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When did Dallas end for you!?

Tullamore

Telly Talk Active Member
The storylines were executed well,everyone played a part and it was far better imo than the 2 previous and 14

And I really REALLY liked Ellie (and Clayton) She (He) Wrote
 

Tatianna

Telly Talk Fan
I stayed with original DALLAS until the lights went out on the sound stages of Lorimar. For me, the original cast of DALLAS was the best ensamble cast ever assembled and character development was amazing. The Ewing/Barnes families became "my family" during those years, as it did with many viewers. During the waning years of DALLAS as the original cast was departing, each and every character was sorely missed. They all contributed to the overall success and each absence left a huge gaping hole in the fabric of the show. For me, it was almost like losing a real family member. Even though, the actor was still alive and well and moving on career wise, it was the character I had loved who was gone.
 

Angela Chilling

Telly Talk Veteran
For me, Dallas was at it's absolute peak in season 6 which covered the fight for Ewing Oil and no subsequent season reached that high standard. However, Dallas still continued to be very good up to the point when Pam drove her car into the tanker. Thereafter, storylines became weaker, more far fetched and repetitious.
 

The Eyes of Laurie Marr

Telly Talk Well-Known Member
'Fall of the House of Ewing' is where it should have ended and did end for me. I continued to watch, of course, but the tone, the look, the tempo of the show disappeared in the course of a single summer (barely weeks after the climax of the best season of the show for several years). Maybe it's the world that had changed: comedies were on the rise, Reagan was about to become mired in the Iran-Contra scandal and the 80s were already starting to look passé....
 

Lastkidpicked

Telly Talk Dream Maker
Maybe it's the world that had changed: comedies were on the rise, Reagan was about to become mired in the Iran-Contra scandal and the 80s were already starting to look passé....

This is right on the mark. I remember during the original run, Dallas made it cool to stay home on Friday nights. We all watched on Friday night, then talked about it at work the following Monday. You didn't want to be left out.

Then things changed in the late 80's. Answering machines, fax machines, car phones. Suddenly a deal made at the Cattleman's Club seemed so last year.

Funny how things have come back around and people seem to yearn for those simpler times. . .
 

Rove

Telly Talk Warrior
Then things changed in the late 80's. Answering machines, fax machines, car phones. Suddenly a deal made at the Cattleman's Club seemed so last year.
Why make deals at the Cattleman's club when a "text" will do. When watching TNT Dallas it really hit home when technology was introduced to poor old JR.
JR Ewing, "Honey, I don't need anymore angry birds." I'm sure this was the writers attempts at being funny, but it just came across as sad. Sad that the old days of long scenes with great dialogue is vanishing from our lives.
 

Lastkidpicked

Telly Talk Dream Maker
Sad that the old days of long scenes with great dialogue is vanishing from our lives.
.
Spot on!
Look at the earlier seasons, where the storyline and characters evolve naturally. So much more engaging!
 

Lastkidpicked

Telly Talk Dream Maker
When watching TNT Dallas it really hit home when technology was introduced to poor old JR.
Here's one example where this show really got it right. Yes, cell phones and texting are the modern thing, but anybody can speak on a cell phone in a restaurant.

Dallas did a great job of showing how it USED to be. Where if a waiter brought a phone to your table then you must be a very important person.

Imagine how important you must be to have a person call the restaurant and the waiter brings a phone to your table. Pretty cool.

I also miss the days of hearing important people say, "Hold my calls, Sly."
 

southfork88

Telly Talk TV Fanatic
Dallas has never really ended for me as for @Karin Schill and @Sarah!

But to answer your question, specifically Dallas ended ... step by step when:

1) After the Bobby'returns :mo:
2) After Pam left :(:(
3) After Sue Ellen left :(:(:(:(
4) After Miss Ellie left :(:(:(:(:(:(
5) After the crazy Dallas TNT version :rip:

I accept all stupid characters as Carter McKay, James Beaumont, Vanessa Beaumont, etc. :eck:, but my heart was really broken when Dallas was never the same, with JR Ewing changed completely as a clown :confused: and Cliff Barnes as the Devil :crazyme:!
 

Spooky Owl!

Telly Talk Supreme
For me, there were multiple places the show de-railed, although I stuck with it until the bitter end (I figured it I could stick with DYNASTY and this mess it quickly became, I could certainly stay with DALLAS).

Donna Reed was the first crack in the show's veneer that something was wrong behind the camera. The dream season was clearly thrown together by different writers with a smugly-'80s PC orientation, but the wiping away of all of it with the dream resolution destroyed the show's reputation permanently. But the first year with Patrick back was otherwise terrific. Victoria's first year gone still felt like classic DALLAS, but the pacing was way off, her exit bungled. The last three seasons just kind of spun pointless seriocomic stuff; there were plotlines with potential, but nearly all of them were mishandled.

The reunion movies felt like the final years of the show: too "funny". And the TNT nuDALLAS of 2012-2014 had much potential, too, but didn't have a clue as to what it wanted to be.

serie-tv-dallas_650x435.jpg
 
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Rove

Telly Talk Warrior
Dallas did a great job of showing how it USED to be. Where if a waiter brought a phone to your table then you must be a very important person.
I always thought it was cool how Teresa would bring the phone to Miss Ellie if she was having breakfast beside the pool. I remember thinking how rich this family was. Southfork must have had phone points all over the place.

I remember purchasing my first cordless phone and would sit on the front verandah/porch on weekend mornings, with a coffee and newspaper. If a call came in I'd lift the phone, pull the antenna out before accepting the call.
1a8ee35c231a84123dd3bac80ecdadf6.jpg​
It looked very similar to the above. I think that thing lasted about 15 years before upgrading. Simpler times.
 

Rove

Telly Talk Warrior
Donna Reed was the first crack in the show's veneer that something was wrong behind the camera.

And I still believe there is a bloody good yarn to be told there. In no way am I blaming Donna Reed for the mess but when the season returns after Bobby is shot in JR's office there is something really "off " about it. Jenilee Harrison's addition to the cast was also off-putting. What the hell was happening to my beloved series?
 

Karin

Moderator
Staff Member
This is OT, but that photo of the phone makes me think of a phone my grandparents used to have. My grandma used to love walking around the house talking in it.
 

Spooky Owl!

Telly Talk Supreme
And I still believe there is a bloody good yarn to be told there. In no way am I blaming Donna Reed for the mess but when the season returns after Bobby is shot in JR's office there is something really "off " about it. Jenilee Harrison's addition to the cast was also off-putting. What the hell was happening to my beloved series?
Every seasons has a slightly different tone (and Harrison never bothered me) but they knew Reed was coming. No one wanted it to happen.
 
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