Pam selling Christopher‘s shares of Ewing Oil

[Sarah]

@Sarah I really like the idea of Sue Ellen and J.R. teaming up in business. I think this could’ve worked had she stayed and I would’ve taken it over anything else we got in those last two seasons.

YOU would?

 

[DallasFanForever]

Absolutely! I can barely watch the last two seasons without falling asleep so I think it’s a much better idea.

 

[Sarah]

Absolutely! I can barely watch the last two seasons without falling asleep so I think it’s a much better idea.

I’ve watched only once and I mostly cried screamed and threw things at the tv.

 

[Ukdallasfan]

The heart and soul of the show had been ripped out by the start of the penultimate season. Great shame

 

[GillesDenver]

Does anybody know about the long-term plans for Pam&Christopher. Christopher‘s shares where the connection between the Ewings and the Barnes‘. Why lose this kind of conflict. (We have not got any major conflicts between JR and Pam until that moment anyway.)

I believe the writers wanted to move on from Jr and Pam's conflict in order to make room for Jr and Ben Stivers/Jock's conflict in the next season.

It would be interesting to know the plans of Peter Dunne but unfortunately he was never interviewed by fans about "Dallas" (or even about "Knots Landing") even though his email can be easily found on the internet : http://pdunne.com/www.pdunne.com/Consultations.html

 

[the-lost-son]

I‘m not 100% sure who made this comment on the dream season (probably Lenny Katzman): „If you diminish JR you diminish the series.“
JR was not menacing at that time, he wasn‘t the guy you loved to hate. How Miss Ellie had to push him to put SueEllen in the sanatorium He was too soft. Ironically Katzman commited the same mistake during the later seasons.

Another problem was the writing which got worse. What a great writing they showed when Jim Davis passed away giving us one of the best storylines and how they screwed Pam‘s exit.

I think the thing I love most about Dallas is the feeling of saga. Storylines making an impact years later (Miss Ellies mastectomy being an issue before marrying Clayton in S6 or the Culver connection to Donna.) That was different compared to other soaps (looking at you Dynasty). This element and the treat for long-time viewers were missing for me during the later seasons.
Additionally I think if you shoot a series about rich people it should include location shoots. I think today Dallas would have been cancelled at least 2-3seasons earlie..

 

[Rove]

I‘m not 100% sure who made this comment on the dream season (probably Lenny Katzman): „If you diminish JR you diminish the series.“

I recently read - cannot remember where - the meaner JR was the better Dallas was to watch. I tend to agree.

 

[Billy Wall]

One thing you need to understand. Dallas was on for a VERY long time. There was no way they were going to keep that same edge for 14 seasons. I also understand what people are saying about JR. They destroyed his character. But no way was silver headed JR was going to be as intimidating as the dark headed buzz cut JR of the early days. JR was more than just being mean. He was clever.

 

[Luke_Krebbs_Ewing]

Which begs the question. If the behind the scenes politics had not played out as it did with Katzman and Duffy returning and Capice & Co shown the door; What was in store with Dallas? Was there a feeling Dallas had seen its best years and the producers/writers could see its inevitable end?

One thing we can be certain of, the Ben Stivers character played by Steve Forrest (which later morphed into Wes Parmalee in season ten) really would've been Jock Ewing after all.

Patrick Duffy's return ultimately ruined Steve Forrest's chances of staying on the show as a re-cast Jock Ewing.

 

[Luke_Krebbs_Ewing]

I recently read - cannot remember where - the meaner JR was the better Dallas was to watch. I tend to agree.

Well that's rich coming from Katzman after turning JR into a buffoon in the show's later years!

I've often wondered what Dallas would've been like if Philip Capice hadn't been dropped. Katzman's return didn't really make the show any better, in fact it made it worse. Look at that ridiculous Mummy Pam storyline after Victoria left. Bobby behaving out of character as if he didn't care. And then what else did Katzman do which damaged the show? I'll tell you. He dropped Susan Howard & paired Ray off with Jenna, one of the worst couples on the show. There was absolutely no charisma between them, unlike Hagman & Gray or Duffy & Principal. The Wes Parmalee Jock Ewing storyline was one of the highlights of season ten but they didn't follow it through, what a waste of a great actor like Steve Forrest. I could go on & on.

 

[Ukdallasfan]

The Wes Parmalee storyline also had an extremely abrupt ending leading to the feeling that it had, quite literally, just been dropped. I fully agree that the Ray and Donna split was awful and so unconvincing. So much started to go wrong with the storylines around that time it was sad. End of days

 

[the-lost-son]

Another problem after the dream season was the reuse of storylines (which had already been put in motion/dealt with).
If a storyline like Donna&Ray reconciling (like in the dream) has to be retold one year later once more, it‘s difficult to get to the same result in a different manner (if you want to keep it non-repetetive).
.The same with everybody getting along with everybody in the dream season - the only threat Anjelica Nero - and in season 9 (WB10) everybody is so unbearingly mean (remember Miss Ellie nagging and bitching at SueElle)

It just had to be the other way than in the dream season and so it got predictable.

 

[DallasFanForever]

That was my biggest problem after the dream season. Everything just seemed so weird to me. “None of that happened.” But it did happen. We saw it happen. I’m supposed to accept Bobby and Pam are back together after I watched him die and everyone mourned him for an entire season and she married someone else. I was glad they were back together, don’t get me wrong, but at that point I was conditioned to believe they would never get back together again. They had had their swan song (sorry). I’m supposed to accept that Ray and Donna are still having serious problems after I watched them make up and adopt a son. And I’m supposed to accept that J.R. and Sue Ellen went back to being at odds after they made up after Sue Ellen’s climb back up after finally beating her alcoholism. You just can’t erase stuff and expect me to accept what you want me to accept. And then the Ben/Wes storyline happening twice. Twice he comes into the Southfork living room and stares at pictures. Twice he’s introduced as the new foreman. At least they had enough sense to change his name. But it was just so odd to me. Even now when I watch it, it just all feels so peculiar.

 

[Seaviewer]

If one character - actually two - had run their course it was Jenna and Charlie. Once the Bobster had chosen his bride (Pam) it felt these characters had run out of puff.

He dropped Susan Howard & paired Ray off with Jenna, one of the worst couples on the show.

I guess the draw was that Lucas would keep Bobby involved with Jenna and keep the Bobby-Pam-Jenna triangle alive. Another reason to keep Pam around even if it meant recasting. When that didn't happen they could have gone for a Bobby-Jenna-Ray triangle which would have been more interesting than the succession of love interests that came and went leaving little impression.

 

[xab]

Well... My humble two cents...

Pam selling her shares to JR meant to me the end of a historical feud. Pam decided to let go... and the Barnes-Ewing feud seemed over... It really tasted to me like a series finale, Bobby's death being the first nail in the coffin...

Running for 8 (or 9 by DVD) seasons was a big deal yet. It was a huge success. Nowadays a 5 season series is a miracle. Look at "Desperate Housewives", or "Six feet Under", "The Sopranos" etc. etc. Why didn't they stop Dallas at its peak ?

When you need to write a nightmare season premiere to explain a resurrection, isn't high time to seriously think about your future...?

I'm a die-hard fan of Dallas but I dare asking the question : were the 14 seasons worth...?

I loathe Cynthia C. but I must acknowledge the job done around JR's end was far better than the last three seasons of Dallas...

 

[Jabari Lamar]

Why didn't they stop Dallas at its peak ?

That kind of thing seems easier to say in hindsight. And also when you're not financially benefiting from the show in any way. As @Billy Wall said, most long-running TV shows weren't considered as good, quality-wise, by the time they ended. It's sort of the nature of storytelling. Characters, storylines, jokes, etc. all begin to get stale. The phrase "Jump The Shark" came about because it describes of many shows tend to start resorting to "stunts" to try to re-invigorate interest.

But if you're a producer, or star of a show, or you're the Network exec it can be really hard to decide to end a show that's still making you money and getting good enough ratings, even if it's not as much as before. That's why ending it at its "peak" is not easy because if it's really at its peak that means it's still doing well so why stop it? A couple of more recent shows immediately spring to mind, both also on CBS like Dallas was. Two and A Half Men and How I Met Your Mother. The former should have ended when they got rid of Charlie Sheen. The Ashton Kutcher character made no sense in that dynamic (and they knew it, as the eventual series finale had all the characters making jokes about how dumb the premise of the show was), yet the series remained one of the highest-rated sitcoms on TV so they managed to squeeze four extra seasons out of it. HIMYM had a unique premise, with a pre-planned ending point right from the start, that should have run its course at least two seasons earlier than it did. But the show kept getting good ratings so the network kept renewing it, so the writers had to keep dragging out and recycling storylines until they could finally reach their pre-planned ending. This is what often happens.

Or a current CBS show, MOM. They just announced they're ending it, which is what I thought they should have done once Anna Faris decided not to come back for season 8. But it was still a hit so they tried to keep it going, but I guess season 8 hasn't performed as well as they'd hoped without her, so now they're ending it.

 

[DallasFanForever]

Another thing they could’ve done was have Pam sell Christopher’s shares to Cliff. Obviously she wouldn’t have done that cause she was looking to end wars not prolong them but for the entertainment value alone of Cliff sitting in Bobby’s chair just to drive J.R. completely insane? I would’ve enjoyed this.

 

[CeeCee72]

Does anyone besides me think they could have figured out a different way to bring Bobby back without erasing the entire season?

Think of the conflict between Bobby and JR when Bobby reclaimed his place at Ewing Oil.

 

[DallasFanForever]

Yes, I think they could’ve done it. No matter what they did it would’ve bordered on the ridiculous cause he died on camera but I would’ve taken almost anything over erasing an entire season.

 

[Seaviewer]

I've always thought there was plenty of leeway to bring him back. The episode ended on the flatline; I've seen any number of people on TV resuscitated at that point. They could have said the family were ushered out and he was revived after they left the room. Explaining his absence for a year could also be done in a number of ways.