Complete rewatch complete

Alison Carr

Alison Carr

Telly Talk Active Member
I have done it! a pandemic rerun of the entire series plus The Early Years, JR Returns and War of the Ewings all complete.

That was actually a really enjoyable rewatch. So I will say, controversially probably, the character of Michelle Stevens did not irritate me as much as I seem to remember in previous viewings! I also enjoyed the arrival of James Beaumont towards the end of the run. The very last season however did scrape the barrell a bit, the cast was in a bit of a mess and the producers seemed to have totally given up plus I detest the way it ended, the whole Joel Gray thing and what if JR never lived thing just did not work for me and was a let down as a final finale. I was surprised that having appeared earlier in the season that we did not get Clayton back for a final episode appearance.

JR Retruns - Larry Hagman looks older in this than he looks in the next movie, was he in health at this point but then made a bit of a recovery I wonder. No mention of the likes of Michelle, James, Cally etc... a nod to them as they were relevant in the final seasons would have been nice.

War of the Ewings - When, I wonder, did Ray buy his old ranch back considering he had sold it to Carter McKay who had in turn sold it so Michelle. This needed more cast - Lucy should have popped up and it would been nice if Jenna had joined Ray in his return as we learnt they were still together.

I would however have loved to see this style of movie returns continue, were more planned do we know?
 
Lastkidpicked

Lastkidpicked

Telly Talk Dream Maker
I'm glad you did a complete rewatch! It's fun, isn't it?

Did you have the same experience we did on re-watch? Where there are some episodes or storylines you don't remember liking the first time around, but watching again you enjoy them a lot more.

And sometimes the fact you have already seen the series makes the re-watch more fun. Watching J.R. try to get a copy of Jock's will and codicil, knowing it was going to set up the battle for control of Ewing Oil makes it even more entertaining. And the sense of dread you get watching Lucy and Mickey become closer, knowing what is going to happen later.

Is there anything you enjoyed about the re-watch that made it even better than the first time around?
 
Rove

Rove

Telly Talk Warrior
Darren Chivers said:
That was actually a really enjoyable rewatch. So I will say, controversially probably, the character of Michelle Stevens did not irritate me as much as I seem to remember in previous viewings!
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It's funny how our mind can play tricks on us. I've spoken ad-nauseum about my dislike of the later years of Dallas, especially post Swan Song, the death of Bobby Ewing. During a recent re-watch of the Dream Season I found myself really enjoying the series...and yes even the introduction of Angelica Nero couldn't turn me off. I have watched the first few episodes when Bobby returns from the dead and it's quite jarring. I feel like I need an episode recap print-out of the previous season to make sense of everything.

From all this though there is satisfaction in knowing one character will die twice...Jamie Ewing.
 
Billy Wall

Billy Wall

Telly Talk Dream Maker
DallasFanForever said:
I’ve always felt that Lucy would’ve been better utilized if they kept her closer to her character in the miniseries. Keeping her as a bit of a villainess would’ve done her good IMO
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As an adult, Lucy simply didn’t fit in. I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again, her and Mitch should have moved to Knots Landing. While Dallas was about big deals, money and power, Knots Landing has more of a daytime soap feel where Lucy’s character would have fitted in better.
 
Jock's Ghost

Jock's Ghost

Telly Talk Well-Known Member
The creators of Knots hated the character of Lucy. David Jacobs said she wouldn't have fit in. Odd since he created her.
Mini series Lucy is fun as hell. And Charlenes hair, my god that woman had the most lush, gorgeous head of hair.... I think keeping her more or a wild card,like her daddy Gary. I always wanted to see her as a gambler, she gets in high stakes games with some shady people. ...
Her storyline with Mickey was her best moments.
 
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Miss Texas 1967

Miss Texas 1967

Telly Talk Addict
I did this around the beginning of last year sometime, skipping the dream season where it fits chronologically and watching it after the final season which was actually a huge treat as the cast went from hardly any originals to quite a number of originals. By the last few seasons the cast was dwindling and the actual writing felt off. It's not even just that we got out of place things like Johnny Dancer and the Jory/Kit bad guys things having their own place but the entire feel of the show is just different. The 90s look to everything doesn't help and the remaining original cast members acting like different people and working in plots that just weren't tightly written makes it fall flat. One thing I do remember noticing clearly is how much I forgot Cliff changed. He's so personable at the beginning and then morphs into someone entirely different. On rewatch the movies were so much better than I remember them being too. I remembered thinking the plots didn’t really make sense the previous times I watched them but then this time I didn’t really have any issues with them.
I also rewatched the TNT show, full thoughts are on the rewatch threads over there. All that wasted potential.
 
Alison Carr

Alison Carr

Telly Talk Active Member
I also found myself looking forward to seeing Donna Reed arrive as Miss Ellie, only to see a different portrayal, not a preferred one, but a different one. BBG will always be the real Ellie but looking back it was interesting to see how they introduced Donna Reed, and soon started to reduce her screen time.

I found the final series just wasn't really Dallas, it became a different and much weaker beast that was slowly dyeing and desperately needed a boost that never came. It did not go out on a high sadly, it limped out of existence.
 
Luke_Krebbs_Ewing

Luke_Krebbs_Ewing

Telly Talk Champion
Darren Chivers said:
I also found myself looking forward to seeing Donna Reed arrive as Miss Ellie, only to see a different portrayal, not a preferred one, but a different one. BBG will always be the real Ellie but looking back it was interesting to see how they introduced Donna Reed, and soon started to reduce her screen time.

I found the final series just wasn't really Dallas, it became a different and much weaker beast that was slowly dyeing and desperately needed a boost that never came. It did not go out on a high sadly, it limped out of existence.
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That's what saddens me with the final season, you can tell with all the cast departures that the show was heading toward the end. :(
 
Rove

Rove

Telly Talk Warrior
Via The Void said:
That's what saddens me with the final season, you can tell with all the cast departures that the show was heading toward the end.
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It's why I'm looking forward to watching the final years as I haven't seen them for such a long time. I suspect Dallas only continued as long as it did because it was still hugely popular in Europe. The downfall - in part - with Dallas was the immense popularity of one character (JR) at the expense of others; Miss Ellie, Donna, Sue Ellen, Ray and Jenna.
 
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Herofan

Herofan

Telly Talk Active Member
I have rewatched the first few seasons over the years, but hadn’t watched from the Dream season to the end until last year. I had mixed feelings. There were some things that weren’t as bad as I had remembered, and there were things that seemed more strange. I recall how J.R. getting shot early on was a huge deal and treated seriously. When he got shot in later seasons, it was treated as like joke.
I also remember thinking there were some storylines in later seasons that everyone considers terrible, but I think they could have been tweaked and had flavor of the earlier years.
 
D

DallasFanForever

Telly Talk Supreme
The last episode was just awful! This show deserved a much better ending. There are some things in the last few seasons that I do enjoy despite the show becoming a shell of what it once was. There were still some great scenes here and there.
 
Seaviewer

Seaviewer

Telly Talk Warrior
Darren Chivers said:
were more planned do we know?
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I believe there were three planned but the low ratings for the second nixed the third.
Jock's Ghost said:
Lucy. David Jacobs said she wouldn't have fit in.
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That's a phrase that's been repeated a lot and it's probably true. But I've always thought that not fitting in would have made a good story to explore, until eventually she did.
 
Michelle Stevens

Michelle Stevens

'The Lovely Michelle'
Darren Chivers said:
I have done it! a pandemic rerun of the entire series plus The Early Years, JR Returns and War of the Ewings all complete.
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It's great you took the time to re-watch the entire series. How long did it take if I may ask?

Darren Chivers said:
That was actually a really enjoyable rewatch. So I will say, controversially probably, the character of Michelle Stevens did not irritate me as much as I seem to remember in previous viewings!
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Thank you! :gotcha: Her writing wasn't always great but it's nice to see a fresh perspective of the character. In some ways she was one of the few female characters that beat JR at his own game.

Darren Chivers said:
JR Retruns - Larry Hagman looks older in this than he looks in the next movie, was he in health at this point but then made a bit of a recovery I wonder. No mention of the likes of Michelle, James, Cally etc... a nod to them as they were relevant in the final seasons would have been nice.
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I believe Larry Hagman had just recovered from his 1995 liver transplant when this movie was taped hence his haggard looks. I agree he looks better in War Of The Ewings.

Agreed! Michelle, James and Cally are all canon so it would have been nice to have mentioned them at some point after 1991. Cally at least got a brief cameo in 2013 on TNT Dallas.

Darren Chivers said:
I would however have loved to see this style of movie returns continue, were more planned do we know?
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I thought they planned a third movie but the ratings for War Of The Ewings weren't so great they decided against it. If I am incorrect someone please correct me.
 
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