Why didn't Dolly Parton guest star on Dallas?

[Willie Oleson]

I get the feeling that this subject has always been swept under the carpet, but I can no longer pretend that everything is just fine.

I think she should have played Sally Bullock.

 

[Luke_Krebbs_Ewing]

The insurance on her bosoms would've been too expensive for Lorimar to ask her on the show!

 

[Clubsoda]

She certainly watched Dallas as Susan Howard says she met her on a plane and Dolly told her how glad she was when Donna smacked that cheap braddock bar floozy Bonnie.

 

[Ray_Krebbs]

I remember a post on the old forum. Someone suggested that she play Carter McKay's scheming ex-wife. Kenny Rogers would play her love interest, and the two would sing Islands in the Stream on the dam just as the Ewings blow it up. LMAO.

 

[Richard Channing]

I believe there was talk of this but both the wardrobe department and special effects team were concerned how much money it would cost to make her look that cheap.

 

[Alexis]

I believe there was talk of this but both the wardrobe department and special effects team were concerned how much money it would cost to make her look that cheap.

From what I recall Victoria's breasts threatened to walk if they were to be upstaged by Miss Parton's buxom bosoms. Is there no end to that woman's evilness?

 

[Willie Oleson]

OK, this is all really funny (imagine the opening credit, one for her face, and left and right for....hahaha) but as an argument it's still nothing but smoke and mirrors.
I perfectly understand why Dallas fans would like to avoid the show's biggest flaw, and I didn't start this thread to tease and poke, I am genuinely concerned, I really am.
We all knew that someday this was going to backfire, we may as well deal with it today.

 

[Luke_Krebbs_Ewing]

OK, this is all really funny (imagine the opening credit, one for her face, and left and right for....hahaha) but as an argument it's still nothing but smoke and mirrors.
I perfectly understand why Dallas fans would like to avoid the show's biggest flaw, and I didn't start this thread to tease and poke, I am genuinely concerned, I really am.
We all knew that someday this was going to backfire, we may as well deal with it today.

This is also the reason they couldn't have Dolly in the show. Apparently she is famous for backfiring on stage when she sings!

Possibly the reek would've got up Hagman's nose, not to mention the rest of the Dallas cast & crew. So it's maybe just as well she wasn't asked!

Still they could've got her on the show in the final season in some capacity. JR's new lover who sings Stand By Your Man whilst she backfires during the chorus!! Rumours that she was almost cast as Miss Ellie in that season are unfounded, Lorimar wanted to bill her as Dolly Pel Parton but out of respect to Barbara Bel Geddes she declined the role saying that would make her the Great Pretender!

 

[Willie Oleson]

And how about the part of Leann De La Vega?

 

[Mel O'Drama]

Dolly would actually have made a pretty good great Valene.*

I'd buy her as Charlene Tilton's mother and she could pull off the right balance of trash and feistiness for Jock to disapprove of her and JR to despise and secretly covet her.


*Forget everything you saw on Knots Landing. Just picture Dolly in any Valene scene from Reunion or Secrets. The dialogue is tailor made for her.

 

[Laurie Marr]

It wouldn’t work. Her assets would easily have eclipsed those of Ewing Oil.

 

[Luke_Krebbs_Ewing]

And how about the part of Leann De La Vega?

Which parts do you mean?

 

[Rove]

Taking into account how hot Dallas was, I'm curious if any of the big actors (television or film) were queuing up for a guest appearance. I know Dynasty was doing it but it became a little silly with short story arcs. Does anyone here know if Dallas producers were approached by big names?

 

[Willie Oleson]

I know Dynasty was doing it but it became a little silly with short story arcs.

Soaps can have guest stars for a full season or just one episode. And Dynasty didn't have as many as Falcon Crest.
Dallas had Susan Flannery, Barbara Carrera, Alexis Smith and Gayle Hunnicutt.

But not Dolly Parton.

 

[Rove]

Dallas had Susan Flannery, Barbara Carrera, Alexis Smith and Gayle Hunnicutt.

I had no idea who Susan Flannery was prior to her role on Dallas. Barbara I knew of because of her Bond film. Knew nothing of Alexis Smith but was pleasantly surprised upon learning of her earlier Hollywood career. Just a pity the writers made her a nut job. Alexis was a great fit for Dallas. And, Gayle who?

I see the connection some are making with Dolly playing the role of Valene as she and Charlene have similarities. I on the other hand think Dolly could have guest starred as Mitch and Afton's mother.

 

[James from London]

Dallas had Susan Flannery, Barbara Carrera, Alexis Smith and Gayle Hunnicutt.

But not Dolly Parton.

Dallas's guest stars were well-known but not mega-famous. Howard Keel wasn't Rock Hudson just like Alexis Smith wasn't Ava Gardner. And even Hudson's and Gardner's most famous years were long behind them. The big names who appeared in Soap Land were all past the peak of their fame. Maybe Dolly Parton was just too big for Dallas. No pun intended (honestly).

 

[Rove]

I had no clue who Howard Keel was prior to Dallas but this was more to do with the fact he was a huge film star prior to my birth. Another great choice for Dallas. I get annoyed when people on other sites blast the character because he was no Jock or that he was hired simply to replace Jim Davis. Bulldust! The introduction of Clayton Farlow was well considered. The writers gave the character time to gel before he and Miss Ellie had thoughts of romance. Like Jim, Howard had stature. He was exactly the actor needed in the role against J.R.

I can see Dolly playing Afton's mother. Music runs in their veins. Knowing how good the writing was on Dallas at this time I can see Dolly kind of playing herself. Coming from humble beginnings she finds herself as a single mother travelling counties in her banged up campervan with Mitch and Afton. She makes her crust from singing at bars. She enhances her look based on her glimpsing the town trollop growing up as a child, believing she had seen the most beautiful woman in the world.

I give anything to see Dolly attend the annual Ewing bar-b-que. She makes a bee-line for JR, he is engaged in business talks with Marilee Stone beside the Southfork pool. Marilee makes a snide remark directed at special guest star Dolly Parton. They both end up in the pool.

That scenario should wet Willie's appetite.

 

[Alexis]

Taking into account how hot Dallas was, I'm curious if any of the big actors (television or film) were queuing up for a guest appearance. I know Dynasty was doing it but it became a little silly with short story arcs. Does anyone here know if Dallas producers were approached by big names?

I believe that Sue Pollard lobbied quite hard for an Also Starring role on Dallas but in the end the producers couldn't meet her demands. She would have upstaged all the Dallas ladies anyway. What style!

 

[James from London]

I had no clue who Howard Keel was prior to Dallas but this was more to do with the fact he was a huge film star prior to my birth.

He was a film star, but I don't know if he was a huge one. I genuinely don't know. My parents recognised him when he appeared on Dallas but I got the impression they hadn't seen him in anything in a long, long time. From my perspective, he wasn't as "big name famous" as your Lana Turners or your Rock Hudsons or your Charlton Hestons or your Ava Gardners (although I'd have been hard pressed to name an Ava Gardner film).

Another great choice for Dallas.

Agreed. I think I preferred him before he married Miss Ellie though.

 

[Richard Channing]

I believe that Sue Pollard lobbied quite hard for an Also Starring role on Dallas but in the end the producers couldn't meet her demands. She would have upstaged all the Dallas ladies anyway. What style!

That's right. Su was the original choice for the role of Angelica Nero as she seemed to perfectly embody that sophisticated Euro-uber-bitch they were looking for. However, in the end producers decided she was just too sexy for the part and went with Barbara Carrera instead.