Pam lookalike....

TJames03

TJames03

Banned

I don't know...no recast could ever top VP...(and the Donna Reed debacle soured the show on recasts) but I wonder what the show would have been like has this actress been Pam for the remaining years of the show...

Granted, very few prime time soap recasts work....but who knows...?
 
Rove

Rove

Telly Talk Warrior
I wouldn't say the spitting image of Pam (Victoria) but this actress certainly has some of Victoria's mannerisms which had me freaking out. The one thing that tends to let this kind of scenario down is the voice.
 
Swami

Swami

Telly Talk Supreme
She was OK in isolation, but only one person was Pam - that was Victoria Principal.

The same with the rest of all the main characters - the actors and actresses had established themselves so well that you can't see anyone else portraying the characters.

Swami
 
Rove

Rove

Telly Talk Warrior
Swami said:
The same with the rest of all the main characters - the actors and actresses had established themselves so well that you can't see anyone else portraying the characters.
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It's why I had such an issue with Donna Reed replacing Barbara Bel Geddes. The two actresses were like chalk and cheese. The producers didn't even attempt to try and hide the fact Miss Ellie had been recast. It was like they were thumbing their collective noses at Barbara.

I know others have stated the characters of Gary, Jenna and Kristin were played by different actors but their initial roles were minor so by the time the character was reintroduced it wasn't of much concern. But recasting the role of Miss Ellie was just a major blunder. It was my first inkling something was off with Dallas behind the scenes.

On a side note. While everyone else appeared to age in Dallas, in this clip Bobby (Patrick) appears to have found the fountain of youth.
 
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A

ArchieLucasCarringtonEwing1989

Telly Talk TV Fanatic
Its strange how much she sounded like VP, even her mannerisms!
To be honest I wouldn't have minded Margaret Michaels playing Pam, she was much missed in later years and since the two actresses look so alike and the fact that Pam did have plastic surgery after her car accident, I could have accepted this recast.

This clip proves one thing, Bobby was still very much in love with Pam and was no where near over her, even years after her departure, I don't deny he loved April, but I think his desire for her was more based on not wanting to be alone and to provide a mother for Christopher, than actual head over heels love that he had for Pam and to an extent Jenna.
 
Lastkidpicked

Lastkidpicked

Telly Talk Dream Maker
ArchieLucasCarringtonEwing1989 said:
This clip proves one thing, Bobby was still very much in love with Pam and was no where near over her.
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Rove said:
Bobby (Patrick) appears to have found the fountain of youth.
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I agree, and the writers could use this to their advantage.

Imagine Pam making a miraculous recovery, although she needed plastic surgery as part of the healing process. Pam and Bobby decide that they have been given a second chance at life, and they are going to take full advantage of this second chance.

Bobby and Pam announce to the family that while they appreciate everything family money has given them, they want to make a life that they built on their own. Pam and Bobby move to a small ranch house near Dallas to see if they can build a life together starting from scratch.

Imagine the juxtaposition of J.R. closing a big deal over steak dinner, while we see Bobby driving a dusty pickup truck out to the oil fields setting up contracts one at a time to build his business.

And the juxtaposition of Sue Ellen, surrounded by nannies and maids, while we see Pam struggling to load kids into the carpool for school.

And in the evening, Sue Ellen is in one place while J.R. is in another, wining and dining a big client. This placed against the scene of Pam and Bobby working together in a cheap diner to give a proposal to a young oilfield services company. As they come to an agreement, Bobby pauses, "I don't want to be trading on my Daddy's name."
The owner of the young oil company responds, "If this project works out, you'll be trading on YOUR name."

Pam and Bobby smile at each other, and they radiate a feeling of, "It's us against the world".

Of course, there are problems. But again, those problems are great storylines. We can see J.R. and the others solving problems using the family wealth and power. We see Bobby and Pam relying on each other to get through the problems that life and business throws at them.

It would have been interesting to see a long-term story line of Bobby and Pam starting out with nothing so we could watch them build a life and business together.
 
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Seaviewer

Seaviewer

Telly Talk Warrior
I think it was worth trying. The point is that she did resemble VP. She was not a big name shoe-horned into the role for the publicity.
 
Luke_Krebbs_Ewing

Luke_Krebbs_Ewing

Telly Talk Champion
Seaviewer said:
I think it was worth trying. The point is that she did resemble VP. She was not a big name shoe-horned into the role for the publicity.
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She could've been a good Pam if Lorimar had chose to go down that route.

With hindsight, I find the Jeanne O'Brien storyline tedious now.

I guess the debacle over Donna Reed's Miss Ellie was still fresh in there minds, as well as the backlash of Steve Forrest remaining on Dallas as a recast Jock Ewing which probably didn't help matters either. :(
 
tommie

tommie

Telly Talk Hero
Rove said:
It's why I had such an issue with Donna Reed replacing Barbara Bel Geddes. The two actresses were like chalk and cheese. The producers didn't even attempt to try and hide the fact Miss Ellie had been recast. It was like they were thumbing their collective noses at Barbara.
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I don't know. Sometimes an entirely different take as a recast can work. I remember when they had to recast the Pat role on the Swedish version of Sons and Daughters - they went with an actress that felt like a polar opposite of the first one, but she ended up working very well as the "new" Pat (or Rebecka as she was called on the Swedish version).

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Then again, in order for it to work you kind of need to give the character meaty storylines to make people become accustomed to them. You can't just hide them away like they did with Donna Reed after the initial bad reaction.
 
D

DallasFanForever

Telly Talk Supreme
Seaviewer said:
It was always ridiculous that Bobby would need to say goodbye to a lookalike that didn't even look enough like her that he didn't need Cliff's confirmation before he could become besotted with her.
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Not to mention that the storyline really made Jeanne look weak. Here she was being told that she reminded him of his ex wife and that was basically the only reason he was with her yet she went along. She even began dressing like Pam to please him. They made Jeanne look like a woman with no self esteem. I did enjoy the storyline on some level. I guess I just wanted to see where it was going but it was also a little cringeworthy at times.
 
Luke_Krebbs_Ewing

Luke_Krebbs_Ewing

Telly Talk Champion
DallasFanForever said:
Not to mention that the storyline really made Jeanne look weak. Here she was being told that she reminded him of his ex wife and that was basically the only reason he was with her yet she went along. She even began dressing like Pam to please him. They made Jeanne look like a woman with no self esteem. I did enjoy the storyline on some level. I guess I just wanted to see where it was going but it was also a little cringeworthy at times.
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Yeah I can still remember some of her lines.

" I can be Pam and you can have it all over again!"

Cringe worthy! o_O
 
Pamela_E

Pamela_E

Admin Emerita
DallasFanForever said:
Not to mention that the storyline really made Jeanne look weak. Here she was being told that she reminded him of his ex wife and that was basically the only reason he was with her yet she went along. She even began dressing like Pam to please him. They made Jeanne look like a woman with no self esteem. I did enjoy the storyline on some level. I guess I just wanted to see where it was going but it was also a little cringeworthy at times.
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Maybe but I actually liked it as it was a chance to revisit Pam and Bobby. It was nostalgic and tragic. Bonkers but I enjoyed it.
 
D

DallasFanForever

Telly Talk Supreme
Pamela_E said:
Maybe but I actually liked it as it was a chance to revisit Pam and Bobby. It was nostalgic and tragic. Bonkers but I enjoyed it.
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That was the part I liked about it too. It felt like we were getting a chance to revisit them once again. And I liked how the confusion and guilt Bobby was feeling played out. He really didn’t want to hurt her intentionally but there was really no way for her not to get hurt cause the bottom line was she wasn’t Pam no matter how hard they both tried.
 
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