‘Swan Song’: Making a ‘Dallas’ Classic

Victoriafan3

Victoriafan3

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@Rove maybe if they had made this the very last episode, perhaps they would’ve put BBG that final scene. I slightly misread a line in your post. I thought you said ‘Several years of love, heartbreak, sex, scandal, blackmailing and cross-dressing. Oh well it was probably the only thing the show didn’t do ;-)
 
Matthew Blaisdel

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Victoriafan3 said:
(..) and cross-dressing. Oh well it was probably the only thing the show didn’t do ;-)
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That's what Dynasty was for! :D

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Kenny Coyote

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Rove said:
...and if Dallas finished right there I could have lived with it...
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I think most of the fans would have been very disappointed if Dallas had ended with season eight. I do know someone who quit watching after Bobby "died" though. Bobby was her favorite character, and she felt like without Bobby, there was nobody left for her to pull for.

Women loved Bobby so much! While I think bringing him back was a bad decision because of what it did to the show's credibility, I can understand why they did it.
 
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Grangehill1

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Rove said:
Hindsight informs us it would have been the perfect ending. Foresight (at the time) informs us it would have been the perfect ending due to what was to come. Plus the title of the episode sums it up beautifully...Swan Song...poetic.
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I’ve always said there were three potential natural endings for Dallas.

1. If the show had ended with swan song it would have been the prefect ending. And bar the blip of the Donna Reed casting, we would have looked back at the series as more or less perfect from beginning to end. Plus the audience would have been left wondering where on earth the Ewing’s would have gone next.

2. Blast from the Past. So there may have been a dip in quality after Bobby’s death. But to end the series as a whole with Bobby returning in the shower would have been one of the greatest WTF moments in TV history (for the right reasons). The audience would have had to
Make their own conclusion as to what happened.

3. Fall of the house of Ewing. Maybe the most natural Ending? Ewing’s Oil has been destroyed, JR and Sue Ellen have finally found happiness, there’s a question mark over whether Ray and Donna are finished and Pam can finally have children. It just seems like an ending. And then a final twist of blowing up the heroine at the end
 
Rove

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Grangehill1 said:
1. If the show had ended with swan song it would have been the prefect ending. And bar the blip of the Donna Reed casting, we would have looked back at the series as more or less perfect from beginning to end. Plus the audience would have been left wondering where on earth the Ewing’s would have gone next.
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I chose option 1 as Swan Song has a natural end feel to it. Leave the audience wanting more for a potential comeback.
 
Richard Channing

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Grangehill1 said:
I’ve always said there were three potential natural endings for Dallas.

1. If the show had ended with swan song it would have been the prefect ending. And bar the blip of the Donna Reed casting, we would have looked back at the series as more or less perfect from beginning to end. Plus the audience would have been left wondering where on earth the Ewing’s would have gone next.

2. Blast from the Past. So there may have been a dip in quality after Bobby’s death. But to end the series as a whole with Bobby returning in the shower would have been one of the greatest WTF moments in TV history (for the right reasons). The audience would have had to
Make their own conclusion as to what happened.

3. Fall of the house of Ewing. Maybe the most natural Ending? Ewing’s Oil has been destroyed, JR and Sue Ellen have finally found happiness, there’s a question mark over whether Ray and Donna are finished and Pam can finally have children. It just seems like an ending. And then a final twist of blowing up the heroine at the end
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Although I think Swan Song probably would have been the best ending for the show it would really leave me wanting more. Whereas The Fall Of The House Of Ewing really should have been the end because it would still be going out on somewhat of a high after a pretty good season and would have spared us what was to come.
 
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Mustard

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The ending of Swansong is so emotional. You've gotten to know all the characters and Bobby Ewing for so long, and then he dies. And I do love the following season with Bobby dead, people acting a bit more emotional. That sort of stuff is normal when a popular person has passed away suddenly. It jars massively when it's all undone by the dream revelation, with Bobby alive and well and in your face more than ever before. Season 10 DVD has a few good storylines and is the last season to have that proper Dallas feeling, but the hangover from the dream revelation lasts quite a while into Season 10 DVD.

Frankly, I'm surprised more fans don't feel as I do, i.e. that Bobby's death in Swansong was the perfect way for the character to go, and it should never have been undone. Dallas did need to move on to new dynamics.
 
Snarky Oracle!

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Mustard said:
The ending of Swansong is so emotional. You've gotten to know all the characters and Bobby Ewing for so long, and then he dies. And I do love the following season with Bobby dead, people acting a bit more emotional. That sort of stuff is normal when a popular person has passed away suddenly. It jars massively when it's all undone by the dream revelation, with Bobby alive and well and in your face more than ever before. Season 10 DVD has a few good storylines and is the last season to have that proper Dallas feeling, but the hangover from the dream revelation lasts quite a while into Season 10 DVD.

Frankly, I'm surprised more fans don't feel as I do, i.e. that Bobby's death in Swansong was the perfect way for the character to go, and it should never have been undone. Dallas did need to move on to new dynamics.
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Oh, Bobby's death should never have been undone -- and certainly not the way they did it.

But then Donna Reed's prissy hand-to-mouth , "Nooo!," at Bobby's bedside doesn't really work either.
 
Toni

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Mustard said:
The ending of Swansong is so emotional. You've gotten to know all the characters and Bobby Ewing for so long, and then he dies. And I do love the following season with Bobby dead, people acting a bit more emotional. That sort of stuff is normal when a popular person has passed away suddenly. It jars massively when it's all undone by the dream revelation, with Bobby alive and well and in your face more than ever before. Season 10 DVD has a few good storylines and is the last season to have that proper Dallas feeling, but the hangover from the dream revelation lasts quite a while into Season 10 DVD.

Frankly, I'm surprised more fans don't feel as I do, i.e. that Bobby's death in Swansong was the perfect way for the character to go, and it should never have been undone. Dallas did need to move on to new dynamics.
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I´m 150% with you @Mustard. It all should have ended with "Swan Song". None of the actors were better than in this episode, and the same goes for the camera work, the dialogues, the wardrobe, the score and, well, it´s the longest episode of all, it size matters... If Miss Ellie had just been there too...
 
Richard Channing

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Mustard said:
The ending of Swansong is so emotional. You've gotten to know all the characters and Bobby Ewing for so long, and then he dies. And I do love the following season with Bobby dead, people acting a bit more emotional. That sort of stuff is normal when a popular person has passed away suddenly. It jars massively when it's all undone by the dream revelation, with Bobby alive and well and in your face more than ever before. Season 10 DVD has a few good storylines and is the last season to have that proper Dallas feeling, but the hangover from the dream revelation lasts quite a while into Season 10 DVD.

Frankly, I'm surprised more fans don't feel as I do, i.e. that Bobby's death in Swansong was the perfect way for the character to go, and it should never have been undone. Dallas did need to move on to new dynamics.
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Agreed, it was an iconic ending for an iconic character, who being the Romeo to Pam's Juliet, absolutely deserved to meet his demise in a manner befitting of a bittersweet Shakespearian tragedy, and that's exactly what Swansong does.
 
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