Michael Filerman on Dallas

[Kenny Coyote]

One of my few fixed beliefs lies in versatility. Even my first cousin once removed says I look different in every photo.

I like that.

They could work well together, spark each other and compromise too. Like when David Jacobs didn’t want to do the Val’s babies storyline and the late Michael Filerman saw the story potential in it and David Jacobs said in another interview that James and Jason did that that was the best story.

I looked up his name and read a little more of the interview that the excerpt in the OP is from. He said Jacobs wanted to do art and Filereman wanted to do something commercial. Between the two of them they created something that had each of those qualities.

You can't collaborate with someone who's odd??

You can, as long as he's more than just "someone who had odd ideas and just stuck to them."

I don't see this interview as mean spirited. Michael is simply offering his honest opinion when both he and David Jacobs were working on those early episodes of Dallas. Sometimes producers/writers/showrunners have a clear image in their mind what actors would best suit characters.

I don't see it as mean spirited either. I think he was probably someone who had a precise idea for how he wanted that particular character cast and had a lot of conviction in his creative vision.

 

[Jimmy Todd]

I didn't know David Jacob's didn't want to do the story of Val's babies being kidnapped. Does anyone know what his objection to it was?

 

[Richard Channing]

I didn't know David Jacob's didn't want to do the story of Val's babies being kidnapped. Does anyone know what his objection to it was?

Maybe he felt having her first daughter be kidnapped three times and then her twins be kidnapped as well was all a bit much.

 

[Snarky Oracle!]

I didn't know David Jacob's didn't want to do the story of Val's babies being kidnapped. Does anyone know what his objection to it was?

I think he thought it was too shlocky-soapy. But the only time KNOTS ever hit #1 for the week is when she got them babies back!

 

[Jimmy Todd]

I think he thought it was too shlocky-soapy. But the only time KNOTS ever hit #1 for the week is when she got them babies back!

Well "on paper" it sounds overly soapy, especially keeping in mind what @Richard Channing said about Lucy having already been kidnapped. However, Knots' writing, directing and acting worked its magic on it so it transcended "soapiness." That final scene of Valene when she sees both babies on either side of her is sublime.

 

[Snarky Oracle!]

Well "on paper" it sounds overly soapy, especially keeping in mind what @Richard Channing said about Lucy having already been kidnapped. However, Knots' writing, directing and acting worked its magic on it so it transcended "soapiness." That final scene of Valene when she sees both babies on either side of her is sublime.

Absolutely. The difference between drama and soapiness is in the detail. Perhaps Jacobs was worried his team might stumble with the story but, of course, they didn't.

 

[Jimmy Todd]

I think he thought it was too shlocky-soapy. But the only time KNOTS ever hit #1 for the week is when she got them babies back!

Boy, has Val been through a lot. There should have been a crossover scene with her, Pam and SueEllen, trying to outdo each other in the drama department. Pam and SE will ask Val if HER sister ever shot her husband. Val would respond, no because Miss Ellie didn't have any daughters. Were ALL your children kidnapped? Did someone try and force you to commit suicide? Was your brother Alec Baldwin? Ha!

 

[Richard Channing]

Boy, has Val been through a lot. Thete should have been a crossover scene with her, Pam and SueEllen, trying to outdo each other in the drama department. Pam and SE will ask Val if HER sister ever shot her husband. Val would respond, no because Miss Ellie didn't have any daughters. Were ALL your children kidnapped? Did someone try and force you to commit suicide? Was your brother Alec Baldwin? Ha!

They all had it easy compared to Maggie Gioberti Channing.

 

[Willie Oleson]

^
Yeah, a sister feud triggered her brain tumor to cause a dangerous staircase moment. And that was the easy stuff.

 

[Rove]

James, I'll have to take you out for a drink sometime and get you to divulge everything you know!

You mean drinks...as in plural...then I'm sure James will divulge his secrets. Does James have a "Red File?"

 

[Snarky Oracle!]

Pleasant though they may be, executive interviews can reveal a lot -- like Doug Cramer's gently vindictive comments about no one remembering Al Corley or Pamela Sue Martin.

 

[DallasFanForever]

Al Corley or Pamela Sue Martin.

Who?

 

[Luke_Krebbs_Ewing]

Who?

One half of the Hardy Boys and Nancy Drew!

Al Corley was great as Nancy Drew.

 

[pete lashmar]

I thought Linda was absolutely faultless as Sue Ellen throughout her whole run on the show.

Am I right in remembering though that when she did TNT Dallas they kept her away from the screen as much as possible during season 1 because they felt her portrayal of Sue Ellen was not right for TV back in 2012? (or whenever TNT Dallas started). I do remember seeing something about it.

 

[Taylor Bennett Jr.]

reading (not all that far) between the lines of the original quote it sounds to me more like frustration at being overruled by Adelson channeled into pettiness towards Gray than a true assessment of her acting ability... I don't think it's 'political correctness' to show a bit of grace and tact - "she wasn't my first choice and I think Mary Frann would have been better, but I was overruled by the top brass" gets the point across, right? Although what he said makes for more provocative reading, of course!

Maybe Linda didn't show much at the audition, but by the time they got through Barbecue it seems silly to say that she couldn't act. Her performance in Winds of Vengeance gets panned sometimes, but that had to have been the most taxing sequence anyone had to do in the entire 'miniseries' (talk about being put out on an island), and I thought her uncomfortably 'cringey' rendition of 'People' was effective, if not a strong candidate to skyrocket up the Billboard Hot 100. I'm not sure what she should have done differently - maybe be less over-the-top with the quavering and crying? Thinking of that episode alone, no one faults true pro Steve Kanaly's performance, but his selling of the knee injury during the 'aborted escape sequence' was about as convincing as a beginning pro wrestler working his first match in a high school gym somewhere (ha, now *I'm* getting petty!)

Now Priscilla Presley or Sasha Mitchell, on the other hand...

 

[Jock Ewing Fan]

Mary Frann had more experience than Linda (although her comedic performance on NEWHART was far below that of Suzanne Pleshette in THE BOB NEWHART SHOW) but Linda Gray was the right casting. Linda just hit that neurotic diva "note" better than Frann would have.

It would have been interesting to see Mary Frann, although I thought Linda Gray really improved and grew the character over time. While I agree that Suzanne Pleshette was a more powerful presence, I thought Mary Frann was quite good- she had to be the "straight man" quite often, and wasn't always given the opportunity to show her range

 

[Lastkidpicked]

Maybe Linda didn't show much at the audition, but by the time they got through Barbecue it seems silly to say that she couldn't act.

I thought Linda Gray really improved and grew the character over time.

You both make a great point. Linda Gray really developed her character as she grew into the role. In the earliest time, there was little for her to do besides play the put upon former beauty queen housewife. Linda Gray developed Sue Ellen into a strong character in her own right.

 

[Bobby Southworth]

I just never saw anything wrong with Linda's acting; not even from the very first episode. It's hard to picture Mary Frann in the role, based on Newhart, which is really all I know her from, with the exception of one episode of Mary Tyler Moore where she plays a closet anti-Semite. She actually played that role pretty well, so it might have been interesting to see her in other roles, but there's only one Sue Ellen.

 

[Snarky Oracle!]

I just never saw anything wrong with Linda's acting; not even from the very first episode. It's hard to picture Mary Frann in the role, based on Newhart, which is really all I know her from, with the exception of one episode of Mary Tyler Moore where she plays a closet anti-Semite. She actually played that role pretty well, so it might have been interesting to see her in other roles, but there's only one Sue Ellen.

Yes, Frann could do comedy as a bitch.

 

[DallasFanForever]

Mary and Suzanne were fine actresses but I just can’t see anyone in that role other than Linda. I think it was just one of those things and she was meant to play it. It worked out perfectly.