a bigger audience and then a bigger budget. That’s not filling a quota that’s just being smart about your potential audience. So in that regard I agreed with CC except instead of focusing on the help I’d have made other characters Hispanic, and certainly would have used Carlos more - one of JR’s friends to mentor his son let’s say.
 

stevew

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I understand what ur saying but would it have made a difference really? Did anyone care about that family, whether they tied it to Theresa or not? I don’t think it would’ve mattered. It still wasn’t Dallas as we knew it.
Agreed but if they’d have made such a small effort many that same sort of thinking would have lead to other changes.
 

DallasFanForever

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Agreed but if they’d have made such a small effort many that same sort of thinking would have lead to other changes.
Paying more attention to detail and history wouldn’t have hurt. And it’s really a shame they didn’t because the audience was there in the beginning. The fans wanted the show back. They just couldn’t keep us hooked.
 
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