Pam's mummy debacle - was this a dig at Victoria?

[Julia's Gun]

Just started re-watcching Season 11 for the first time in a 100 years, and I cracked up when I saw Pam's 'mummy' with the arms strapped up in the hospital.
This has been discussed many times, but I wonder if the writers were having a dig at Victoria's acting abilities and excessvive wages?

I can't see why the producers would want to mess the viewer around yet again after the Donna Reid/Barbara Bel and Bobby in the shower debacles, but if they knew Victoria wasn't coming back, why did they keep her alive in the hospital for a while in these episodes?

Was the intention to have her leave the hospital for plastic surgery and then return later for good as Margaret Michales in a re-cast? Is that what these scenes were about, or were the writers having a final dig at Victoria for leaving, saying here we can get a mummy to play you just as convincingly for a fraction of the cost?

If they really were going to re-cast her, I wonder if the original intention was dropped when they realized how ridiculous it was all comign across to the viewers, and saw the chemistry betwen Bobby and April as a better road to go down instead?

 

[Snarky Oracle!]

Given the title "The Mummy's Revenge," one assumes that it was a dig at Victoria and Katzman's semi-sidelining of her especially after Bobby came back.

Victoria's acting since Spring of 1982 was actually quite good (Larry said years later that although Principal was green and inexperienced when DALLAS first started, and that he "didn't know if it was going to work", that by the time she left he thought "she was an excellent actress." (Actually, five years before she left, she improved so much essentially overnight, realizing what her performance needed --- relaxation and low-grade anger -- and then she was great).

But David Jacobs said that Victoria didn't have the best relationship with the executives, and that while it shouldn't affect what happens on screen with the character, sometimes it does anyway.

Pam was probably kept bandaged for weeks because there wasn't the usual spring hiatus planning time for the writers in 1987, and they went right into shooting the next season -- which means they had to shoot while they wrote, which is why the vibe and pacing for Season 11 is a bit off, and they had to make up their minds what to do with Pam's charred remains.

 

[Luke_Krebbs_Ewing]

They didn't want to kill the character off and wanted to leave the door open if they could get Victoria back in the future.

 

[Chris2]

I think they were a bit stuck given the lack of hiatus that year, and that they didn’t want to kill off a major character. But they underestimated Victoria’s contribution to the show and didn’t mind poking fun at her with dumb things like “The Mummy’s Revenge.”

But Victoria had the last laugh.

 

[Jock's Ghost]

ALL they had to do was recast... so stupid. Margret Michaels looked astonishingly similar. Whether it worked or not, none of us would be whining about how awful it was compared to the Mummy shit. That is if they hadnt killed off Bobby first.

 

[Jock's Ghost]

I never noticed Victoria's inexperience. Although he rage/crying was often annoying/hilarious, it seemed to work. I liked her better though with her showdowns with JR when she would just get mad and slap him. "Damn! I hate that woman!"

 

[Luke_Krebbs_Ewing]

I think they were a bit stuck given the lack of hiatus that year, and that they didn’t want to kill off a major character. But they underestimated Victoria’s contribution to the show and didn’t mind poking fun at her with dumb things like “The Mummy’s Revenge.”

But Victoria had the last laugh.

Yeah, the bigwigs at Lorimar underestimated the popularity of both the actor and the character.

Did they honestly think that sweeping the character under the rug and forgetting about her was seriously going to work in the long term!?!

That mummy storyline was painful viewing, in fact I'd go so far to say that it was the worst storyline in the show's run even though there's a few others which give it a good run for it's money!

I applaud Victoria Principal for deciding to move on & not limit her career to a single part in a successful drama series. Her Principal Secret range speaks for itself. As to the character of Pamela Barnes Ewing, she was fabulous and she left the show on a high despite what Lorimar tried to do to the character after Victoria left. I'm proud of her.

 

[Taylor Bennett Jr.]

something I've often wondered: did the viewing public have any idea what the episode titles were? Maybe they were in TV Guide and newspaper schedules? For just a regular viewer tuning in on Friday nights, I don't think the broadcasts themselves showed the titles at all. Were they ever in ads like the one below?

maybe you'd see "Pam the Mummy gets revenge!"?

 

[Luke_Krebbs_Ewing]

something I've often wondered: did the viewing public have any idea what the episode titles were? Maybe they were in TV Guide and newspaper schedules? For just a regular viewer tuning in on Friday nights, I don't think the broadcasts themselves showed the titles at all. Were they ever in ads like the one below?

maybe you'd see "Pam the Mummy gets revenge!"?

Well, in the UK in the Radio Times magazine which back in the 1980's was the BBC's radio & TV magazine the listing for Dallas on Wednesday at 8.00 pm (or 8.10 pm) always had the title of the episode as part of the episode listing.

 

[Mustard]

Well, in the UK in the Radio Times magazine which back in the 1980's was the BBC's radio & TV magazine the listing for Dallas on Wednesday at 8.00 pm (or 8.10 pm) always had the title of the episode as part of the episode listing.

I've always wondered why Knots Landing always put the episode titles on screen, while Dallas never did.

 

[Michelle Stevens]

something I've often wondered: did the viewing public have any idea what the episode titles were? Maybe they were in TV Guide and newspaper schedules? For just a regular viewer tuning in on Friday nights, I don't think the broadcasts themselves showed the titles at all. Were they ever in ads like the one below?

maybe you'd see "Pam the Mummy gets revenge!"?

Off topic but I wish there were some cross-overs with this Friday night lineup on CBS. Dallas needed a good reporter like Jack McGee to keep on JR's trail and just imagine if Digger drove into Southfork to sell Pam in a '69 Dodge Charger with a Confederate Battle Flag on the roof. Just imagine, ratings gold!

On topic, no doubt they were keeping the door open for VP if she wanted to return as they didn't want to repeat what happened a season earlier with Patrick Duffy, dying and returning. In hindsight Pam was better off dead from the tanker accident than what we got afterward. I can't believe Pam would have left Christopher like that. I believe Margaret Michaels was just used to close loose ends for the character.

 

[Mustard]

Margaret Michaels doing a Jack Coleman would have been preferable to what happened. Fans would have then complained a bit about how Margaret was never as good as Victoria, but better than no Pam at all. I think it would have slowed down Dallas' decline had that happened. The different threads of Dallas as a series just didn't join up well without Pam there. It began to feel like posturing instead of excellent creative drama.

 

[MenaceTheDennis]

I don’t subscribe to the a poor Pam substitute is better than no Pam Mustard. In many ways, the character of Pam had run its course. I think Victoria had thought that too, along with the show dying off post dream season. It was really the Larry and Patrick show after Victoria left, as they were in it only for really the money. They got burned with the Reed recast, as with Bobby’s shower, so they didn’t want to make the same mistakes again which I give them credit for.

The sensible thing to do would’ve been for Pam to leave town after separating from Bobby. But I think they were in a writing crunch, since Victoria claimed they didn’t know she was leaving until it was too late. Unfortunately they took it out on her character with the mummy nonsense. After the dream explanation garbage, it really showed they cared less and less what the viewers wanted. So the growing mentality was let’s just give them the JR and Bobby show and viewers will still watch. No we didn’t. Ratings fell like a rock the last four years.

 

[Mustard]

MenaceTheDennis. If the character of Pam has run its course, then so has Dallas run its course. That would have been most people's opinions in early 1987. Dallas without Pam? She and Bobby had gotten back together and married that season, and it was cut short. It's completely out of character for Pam to vanish and disappear, leaving Christopher and Bobby.

 

[MenaceTheDennis]

I totally agree that the show HAD run its course. While the post dream season had its moments, there was the feeling the air had been let out of the balloon, and the plug should’ve been pulled on the show the end of this season, but it’s still was a ratings hit (number 11 for the season) so that wasn’t going to happen.

The producers and writers really lost its knack for casting and writing the last four years. Katzman had said they were maybe going to recast Pam (some YouTube clip I saw). I think the only way it MAY (big maybe) have worked would’ve been to get a high profile tv actress in the role who viewers knew. Michaels would’ve been crucified. They just painted themselves into a corner with Pam’s exit, probably just to get a good cliffhanger. And it all gets back to the writing and long term planning of the stories(her exit perfect example) which deteriorated rapidly.

 

[Snarky Oracle!]

Howard Lakin was the head writer during the last couple of seasons. Art Lewis came back for Season 11 and 12.

Once Paulsen was gone, nothing worked.

And Katzman's supervision didn't help at all.

 

[Jock Ewing Fan]

Yeah, the bigwigs at Lorimar underestimated the popularity of both the actor and the character.

Did they honestly think that sweeping the character under the rug and forgetting about her was seriously going to work in the long term!?!

That mummy storyline was painful viewing, in fact I'd go so far to say that it was the worst storyline in the show's run even though there's a few others which give it a good run for it's money!

I applaud Victoria Principal for deciding to move on & not limit her career to a single part in a successful drama series. Her Principal Secret range speaks for itself. As to the character of Pamela Barnes Ewing, she was fabulous and she left the show on a high despite what Lorimar tried to do to the character after Victoria left. I'm proud of her.

Maybe it became more about program budget, at least to a degree.
Without VP, her salary was probably apportioned to several characters
Maybe the network cut the budget
Maybe the Production team increased their profit by not resigning her, although a recast probably would have required far less.

They probably should have tried a recast, but not right away. A new VP might have been a good idea for a season ending cliffhanger

 

[Jock's Ghost]

I don’t subscribe to the a poor Pam substitute is better than no Pam Mustard. In many ways, the character of Pam had run its course. I think Victoria had thought that too, along with the show dying off post dream season. It was really the Larry and Patrick show after Victoria left, as they were in it only for really the money. They got burned with the Reed recast, as with Bobby’s shower, so they didn’t want to make the same mistakes again which I give them credit for.

The sensible thing to do would’ve been for Pam to leave town after separating from Bobby. But I think they were in a writing crunch, since Victoria claimed they didn’t know she was leaving until it was too late. Unfortunately they took it out on her character with the mummy nonsense. After the dream explanation garbage, it really showed they cared less and less what the viewers wanted. So the growing mentality was let’s just give them the JR and Bobby show and viewers will still watch. No we didn’t. Ratings fell like a rock the last four years.

It would have been better... Picture this scenario.... Pam being replaced would have been fine if Bobby had not been dreamed into good health. She is burned, she slowly comes back as MM when the bandages come off. Audience has been used to her already with her voice. . She has doubts about bobby loving her, body issues but bobby keeps her going. The rest of the series is pam;s scarring, body issues and will she be able to carry a baby? It would have been so much more satisfying than that idiot garbage April and her constant smirking.
The show would have at least tried and showed respect for us and the character of Pam.

 

[Jock's Ghost]

Maybe it became more about program budget, at least to a degree.
Without VP, her salary was probably apportioned to several characters
Maybe the network cut the budget
Maybe the Production team increased their profit by not resigning her, although a recast probably would have required far less.

They probably should have tried a recast, but not right away. A new VP might have been a good idea for a season ending cliffhanger

Had nothing to do with VP's pay as she stated she was being offered a lot more money to stay, an "obscene amount" as VP said, but she was just tired and wanted something else.

 

[Jock's Ghost]

I totally agree that the show HAD run its course. While the post dream season had its moments, there was the feeling the air had been let out of the balloon, and the plug should’ve been pulled on the show the end of this season, but it’s still was a ratings hit (number 11 for the season) so that wasn’t going to happen.

The producers and writers really lost its knack for casting and writing the last four years. Katzman had said they were maybe going to recast Pam (some YouTube clip I saw). I think the only way it MAY (big maybe) have worked would’ve been to get a high profile tv actress in the role who viewers knew. Michaels would’ve been crucified. They just painted themselves into a corner with Pam’s exit, probably just to get a good cliffhanger. And it all gets back to the writing and long term planning of the stories(her exit perfect example) which deteriorated rapidly.

They deserved their ass kicked for the Bobby returning mess. Pam should have been recast. It would have been far more satisfying than what we got. Imagine if she had been burned, the bandages are removed and its MM. Except we have been hearing her talk for several episodes, she sounds like VP, but because of the accident, the illusion of her looking like someone else works. Recast her, what was the damn big deal?