The Carringtons, the Ewings ... and the Kennedys

Snarky Oracle!

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I posted this on another thread the other day, and we had some recent discussion on the DALLAS page about it as well... But I thought it deserved its own thread here.

Two things the two shows should have had in common was the Kennedy dynastic parallel --- DALLAS in structure, and DYNASTY in upscale rarefication:

DALLAS had a ruthless father and self-made man, the eldest son is named John who philanders and gets shot infamously and whose wife looks and whispers a bit like Jackie Bouvier, the little brother is named Bobby and also gets shot four year later, and the drunken mess of a brother and his troubled blonde wife are named Ted and Joan (okay, sure, that's the actors) who nevertheless outlasts his more high-profile siblings... And it all goes down in, y'know, Dallas!

In contrast to DALLAS' un-Kennedy earthy, working-class rawness, DYNASTY should have continued its initial aspirations of high society polish and privilege, a show fraught with literary and artistic references, Krystle representing genuine class (despite being born into poverty) and Alexis reflecting pretentious sophistication and stature chasing and access to the mysteries of power, the Carrington home oozing a certain richness it rarely did, what with its bland decor and incessant flat-lighting... Can't you envision Krystle giving a televised tour of the mansion during the Season 8 gubernatorial campaign, much like Jacqueline Kennedy had done a quarter of a century earlier?

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Both shows hinted at some of this but, arguably, didn't go quite far enough.

What made the Kennedys a touchstone in this way? If it weren't for the assassinations and, of course, the silent survivor countenance of Jackie Onassis, the family wouldn't likely be held in such esteem (or so reviled). But the '80s cultural fixation on the '60s -- and indeed there was one (at least in the States) seemed to demand endless re-visitation of the earlier decade, and yet the unfinished business of the '60s couldn't really be finished due to the contemporary fibs that continued during the '80s.

And then there was DYNASTY and DALLAS, which both seemed impacted by, or reflective of, this dynamic, intentionally or not.

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Snarky Oracle!

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"Oh, they're from Jack, dahrling..."
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"But Ari preferred me to that wretchedly unhappy woman -- although that was eventually retconned to Zack Powers and his wife..."
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"You could never guess I'd be mistress of the manor one day..."
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Ray&Donna

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This is Luther Frick, in the Raintree novel hating all rich people in Texas
 
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