Characters which should have been used once more

[Jabari Lamar]

The poor Black family of sharecroppers, who helped Jock, Digger, and Jason, strike oil, from The Early Years. When the miniseries jumped forward to the 1950's, the young son was there, now as a young adult, dressed fancy and was said to be in law school. I would have liked to have seen him, now as an older man, and his family join the main series, the son could have been in Ewing's family lawyer (although that would replace Harv Smithfield), and could have had some kid who were also lawyers who had grown up as friends of J.R. and Bobby. I like the idea of rich Black family who were loyal Ewing allies because they owe their fortune to Jock.

 

[Angela Channing]

Sometimes the return of great characters doesn't work. I thought Lady Jessica Montford was a brilliant character and so well played by Alexis Smith but when they brought her back they stuck her in an asylum in the dull JR Flew Under The Cuckoo's Nest storyline which was a total waste of the character.

That said, I would have liked to have seen Cousin Jimmy return but with a more substantial storyline.

 

[Lastkidpicked]

Peter Richards (I‘m aware that some didn‘t like his romance with SueEllen. I liked it. It was different to SueEllens usual affairs.

Willie Joe and Jeb Ames definitely had reasons to come back and seek revenge against JR and Bobby.

What about Alan Beam? Maybe he could have come back towards the end of the series out of thin air.

These three ideas have something interesting in common. J.R. made so many enemies that I'm surprised nobody showed up years later to exact revenge. Think about a younger guy like Peter Richards. At the time he didn't have any power going against J.R.
Fast forward a few years. He could become a successful doctor, a successful lawyer, or a successful politician. It would be interesting to see somebody like that come back with success and power behind them to go after J.R.

Could have been fun to watch!

 

[Laurie Marr]

Muriel. Then again, I had heard that she was tipped for a return to TNT as JR’s daughter…..

 

[the-lost-son]

These three ideas have something interesting in common. J.R. made so many enemies that I'm surprised nobody showed up years later to exact revenge. Think about a younger guy like Peter Richards. At the time he didn't have any power going against J.R.
Fast forward a few years. He could become a successful doctor, a successful lawyer, or a successful politician. It would be interesting to see somebody like that come back with success and power behind them to go after J.R.

Could have been fun to watch!

Exactly. In the last seasons I did not really take on Carter McKay because he simple did not have a history with the Ewings. The last nemesis of JR Leeann de la Vega did not work either for me. The storyline was far-fetched to say the least and I was too young to know the connection of"Dream of Jeannie".

I liked Dusty Farlow's return but it was short and somehow pointless.

There were so many characters who had business to settle with JR - Alan Beam, Peter Richards, Edgar Randolph or Katherine.

I would have loved Gary as the final opponent for JR (like in Godfather 3 where Tom Hagen was initially supposed to have been the final rival).

If it had to be a "new" character - at least there should have been a connection to the old characters.

I would have liked another offspring of Digger to restart the Barnes-Ewing-feud.

 

[Luke_Krebbs_Ewing]

Sometimes the return of great characters doesn't work. I thought Lady Jessica Montford was a brilliant character and so well played by Alexis Smith but when they brought her back they stuck her in an asylum in the dull JR Flew Under The Cuckoo's Nest storyline which was a total waste of the character.

That said, I would have liked to have seen Cousin Jimmy return but with a more substantial storyline.

Cousin Jimmy runs and owns a gay bar in Houstan!

So I doubt he'd want to come back.

 

[Lastkidpicked]

Cousin Jimmy runs and owns a gay bar in Houston!

As a Texan, I can tell you that in the 80's that bar would be in Austin, not Houston.

 

[Chris2]

Someone else may have posted this elsewhere, but we should have seen Aunt Maggie Monahan a lot more than we did. She raised Cliff and Pam, and was really the only mother Pam ever knew. But once Rebecca showed up with all her riches, Pam pretty much forgot all about Aunt Maggie.

 

[Lastkidpicked]

Someone else may have posted this elsewhere, but we should have seen Aunt Maggie Monahan a lot more than we did. She raised Cliff and Pam, and was really the only mother Pam ever knew. But once Rebecca showed up with all her riches, Pam pretty much forgot all about Aunt Maggie.

You reminded me of another-- Aunt Lil.
Just a very nice lady from Kansas. A good contrast to the wealthy and sophisticated Ewing family.

 

[DallasFanForever]

At least we got a Kristen return in Conundrum. I hate that episode for so many reasons but at least the premise of the episode allowed for a bunch of characters to make their return. It would’ve been nice if they could’ve brought back so many more of the characters mentioned in this thread for that episode, considering it ended up being the end.

 

[Luke_Krebbs_Ewing]

At least we got a Kristen return in Conundrum. I hate that episode for so many reasons but at least the premise of the episode allowed for a bunch of characters to make their return. It would’ve been nice if they could’ve brought back so many more of the characters mentioned in this thread for that episode, considering it ended up being the end.

Yeah it would've been good to see Christopher Atkins as Peter again back in his signature blue Speedo's.

 

[Luke_Krebbs_Ewing]

Not really a character which was actually seen on screen just talked about. I think the Producers missed a trick by not bringing Jock's brother Jason on the show.

I've heard Steve Forrest's character was originally going to be Jason Ewing before they changed it to being a recast Jock Ewing.

It would've been interesting if Steve Forrest's character of Ben/Wes had been Jason Ewing instead. I remember Jack getting bad vibes off him in season nine. I wonder did Jack think he resembled or reminded him of his Father?

 

[DallasFanForever]

I've heard Steve Forrest's character was originally going to be Jason Ewing before they changed it to being a recast Jock Ewing.

So basically instead of playing Jock who was presumed dead he would’ve played Jason who we were told was dead in season 8 DVD? They sure loved back from the dead storylines, didn’t they?

I remember Jack getting bad vibes off him in season nine. I wonder did Jack think he resembled or reminded him of his Father?

I have to go back and watch this cause I don’t recall Jack’s reaction to first meeting Ben/Wes.

 

[Luke_Krebbs_Ewing]

So basically instead of playing Jock who was presumed dead he would’ve played Jason who we were told was dead in season 8 DVD? They sure loved back from the dead storylines, didn’t they?


I have to go back and watch this cause I don’t recall Jack’s reaction to first meeting Ben/Wes.

It was when Clayton, Ray and Jack were deciding to hire him as ranch foreman.

I need to watch it again myself. Whatever vibes he was getting from him it works even with Forrest being Jock because of Jason being his brother. They certainly did love storylines where characters returned from the dead.

 

[Ollie james]

The shower door...could have thrown bobby back in and avoided the whole dream nonsense

 

[Luke_Krebbs_Ewing]

Wes Parmalee.

The lame way the character disappeared was ridiculous.

He should've been properly revealed as Jock Ewing. For him to turn up at Southfork, briefly talk to Ray who told him the real Jock would disappear off the face of the earth before he broke up the Ewing family and then just vanish was a big disservice to Steve Forrest.

Forrest was great in the role. They shouldn't have felt it was disrespectful to Jim Davis to bring Jock back with another actor.

The character of Jock was badly needed in season ten. Instead the Producers dropped the character mid season and gave Forrest his marching orders.

Such a shame. He was obviously meant to be Jock but the Producers bailed because of a fan backlash not receptive to Forrest taking the role of Jock over.

 

[Billy Wall]

Wes Parmalee.

The lame way the character disappeared was ridiculous.

He should've been properly revealed as Jock Ewing. For him to turn up at Southfork, briefly talk to Ray who told him the real Jock would disappear off the face of the earth before he broke up the Ewing family and then just vanish was a big disservice to Steve Forrest.

Forrest was great in the role. They shouldn't have felt it was disrespectful to Jim Davis to bring Jock back with another actor.

The character of Jock was badly needed in season ten. Instead the Producers dropped the character mid season and gave Forrest his marching orders.

Such a shame. He was obviously meant to be Jock but the Producers bailed because of a fan backlash not receptive to Forrest taking the role of Jock over.

I’m really surprised that fans were THAT vocal in the 80’s. I could definitely see that happening today with the internet, but I wouldn’t have thought that was possible back then.

 

[DallasFanForever]

Such a shame. He was obviously meant to be Jock but the Producers bailed because of a fan backlash not receptive to Forrest taking the role of Jock over.

But did the producers bail because of the backlash necessarily? Or was he not meant to be Jock all along? I keep hearing and reading both theories. I remember hearing the backlash from the fans as the episodes aired back then but if the barbecue episode that season was filmed when we assume it was filmed then they really never intended for him to be Jock. Am I looking at this correctly?

 

[DallasFanForever]

I’m really surprised that fans were THAT vocal in the 80’s. I could definitely see that happening today with the internet, but I wouldn’t have thought that was possible back then.

Believe it or not, there was once upon a time when people actually wrote letters and mailed them and called the networks to complain about their shows. Now we call it social media.

 

[Richard Channing]

Martha Randolph was absolutely dynamite in this scene in early season 8 where she barges into JR's office and gives him a dressing down, calling him evil through and through. She was so good I really thought they should keep her around a bit longer as an adversary for JR. She certainly had good reason to seek revenge on him.