Was Victoria Principal right to speak out

[Pamela_E]

Was VP right to speak out and potentially ruin the hunt for Pam story?

I ask as something similar is brewing on Fear the Walking Dead. But the actress has kept quiet so far.

Was it a little mean spirited?

 

[Alexis]

No she was right. She wasn't getting involved in the show at all so she just clarified that. She didn't need to be on newspapers and magazines saying she was returning to Dallas when she had no intentions of doing so. TNT went about it all wrong.

 

[stevew]

No she was right. She wasn't getting involved in the show at all so she just clarified that. She didn't need to be on newspapers and magazines saying she was returning to Dallas when she had no intentions of doing so. TNT went about it all wrong.

I agree. They should have spoken to her first to get her reaction before they stirred up such a pot. I feel not doing so was disrespectful to her.

 

[Pamela_E]

I agree. They should have spoken to her first to get her reaction before they stirred up such a pot. I feel not doing so was disrespectful to her.

But why? She didn't own the character and once the story finished a few weeks later would all have known the outcome anyway.

To make a specific statement could be regarded as a little arrogant, sour grapes.

Maybe it would have been different if it popped up during an interview.

Thinking about it outside of being deep in it all, it seems a little bizarre. But I guess it all added to the weirdness of new Dallas and gave a bit if excitement.

 

[Karin]

I think she was right in giving her statement since it was being fair to her fans and not stringing them along to believe she would return.

Yes it ruined the plot but if the TNT show had wanted to they could have done a different outcome of the storyline and recasted Pam. I mean they recast the character of Tracey McKay a year later and that made no sense since the character was never important to the show in the way that Pam was.

But why? She didn't own the character and once the story finished a few weeks later would all have known the outcome anyway.

Well VP once said when being interviewed by Ultimate Dallas something along the lines of "as long as she was alive so was Pam."
So killing off the character went against that and left some fans disappointed.

 

[Snarky Oracle!]

I'm in the middle on this. Thank you for asking.

 

[Pamela_E]

I think she was right in giving her statement since it was being fair to her fans and not stringing them along to believe she would return.

Yes it ruined the plot but if the TNT show had wanted to they could have done a different outcome of the storyline and recasted Pam. I mean they recast the character of Tracey McKay a year later and that made no sense since the character was never important to the show in the way that Pam was.



Well VP once said when being interviewed by Ultimate Dallas something along the lines of "as long as she was alive so was Pam."
So killing off the character went against that and left some fans disappointed.

But wasn't her previous stock answer along the lines of Pam is dead and she would never go back, that it's stupid to go back. She seemed to pop up up every so often and kind of go with the temperature at the time, depending on what was going on.

 

[Karin]

Yes she's also said in interviews that Pam died in the car crash and she seems to have gone back to that version now when there is no chance of her returning in the reboot.

But in 2011 or something like that when Dallas fanzine interviewed her it sounded like she was actually interested in returning to the reboot and that made a lot of fans hope that she would return. So in light of that I think it was fair of her to let the same fans know that she would not return after all.

Also people who were not diehard fans of the show missed her statement anyway so it didn't ruin the plot for them. I know of people who were viewers rather than fans who truly believed that the search of Pam would lead to her return!

 

[stevew]

But why? She didn't own the character and once the story finished a few weeks later would all have known the outcome anyway.

To make a specific statement could be regarded as a little arrogant, sour grapes.

Maybe it would have been different if it popped up during an interview.

Thinking about it outside of being deep in it all, it seems a little bizarre. But I guess it all added to the weirdness of new Dallas and gave a bit if excitement.

The return of Pam relied on the return of VP. CC had to know this. The polite thing would have been to run it by her. Yes the character does not belong to VP but everyone would be expecting her. If not, then her statement of not returning would have had zero impact to the possibility of a return of the character. I’m sure people, at least in private, said things to her, and she certainly has every right to speak for herself. If you, CC, want me to keep a secret, you should have the courtesy to run it by me first. That’s my opinion anyway. I found the arrogance to be CC’s, to allude to the possibility of the return of Pam, thus VP, without first discussing it with her.

 

[TJames03]

She had no allegiance to TNT’s Dallas and if she truly never ever wanted to return, she was right in telling the viewers that they were using them.

 

[Miss Texas 1967]

I think she was right to clarify she wasn't coming back as Pam. The statement is quite clear that she has no control over the character's history beyond her portrayal so she can't say yes Pam is dead or no she's alive, but if anyone was expecting her to show up on screen as Pam they should stop. I imagine she'd privately made such a statement to the people involved but since that didn't involve the public she went ahead and addressed the same thing for everyone. Her statement makes me think she was done with having people constantly approaching her with the same question, therefore she addressed it once and moved along. She's clear, Pam might still be floating around somewhere but it's not her as Pam.

https://deadline.com/2013/03/victoria-principal-dallas-not-returning-tnt-series-443969/

 

[Pamela_E]

Yes she's also said in interviews that Pam died in the car crash and she seems to have gone back to that version now when there is no chance of her returning in the reboot.

But in 2011 or something like that when Dallas fanzine interviewed her it sounded like she was actually interested in returning to the reboot and that made a lot of fans hope that she would return. So in light of that I think it was fair of her to let the same fans know that she would not return after all.

Also people who were not diehard fans of the show missed her statement anyway so it didn't ruin the plot for them. I know of people who were viewers rather than fans who truly believed that the search of Pam would lead to her return!

But she says a lot of odd things. She said she was asked back to Dallas on TNT, she wasn't. She also said she was asked to attend the Dallas reunion function, she wasn't.

The reason being that people didn't want her involved. Not sure what happened , maybe one day we will find out.

Anyhow I don't want to sound like a VP hater as I really like her. I was only thinking about it due to Kim Dickens return to Fear the Walking Dead being teased in the press.

 

[xab]

I don't think it really hurt the show nor the storyline.
By the time many of us ( me included) strongly wished Pam could be back, at least for a few scenes via a recast. Therefore her statement didn't really close the door to Pam, it only revealed that she wouldn't be in.
But to be honest waiting for Pam popping up 24 years after we saw the very not disfigured Margaret Michaels was not being realistic.
1: she was pretty again, so she had no reason to stay away because she could "scare her little boy"
2: she was said to be dying.

So, statement or not, we should have been level headed and not desperately expecting a miracle: the only reason why Pam never showed up within 24 years ought to be her long death...

 

[Pamela_E]

I don't think it really hurt the show nor the storyline.
By the time many of us ( me included) strongly wished Pam could be back, at least for a few scenes via a recast. Therefore her statement didn't really close the door to Pam, it only revealed that she wouldn't be in.
But to be honest waiting for Pam popping up 24 years after we saw the very not disfigured Margaret Michaels was not being realistic.
1: she was pretty again, so she had no reason to stay away because she could "scare her little boy"
2: she was said to be dying.

So, statement or not, we should have been level headed and not desperately expecting a miracle: the only reason why Pam never showed up within 24 years ought to be her long death...

I loved the storyline, I thought it was really exciting. Plus it was nice to get some closure.

I guess my only issue was Bobby's reaction. As someone who loves the Bobby/Pam story it would have been nice to have seen a little touch point with the past.

 

[xab]

I was not so surprised by his lack of emotion... He "mourned Pam a long time ago". And he made it fast. In Kay Lloyd's arms in sesaon 11. I was surprised he could date a woman so early after Pam's tragedy. Except for the Jeanne O'Brian episode I always thought he moved forward very quickly... So I really didn't expect any tears...

 

[Kenny Coyote]

But why? She didn't own the character and once the story finished a few weeks later would all have known the outcome anyway.

Right, and the key phrase there is "she didn't own the character."

She said she was asked back to Dallas on TNT, she wasn't. She also said she was asked to attend the Dallas reunion function, she wasn't.

Which suggests she was emotionally shaken by that. If she weren't, why make a statement one way or the other? VP's statement about Pam had always been "Pam died in the car crash." That suggests she was done with it. She'd moved on, but apparently she hadn't. They never said Victoria Principal is returning, or might be be returning. They had a storyline where Pam, a character she didn't own, might be returning. So I guess she figured: "You didn't ask me back so I'm gonna screw with your storyline. I'm not gonna be playing Pam and I don't want anyone else playing her either."

I guess my only issue was Bobby's reaction.

Bobby's attitude towards people was "what you give me is what I give you back." Pam abandoned him and their son. She didn't even give him the courtesy of a phone call after her vocal chords had healed. She insulted Bobby by sending the message that he couldn't possibly love her anymore since she wasn't still pretty. Bobby must have thought: "After all these years, you think my love is that shallow"? He responded in kind. He gave her back what she was giving him.

When Bobby's wife April died, she loved him and wanted to be with him right to the end. Naturally, he had a very emotional reaction to her death. So Bobby dedicated abut a half year of his life to doing nothing but tracking down the woman responsible for April being killed. The only thing that stopped him from following through on revenge was he learned that the woman responsible had a daughter. That daughter was adopted, as she was an orphan. She would have been completely alone in the world with no parents except for that woman - the same woman who was responsible for April's death. Bobby showed her mercy for just that reason. Not that she deserved to live, but her daughter didn't deserve to lose another parent.

 

[stevew]

But she says a lot of odd things. She said she was asked back to Dallas on TNT, she wasn't. She also said she was asked to attend the Dallas reunion function, she wasn't.

The reason being that people didn't want her involved. Not sure what happened , maybe one day we will find out.

Anyhow I don't want to sound like a VP hater as I really like her. I was only thinking about it due to Kim Dickens return to Fear the Walking Dead being teased in the press.

If they didn’t ask her they should have.

 

[stevew]

If they didn’t ask her they should have to be on Dallas TNT or a reunion they certainly should have.

 

[Pamela_E]

Right, and the key phrase there is "she didn't own the character."



Which suggests she was emotionally shaken by that. If she weren't, why make a statement one way or the other? VP's statement about Pam had always been "Pam died in the car crash." That suggests she was done with it. She'd moved on, but apparently she hadn't. They never said Victoria Principal is returning, or might be be returning. They had a storyline where Pam, a character she didn't own, might be returning. So I guess she figured: "You didn't ask me back so I'm gonna screw with your storyline. I'm not gonna be playing Pam and I don't want anyone else playing her either."



Bobby's attitude towards people was "what you give me is what I give you back." Pam abandoned him and their son. She didn't even give him the courtesy of a phone call after her vocal chords had healed. She insulted Bobby by sending the message that he couldn't possibly love her anymore since she wasn't still pretty. Bobby must have thought: "After all these years, you think my love is that shallow"? He responded in kind. He gave her back what she was giving him.

When Bobby's wife April died, she loved him and wanted to be with him right to the end. Naturally, he had a very emotional reaction to her death. So Bobby dedicated abut a half year of his life to doing nothing but tracking down the woman responsible for April being killed. The only thing that stopped him from following through on revenge was he learned that the woman responsible had a daughter. That daughter was adopted, as she was an orphan. She would have been completely alone in the world with no parents except for that woman - the same woman who was responsible for April's death. Bobby showed her mercy for just that reason. Not that she deserved to live, but her daughter didn't deserve to lose another parent.

Yes I get that but I think sometimes it's nice to give a little nod to the fans. Could have been a moment alone, a look, or just something.

It wasn't the end of the world but somewhere within all this there felt a vibe of the internal politics from 1986 was still there.

But at least they did the story and I was happy with it.

 

[Snarky Oracle!]

There's been a lot of debate about how much the producers of oldDALLAS disliked VP (even David Jacobs said they had a bad relationship) and about how much her co-stars may or may not have liked her. There was even gossip about VP and LG being mad at each other during the taping of the 2004 "Return to Southfork" retrospective.

VP says she was asked to return to the role of Pam for nuDALLAS and refused, while producers say she wasn't invited (and gossip said her former co-stars blackballed her).

Then, as Season 2 begins to follow the mystery of what happened to oldPam -- one of the better plots they did -- VP saw this as a ploy to trick people into thinking that she might be coming back, to theoretically boost ratings... I'm not sure it came off that way, but VP thought it did, and since it was her role, one could maybe understand why she saw it that way.

But producer Cidre comes off as kind of a dumber, less-strategic Esther Shapiro, while VP seems too reactive and prone to her own fibs.

So who knows what the truth is...?