The Oil Barons Ball is not that glamorous

[Chris2]

I’m watching the Oil Barons’ Ball episode from 83-84 and it’s held in one of those hotel function rooms, replete with folding wall to divide it from the other function rooms. The champagne oil fountain is a nice touch but other than that, it’s crowded and looks like a mid-budget wedding reception.

 

[Rove]

Interesting. I loved that crowded feel because it offered the series realism. I'd imagine those Oil Baron wives would have been scratching each others eyes out to get their hands on an invite. The Oil Barons Ball was an opportunity to mingle and potentially create new deals...all on a handshake by the way...very Jock Ewing.

The Oil Barons Ball may not have started off being glamourous but as Nolan Miller was making his mark on Dynasty The Oil Barons Ball certainly leaned into becoming more glamorous.

 

[Snarky Oracle!]

You're both right, of course. But standards for "glamour" have changed.

Can you imagine The Oil Baron's Ball -- today -- with the room full of black women??

 

[LMLDallas78]

It always glamorous to me. I didn't notice details like folded walls or champagne fountains, still don't. I loved the dresses, all the men in their tuxedos, watching all the extras in the background and most of all I loved waiting for the drama. What would happen? What would be said? Who would start a fight?

Didn’t like the balls so much once they became a bit over the top. Dallas didn't need to do ott and when it did it was spoiled. But then I'm easily pleased.

 

[Chris2]

Great points - I’m looking at 40-year-old event and using a different standard of glamour than they had back then. Also, this is the season before TPTB decided to really glam things up with fancy clothing and a bouffanted new matriarch.

 

[Lastkidpicked]

Also, this is the season before TPTB decided to really glam things up with fancy clothing and a bouffanted new matriarch.

This is exactly why I enjoy the early seasons more than the later ones. The background is more gritty and more natural.

The later Oil Barron's ball was more glamorous, but the early ones seemed more "real".

 

[Barbara Fan]

I’m watching the Oil Barons’ Ball episode from 83-84 and it’s held in one of those hotel function rooms, replete with folding wall to divide it from the other function rooms. The champagne oil fountain is a nice touch but other than that, it’s crowded and looks like a mid-budget wedding reception.

First time i went to Dallas I stayed in that hotel and the function room was open as it was at the back of hotel and near back entrance you could use from the Dart transport system. I thought i would ne nosy!

I remember walking around that room and thinking how did a hotel function room get to look like the OBB? - as it didnt look that glam but did pretend I was there for the OBB and walked around the tables, I kept envisaging BBG on stage doing her Jock Ewing is a great man speech - or on stage when Bobby is named Oil Baron of the year posthumously and calling Pam up on stage (and VP looking stunning) I wondered if BBG had walked on that carpet but thought maybe 20 plus years later it had been changed!! All the memories of wonderful OBB flooded back

 

[Lastkidpicked]

I did pretend I was there for the OBB and walked around the tables, I kept envisaging BBG on stage doing her Jock Ewing is a great man speech - or on stage when Bobby is named Oil Baron of the year posthumously and calling Pam up on stage (and VP looking stunning) I wondered if BBG had walked on that carpet but thought maybe 20 plus years later it had been changed!! All the memories of wonderful OBB flooded back

I'm glad you did that!

This is exactly why anybody who visits Dallas should visit the filming locations. It's amazing how many are still there.

If there are empty offices in the "Ewing Building" you can go up and look out the windows and think, "This was the exact same view that J.R. and Bobby had when they looked out their office windows."

 

[DallasFanForever]

I guess I wasn’t really into the OBBs that much. It was nice to see everyone dressed up and all but the glitz and glamour wasn’t why I watched Dallas so I was always a little indifferent to these episodes. They did provide some nice moments though, specifically the OBB in the dream season comes to mind for me, and of course the memorable scene with all the women in the powder room in season 7 DVD and the brawl later on with all the men.

 

[Snarky Oracle!]

If there are empty offices in the "Ewing Building" you can go up and look out the windows and think, "This was the exact same view that J.R. and Bobby had when they looked out their office windows."

Except the view out of JR's office through Season 5 DVD doesn't line up with the building downtown on Elm Street, just a few blocks east of where JFK was shot. The view through the window suggests a location roughly where Barnes-Wentworth's building is, just north of the city.

 

[Lastkidpicked]

Except the view out of JR's office through Season 5 DVD doesn't line up with the building downtown on Elm Street, just a few blocks east of where JFK was shot. The view through the window suggests a location roughly where Barnes-Wentworth's building is, just north of the city.

Nice catch!

It's fun to be at the Ewing Building and think, "Here is where J.R. and Bobby would have parked. Here's where Phyliss and Sly would have parked."



Or visiting the Fort Worth Stockyards for their pulled pork BBQ sandwich and decide, "I'm going to walk up the same steps that Jim Davis and Steve Kanaly walked to film their scene."

Or, as @Barbara Fan mentioned, staying at the hotel where they filmed the first oil barron's ball and looking down thinking, "This might be the exact same carpet where Barbara Bell Geddes walked."

Knowing those maintenance guys like I do-- That's probably still the original carpet!

By the way, we proudly still host the Cattle Barron's Ball in Dallas. Ours pre-dates the Oil Barron's Ball from the show. We've raised over $80 million for the American Cancer Society. In 2009 we even held it at Southfork!

I like to think this years Cattle Barron's Ball has J.R. Ewing in profile:

 

[Barbara Fan]

The first time I stayed at the Hyatt in Dallas I dont know how many times i went up and down that lift as seen in so many scenes (Bobby and Pam pretending to be in Las Vegas in Reunion, Sue Ellen seeing JR with some floozy when out with Marilee and CO). I had my camera at the ready and was always a bit miffed if it stopped at a floor and someone got in!! How dare they!

 

[Seaviewer]

The Oil Barons Ball may not have started off being glamourous but as Nolan Miller was making his mark on Dynasty The Oil Barons Ball certainly leaned into becoming more glamorous.

Speculation: Is Dynasty real in the Dallas universe, or is it a TV show? One could argue the increasing glam of the eightes as an influence on the Ball's planners either way.

 

[Crimson]

I love early DALLAS' lack of glamour. I like the rustic, even a bit seedy, feel of those early seasons and how even the big events felt like semi-formal hoedowns. That gaudy, empty glamour of the mid-80s sucked the life out of the show.

 

[Jock Ewing Fan]

Why would there be issues with the Oil Baron's Ball be not glamourous eough?
This board is constantly defending BBG's sack dresses, and demeaning Donna Reed's more fashionable dress, on the basis that is is truer
to the character, but then the Ball is not glamorous enough? Seems contradictory.

I didn't want Dallas to be glamorous. It had a different identity than dynasty.
because it displayed a balance between "Old" more rustic Texas and
the modern age, the real decline of the show began IMO when Jim Davis passed, and the more
rural cowboy culture was increasingly de-emphasized.
Howard Keel seemed more refined in appearance and manners,(even though Clayton was ill-tempered and tantrum prone) which is ironic
given his background in westerns/western themed movies.

Like everything else, it probably was budget -driven

 

[Seaviewer]

Howard Keel is was probably best remembered for his musicals, which lent an air of refinement regardless of the actual settings of the stories.

 

[Rove]

First time i went to Dallas

@Barbara Fan you always make me jealous of your early visits to Dallas, meeting the cast etc. Back then I wish I had the gumption to do it, but instead admired those from afar.

 

[Barbara Fan]

@Barbara Fan you always make me jealous of your early visits to Dallas, meeting the cast etc. Back then I wish I had the gumption to do it, but instead admired those from afar.

My early visit to Dallas - well LA really was as a teenager - and I went over as UKs biggest Dallas fan, I had a huge collection even back then, because I wrote fan letters and a TV company went through 1000s of Letters at Lorimar and picked out mine and I got to appear on their show - spent time on the set - watching them film etc
That really was a dream come true - a pinch me i must be dreaming moment and I will wake up and its all a dream (it was pre Pam!)

I didnt actually get to Dallas itself until 2008 - went twice that year and then again in 2009, Havent been back since - you really do need a car and I dont like to drive abroad and after so many US trips kind of hampered by weather, Hurricanes, storms, ash clouds etc (at least x5) I havent been back - also TNT put me off!! There is a big world out there to explotre and I dont like going back to the same places again and again Still love the great outdoors of SF but inside is A W F U L and so tacky! I do hope you get one day @Rove

 

[Taylor Bennett Jr.]

The Oil Baron’s Ball not glamorous?! What will we hear next?? The Cattlemen’s Club is a female hangout serving vegan watercress sandwiches to health-conscious environmentalists? Something bigger happened between the invention of the hot dog and the proposed shopping center at Southfork?? Marvin Anderson is not a punk?!? Preposterous!!

 

[DallasFanForever]

The Oil Baron’s Ball not glamorous?!

What wasn’t glamorous about the women’s’ stand-off in the powder room in season 7? One of the best Oil Barons Ball scenes in the history of the show.