Finally got the complete boxset. Hurray!

[KayLloyd]

But wouldn't that logic apply just as much after 1991? As trustee, Bobby should have known by 2012 either way. Presumably Cliff paid someone off.

Absolutely, it would. Even if Pam had died after Christopher turned 18, Christopher would have been contacted and broken the news to Bobby. Bobby would indeed have been aware of her death in either scenario.

The original Dallas producers left Pam's status vague on purpose in order to be able to use her in the future. We neither saw nor heard anything to indicate that she actually died. For all we knew, she could have been misdiagnosed, gone into remission, or received a treatment that saved her.

Pam made sure that neither Cliff nor Bobby knew that she was "dying". Even if Cliff did somehow learn of Pam's death, he would have told Bobby. I just don't see him concealing it from him.

If, and it's still a hinted at but unconfirmed if, Katherine was responsible for Pam's disappearance, it is far more likely that she, not Cliff, paid off officials and attorneys to conceal Pam's death from Bobby and Christopher. She, and she alone, was the only one sick enough to do that.

I guess my point boils down to the laziness of Cidre and her team in plotting out Pam's death in a believable and logical manner. An easy and touching scene of Bobby and Christopher visiting Pam's grave together and sharing a memory of her during the pilot was all it would have taken to accomplish the same thing and satisfy fans better.

And they were lazy with Katherine's death too. Nothing about it made any sense either. It was just randomly tossed in without serving.any plot purpose at all, and no explanation was given for how Bobby knew about her death or how she died.

 

[Rove]

Even if Cliff did somehow learn of Pam's death, he would have told Bobby. I just don't see him concealing it from him.

Well the issue here is Cliff did conceal Pam's death from both Christopher and Bobby. I can understand Cliff's hatred for the Ewing family but to hold such crucial information from Christopher was appalling. Cliff kept Pam's death a secret simply because of her shares in Barnes Global. It was Pamela (Cliff's daughter) that found Pam's death certificate in her fathers safety deposit box along with her engagement ring.

JR (who didn't have access to the deposit box) was hunting for Pam as revealed in J R's Masterpiece. This puts Christopher and Elena on the next plane to Zurich. Only after Christopher threatened Dr. David Gordon and his wife (Pam's nurse) do they relent and tell Christopher the truth and also hand Pam's Will to Christopher.

According to the episode, "Guilt by Association," Pamela died on 14 July, 1989. The same document places her birth on 10 April, 1950. This is interesting since the website, ultimatedallas.com has her birth year as 1955 but no recorded year of death. They simply have "Deceased?" splashed across her face. I thought the guys at ultimatedallas.com were more careful with their Dallas knowledge.

​

 

[KayLloyd]

Well the issue here is Cliff did conceal Pam's death from both Christopher and Bobby. I can understand Cliff's hatred for the Ewing family but to hold such crucial information from Christopher was appalling. Cliff kept Pam's death a secret simply because of her shares in Barnes Global. It was Pamela (Cliff's daughter) that found Pam's death certificate in her fathers safety deposit box along with her engagement ring.

JR (who didn't have access to the deposit box) was hunting for Pam as revealed in J R's Masterpiece. This puts Christopher and Elena on the next plane to Zurich. Only after Christopher threatened Dr. David Gordon and his wife (Pam's nurse) do they relent and tell Christopher the truth and also hand Pam's Will to Christopher.

According to the episode, "Guilt by Association," Pamela died on 14 July, 1989. The same document places her birth on 10 April, 1950. This is interesting since the website, ultimatedallas.com has her birth year as 1955 but no recorded year of death. They simply have "Deceased?" splashed across her face. I thought the guys at ultimatedallas.com were more careful with their Dallas knowledge.

​

That's a huge reason why Cidre's plotting of Pam's death doesn't jive with the original. As constructed by the original writers, Cliff did love both Pam and Christopher, and he respected Bobby. With what viewers were presented with in 1989, it's not believable that he would have hurt Bobby and Christopher by using Pam's death for his own financial gain. Or that that he would have risked the lives of his only child and his unborn grandchildren. And Bobby's "Shame about Pam. Ann, what's for dinner?" reaction to the death of the woman he had loved deeply and raised a son with was preposterous.

If you're going to deviate from the way a character has been constructed, you need to at least provide viewers with a reasonable explanation for the change. Cidre and her team failed to do that with the major changes that they made to original characters.

 

[Rove]

And Bobby's "Shame about Pam. Ann, what's for dinner?" reaction to the death of the woman he had loved deeply and raised a son with was preposterous.

On that statement we both agree. The appalling writing and story structure for TNT Dallas has been written of ad nauseam. It was all plot driven rather than story-telling. Others have suggested the break neck speed of TNT Dallas was created for today's audience. Well I say screw today's audience and their 1 minute attention span. If they wanted something more interesting (that's debatable) to watch they have their Kardashians. Personally I'd rather watch paint dry.

TNT Dallas should have been crafted for the audience that appreciated the original series, and those that have discovered it since, whether in re-runs or stumbled upon those DVD's. Some have argued that JR, Bobby and Sue Ellen should have taken a back seat and let the younger ones take control. If the producers were thinking long term then those three characters were central in establishing Dallas going forward. I'll even go out on a limb here and say the first series should have been not just 10 episodes but 25. Construct a well written story with a beginning, middle and end, with a Dallas cliffhanger to end them all...the death of JR. We all understand the great man wasn't well. How good would it have been if Larry was approached with a story-line that was going to end with not "Who shot JR?", but "Who killed JR?"

 

[Werewillie Oleson]

I'm also going to buy the TNT Dallas boxset.

 

[Alexis]

I'm also going to buy the TNT Dallas boxset.

Surely this would be a better boxset economically and probably offer marginally better entertainment too. I just cant think of another reason to buy the TNT boxset than to light a fire with it?

 

[Werewillie Oleson]

James from London described Mrs Ryland as someone who'd snort the ashes of Jacqueline Perrault for breakfast.

That's why!

 

[Alexis]

James from London described Mrs Ryland as someone who'd snort the ashes of Jacqueline Perrault for breakfast.

That's why!

I don't know about that... She was kind of like the character Judith Light played on Ugly Betty only if she was on Ru Pauls drag race and on crack... with a bad script. In hell. But I'm biased.

 

[Luke_Krebbs_Ewing]

I have all the individual boxsets of the series & have just purchased the Movie collection off Amazon to complete my full set of Dallas.

It's to come tomorrow & I can't wait. I have both JR Returns & War of the Ewings on video but I haven't seen them in a long time.

Looking forward to watching them again, as well as seeing The Early Years which I haven't seen since it aired back in the 80's.

 

[Werewillie Oleson]

She was kind of like the character Judith Light played on Ugly Betty only if she was on Ru Pauls drag race and on crack... with a bad script

I'm a sucker for bad movies. The Lonely Lady is my favourite!

 

[Luke_Krebbs_Ewing]

I'm also going to buy the TNT Dallas boxset.

That is your right Noellie.

Just because I think the Cyntax Dallas was an insult to the fans of the Lorimar Dallas shouldn't detract anyone from purchasing the boxset.

I'm off now to hit myself multiple times with a Klingon pain stick!!

 

[Rove]

I'm also going to buy the TNT Dallas boxset.

To each their own. Like the original series I stopped purchasing Lorimar Dallas when Warner Bros. Australia stopped releasing the DVD's as individual seasons. This halt to the release oddly enough stopped at the death of Bobby. I've never shown any real interest in completing the missing seasons or for that matter Dallas: JR Returns or Dallas: War of the Ewing's, both equally as bad I might add.

But I've often wondered if I was judging those later years of Dallas too harshly since my last viewing was when they screened on Australian television all those years ago. But as for TNT Dallas? Sorry I don't wish to re-visit that mess no matter how much I loved seeing Larry, Patrick and Linda.

 

[Rove]

James from London described Mrs Ryland as someone who'd snort the ashes of Jacqueline Perrault for breakfast.

It was a pity the writers lost the plot with Mamma Ryland. In one of her first scenes when Bobby goes to visit her at the Ryland mansion her delivery of, "My son isn't home," was pitch perfect. Judith delivered the line in such an unnerving manner the hairs on my arms raised. Initially I believed she was a great addition to Dallas but like everything else her character became over the top - it wasn't even camp - it was just awful.

 

[Don Howard]

Now that's some binge-watching I can get behind.

 

[Rove]

Presumably Cliff paid someone off.

You're absolutely right. On the 28 October, 1988 (U.S. Screening) Pam (Margaret Michaels) informs Cliff she is not returning to Dallas as she has made a new life with Dr. David Gordon. When Cliff leaves the room we learn the truth when it's revealed Pam has only 6 months to live - she refuses to return to Dallas only to witness Bobby and Christopher watch her die.

Fast forward to 15 April, 2013 (U.S. Screening) to the episode "Guilt By Association" and John Ross with Pamela discover her aunt's death certificate in Cliff's safety deposit box. She died 14 July, 1989. This was 9 months after Pam (Margaret Michaels) announces she has just 6 months to live.

In essence Cynthia Cidre corrected one thing but then made a mockery of Cliff. I'm aware April informed Bobby in the original series run that Cliff had contact with Pam. I'm sure what occurred after this but for whatever reason Cynthia decides to tarnish my memory of Pam and Cliff by seducing us into believing Cliff had gone all rogue and used Pam's death to lay claim to her stock in Barnes/Wentworth. I'm aware Cliff first offered Barnes/Wentworth to Jordan Lee but then sold the company to Jeremy Wendell. This occurred right?