Dallas Character Wes Parmalee story with hindsight

[Jock's Ghost]

Exactly. It just doesn't work for primetime shows.

It does sometimes. It did for Gary, 2nd time for Jenna.

Donna Reed didn't work, in part because she played the part almost entirely differently. I know she was a good actress, but how did anyone think playing a character that had been around for 7 seasons differently was going to work?? We will never know what might have been had she stuck to the original character. Could you imagine Reed's version of Miss Ellie married to Jock? Miss Ellie was a warm, but somewhat feisty woman, at least in the earlier seasons. That was part of the foundation of the show,

As for Victoria. Part of me thinks a recast could have worked. The other part says they just should have handled her exit better. Maybe she should have just gone missing? More so, no matter how she left, Bobby should have been written to, I don't know, give a damn? Instead, he cared for five minutes, and then felt sorry for himself, and basically acted stubborn and more or less forgot about her. That is where they went wrong.

YEP. That is why Pam should have been recast, anything else would have felt contrived or absurd as F. Recast would have avoided all this foolishness and the show could have at least kept it's integrity, it's core character and might have ran another 4-5 seasons with quality stuff instead of on fumes.

 

[LMLDallas78]

It does sometimes. It did for Gary, 2nd time for Jenna.

Gary 1 wasn't in many episodes so not well established in that role and appeared early Dallas, same for the other two Jennas.

Victoria as Pam had too much of a following as well as being part of the ensemble cast from the very beginning for it to work for her part.

 

[DallasFanForever]

I can’t see a recast of one of the original characters like Pam being a success but that’s just my opinion. The character had too much history and I think ultimately it would’ve backfired.

Recasting her for one scene like they did later on with miss Michaels I’m actually fine with. At least that scene gave (some) closure to the character and helped explain her decisions a little further but a total recast of the character just wouldn’t have worked for me. Stepping into VP’s shoes was too much to ask of anyone back then.

Most likely we’d be sitting here all these years later talking about what a disaster it turned out to be and we’d probably utterly detest whomever took over the role, which wouldn’t be fair to them. It was a no win situation for any actress.

 

[Snarky Oracle!]

It does sometimes. It did for Gary, 2nd time for Jenna.

But not for core characters.

 

[Bobby Southworth]

What if they had waited as long as they did, the beginning of season 12, but used a big name that looked more like Victoria?? Donna Reed all over again? Stunt casting? Perhaps, but who, at that time was a big name, that looked something like Principal? Michaels was a cutie, but let's not kid ourselves, she was no Victoria.

 

[Sea-Boo!-er]

There were reports that Pamela Sue Martin had been cast.

 

[Bobby Southworth]

At the end of the day, I can totally see why they didn't recast her after what happened with Donna Reed.. I can see why they didn't kill the Pam character because of what happened with Patrick returning. They were put in a tough position here. Part of me says they should have just killed the character and refused to let Victoria come back(had she ever been so inclined)since she wanted to leave, and the fiasco with Patrick, but then.. we had only gotten a season of them reunited. I'm sure TPTB, and "most" of us, were hoping we could eventually get more. They might as well have killed Pam, though, with the treatment she got from then on out. That said, though, out of all the options, and the rough spot that this was, they sort of had the right idea in having her disappear, but it needed to be written in a much better way. Bobby exhausts all of his supplies to find her. That's what they needed to do. He gets the divorce papers and all of that, and knows she's not in her right mind, and goes on searching. Once Cliff and him find her, maybe then, yes, then maybe it happens where once he finds her, Pam(played by Margaret Michaels) lies and says she's fallen in love with her doctor, but we know the truth. That part could still work, and give Bobby the freedom to eventually move on and start dating again. I think this would have been the best case scenario. It's not perfect, but better than how it played out. However, I'm still not 100% convinced that a recast couldn't have worked, had they gotten a big name that looked like Victoria, and acted like Pam, not trying to reinvent the character.

 

[DarkVader]

Victoria as "Pamela" was way too important as an actress and a character to DALLAS to be so easily replaced. It failed when they did it with Bel Geddes and it would have failed if they tried it again.

I understand why they didn't kill Pam off. The producers did not want to make the same mistake they did with Duffy and they were hoping against hope that at some point Victoria would change her mind and return.

Too bad for them and good for her that she didn't. She stayed true to herself and to her needs and I greatly respect her for it.

The day Pam's car crashed into that oil tanker and went up in flames was the day I turned DALLAS off for good.

 

[Luke_Krebbs_Ewing]

There were reports that Pamela Sue Martin had been cast.

That was probably because of Patrick Duffy's starring role in Arthur Hailey's Strong Medicine which featured both of them.

 

[Snarky Oracle!]

There were reports that Pamela Sue Martin had been cast.

It actually was gossiped at the time.

Michaels was a cutie, but let's not kid ourselves, she was no Victoria.

Well, Victoria after a traffic accident.

 

[Sea-Boo!-er]

That was probably because of Patrick Duffy's starring role in Arthur Hailey's Strong Medicine which featured both of them.

That did make it seem more plausible.

 

[xab]

All they had to do was taking a realistic way. With a realistic make-up a la Nip/Tuck, if anybody remembers Rachel Ben Natan (but maybe to frightening for a primetime cbs series) and choosing to cover a realistic timeline (recovering from that kind of accident is a long long way, if not endless) they wouldn't have felt the urge to recast or getting rid of the character so soon. Pam would have been hardly seen, being at the hospital for the whole season, a stand-in actress playing the part if needed.

It would have given them time to make up their mind, instead of rushing things. Maybe Pam's new face (if recasted) could have been part of the cliffhanger (OG Dynasty style, who left the audience wondering who was going to step into Alexis stilletos ). Or she could have commited suicide at the end of the season (she did try once), which is quite realistic... It's a sad fact : many people wounded in fire commit suicide... Because when you're burnt in such a terrible way, no matter how talended your surgeon is, you do not end up with gorgeous Margaret M.'s face.... Facing yourself becomes beyond traumatic.

 

[Luke_Krebbs_Ewing]

All they had to do was taking a realistic way. With a realistic make-up a la Nip/Tuck, if anybody remembers Rachel Ben Natan (but maybe to frightening for a primetime cbs series) and choosing to cover a realistic timeline (recovering from that kind of accident is a long long way, if not endless) they wouldn't have felt the urge to recast or getting rid of the character so soon. Pam would have been hardly seen, being at the hospital for the whole season, a stand-in actress playing the part if needed.

It would have given them time to make up their mind, instead of rushing things. Maybe Pam's new face (if recasted) could have been part of the cliffhanger (OG Dynasty style, who left the audience wondering who was going to step into Alexis stilletos ). Or she could have commited suicide at the end of the season (she did try once), which is quite realistic... It's a sad fact : many people wounded in fire commit suicide... Because when you're burnt in such a terrible way, no matter how talended your surgeon is, you do not end up with gorgeous Margaret M.'s face.... Facing yourself becomes beyond traumatic.

Pam did not commit suicide.

Mark Graison rescued her from the hospital.

Along with another casualty of the Ewing's a man named Wes Parmalee but in reality the Ewing patriarch Jock Ewing. Mark managed to get both of them along with Christopher Ewing and myself Lucas Krebbs Ewing out of the USA and to safety in the United Kingdom. The province of Northern Ireland actually, where we have lived happily since the series ended.

 

[DallasFanForever]

Pam did not commit suicide.

Mark Graison rescued her from the hospital.

Well, you’re close. In a parallel universe he was actually the one that saved her from jumping off the roof of The Store.

 

[Luke_Krebbs_Ewing]

Well, you’re close. In a parallel universe he was actually the one that saved her from jumping off the roof of The Store.

What do you mean I'm close!

I live with them! They both took me in after both my Mother and Ray Krebbs put me in a Sanitarium because I was gay.

When I finally got out I went to live with them.

Mark was able to pull strings and got Pam reunited with her son, my half-brother Christopher.

He wasn't in that car explosion you know. We all live together now.

 

[Jock Ewing Fan]

Something that I could never believe

IF WP was Jock Ewing , he would not have returned to Southfork with such secrecy.

Jock Ewing would have declared that he is alive, that this is his home, and kicked Clayton out like

the outsider, interloper and carpetbagger that JR describes.

 

[LMLDallas78]

Something that I could never believe

IF WP was Jock Ewing , he would not have returned to Southfork with such secrecy.

Jock Ewing would have declared that he is alive, that this is his home, and kicked Clayton out like

the outsider, interloper and carpetbagger that JR describes.

Most definitely the real Jock would have growled his way to letting everyone know who he was and if he could no longer growl he would go in like a steamroller to make known he was alive.

 

[Brian Kinney]

They both took me in after both my Mother and Ray Krebbs put me in a Sanitarium because I was gay.

That's wasn't a sanitarium, it was a boarding school. And Jenna and Ray lived only ten kilometres away. But maybe they were lucky the road to them was too rocky for you on a bike.

 

[Luke_Krebbs_Ewing]

That's wasn't a sanitarium, it was a boarding school. And Jenna and Ray lived only ten kilometres away. But maybe they were lucky the road to them was too rocky for you on a bike.

You're a cheeky so and so!!

It was the Fletcher Sanitarium of Barcelona in Spain. Just ask @Miss Piggy the Fashion Slayer. We were penpals even though our rooms were next to each other.

Something that I could never believe

IF WP was Jock Ewing , he would not have returned to Southfork with such secrecy.

Jock Ewing would have declared that he is alive, that this is his home, and kicked Clayton out like

the outsider, interloper and carpetbagger that JR describes.

Wes didn't want to hurt anybody he just wanted to be near his family again.

He could've gone in all guns blazing like you say, it's just he was reticent of doing that because the family believed he was dead but more importantly because Miss Ellie had remarried and he didn't want to hurt her.

 

[Brian Kinney]

It was the Fletcher Sanitarium of Barcelona in Spain. Just ask @Miss Piggy the Fashion Slayer. We were penpals even though our rooms were next to each other.

That was a language school you visited in summer as a young substitute teacher for American Television History. In the hostel @Miss Piggy the Fashion Slayer had the room next to you, true. But La Pig wrote angry messages because you stole her space in the parking lot. Then there were rumours about stolen dresses. Soon after you left for Dallas and had to work on Southfork as a ranch-head for the returned Randy. He told me EVERYTHING!