Worst Dallas storyline in the show's run

[Jock's Ghost]

It also seems rather hamfisted - and unnecessary. There's a good chance that if he'd approached Bobby honestly for help in regaining Ewing Oil, Bobby would have agreed.

Exactly. It showed a terrible side to JR that didn't need to exist and the slowly dumb side of Bobby.

 

[kenneth]

I would rather have Clayton and miss Ellie start a detective agency in a partnership with Jessica Fletcher over anything else in the last the two seasons.

 

[Rove]

Someone should ask her why she thought that that was a good starting point.

Anything to remove TNT Dallas as far as possible from Lorimar Dallas I suppose. If she had thoughts on introducing a daughter of JR then use a legacy character. The whole idea of introducing a bastard unknown children into any series has lost its punch, shock value in my opinion. As it is we are left with unanswered questions. Is Christopher still alive and did JR really have a daughter?

 

[DallasFanForever]

JR would not do that to Bobby. I know he mortaged his parents home, but that's different. THIS is Bobby' son, he wouldn't interfere with that and definitely would not be turning the knife.

I’d like to think this was something not even J.R. at his worst would do but the more I think about it he did hold Christopher’s paternity over Bobby’s head as blackmail years earlier and that was when he thought Christopher was his own son.

It also seems rather hamfisted - and unnecessary. There's a good chance that if he'd approached Bobby honestly for help in regaining Ewing Oil, Bobby would have agreed.

Perhaps with Pam’s exit J.R. felt Bobby’s mind was elsewhere and wouldn’t come around anytime soon? Patience when it came fo getting what he wanted wasn’t exactly J.R.’s strong suit. Not to mention with the way Ewing Oil had just ended convincing Bobby to work with him again was going to be almost impossible, at least for awhile.

 

[Jock's Ghost]

The problem with Season 11 is that the drama was drawn away from the Ewing family. Everyone is there, but nothing affects Miss Ellie, Ray, and Bobby. All of them do their own thing and rarely intersect.

JR is shark-like, but nearly as quick and sharp as he was 4 seasons ago. Hagman seems to want to give him a softer edge. He mourned Jock. He saw Ewing Oil as an extension of his father, but he lost Ewing Oil and did nothing. No depression- no regret, nothing... the hostility between him and Sue Ellen is dumb. A more interesting route would have been to have them team up and bring down the Cryders together- Sue Ellen goes more power-hungry than JR!

Bobby is a lonely doofus. His moping leads us to the moron April. He does nothing business-wise and rarely interacts with JR.

Where is Miss Ellie? Saving the homeless! HAHA! I was never a huge fan of BBG; she never felt like a Texan; no accent, nothing, but her later years are dreadful, she is very bored and there for the paycheck—stupid Clayton, is now more useless than ever.

April? Why is she here? Her intro was based on being married to Jack. He left and so should she. Never liked her. Never felt her character fit and their interacts contrived.

At least the DREAM SEASON feels like real Dallas with the family intact and acting like real humans.

The only bright spot is Jenna and Ray- too bad we didn't see them sooner. They are good together- PP is a better actor with Kanaly than Duffy. She's not so predictable. Jenna completes Ray's winning streak of BANGING ALL of the eligible women.

 

[Jock Ewing Fan]

Where is Miss Ellie? Saving the homeless! HAHA! I was never a huge fan of BBG; she never felt like a Texan; no accent, nothing, but her later years are dreadful, she is very bored and there for the paycheck—stupid Clayton, is now more useless than ever.

I agree. Miss Ellie never seemed like a real Texan, as you indicate. She wasn't all that strong - she would use Jock and Clayton as shields.
And Lady Jessica sure got the better of that event
I was never a fan of BBG in the role, either
I thought that the character should have been more like Victoria Barkley from "The Big Valley",
who was a strong, charismatic character, as performed by the great Barbara Stanwyck.
And even though it was about 100 years earlier, Barbara Stanwyck/Victoria Barkley
certainly dressed more like a wealthy matriarch with a fashion sense.

 

[Mustard]

Miss Ellie represents the Texas of old money privilege that is rooted in the land of the Democratic Solid South, a contrast to Jock's new money in Big Oil. That's the basis for the Southworth vs. Ewing conflict and compromise that is Jock and Miss Ellie's marriage. It's hard to seriously understand Dallas the TV series if you don't understand this dynamic in the Ewing family.

And someone of Miss Ellie's background (the old aristocratic rich) is far more likely to show charity to the homeless in Texas than the big oil rich people. Why? Because the aristocracy are supremely confident in their own privilege mentally (which also goes far beyond just money in their minds), while the new rich are more insecure in their minds (and what security they have is rooted much more firmly in money).

 

[Jock's Ghost]

Miss Ellie represents the Texas of old money privilege that is rooted in the land of the Democratic Solid South, a contrast to Jock's new money in Big Oil. That's the basis for the Southworth vs. Ewing conflict and compromise that is Jock and Miss Ellie's marriage. It's hard to seriously understand Dallas the TV series if you don't understand this dynamic in the Ewing family.

And someone of Miss Ellie's background (the old aristocratic rich) is far more likely to show charity to the homeless in Texas than the big oil rich people. Why? Because the aristocracy are supremely confident in their own privilege mentally (which also goes far beyond just money in their minds), while the new rich are more insecure in their minds (and what security they have is rooted much more firmly in money).

I know all that, it was just never properly executed. And the homeless crap was done lazily and hamfisted, it was plot-polluting just to give her something to do, despite it having no point.

 

[Jock's Ghost]

I agree. Miss Ellie never seemed like a real Texan, as you indicate. She wasn't all that strong - she would use Jock and Clayton as shields.
And Lady Jessica sure got the better of that event
I was never a fan of BBG in the role, either
I thought that the character should have been more like Victoria Barkley from "The Big Valley",
who was a strong, charismatic character, as performed by the great Barbara Stanwyck.
And even though it was about 100 years earlier, Barbara Stanwyck/Victoria Barkley
certainly dressed more like a wealthy matriarch with a fashion sense.

Too bad Barb Stanywick wasn't Miss Ellie, either they didn't consider her or she refused it. Would have been a great pick. She was great at standing up and yelling at people.

 

[Rove]

Too bad Barb Stanywick wasn't Miss Ellie, either they didn't consider her or she refused it. Would have been a great pick. She was great at standing up and yelling at people.

As it stands I prefer Barbara Bel Geddes portrayal. I have seen Barbara Stanwyck in other projects and apart from The Colbys her other roles suit her well. I don't see having two strong characters - as in - Jock and Miss Ellie working very well. The way Miss Ellie was written and played by Barbara Bel was spot on in delivery. There was a warmth to Barbara Bel's performance which brought out the best in other actors, yet when it was required for Miss Ellie to step up and raise her voice everyone in Dallas stopped dead in their tracks.

Jim Davis and Barbara Bel Geddes played beautifully off each other whereas if Barbara Stanwyck was selected I'd imagine her forthright personality would have her clash with the writers to energize Miss Ellie; therefore overshadowing the other characters.

There were rumours Earl Hamner Jr., requested Barbara Stanwyck to play Angela Channing on Falcon Crest. This is a character I could see Barbara playing as I always thought Jane Wyman was miscast as Angela. This of course is just my personal opinion.

 

[Jock Ewing Fan]

I know all that, it was just never properly executed. And the homeless crap was done lazily and hamfisted, it was plot-polluting just to give her something to do, despite it having no point.

It should be noted that Texas is not"Old South", in the sense that the movies and TV portray that period.
Old South tends to be east of the MIssissippi River
It would include mostly Mississippi, Alabama, Georgia, the Carolinas, Tennessee
Louisiana is more French in it character, while Texas is more Spanish/Mexican in its history.
Miss Ellie would not have been the stereotypical southern belle, as such
Her family may have had land, but not wealth, necessarily, if Jock had to save SF from foreclosure,
a fact that Miss ellie callously disregarded when she wanted to give SF to Garrison,
and later gave half of SF to Clayton

 

[Mustard]

It should be noted that Texas is not"Old South", in the sense that the movies and TV portray that period.
Old South tends to be east of the MIssissippi River
It would include mostly Mississippi, Alabama, Georgia, the Carolinas, Tennessee

It's true that the state of Texas is not the "deep south". That's Louisiana, Mississippi, Alabama, Georgia and South Carolina, plus Northern Florida and in the panhandle. A bit of Eastern Texas near the borders with Louisiana and Arkansas could be in the deep south as well, plus much of Arkansas itself.

My reference to "old" is about old money in the land, i.e. more aristocratic wealth.

Louisiana is more French in it character

That's mostly southern Louisiana, isn't it? It's far more Catholic too.

while Texas is more Spanish/Mexican in its history.

And a different type from the Florida hispanics of recent times. The Florida hispanics seem to embody the counter-revolutionaries of all stripes, from Cuba to Venezuela to Nicaragua, whereas the southwestern hispanics are more of a Latin mixture and Mexican presence.

Miss Ellie would not have been the stereotypical southern belle, as such
Her family may have had land, but not wealth, necessarily, if Jock had to save SF from foreclosure,

But the Southworths had wealth for a long time before the Great Depression. And because land ownership is a rooted privilege (unlike Big Oil), the Southworths would have been secure in that wealth over generations. That mental confidence and assurance about their social status wouldn't just disappear because of the Great Depression and Jock Ewing's oil money bailing them out.

Southfork land also had some oil land on it too, even though Aaron Southworth never wanted any drilling on it.

a fact that Miss ellie callously disregarded when she wanted to give SF to Garrison,

True. She reverted back mentally to her younger days there, pre Jock. I personally didn't like what she intended to do there.

 

[Jock's Ghost]

It should be noted that Texas is not"Old South", in the sense that the movies and TV portray that period.
Old South tends to be east of the MIssissippi River
It would include mostly Mississippi, Alabama, Georgia, the Carolinas, Tennessee
Louisiana is more French in it character, while Texas is more Spanish/Mexican in its history.
Miss Ellie would not have been the stereotypical southern belle, as such
Her family may have had land, but not wealth, necessarily, if Jock had to save SF from foreclosure,
a fact that Miss ellie callously disregarded when she wanted to give SF to Garrison,
and later gave half of SF to Clayton

True. The great Depression ravaged everyone so if Southworth's had any wealth, it would have dried up, save for their land. SHe had the land, Jock had the money to save it. Made a great marriage. And she was a bit foolish to give it to Garrison and we heard nothing more from him. Did it go to his wife? Back to Ellie?

 

[DallasFanForever]

And she was a bit foolish to give it to Garrison and we heard nothing more from him. Did it go to his wife? Back to Ellie?

I always assumed that once Garrison admitted he was dying and they took him in so he could “come home to die” that that was the end of it and the ownership of Southfork thing didn’t really matter anymore. Of course I could be wrong and Ellie did go through with giving him what she felt he deserved and then after he died it went back to the family. In that scenario I envision Jock and J.R. hovering over the deathbed with pen in hand asking Garrison to make sure he signs the papers before he dies.

 

[lbf522]

I would have liked to have had Garrison a little longer. It did not look like he had a family of his own.

 

[DallasFanForever]

I would have liked to have had Garrison a little longer. It did not look like he had a family of his own.

It’s a shame he arrived during the early years with those self contained episodes. That storyline had enough drama to last for the better part of a season. He could’ve put the family through a lot of grief for months until it was finally revealed he was dying.

 

[Seaviewer]

I always assumed that once Garrison admitted he was dying and they took him in so he could “come home to die” that that was the end of it and the ownership of Southfork thing didn’t really matter anymore. Of course I could be wrong and Ellie did go through with giving him what she felt he deserved and then after he died it went back to the family. In that scenario I envision Jock and J.R. hovering over the deathbed with pen in hand asking Garrison to make sure he signs the papers before he dies.

The drama was in the decision making. It's kind of like those TV episodes where the leading lady learns she's pregnant and goes through a gut-wrenching hour deciding to keep it only to have a miscarriage which is forgotten the following week.

It’s a shame he arrived during the early years with those self contained episodes. That storyline had enough drama to last for the better part of a season. He could’ve put the family through a lot of grief for months until it was finally revealed he was dying.

The Wes Parmalee storyline was that in a way, too.