Dallas Character Amanda

[LMLDallas78]

Jock's first wife was Amanda who ended up in a sanitarium and who Doctors advised Jock should divorce.

Why was Amanda even a story?
Was it to show us the "redeeming qualities" side of Jock?
Or to remind us how he had kept it secret from Miss Ellie all of those years?

Amanda was rarely mentioned or rarely seen. Did Jock visit her regularly in secret?

If he hadn't been injured in the dove hunt, when would Jock have told Miss Ellie, if ever?

Why did he keep it from her for so long?
Should Amanda have had a child as she could've been pregnant when she was admitted to the hospital?

Was Amanda Dallas's most forgotten character?



I would have thought Jock might be more understanding towards Sue Ellen knowing what sanitariums were like.

He was brutal towards her in the hospital when JR got shot.

He should've shown more compassion to his daughter-in-law and try to protect her from being put away or did he approve as he took care of Amanda's hospital bills knowing she was well cared for.

 

[LMLDallas78]

That lovely scene where Jock and Miss Ellie talk about Amanda.
Miss Ellie sure did take it very well after her initial reaction.

This is where that picture used on TNT Dallas is from which wasn't a great looking picture.

 

[DallasFanForever]

Why was Amanda even a story?

I’m not really sure but it was definitely a sad story. Miss Ellie (the Donna Reed version) summed it up best I thought when she described her as “lost in time” or something to that effect. In that season Amanda actually ended up having a very significant purpose, as without her Ewing Oil might’ve been lost to the Barnes family.

Was it to show us the "redeeming qualities" side of Jock?
Or to remind us how he had kept it secret from Miss Ellie all of those years?

I’m not so sure what he had done was redeeming in the eyes of many back then. These kinds of things were viewed much differently. Miss Ellie, at first, struggled with it when he told her. Of course she was dealing with her own very serious issues at the time but once she met Amanda she ended up understanding better that Jock really had no choice but to put Amanda in a place where she could get the help she needed.

Amanda was rarely mentioned or rarely seen. Did Jock visit her regularly in secret?

I want to say it was stated that he did but I’m not sure if that continued after Ellie met her. He did pay for all her costs though.

If he hadn't been injured in the dove hunt, when would Jock have told Miss Ellie, if ever?

Good question! Perhaps when he was in South America writing letters to Miss Ellie would’ve been a good time to slip it in there. Of course, telling her in person would’ve probably been better. Imagine if he put it in the will and that’s how everyone found out. Would’ve been a nice twist.

Or maybe the conversation goes something like this in 1986.............

“Hey Wes, where did you get these letters?”

“Oh, those letters are mine Ellie. Always have been, and since you’ve mentioned it there’s one there about a first wife I had. Her name was Amanda. Would you like to take a trip right now to go meet her?”

Why did he keep it from her for so long?

Different times. Jock was, well, he was Jock. It wasn’t something he was going to bring up until he had to. He probably knew he would have to one day, but he wasn’t going to rush it if he didn’t have to.

Should Amanda have had a child as she could've been pregnant when she was admitted to the hospital?

Interesting idea! “Another termite coming out of the woodwork looking for a piece of the family couch,” as I’m sure J.R. would’ve put it.

Was Amanda Dallas's most forgotten character?

Maybe, although I wouldn’t call her Dallas’s most forgetful. I’ll give her credit, despite her type of illness and thinking Bobby was Jock she still remembered where those documents were. That always impressed me.

 

[Chris2]

Jock’s wives tended to get new faces, didn’t they?

Amanda should have been brought back in 1984, when Barbara Bel Geddes left the show. Donna Reed could have played Amanda, arriving at Southfork looking stylish and announcing, “I’m all better now!”

 

[LMLDallas78]

Jock’s wives tended to get new faces, didn’t they?

I knew someone would post that! That's funny, but true.

Donna Reed could have played Amanda

I like that, great idea.

Crazier things have happened so it could have worked if Amanda received the best therapy along with the correct medication.

In that season Amanda actually ended up having a very significant purpose

I liked how she was brought in for that.

Imagine if he put it in the will and that’s how everyone found out.

That really would have been a great twist. I'm quite surprised nothing like that happened.
It's admirable for Dallas to introduce such a character, but then sanitariums did seem to feature a great deal.

Hey Wes, where did you get these letters

Can't recall if Wes ever mentioned Amanda. That would have been good evidence towards his case as I'm certain her existence wasn't ever widely publisised in the social circles of the Ewings.

Another termite coming out of the woodwork looking for a piece of the family couch,”

Ha ha, what a great line! Definitely something like JR would say.

although I wouldn’t call her Dallas’s most forgetful. I’ll give her credit, despite her type of illness and thinking Bobby was Jock she still remembered where those documents were.

Absolutely not the most forgetful. Very believable though, how the mind can work like that.
We can forget something said to us 10 minutes ago and yet remember something very specific from years before.

 

[Luke_Krebbs_Ewing]

I liked how she was brought in for that.


That really would have been a great twist. I'm quite surprised nothing like that happened.
It's admirable for Dallas to introduce such a character, but then sanitariums did seem to feature a great deal.


Can't recall if Wes ever mentioned Amanda. That would have been good evidence towards his case as I'm certain her existence wasn't ever widely publisised in the social circles of the Ewings.


Ha ha, what a great line! Definitely something like JR would say.


Absolutely not the most forgetful. Very believable though, how the mind can work like that.
We can forget something said to us 10 minutes ago and yet remember something very specific from years before.

Yes Wes does mention Amanda.

He mentions her when he goes to the Ewing Oil offices to say goodbye to Bobby and JR.

He mentions about being shot in the Dove Hunt and telling JR to look after Amanda his first wife because he thought he was dying.

It's the exchange which begins "How could a fraud know the things I know!"

 

[DallasFanForever]

Yes Wes does mention Amanda.

He mentions her when he goes to the Ewing Oil offices to say goodbye to Bobby and JR.

He mentions about being shot in the Dove Hunt and telling JR to look after Amanda his first wife because he thought he was dying.

It's the exchange which begins "How could a fraud know the things I know!"

That’s the scene with the portrait of Jock in the background hovering over the scene like a ghost, right? One of my favorite scenes of original Dallas. Just brilliantly done.

 

[Luke_Krebbs_Ewing]

That’s the scene with the portrait of Jock in the background hovering over the scene like a ghost, right? One of my favorite scenes of original Dallas. Just brilliantly done.

Yeah as Wes exits JR's office JR follows him out and Bobby follows him. JR calls after him.

JR and Bobby position themselves either side of the Jim Davis painting but just prior to that the camera angle places Wes directly in front of the portrait, lined up with it just before he turns round to face them. This was the first indication that Wes was Jock before they later changed their minds.

 

[Seaviewer]

Donna Reed could have played Amanda, arriving at Southfork looking stylish and announcing, “I’m all better now!”

Interesting idea.

Can't recall if Wes ever mentioned Amanda. That would have been good evidence towards his case as I'm certain her existence wasn't ever widely publisised in the social circles of the Ewings.

Yes Wes does mention Amanda.

Like everything else, it would be just explained away as part of Jock's supposed babbling.

 

[LMLDallas78]

Yes Wes does mention Amanda

No way! Well remembered. I'd completely forgotten that scene. He really does mention Amanda and their hunting trip.

"You tell me how anyone on God's green earth but Jock Ewing could know that".

Good stuff.

That’s the scene with the portrait of Jock

 

[Luke_Krebbs_Ewing]

Interesting idea.



Like everything else, it would be just explained away as part of Jock's supposed babbling.

Yeah that ridiculous explanation that someone else was on the chopper - Wyatt Haines and he'd been in earshot of Jock ranting and raving about his life whilst he was delirious with a fever!

Very convenient when they wrote Steve Forrest off the show they concentrated on the lie detector test saying that he believed he was Jock. The virtually identical X rays and the bullet wound sustained in the Dove Hunt present on Wes's X ray weren't mentioned again! And for good reason because the X ray proved that Wes was Jock Ewing all along. Two different men can never have identical X rays.

 

[LMLDallas78]

I still can't get over Wes mentioning Amanda and saying to JR how he'd asked him to "look after her for me".

Bobby standing there saying the Ewings are a mighty public family and anyone could dig up a certain amount of information about them.

Wes knew too much.

When Linda Gray's interviewed she usually tells the same tales of Dallas having larger than life, but realistic storylines that they were brave enough to tackle.

We hear about Sue Ellen's alcoholism, Miss Ellie's mastectomy and Kit's Gay storyline, but mental health and mental asylums never get mentioned.
Miscarriage and drug use were also highlighted on the show.

Mental Health care and provision has thankfully come along way since Dallas featured these stories, but I still think they deserve a mention along with all the other usual ones we hear and I'm surprised they're not.

 

[Luke_Krebbs_Ewing]

I still can't get over Wes mentioning Amanda and saying to JR how he'd asked him to "look after her for me".

Bobby standing there saying the Ewings are a mighty public family and anyone could dig up a certain amount of information about them.

Wes knew too much.

Yeah.

Wes had to have been the real Jock Ewing all along.

Jock’s wives tended to get new faces, didn’t they?

Amanda should have been brought back in 1984, when Barbara Bel Geddes left the show. Donna Reed could have played Amanda, arriving at Southfork looking stylish and announcing, “I’m all better now!”

Jock himself had a few different faces.

Jim Davis originated the role in the series, Dale Midkiff played a younger version of Jock in Dallas The Early Years and of course Steve Forrest in that terrific storyline from season ten.

It would've been interesting to have Donna Reed as Amanda instead of re=casting her as Miss Ellie.

 

[LMLDallas78]

Wes had to have been the real Jock Ewing all along.

I still can't quite bring myself to say that though. My affection for Jim Davis as Jock just won't allow me to.

I did however enjoy watching Steve Forrest in that role. Whenever I rewatch him I find him more and more fascinating. I wish he'd been in a different role really and stayed longer.

 

[Luke_Krebbs_Ewing]

I still can't quite bring myself to say that though. My affection for Jim Davis as Jock just won't allow me to.

I did however enjoy watching Steve Forrest in that role. Whenever I rewatch him I find him more and more fascinating. I wish he'd been in a different role really and stayed longer.

Then think of it this way. Steve Forrest as Jock wouldn't have been a slight against Jim it would've been a tribute to him. That's how I feel about Steve playing the role

That Wes Parmalee Jock Ewing storyline made us remember and appreciate how good Jim Davis was as Jock through the performance of Steve Forrest. Steve even managed to slip in some very Jock-like mannerisms like the way Jim Davis used to rub his chin.

Steve Forrest was a very similar actor to Jim Davis so I can see why the Dallas Producers cast him as Ben Stivers and then Wes Parmalee. The storyline had a lot of potential just a shame the way it was ended by leaving it ambiguous with no proper resolution but maybe with hindsight that was for the best as it's left that storyline very memorable, mysterious and iconic now.

Kudos to both Jim Davis and Steve Forrest.

 

[Seaviewer]

Yeah that ridiculous explanation that someone else was on the chopper - Wyatt Haines and he'd been in earshot of Jock ranting and raving about his life whilst he was delirious with a fever!

I wouldn't call it ridiculous exactly, but it's far from the definitive explanation that Bobby presents it as. The idea that Wes would remember such fine detail strains credulity at least as much as Jock returning from the dead.

 

[DallasFanForever]

I wouldn't call it ridiculous exactly, but it's far from the definitive explanation that Bobby presents it as. The idea that Wes would remember such fine detail strains credulity at least as much as Jock returning from the dead.

It must’ve been a very long helicopter ride ‘cause old Jock sure did a lot of yapping on that chopper. Either that or Wyatt/Wes was keeping a diary.

 

[Chris2]

Maybe Wes was a medium and was possessed by the spirit of Jock.

 

[LMLDallas78]

Maybe Wes was a medium and was possessed by the spirit of Jock.

Crazier things have happened!

 

[Luke_Krebbs_Ewing]

It must’ve been a very long helicopter ride ‘cause old Jock sure did a lot of yapping on that chopper. Either that or Wyatt/Wes was keeping a diary.

What takes me to the fair is that back in the day in season five DVD count whilst the character was alive off screen in South America he apparently sent Harve Smithfield a cover letter which would allow Ewing Oil to continue operating. Was he suffering from a fever when he apparently wrote that!?! I would say not.