Do you accept the TNT show?

[thomaswak]

TNT Dallas is for me a non-enjoyable parallel universe. Cynthia Cidre was neither a Dallas fan, and you could feel it all way long.

At least, New Dynasty runners has real knowledge of the original series, even if they don't know how to make it consistent and/or interesting (well, the 3 or 4 latest episodes were a major improvement). Yet, I enjoy New Dynasty as a guilty pleasure.

TNT Dallas gave me nothing but disappointment and false hopes.

 

[Piggyrella Sanderson]

Yes, not much mystery to it all. The only thing I am baffled by is why Cidre was chosen in the first place. Her previous show flopped, and she didn't exactly have a notable body of work. I don't doubt that the executives only cared about the name recognition (why else put it on procedural network like TNT?) Still, I'd love to know why they chose Cidre to helm the show.

#metoo:

a) Everybody else was unavailable and / or asked for more money?

b) CC really had good connections in TNT?

c) The TNT execs felt they were going to be axed soon and decided to let a turkey behind as a big FU?

d) TNT didn´t choose her. She bribed / blackmailed someone there into giving her the show (any show at all).

e) Someone in TNT thought she would be ok for the Pilot (they assumed it probably wouldn't be picked up for a whole season?).

...z) They thought she was a wonderful, creative, Dallas-loving person who would take the show back to the top? :floor::sh::rlol::rlol:

"Oh I was an avid follower of that marvelous show
with Joan Van Ark and Lorenzo Lamas. Too bad
it was canceled after the amazing UFO cliffhanger!"
(Unseen to us, the TNT Dallas cast is cracking up...)​

 

[Michael Torrance]

Maybe because I was not a hard-core fan of the original, but I did like TNT Dallas when it started, even with its stated flaws (the made-up history of the Hispanic family alongside the Ewings, the obvious disregard for basic details such as the annual ball's name etc.). It did feel like an updated version, and I did not expect it to be like the original or a replica of it. But I was turned off when it started veering away from the soap genre and also when Cliff Barnes became a cartoon villain ready to endanger blowing up his own daughter.

I actually understand why someone who loved the original would not accept it and would see it as a parallel universe (Star Trek movies did the parallel universe stunt, to even more sacrilegious effect). But then again, the Lorimar Ewings already inhabited two parallel universes: one where Bobby did not die, and one where he did. Knots Landing took place in the latter.

 

[Frankenstein Underworld]

Everything!

Yes, although we obviously mean that in completely different ways.

 

[kenneth]

The moment JR died, so did Dallas. Up until then I liked the show.

 

[tommie]

I don't really get the whole "do you accept it as a part of the show" - it exists, just as the dire last seasons of the original show does and the two movies.

I guess the bigger question is if they should incorporate it into the timeline if there's ever any sort of reunion in the future, to which I say yes. JR died on the show and they did a good tribute to him and the Pam debacle was finally resolved. I guess if you have to have Christopher alive (though I don't know why - what a dreadful character!), you could always explain away the car explosion in a soap fashion.

 

[Frankenstein Underworld]

I don't really get the whole "do you accept it as a part of the show" - it exists, just as the dire last seasons of the original show does and the two movies.

The dream season exists, but is not canon with the rest of the original series. The two movies exist, but are not canon with TNT Dallas. So why can't TNT Dallas exist, and not be canon with the original series? Events in TNT Dallas often conflict with those in the original series as well. The Ramos family and Miss Ellie's stay in a mental hospital are just two examples.

I guess the bigger question is if they should incorporate it into the timeline if there's ever any sort of reunion in the future, to which I say yes. JR died on the show and they did a good tribute to him and the Pam debacle was finally resolved. I guess if you have to have Christopher alive (though I don't know why - what a dreadful character!), you could always explain away the car explosion in a soap fashion.

You could still have Pam and JR dead without having to incorporate TNT Dallas into a continuation. Cliff's homicidal tendencies and the drug cartel are all best left discarded.

Personally, I'd rather not see Dallas return anyway. Even if Cidre was replaced, it would likely be with another producer who took the show in yet another undesirable direction.

 

[tommie]

You could still have Pam and JR dead without having to incorporate TNT Dallas into a continuation. Cliff's homicidal tendencies and the drug cartel are all best left discarded.

I don't see the issue with discarding certain elements of the show for any future incarnations to be honest - shows tend to forget about bad plots and misfires all the time. If there ever was some sort of follow-up, I imagine that the drug cartel business, the Ramoses and most of the new characters on TNTDallas would be gone unless Cidre would run it. With that said, I wouldn't want another reboot either, but with Beverly Hills 90210 returning with another A-Reboot-But-Not-Really on its original network, who knows what the future have in store...

 

[Piggyrella Sanderson]

The dream season exists, but is not canon with the rest of the original series. The two movies exist, but are not canon with TNT Dallas. So why can't TNT Dallas exist, and not be canon with the original series? Events in TNT Dallas often conflict with those in the original series as well. The Ramos family and Miss Ellie's stay in a mental hospital are just two examples.

I´d better have "the Ramos family stay in a mental hospital" forever instead...

 

[Spooky Owl!]

I always vote for the discovery that Jeremy Wendell drugged the Southfork aquifer circa 1984 -- that way the Mis-Ellie debacle, the dream, Jeremy's arrest, the last couple of seasons, the '90s reunion movies, and TNT's nuDALLAS can all be negotiated as potential hallucinations by the Ewings.

 

[Frankenstein Underworld]

I always vote for the discovery that Jeremy Wendell drugged the Southfork aquifer circa 1984 -- that way the Mis-Ellie debacle, the dream, Jeremy's arrest, the last couple of seasons, the '90s reunion movies, and TNT's nuDALLAS can all be negotiated as potential hallucinations by the Ewings.

And what a hallucination it was. They didn't seem to notice that Miss Ellie had turned into Donna Reed for a year, but they refused to believe Jock had turned into Steve Forrest.

Of course, the damage was irreversible by the time JR saw Joel Grey walk on water and the Ewings thought a hispanic woman and her two kids had lived with them for 30 years.

 

[Rove]

Even if Cidre was replaced, it would likely be with another producer who took the show in yet another undesirable direction.

Not if this guy was a producer. I would not shy away from incorporating elements of TNT Dallas into my continuation. We simply cannot ignore it unlike what happened with TNT Dallas when the showrunner was informed to ignore the reunion movies. Ignore history at your own peril I say.

But I wouldn't allow Lorimar Dallas, The Reunion Movies or TNT Dallas to overshadow my continuation. Acknowledge - in small parts - they exist but focus the story on the Ewing family first and foremost followed closely by Ewing Energies and Southfork. My continuation would involve a fully fleshed out story arc culminating in a series ending cliffhanger. There would be a return to long conversations, either in or around Southfork, the Ewing Energies Office or using Dallas the city as a backdrop. Why is this so difficult for the youth orientated knuckleheads in Hollywood today to understand?

And since I would have absolute creative control over the continuation there will be a prerequisite that I hire a few Dallas history buffs from Soapchat as Special History Consultants to keep me on the straight and narrow.

 

[Sea - Boo! - Er]

(Star Trek movies did the parallel universe stunt, to even more sacrilegious effect

At least it was an in-story alternate. I actually think that was good idea on Abrams's part. It allowed him to do whatever he wanted without violating the canon of the other timeline.

You could still have Pam and JR dead without having to incorporate TNT Dallas into a continuation. Cliff's homicidal tendencies and the drug cartel are all best left discarded.

This goes back to the fact that things can be ignored without being contradicted.

 

[Frankenstein Underworld]

This goes back to the fact that things can be ignored without being contradicted.

The drug cartel garbage, yes. But what Cliff did couldn't really be ignored the same way without acting like it never happened at all.

 

[Rove]

But what Cliff did couldn't really be ignored the same way without acting like it never happened at all.

It's why I would begin my continuation with Cliff's Funeral. It's a way of drawing in former characters of Dallas, acknowledging the death of a former adversary of the Ewing family without going into to much detail about Cliff turning into a monster during the TNT run. But as a way of offering some redemption to the character - since many despised the idea Cliff Barnes had become said monster - I would have his eulogy incorporate Cliff's brave struggle with Brain Cancer.

This scenario offers some explanation of Cliff's behaviour. Allow the viewers to make up their own minds whether Cliff's actions were the result of his disease or not.

 

[Michael Torrance]

- since many despised the idea Cliff Barnes had become said monster - I would have his eulogy incorporate Cliff's brave struggle with Brain Cancer.

This scenario offers some explanation of Cliff's behaviour.

There is another one...

Dallas: Changing of The Guard (Season Six, Episode One)

Doctor: We're going to repeat the electroencephalogram.
Pam: Why?
Doctor: Well, the paramedics reported that at one point, Cliff had stopped breathing. EEG had some slight abnormalities which might have been caused by loss of oxygen to the brain. I want to double-check those results.
Pam: Are you talking about brain damage?
Doctor: It's not precisely brain damage although it could mean a change in personality. (emphasis mine)
Pam: A permanent change?
Doctor: Please. I don't want you to worry prematurely.

So, you know, it took 30 years--but it happened.

 

[Frankenstein Underworld]

It's why I would begin my continuation with Cliff's Funeral. It's a way of drawing in former characters of Dallas, acknowledging the death of a former adversary of the Ewing family without going into to much detail about Cliff turning into a monster during the TNT run. But as a way of offering some redemption to the character - since many despised the idea Cliff Barnes had become said monster - I would have his eulogy incorporate Cliff's brave struggle with Brain Cancer.

This scenario offers some explanation of Cliff's behaviour. Allow the viewers to make up their own minds whether Cliff's actions were the result of his disease or not.

I could accept that. It would certainly be a better send off than he received on TNT Dallas, although it would still be bittersweet in light of the monster he became.

There is another one...

Dallas: Changing of The Guard (Season Six, Episode One)

Doctor: We're going to repeat the electroencephalogram.
Pam: Why?
Doctor: Well, the paramedics reported that at one point, Cliff had stopped breathing. EEG had some slight abnormalities which might have been caused by loss of oxygen to the brain. I want to double-check those results.
Pam: Are you talking about brain damage?
Doctor: It's not precisely brain damage although it could mean a change in personality. (emphasis mine)
Pam: A permanent change?
Doctor: Please. I don't want you to worry prematurely.

So, you know, it took 30 years--but it happened.

I've often wondered if this was their way of explaining Cliff's transformation into a sillier character. I suppose it could also explain his evil persona later on.

 

[Sea - Boo! - Er]

what Cliff did couldn't really be ignored the same way without acting like it never happened at all.

Cliff's brave struggle with Brain Cancer.

We're going to repeat the electroencephalogram.

This is 20/20 hindsight of course but it wouldn't have taken much to set this up in the writing. In fact that applies to just about everything in the show. Cidre could have got in all the things she wanted with just a little more explanation about how they got there and a little more care for consistency.

 

[Frankenstein Underworld]

This is 20/20 hindsight of course but it wouldn't have taken much to set this up in the writing. In fact that applies to just about everything in the show. Cidre could have got in all the things she wanted with just a little more explanation about how they got there and a little more care for consistency.

Exactly. I remember a few other forum members and myself said the same thing when the show was airing. Some of the more fanatical viewers of TNT Dallas accused us of wanting everything "spoon fed" to us. A little ambiguity can be fine at times, but the audience shouldn't have to put together every piece of the puzzle. Oddly enough, Cidre provided plenty of exposition for her characters. The people who put together the trailers did a good job of making it look authentically like Dallas, but it's obvious that wasn't the show Cidre wanted to do.

 

[Rove]

A little ambiguity can be fine at times, but the audience shouldn't have to put together every piece of the puzzle.

Especially when we had to accept TNT Dallas was picking up when we left Lorimar Dallas back in 1991. Just to rehash...the showrunner was informed to ignore the reunion movies. So when TNT Dallas began in 2012 that was a 21 year gap. Not every Dallas fan out there would recall the minute details of Lorimar Dallas. Not every fan would have Dallas on DVD. Sure there are websites out there in the web universe to furnish some details, but not all. After Swan Song my memory of those later years of Lorimar Dallas are becoming hazy.

So Cliff's abhorrent behaviour should have been explained. How did Cliff go from settling his issues with the Ewing family 21 years ago to Dr. Evil in TNT Dallas? There was nothing on the table except the Casino chips.