Can you identify....

[Jimmy Todd]

the best acting in one of the big four 1980s prime time soaps in a low key scene?
What I mean is when characters are just interacting in mundane ways. So obviously a scene such as when JR is apologizing to Sue Ellen after her and Mickey"s car accident or when Valene is told her baby twins were stillborn wouldn't count. Just average, nondescript scenes which make you say, "That's good acting!"
This may be hard because if they're nondescript, they will be hard to recall, but I'm sure there's an eagle-eyed poster out there who could do it

 

[DallasFanForever]

I’ll give it a shot. I really don’t know if this scene qualifies so please forgive me if it doesn’t, but when J.R. outed Sly as the company spy. I think his acting in this scene is some of his best work. But it’s very subtle. He doesn’t get upset with her, he doesn’t fire her, he doesn’t make threats, when quite honestly I expected all of the above.

But the best part of the scene to me is when they’re talking about Cliff and she asks JR if he’s gonna set him up. And his response is that he set himself up. Watch how he delivers that line. Watch his eyes carefully. Any anger or hurt he may feel towards Sly is all gone with that line as you can see him redirecting it all towards Cliff.

It’s a great scene between JR and Sly, definitely their best together. And I think it’s a scene that often gets overlooked in the series. I’m not sure if it qualifies as mundane really but my point is it was a mundane JR compared to what we were used to seeing. His calmness makes the scene what it is. Larry played it perfectly imo.

 

[Seaviewer]

Mack and Karen's home scenes in Knots Landing always seemed very natural.
One time Karen had mixed two breakfast cereals because one pack had finished. Without missing a beat of their conversation, Mack emptied out the plate and refilled it.

 

[darkshadows38]

i dunno to be honest Dallas has had it's fair share of really awful acting to pretty solid acting so i dunno. With Knots i haven't seen enough of it to really say any.

now weather a scene is acted very well or not acted i can say that some of the scenes of Lucy in Dallas were written well but not always acted very well to acting just plain awful. The court scenes the story line was good but the court scenes were painfully awfully written and should have been written by someone who knows how to write them. the death of Mickey Trotter is the one i'm thinking about of course

 

[Angela Channing]

Average non-descript scenes were rare in the prime time soap. Every scene exists to move a storyline on so it's difficult to describe any scene as non-descript. For example, there is a great scene when Ellie and Clayton return from their honeymoon and meet Jamie for the first time. They are all sat in the lounge at Southfork reminiscing about Jason 'Tumbleweed' Ewing and Clayton just looks lost as he can't contribute to the conversation. Every camera shot of him has a shows Jock's portrait in the background to emphasise that he is an outsider and that his processor still had an imposing presence in the family. Howard Keel brilliantly conveys Clayton discomfort and isolation without saying a single word and it's a great piece of acting. Although the scene is just about a family talking about someone's nickname, it's an important scene which sets up events which ultimately leads to Ellie removing Jock's portrait so it can't be described as being "non-descript".

 

[Daniel Avery]

At the height of the Empire Valley storyline on KL, Laura knows that Greg is trying to ruin her friends, Gary and Karen. Greg claims to be helping clean up the arsenic leaking into the water supply, but the trucks are in fact just driving in circles while Greg waits for Lotus Point (owned by Karen and Gary, and partially by Laura herself) to go bankrupt. Laura was agonizing over where her loyalty belonged--her husband or her friends. So in the midst of all this, Jason comes to his mother with a school issue. One of his friends was sabotaging another friend's science project involving fruit flies. The flies had gone missing, and Jason innocently asked his mother whether he should keep the confidence of his friend who hid the flies, or should he tell the other friend where the fruit flies had been hidden? There is a moment in the scene where Constance McCashin's facial expression changed in a way that told the viewer that she had not only made the connection between Jason's dilemma and her own, but had realized what she had to do. What seemed like such a simple piece of advice from "mom" Laura to Jason (to do the right thing and tell his friend where the fruit flies were hidden) was no more complicated than telling Gary and Karen about Greg's scheme. Which she did. The look of recognition on McCashin's face was almost like a change in lighting or camera work, but it was simply her ability to say what she was thinking with an expression.

 

[Jimmy Todd]

A great scene from KL is when Valene came back from jogging and was speaking to Lillimae. She pours herself a glass of orange juice and turns to put the carton back in the fridge. Lillimae is talking and casually picks up the glass and drinks it Valene gives her a look that, imho conveys the complexity of their relationship. Not a word about the o.j. was uttered. Wonderful acting.

 

[Daniel Avery]

Another in that style (though with a lot more malice) is a scene where Ruth, Laura, and some other character or characters were all having tea, with Laura acting as hostess. I think it was on Greg's patio. Whatever the case, what I recall the most was that while conversation was going on, Laura picked up the teapot and began filling the cup of someone at the table. Ruth held up her cup to have Laura refresh hers, also. Laura ignored her and wordlessly set the teapot back down. Ruth said nothing, just sort of said 'yeah, you got me on that one' with her eyes and put her cup down and the scene continued.

 

[darkshadows38]

i was trying to think of a drama i even watched in the 80's and i can't honestly think of any my memory as a kid back than is simply cartoons and sitcoms or movies and books/ video games and that's about it Entertainment wise. off the top of my head i remember watching 90210 when that started in (1990) with my dad and i can't remember if my mom was there but my dad was.

 

[Brian Kinney]

IDK if these are low-key acting moments. But I just rewatched some of the Miss Ellie kidnapping scenes with Clayton and Jessica on YouTube. Scenes where the Lady is introduced to the family at Southfork (where J.R. gets that sword! ) and there are reaction shots of Clayton feeling more and more uncomfortable or Clayton explains the true parentage of Dusty to Donna and Ray, and when Jessica finally leaves the motel and Clayton embraces her not knowing where Ellie is (it's only a moment later she gets out of the car): Howard Keel and Alexis Smith are really perfect as siblings who look out for each other and that was perfectly acted. That could have been easily a ridiculous daytime soap story but the actors really sell it as a tragedy (and Jessica's backstory indeed is). When Dallas originally aired I was excited they revisited Jessica years later but her scenes with J.R. in the asylum turned into a sitcom, it didn't have the earlier nuances.

On Knots Landing I will never forget William Devane's face expression while spreading the ashes of Peter into his flower pots. That was also very weird because at that time Greg still thought Peter was his half-brother. Funny and sad.

 

[darkshadows38]

as much as i love Dallas there's a lot of bad acting in it from Different cast members, sometimes it's the directors i think and sometimes it's the cast or the writing it's not always the actors/actress's fault i don't think. as much as i love the show Dark Shadows for example the Original 60's show that show was full of really awful acting and part of that was due to think them doing the 1 takes they were forced to do back than. it was pretty rare that you'd see a take 2

 

[Daniel Avery]

On Knots Landing I will never forget William Devane's face expression while spreading the ashes of Peter into his flower pots. That was also very weird because at that time Greg still thought Peter was his half-brother. Funny and sad.

"At least now I'll know where you are at night."

But I have to disagree about what Greg knew. I think he was always skeptical, and by the end of the story he was speaking of Peter with Laura as if he knew it was a scam. She kept urging Greg to send Peter packing, but Greg only kept Peter around because he wanted to use Peter for political power...which of course irked Laura to no end.

 

[Seaviewer]

But I have to disagree about what Greg knew. I think he was always skeptical, and by the end of the story he was speaking of Peter with Laura as if he knew it was a scam. She kept urging Greg to send Peter packing, but Greg only kept Peter around because he wanted to use Peter for political power...which of course irked Laura to no end.

Yeah, he stated flatly, "I never had a brother", though how he could be so sure of Galveston's potential philanderings I don't know.