Re-casting -- and flipping -- John Ross and Christopher ?

[Spooky Owl!]

David Jacobs said that had he been running nuDALLAS (instead of being shut out of it entirely) he'd do what I probably would have done perversely: made John Ross the "good" one and Christopher the "bad" one... thus creating a certain bond between the adult Chistopher and his ol' uncle J.R. no one would have ever expected.

And @Pamela_E once observed that (as good as Josh Henderson was) Omri Katz' John Ross from oldDALLAS seemed more likely to grow into Vincent Kartheiser. Which is totally true.

What would anybody think about Kartheiser as grown, moral-ish John Ross and, to salvage Josh, Henderson as squirrely, semi-corrupt Christopher??

Could it have worked?

 

[Spooky Owl!]

"Yer my kinda boy, Boy -- unlike that lil sissy son o' mine....!"

 

[Frankenstein Underworld]

It would have been fine with me as long as it meant Jesse Metcalfe was out. He came across as condescending in real life, and his acting was sub par.

I've never heard of Vincent Kartheiser before, but I can envision the young John Ross morphing into him as an adult based on that pic.

It seemed like original Dallas was toying with the idea that John Ross was weak (by JR's standards) during the hunting trip in season 12 (per DVD.)

 

[Spooky Owl!]

It would have been fine with me as long as it meant Jesse Metcalfe was out. He came across as condescending in real life, and his acting was sub par.

I've never heard of Vincent Kartheiser before, but I can envision the young John Ross morphing into him as an adult based on that pic.

It seemed like original Dallas was toying with the idea that John Ross was weak (by JR's standards) during the hunting trip in season 12 (per DVD.)

Kartheiser was in MAD MEN --- I forget his name, even though I have the whole series on DVD. Perhaps I should go re-watch it.

 

[DallasFanForever]

Kartheiser was in MAD MEN --- I forget his name, even though I have the whole series on DVD. Perhaps I should go re-watch it.

He played Pete Campbell. Terrific actor and I definitely could’ve seen him as John Ross.

 

[Chase Gioberti]

Kartheiser was in MAD MEN --- I forget his name, even though I have the whole series on DVD. Perhaps I should go re-watch it.

I remember him from his early years in Joss Whedon’s Angel.

 

[Sarah Danner]

It seemed like original Dallas was toying with the idea that John Ross was weak (by JR's standards) during the hunting trip in season 12 (per DVD.)

Yes. I recall J.R. saying something on the order of "Don't be weak like your Uncle Gary" when he wouldn't shoot the rifle at first.

 

[Ollie james]

Loved John Ross he was my favourite character in TNT Dallas Brilliantly played by josh

 

[DallasFanForever]

David Jacobs said that had he been running nuDALLAS (instead of being shut out of it entirely) he'd do what I probably would have done perversely: made John Ross the "good" one and Christopher the "bad" one... thus creating a certain bond between the adult Chistopher and his ol' uncle J.R. no one would have ever expected.

I like this idea as well. It’s too much of a forgone conclusion, knowing what we knew, that Bobby would have the good son and J.R. the bad one. To flip it would’ve been unexpected. It’s not what we would’ve envisioned them growing up into and it would’ve made for interesting dynamics between the uncles and their nephews, and also made the father-son relationships more strained.

 

[ChrisEwing2003]

I will never understand why Cidre gets condemned for "contradicting" things, but yet Jacobs gets praised for doing the exact same thing. Only difference is he's wanting to do it just for the sake of it. If Cidre came up with this storyline, would you still think its okay or would you be lecturing her for "contradicting" the canon yet again?

 

[Spooky Owl!]

I will never understand why Cidre gets condemned for "contradicting" things, but yet Jacobs gets praised for doing the exact same thing. Only difference is he's wanting to do it just for the sake of it. If Cidre came up with this storyline, would you still think its okay or would you be lecturing her for "contradicting" the canon yet again?

Just what has Jacobs contradicted? If you mean Katzman and his closing years of oldDALLAS, yes, we criticize those all the time -- if anything, they may be worse than Cidre's nuDALLAS.

 

[Crimson]

made John Ross the "good" one and Christopher the "bad" one... thus creating a certain bond between the adult Chistopher and his ol' uncle J.R. no one would have ever expected.

I think it makes sense even from a character perspective. All things considered, John Ross had a pretty stable upbringing. Once she got past her early calamitous days of motherhood, Sue Ellen was a pretty solid mom; and even JR, all things considered, wasn't that bad of a parent. I think Jock was harder on him than he was on John Ross. Christopher, on the other hand, had a lot of baggage: being abandoned by Pam, not being a 'real' Ewing, questions about his parentage, Bobby's sometimes insufferable moralizing. I can easily envision both young men going in opposite direction as their dads, which opened up much more internal conflict than what we got.

 

[Frankenstein Underworld]

I will never understand why Cidre gets condemned for "contradicting" things, but yet Jacobs gets praised for doing the exact same thing. Only difference is he's wanting to do it just for the sake of it. If Cidre came up with this storyline, would you still think its okay or would you be lecturing her for "contradicting" the canon yet again?

How is it contradictory? John Ross and Christopher were children when we last saw them, so who's to say how they would have evolved?

Also, Jacobs didn't come up with the idea of flipping John Ross and Christopher's personalities "for the sake of it." He clearly thought it would open up more story possibilities.

That's hardly the same thing as contradiction established history from the show's past.

 

[Sea - Boo! - Er]

I've always thought Jesse Metcalfe was miscast as Christopher - he looked too much like a Ewing to be adopted - but other than that I had no objections to the characterisations. Switching them is also a cliche in its own way.

 

[Jock's Ghost]

It would have made no sense to have John Ross the good one, when it's in his upbringing and DNA to be like pops. Christopher though, his genes were a mystery, but his Dad was a good man so its logical that would rub off.

 

[Spooky Owl!]

It would have made no sense to have John Ross the good one, when it's in his upbringing and DNA to be like pops

Do genetics destined one to be "good or bad" just like the parents?

 

[GillesDenver]

Do genetics destined one to be "good or bad" just like the parents?

I thought the same thing.
And if so, Christopher should have turned into a bad guy since he is the son of Kristin Shepard and Jeff Farraday.

 

[Spooky Owl!]

I thought the same thing.
And if so, Christopher should have turned into a bad guy since he is the son of Kristin Shepard and Jeff Farraday.

Yet we could tinker with the idea that records were altered back '81 -- maybe more than once -- and that perhaps JR was Christopher's biological papa after all!

At least the renewed possibility could have been promising for nuDALLAS.

 

[Rove]

Christopher, on the other hand, had a lot of baggage: being abandoned by Pam, not being a 'real' Ewing, questions about his parentage, Bobby's sometimes insufferable moralizing. I can easily envision both young men going in opposite direction as their dads, which opened up much more internal conflict than what we got.

Throw in Lucas and we had a recipe for disaster...which is what Dallas is all about.

 

[Sea - Boo! - Er]

Yes, Lucas was the great missed opportunity. You could almost have done without John Ross altogether. Adopted brother with all the privilege vs the natural son left out in the cold could have been am even more intense rivalry.