What more would you like Miss Ellie to do?

[Snarky Oracle!]

Pam and Sue Ellen eventually came into their own, but Miss Ellie kind of didn't -- sidelined even more in the closing years, even when she was still on the show.

What more would you have liked to have seen Miss Ellie do??

 

[Willie Oleson]

To fall out with the Daughters Of The Alamo and start her own society club. She would expect Sue Ellen to support her and that would cause a lot of friction between the two, and a lot of fun for Lucy.

 

[Billy Wall]

I think they did enough with Miss Ellie. She was an important character, but Dallas was mainly about her children and their lives.

 

[Taylor Bennett Jr.]

initiate a torrid affair with Andy Bradley!

 

[Jock Ewing Fan]

I think they did enough with Miss Ellie. She was an important character, but Dallas was mainly about her children and their lives.

Mostly Agree. Dallas was mostly about JR, Sue Ellen, Bobby and Pam
Miss Ellie seemed to have no direction after Jock died, and the character probably should have departed after BBG left the first time.
Admittedly, I was never a Miss Ellie fan, especially after she started seeing Clayton, who I viewed as a carpetbagger from
San Angelo, as JR said

 

[Ollie james]

She could have moved to knots landing to be closer to Gary. The writers on that show were alot better at writing for female characters anyway.

 

[kcmimichar]

She could have moved to knots landing to be closer to Gary. The writers on that show were alot better at writing for female characters anyway.

I love that idea. I really didn't watch Knots Landing that much, but having her be around Gary would have been nice.

 

[Billy Wall]

It certainly didn’t make any sense for her to had never visited Knots Landing.

 

[Chris2]

Poor Gary! He already had clingy ex-wife Val living close by when he was trying to make other relationships work. Imagine how much worse it would have been for him if he had his clingy mama near him too.

 

[Richard Channing]

I certainly would have liked her to visit Knots Landing, but I couldn't see Ellie being happy living in a cul-de-sac in California.

 

[Willie Oleson]

I couldn't see Ellie being happy living in a cul-de-sac in California.

"Out of the frying pan into the fire" springs to mind
But maybe that would be the perfect reason to move her to Knots Landing.

 

[Jimmy Todd]

Miss Ellie should definitely have visited the cul-de-sac to see her favorite son and grandchildren. Plus, it would be so much fun to see her meet Lillimae, Val, Karen and Abby. However, she's not a suburb type of person. She's for the land. She needs to be at Southfork. That's why it never made sense that they wrote her off Dallas by saying she was visiting Asia(I think), apparently forever.

 

[Chris2]

I would do a story where she buys the other houses in the cul-de-sac, knocks them down, and builds a mini Southfork replica out there. The new intro ends with the camera zooming up the street and onto the new Mini Southfork West. Da-da-da-da-da!

 

[Jock Ewing Fan]

I was never a Miss Ellie fan (Not to be confused with BBG as an actress)
I would have preferred her to go to Knots Landing
so that I wouldn't have to listen to her insufferable self-righteous hypocrisy,
her tacit approval/enabling of all the unethical Ewing Oil dealings that
gave her a life of wealth and privilege, her ghastly parenting that largely
created JR's personality and her refusal to admit (for years) that she married Jock
to keep Southfork.
Also the story that she chased Jock and demanded he marry her -
In another context that could be stalking


When BBG left, I read one report that Dorothy Malone turned down the role.
That could have been interesting

While Donna Reed was not universally loved as Miss Ellie,
I think that sometimes it is overlooked that she was a well accomplished actress
She portrayed Mary Hatch Bailey in "It's a Wonderful Life", an all-time classic
She won an Academy award for Best Supporting Actress in "From Here to Eternity"
As the Star of "The Donna Reed Show" she was more assertive than most Tv moms
of that era, and she was nominated for The Emmy multiple times.
She had many other roles as well.

In an interview, I read that she wanted to base her Miss Ellie portrayal
on her familiarity with Oil Barons wives that she knew from Oklahoma,
and that she wanted to move the character away from always seeming
to hold a coffee cup.
I would acknowledge that she certainly dressed more like
a wealthy Oil Baron's wife.
Maybe if these aspects were prioritized more, we would have seen
a better viewer reaction.

In any case I would be all for moving Miss Ellie to KL
Others may disagree with my analysis and that's fine.
Maybe BBG needed better writing for the character
If she moved to KL, my response would be good riddance.

 

[Chris2]

I think they missed the boat in later years as they practically beatified Ellie and Jock. They were interesting, flawed characters, who became less interesting as the others lionized them. I didn’t like, for example, how Valene thanked Ellie for raising Lucy. What Valene should have done was look at her and say, “I will never be able to forgive you and your family for stealing my daughter from me.” Or how about when Donna was all deferential to Ellie when she discovered that Jock and Sam Culver instituted Sam’s Uncle Jonas to grab his land (leading to Jonas’ suicide). Donna should have said “I’m publishing the truth, whether you like it or not. Go ahead and sue - you’re the one who will be embarrassed.”

Having the Ewing chickens come home to roost would have made for some good storylines. But I suppose this was back when people often deferred to their elders and didn’t hold them accountable.

 

[Snarky Oracle!]

Well, the writing would have been better for Miss Ellie on KNOTS. Obviously.

 

[Billy Wall]

I think they missed the boat in later years as they practically beatified Ellie and Jock. They were interesting, flawed characters, who became less interesting as the others lionized them. I didn’t like, for example, how Valene thanked Ellie for raising Lucy. What Valene should have done was look at her and say, “I will never be able to forgive you and your family for stealing my daughter from me.” Or how about when Donna was all deferential to Ellie when she discovered that Jock and Sam Culver instituted Sam’s Uncle Jonas to grab his land (leading to Jonas’ suicide). Donna should have said “I’m publishing the truth, whether you like it or not. Go ahead and sue - you’re the one who will be embarrassed.”

Having the Ewing chickens come home to roost would have made for some good storylines. But I suppose this was back when people often deferred to their elders and didn’t hold them accountable.

You make some very good points. Since the Ewing’s were the main family, I don’t think they wanted them to look like the bad guys. I noticed that fast forgiveness was a theme on Dallas. Look how fast Marilee forgave the Ewing’s for her husband’s suicide. I’m doing yet another re-watch and I’m at the Mickey in the hospital episodes. Everybody, except Ray, that had something to do with that kid dying have already forgiven themselves and each other. Come to think of it, a lot of people have died indirectly by the hand of the Ewing’s.

 

[Taylor Bennett Jr.]

You make some very good points. Since the Ewing’s were the main family, I don’t think they wanted them to look like the bad guys. I noticed that fast forgiveness was a theme on Dallas. Look how fast Marilee forgave the Ewing’s for her husband’s suicide. I’m doing yet another re-watch and I’m at the Mickey in the hospital episodes. Everybody, except Ray, that had something to do with that kid dying have already forgiven themselves and each other. Come to think of it, a lot of people have died indirectly by the hand of the Ewing’s.

the one that was amazing with Mickey is that Sue Ellen was kind of immediately absolved of all guilt once they found out that Driscoll was trying to get JR. Who cares that Mickey would never have been in that position, trying to prevent her from hurting herself and others, if she hadn't gotten in the car all sh*tfaced, I guess?

 

[Billy Wall]

the one that was amazing with Mickey is that Sue Ellen was kind of immediately absolved of all guilt once they found out that Driscoll was trying to get JR. Who cares that Mickey would never have been in that position, trying to prevent her from hurting herself and others, if she hadn't gotten in the car all sh*tfaced, I guess?

I just saw that episodes and you’re absolutely right.

 

[Toni]

Miss Ellie should have gone to McKay´s with the shotgun when the Range War started, and nothing else would have happened. And that is a fact. Also, she should have thrown Cally´s pics into the dustbin.

"(Oh my God! It´s truly atrocious!
Jock´s portrait stays where it is!)"​