Cast reactions to the dream

[Grangehill1]

I’ve always been a fan of the dream season. For me it was the last great season of Dallas. I absolutely hated season 10 afterwards - the picture quality, the dream resolution, the beginning of campy comedy, the hair styles, fashions, music. Pam’s wedding dress! Ray and Jenna!

I accept the dream season isn’t perfect (emeralds) but I loved the music and fashions and most of the storylines.

We’ve seen in the past some of the cast mention whether they enjoyed working on the dream season or hated it and I thought it would be a good idea to list the main cast members and give my opinion of whether it was a good or bad year for them and my views on whether they were happy that the dream resolution was used to wipe out the series.

Barbara Bel Geddes - well she was back after a year away and after an initially strong first few episodes didn’t really do much. But then had the possibility of the Ben Stivers story at end of season. I think Barbara didn’t care either way but was happy to have Patrick back.

Linda Gray - one of the two cast members who had the strongest season. Sue Ellen’s arc is phenomenal and Linda has gone on record to say she wasn’t happy with the season being wiped out.

Larry Hagman- again he’s gone on record but to say how much he hated the dream season. His best friend was gone. He was stuck with Barbara Career who by all accounts he didn’t like and JR was diluted into a nice guy so he was happy the season was wiped out.

Susan Howard - Again she’s gone on record and she’s the 2nd cast member who had the strongest year. Susan’s acting and Donna’s stories were great so she was upset it was wiped out.

Steve Kanaly - No idea what his opinion is but he has gone on record to say he preferred Ray being single (which is against fan opinion) so I don’t think he would have enjoyed the more domestic stories and losing his friend Patrick. I would think he was happy the season was wiped.

Howard Keel - well Howard’s just there isn’t he and I don’t think he cared either way!

Ken Kercheval - Cliff went from fighting for Ewing Oil to looking for Pam in South America and finding love with Jamie on the way. And then becoming a nice guy at the end. No idea what Ken’s opinion was but I would think he hated the dream year and wanted Cliff to be Vile to his wife and fighting with JR again.

Priscilla Presley - No idea what she thought of the dream year. Jenna spent most of the season having a break down and was more of less absent for the last two episodes. I would have thought she would want the season wiped and happy with the dream idea.

Victoria Principle - Even though she was featured a lot and the first half had potential the emerald storyline stank and I bet Victoria hated it. What was her working relationship like with John Beck? I think she’s said the season was a nightmare so I would assume she was happy for the dream and to have Patrick back.

 

[Laurie!]

Linda has been quoted as saying her favorite acting scenes were in the Dream season so I'm sure she was glad Patrick was back but really disappointed that season was essentially wiped away....then she became window dressing again.

Victoria was ecstatic to be working with Patrick again. Other than the brief grieving period, they really didn't make her character fiery, fierce and battling JR like they should have. So I can only assume Victoria hated that and was counting down the days for her contract to expire. The "a cup of herbal tea" line in response to JR'S threats was sort of a symbol of the writers/director not wanting female power characters sadly.

 

[the-lost-son]

It's a business.
Hagman especially thought the show's future was in jeopardy. Other (Gray, Kanaly, Howard) had big developments during the dream season. After the dream solution they were back to square one. The rest did comment on the dream season and/or the subsequent season; but not necessarily on the dream solution.

A few quotes about the dream solution according to Barbara Curran's book:

Howard Keel called the dream solution appropriate since Season 8 was "a real nightmare".

Katzman: There is no acceptable way to bring a character back who died. How do you do that unless you say.. ok, for a moment you have to go along with us for a moment. Speed is of the essence.

David Paulsen: It was absolutely perfect.

Linda Gray: I was not happy. The last year was a high. I finally got to do what I wanted to do - to act, no more victim. The show wasn't in trouble as far as I was concerned

Priscilla Presley: I'm not complaining, but I liked it when I got to do more scenes with other people.

Kanaly felt that it was nice to have Katzman/Duffy back, but we had developed a nice storyline with Susan Howard which was nicely received. One actor leaving doesn't cause the demise of a show. About the dream solution he remarked that it asks the audience to accept a lot.

A CBS vice president mentioned that a "willing suspension of disbelief was necessary" for viewers to accept Duffy's return.

Note: Katzman wrote the episide together with his son Mitchell.

Joan van Ark: We even named Valene's twins Bobby.. as a tribute to Bobby and Patrick Duffy. We had to ignore it.

Hagman called the dream season the show's worst. "Now I could go dancing. The ladies in the cast all feel better. We've got everything worked out. The spirit us back at Dallas."

Katzman taped several alternate storylines and decoys. Hagman told a people reporter named Kalter that he hoped the "Bobby never died" solution would be used because "I was terrific in that scene." [God, I'd kill to watch that scene.]

 

[Seaviewer]

Katzman taped several alternate storylines and decoys. Hagman told a people reporter named Kalter that he hoped the "Bobby never died" solution would be used because "I was terrific in that scene." [God, I'd kill to watch that scene.]

I believe I've seen a still from it somewhere but I'd love see the whole scene.

 

[Grangehill1]

I actually think that was a bit of a white lie from Larry. I think the photos which I’ve seen were staged but nothing was ever shot on film. The minute they shot the scene of Patrick in the shower they knew is a was a dream resolution and they wouldn’t have gone to the expense of shooting a fake scene. The photos were taken very quickly of the hoax scene

 

[Ollie james]

Tend to agree with Linda On this.

 

[southfork88]

There are photos where a person has the bandages removed from his face and turns out that has the features of Bobby Ewing. Who is he really?

 

[Luke_Krebbs_Ewing]

I believe I've seen a still from it somewhere but I'd love see the whole scene.

Anything would've been better that that ruddy shower scene.



Get knotted Daddy!

 

[Billy Wall]

Some fans said it best and you wonder how professionals writers didn't think of this. The dream should have been Bobby's. I think it would have been a little more accepted.

 

[Rove]

Some fans said it best and you wonder how professionals writers didn't think of this. The dream should have been Bobby's.

The devil in me thinks it was a deliberate ploy by Katzman to put the fault on Pam thereby fans subconsciously blame Victoria because the hierarchy were annoyed she intended to leave the following season.

 

[Grangehill1]

I think the problem of it being Bobby’s dream is that he didn’t know half the things Pam knew so logically (!!!) it couldn’t have been his

 

[Billy Wall]

I think the problem of it being Bobby’s dream is that he didn’t know half the things Pam knew so logically (!!!) it couldn’t have been his

They knew the same people. And there were things in the dream that Pam didn't know. Plus, it's a dream. Dreams, a lot of times, don't make sense.

 

[the-lost-son]

It's surprising in my opinion that only very few cast members (Gray, Howard, Kanaly) criticized the dream solution - not even in hindsight. (http://www.tellytalk.net/threads/cast-reactions-to-the-dream.13387/post-358671)

Especially Hagman and Principal understood TV business. Credibility in continuing primetime drama series is a value which can't be overestimated.

VP (a former TV agent) made some smart remarks about the show's writing in general. She must have anticipated the severe longterm consequences of the dream solution in regards to the show's credibility. Hagman contacted Duffy to return in February '86. (http://www.tellytalk.net/threads/the-timescale-of-katzman-and-duffy-returning-to-the-show.10040/).

It was definite in April '86 that both Duffy/Katzman were returning. There was enough time to shoot/replace some scenes in order to end storylines they did not want to continue (eg. killing off Tony) or to make the dream solution easier to accept. (eg. making it Bobby's dream).

It's not only the idea itself, but also the execution. The production value decreases significantly. @Lastkidpicked summarized that remarkably well in :

Picture quality season 9 (10DVD)

Many years ago in the old forum there was a discussion about a general change in filming techniques. This affected most of TV landscape around 1986. If my memory is correct, JamesfromLondon gave a very detailed description/background about these changes back then. When they released the DVD set...

www.tellytalk.net

The idea to dream away a full season and its cheap, sloppy execution were arguably at least as jeopardizing for the show's future than the dream season itself.

 

[Luke_Krebbs_Ewing]

They knew the same people. And there were things in the dream that Pam didn't know. Plus, it's a dream. Dreams, a lot of times, don't make sense.

Yeah, like last night I dreamt I was awake, then I woke up and found I was actually still asleep!

 

[Jock Ewing Fan]

The Dream Season just wasn't good, and Dallas probably would have been cancelled sooner. Sure, the other actors had more
screen time and story, but the show clearly missed PD.
Some thoughts. I read (I think) that one plan was that Bobby faked his death. I would have preferred that to the dream explanation.
Was the evil twin considered? I am not a fan, at all, of that concept in soaps, but what if Bobby had a twin at birth that was not revealed to Jock and Ellie?
The twin was raised in Europe without any knowledge of the Texas Ewings. Cliff Barnes discovers the twin during a business trip to Europe.
With the return of Jock (Steve Forrest) creating a Jock/Ellie/Clayton triangle, newly married Pam having feelings for both Mark and Bobby's memory,
with an attraction to PD's new character, there was lots of story potential. Furthermore, The twin could be the polar opposite of Bobby's better nature,
as manipulative and amoral as JR, without JR's family loyalty (as loyal as he could be , anyway), a new battle for Ewing Oil between JR and Jock,
with new PD, Clayton, Ellie, Ray and Jack choosing (unlikely?) sides with Jeremy Wendell and Cliff playing both sides against the middle.
It could have been an interesting new direction.

 

[Luke_Krebbs_Ewing]

The Dream Season just wasn't good, and Dallas probably would have been cancelled sooner. Sure, the other actors had more
screen time and story, but the show clearly missed PD.
Some thoughts. I read (I think) that one plan was that Bobby faked his death. I would have preferred that to the dream explanation.
Was the evil twin considered? I am not a fan, at all, of that concept in soaps, but what if Bobby had a twin at birth that was not revealed to Jock and Ellie?
The twin was raised in Europe without any knowledge of the Texas Ewings. Cliff Barnes discovers the twin during a business trip to Europe.
With the return of Jock (Steve Forrest) creating a Jock/Ellie/Clayton triangle, newly married Pam having feelings for both Mark and Bobby's memory,
with an attraction to PD's new character, there was lots of story potential. Furthermore, The twin could be the polar opposite of Bobby's better nature,
as manipulative and amoral as JR, without JR's family loyalty (as loyal as he could be , anyway), a new battle for Ewing Oil between JR and Jock,
with new PD, Clayton, Ellie, Ray and Jack choosing (unlikely?) sides with Jeremy Wendell and Cliff playing both sides against the middle.
It could have been an interesting new direction.

That ruddy dream explanation ruined the opportunity to recast Jock Ewing with another actor.

Steve Forrest was just awesome on the show and if anybody was going to take over from the late, great Jim Davis it should've been Steve.

 

[Lastkidpicked]

There was enough time to shoot/replace some scenes in order to end storylines they did not want to continue.

Very good point, and this isn't talked about a lot. One of the problems with the dream solution is that many storylines ended with no resolution. They just disappeared.

One example is Ray and Donna adopting a special needs child. This was a great storyline and I'm proud Dallas explored it. Then it just disappeared because it was in the dream season.

 

[Seaviewer]

Some fans said it best and you wonder how professionals writers didn't think of this. The dream should have been Bobby's. I think it would have been a little more accepted.

Not by me. It's the wiping away of a year's events that rankles; if that isn't fixed then it's just fiddling around the edges.

Was the evil twin considered?

I don't think that would be acceptable either. It was Bobby the fans wanted back; not just Patrick.

 

[Rove]

One example is Ray and Donna adopting a special needs child. This was a great storyline and I'm proud Dallas explored it.

This is just one example of what Dallas explored and why it was so good. Did any other series - at that time - tell the story of breast cancer the way Dallas did? Despite being a very short story arc I still believe Dallas did an amazing job touching on the subject of homosexuality when it was still taboo. I'll add they did a much better job of it than Dynasty. Then they touched on the story involving Edgar Randolph.

But I do agree the story-arc of Ray and Donna during the dream season was brilliant and one of the highlights of Dallas. Pity the egos behind the scenes scrubbed it.

 

[Mel O'Drama]

I thought it would be a good idea to list the main cast members and give my opinion of whether it was a good or bad year for them and my views on whether they were happy that the dream resolution was used to wipe out the series.

I'm just watching a Ted Shackelford interview that @Julia's Gun posted in the Knots Forum.

His opinion on Pam's Dream (from 7:40 in the first link above) and its impact on Knots is as refreshingly candid as ever. I thought it was worth transcribing here for posterity:


Ted:
That is the stupidest thing I've ever heard of. I mean, the shower. "I had a dream". I thought that was the stupidest thing I ever heard of. What are ya gonna do? I mean, it's like, it impacts so many different storylines that if you acknowledge it, it just all unravels. I mean, it's a very delicate tapestry we weave anyway, on television, so you take one little thread out of it and the whole thing just falls apart. Nobody touched it. Nobody said anything. Nobody did anything.

Interviewer:
They ask you to suspend your disbelief...

Ted:
Right. And then they ask too much. They're asking you to constitute that poetic faith just a little too much.




Knots famously ignored Bobby's resurrection altogether: no doubt at least a factor in it remaining the most consistently watchable - and credible - of the nighttime soaps for the latter part of the Eighties and into the following decade. I'd love to know more about the discussions that took place with its producers, cast and writers around that decision.