Dallas Divorces

[Kenny Coyote]

Was it a good idea for Dallas to have JR and Sue Ellen get divorced and then have Pam and Bobby get divorced? Or would people have liked it better if they'd had one or both couples stay together and let the audience get to see them work through their problems instead?

Dallas was at its peak when both of those couples were still together. The show kept getting more successful every year that they continued to feature them and reached their peak in season four. Then they started breaking them up and here's what happened:

4 23 November 7, 1980 May 1, 1981 #1 27.6
5 26 October 9, 1981 April 9, 1982 #1 23.2
6 28 October 1, 1982 May 6, 1983 #2 20.5

They lost 7.1 points in two years.

First they lost 4.4 points after JR and Sue Ellen divorced and then another 2.7 points the next season where Bobby and Pam broke up. I'm not sure why they chose to break up Bobby and Pam after losing so much of their audience when they broke up JR and Sue Ellen.

Most of the storylines they had going then seem to have been very well liked. The season six storyline of the contest for Ewing Oil won our poll for "favorite storyline", so there was no problem there. They had interesting things going on, but the fans didn't like seeing either couple get divorced. They really didn't like seeing both couples get divorced. Eventually JR and Sue Ellen remarried in season six, but it's very difficult to regain fans once you've lost them.

The viewers they lost in season five weren't there anymore to see JR and Sue Ellen get back together. Then the people who really liked seeing Pam and Bobby together saw that marriage break up in what looked like a divorce the show created just for the sake of doing it. That created a situation where they lost somewhere around four million viewers at the same time they were featuring one of their best liked storylines. That's not easy to do. Having a storyline as well liked as the contest for Ewing Oil usually results in gaining viewers - not losing four million of them. It was an unusual situation. Exciting things were going on, but at the same time they were damaging value they'd built in their characters.

Dallas had established Bobby and Pam as the couple whose love for each other was so strong, their marriage could survive against all odds. Their marriage could withstand anything. Anything except unbelievably bad judgement from the writers of the show. How bad? This bad:

"Let's have Pam blame Bobby for her mother dying in a plane crash, abandon him, take his son away from him and fly to France with a guy she just met a few weeks ago."

I'd have to think that the lesson to be learned here is:

If you're fortunate enough to have created a couple that millions of people love so much they'll tune in every week to watch them, be careful not to have them act in ways that will take away from that certain something that made the fans fall in love with them.

 

[KayLloyd]

I've always thought that it was a huge mistake to split Bobby and Pam up. They were the glue that held the premise of the show together, and the show never really recovered from their divorce. The very early seasons when they stood united against whatever their families were throwing at them, and were the perfect contrast to J.R. and Sue Ellen's marriage, were the best years of Dallas. Keeping them together with the happiness of raising children together would have helped the show, maybe avoiding the domino effect of Patrick and then Victoria leaving.

 

[Billy Wall]

I think Pam was a good person, but to be honest, Pam really didn’t know what it was to be married. Anytime something went wrong, she was ready to pack up and leave. Without her husband.

 

[CeeCee72]

When you think about Dallas, those marriages and relationships were the core of the show. I didn't mind the divorces so much, both created great drama and the reconciliations were great payoffs for fans of both couples.

Having said that, I HATED the way they wrapped up both marriages and the characters of Sue Ellen and Pam when the actresses left the show.

First we had Sue Ellen doing things she would NEVER do (tricking JR into marrying Cally for instance) and abandoning her son to run off to London with a man she barely knew (with a quick one off line about needing to get on with her life).

And what they did to Pam was even worse. She was always a runner where Bobby was concerned, but I could never believe she left Christopher (who she had loved to the point of smothering) without a word or explanation or goodbye - especially considering how HER mother had left HER.

 

[Laurie Marr]

The fight for Ewing Oil HAD to be high stakes and that’s what made it so compelling. Having Pam and Bobby’s marriage be a casualty of that battle makes perfect sense dramatically. Much more than Southfork went up in flames in the doom laden finale of what was arguably the strongest season of the show’s run.

 

[Chris2]

I hated Pam and Bobby’s (first) divorce. But I have to admit that the show got so much mileage out of it, even if the way they split up was contrived (the letter). The less said about the second divorce, the better.

 

[Toni]

The best of the Bobby-Pam divorce was that they still were in love with each other and it was quite obvious. In this case divorce was just a plot detail and it didn´t really affect the essence of the show. However when Pam became a mummy and Bobby agreed to divorce her...that was something else...:fp:

 

[Kenny Coyote]

The best of the Bobby-Pam divorce was that they still were in love with each other and it was quite obvious. In this case divorce was just a plot detail and it didn´t really affect the essence of the show. However when Pam became a mummy and Bobby agreed to divorce her...that was something else...:fp:

It affected the essence of the characters. When you lose over 10 million viewers in a two year period, you know there's at least one distinct change that the audience notices and doesn't like. What were some of the biggest changes in the show in that two year period? The divorces would have to rank pretty high up there as major negative changes. JR and Sue Ellen got divorced and then the next year they had Pam and Bobby break up. That's too much.

Viewers liked the loyalty Bobby and Pam showed each other. They liked the idea that this was a couple whose marriage could withstand anything, even a feud between their families, because they loved each other that much. Instead, the viewers got this:

"Let's have Pam blame Bobby for her mother dying in a plane crash, abandon him, take his son away from him and fly to France with a guy she just met a few weeks ago."

The fans were never going to look at Pam the same way again after that.

 

[Lastkidpicked]

Viewers liked the loyalty Bobby and Pam showed each other. They liked the idea that this was a couple whose marriage could withstand anything, even a feud between their families, because they loved each other that much.

Good point, Kenny. Especially in the miniseries Pam and Bobby where the two central characters. It was very Shakespearean.

So if you take that away you have taken away the essence of the show. Or at least the show as it was written on the early years.

 

[Kenny Coyote]

Good point, Kenny. Especially in the miniseries Pam and Bobby where the two central characters. It was very Shakespearean.

So if you take that away you have taken away the essence of the show. Or at least the show as it was written on the early years.

Thank you @Lastkidpicked.

Yes, Pam and Bobby as a couple were the original central premise for the whole show! They are a man and a woman who come from families who have such resentment towards each other that their families are feuding with each other; it is very Shakespearean. They then made JR's role much bigger, making him the character who is featured more than any other, but Pam and Bobby remained in crucial roles. They're the couple that was featured the most and what makes them unique as that with all the animosity and bitterness surrounding them, they are the beacon of hope in the show, that overwhelmingly positive element that is based on the idea that they love each other so much, nothing can keep them apart.

The conflict that JR and Cliff and other characters are continually causing makes the show very entertaining and interesting to watch, but the storylines they're involved in are usually very negative situations. Bobby and Pam's marriage is the contrast to that - the light inside the dark. Take that away and things get very bleak. Some viewers don't mind a show being like that as long as the story stays exciting and they did keep the stories exciting even after Pam left Bobby in season six, but for other viewers there does need to be that contrast of having a strong positive element in the show too so that it balances things out.

They didn't even do it in a way where it seemed justified. For Bobby and Pam to have weathered every storm and then to have them break up because the pilot of Rebecca's plane and the pilot of another plane managed to collide with each other and have Pam blame Bobby for it was beneath her, or it should have been. Bobby had been there for her when she was extremely difficult to live with, when she was suicidal, when she was depressed because she desperately wanted a baby and Bobby came through for her time an time again, doing whatever Pam needed. Then the first time Bobby really needs her support, when he's the one who needs something vital to him, she bails!

That's not the kind of couple Pam and Bobby were supposed to be and certainly not what their fans wanted them to be. They took that one incredibly admirable trait - a love that could withstand anything, and reduced it to something much less by having Pam blame Bobby for something he had no control over. Then they further tarnish it by having Pam go on a vacation to France with another man. After breaking up with the man who was supposed to be the love of her life, that instead of her being inconsolable with grief, Pam feels like flying to France with Mark Graison, showed terrible judgement on the part of the people writing the story. To do that to that couple - Bobby and Pam - a couple the show had built so much value in that they were probably the most beloved couple on TV at that time, was like killing the goose that lays the golden egg.

 

[Toni]

It affected the essence of the characters. When you lose over 10 million viewers in a two year period, you know there's at least one distinct change that the audience notices and doesn't like. What were some of the biggest changes in the show in that two year period? The divorces would have to rank pretty high up there as major negative changes. JR and Sue Ellen got divorced and then the next year they had Pam and Bobby break up. That's too much.

Viewers liked the loyalty Bobby and Pam showed each other. They liked the idea that this was a couple whose marriage could withstand anything, even a feud between their families, because they loved each other that much. Instead, the viewers got this:

"Let's have Pam blame Bobby for her mother dying in a plane crash, abandon him, take his son away from him and fly to France with a guy she just met a few weeks ago."

The fans were never going to look at Pam the same way again after that.

I (kindly, as usual) disagree, Kenny. Audience ratings are not science: if they really lost 10 million in 2 years, I'd say that’s what happens when a TV show goes beyond its third or fourth season. It's worn out, and just look at what happened to "Falcon Crest" after its first 3 seasons. Or "Dynasty" after the Moldavia massacre.

I don't think Bobby and Pam were a very stable couple, not even in the beginning. How many times there were big threats to their marriage in the first full year? Quite a few. Pam even left him after Julie Grey´s death. I tend to think the way they thought when the show was being aired, not with the hindsight we have now. So when I saw Pam leaving Bobby in season 5, I didn't think it was going to be permanent. She might have returned the next week (but she didn't). We have that suspense back then. Now we are used to the soap opera clichés and conventions, and see everything coming. Back then we were more naïve and the show was more unpredictable, especially if the viewer wasn't used to watch daytime soaps (like moi).

Also, now we know how the writers and producers worked, the existence of the bibles, what the stars were thinking when the TV season was ending, if the producers intended to renew their contracts, etc. The behind-the-scenes story has become a non-published fanfic that most of us know up to a certain capacity. I soon realized when I watched "Dallas" in the 80s was that every season, at least one of the couples had to go through a terrible crisis. It´s the name of the game, so to say. And someone had to be (apparently) killed in the cliffhanger. But I do think that, for instance, having Bobby and Pam separated and divorced was a way to show us another side of the relationship, stronger than ever beyond what the papers said. Their sad looks said it all. Pam was a bore when she got Christopher...She was much more interesting in the 3 seasons after that, until "Swan Song". Both Patrick and Victoria did some of their best acting in those 2-3 years...

I can´t say the same thing about J.R. and Sue Ellen. I feel they got them together again just because she wasn´t working in the Southern Cross storyline. They said the audience wanted them together, but I say that they wanted (and still want) being entertained, and those episodes are a borefest. So is Sue Ellen in season 5, when she plays the good wife to J.R. The writers turned her into the most stupid woman on this side of Mississipi (or whatever). As much as I love Linda Gray, I hate the person she became then. Until she fell off the wagon, of course, and became our dear old Swellin...How funny was that suddenly, the next year, she seemed to evolve into a three-dimensional character despite the Peter Richards affair. It was easy to feel sympathy for her even being sober, and Linda shined the whole season.

 

[Kenny Coyote]

I (kindly, as usual) disagree, Kenny. Audience ratings are not science: if they really lost 10 million in 2 years, I'd say that’s what happens when a TV show goes beyond its third or fourth season. It's worn out, and just look at what happened to "Falcon Crest" after its first 3 seasons. Or "Dynasty" after the Moldavia massacre.

I don't think Bobby and Pam were a very stable couple, not even in the beginning. How many times there were big threats to their marriage in the first full year? Quite a few. Pam even left him after Julie Grey´s death. I tend to think the way they thought when the show was being aired, not with the hindsight we have now. So when I saw Pam leaving Bobby in season 5, I didn't think it was going to be permanent. She might have returned the next week (but she didn't). We have that suspense back then. Now we are used to the soap opera clichés and conventions, and see everything coming. Back then we were more naïve and the show was more unpredictable, especially if the viewer wasn't used to watch daytime soaps (like moi).

Also, now we know how the writers and producers worked, the existence of the bibles, what the stars were thinking when the TV season was ending, if the producers intended to renew their contracts, etc. The behind-the-scenes story has become a non-published fanfic that most of us know up to a certain capacity. I soon realized when I watched "Dallas" in the 80s was that every season, at least one of the couples had to go through a terrible crisis. It´s the name of the game, so to say. And someone had to be (apparently) killed in the cliffhanger. But I do think that, for instance, having Bobby and Pam separated and divorced was a way to show us another side of the relationship, stronger than ever beyond what the papers said. Their sad looks said it all. Pam was a bore when she got Christopher...She was much more interesting in the 3 seasons after that, until "Swan Song". Both Patrick and Victoria did some of their best acting in those 2-3 years...

I can´t say the same thing about J.R. and Sue Ellen. I feel they got them together again just because she wasn´t working in the Southern Cross storyline. They said the audience wanted them together, but I say that they wanted (and still want) being entertained, and those episodes are a borefest. So is Sue Ellen in season 5, when she plays the good wife to J.R. The writers turned her into the most stupid woman on this side of Mississipi (or whatever). As much as I love Linda Gray, I hate the person she became then. Until she fell off the wagon, of course, and became our dear old Swellin...How funny was that suddenly, the next year, she seemed to evolve into a three-dimensional character despite the Peter Richards affair. It was easy to feel sympathy for her even being sober, and Linda shined the whole season.

Thanks Toni, for the very nicely written reply. We disagree on some things, but as you said, you “kindly disagree”, which I appreciate. It’s always fun to see people’s different perspectives on Dallas and you do a good job of explaining how you see things regarding this.

It may be that most shows are worn out after their first three or for seasons, but Dallas is not typical of most shows. Losing 10 million viewers in two years would have killed most shows! Dallas still stayed in the #1 or #2 spot through season eight, and in my opinion, the show was not worn out at all by season four. I think season six, with the contest for Ewing Oil, was their best season. Considering how many forum members have said the contest for Ewing Oil was their favorite storyline, it surprised me to find out they actually lost 2.7 points in season six from their previous season, roughly 4 million viewers in what many consider their best season. If you consider seasons 5 and 6 to be some of the great seasons of Dallas, and seasons 6 maybe even being their peak, when I realized that they were losing viewers at that time, it was something I found intriguing. That was such an unusual situation that I started this thread so people could discuss it.

How do you lose 10 million viewers when your show is still reaching its peak? It’s my idea that since the stories were so good at that time, that the most likely reason people tuned out is because they were so disappointed that their favorite couples broke up, whether their favorite couple was JR and Sue Ellen, or Bobby and Pam. It’s worth noting that their viewership increased every single year that they featured them as married couples, and the loss of viewers started with the season five, in which JR and Sue Ellen divorced.

It would be fun to be able to ask some of those 10 million people why they stopped watching Dallas during seasons five and six, but those people aren't here. This forum is made up almost entirely of people who kept watching Dallas no matter what happened. We’re the die-hard fans who loved the show much that we felt compelled to watch even as the quality of the show dropped off sharply in the last few years. Since we don't have any of the 10 million who stopped watching in seasons five and six here to ask them about it, we can only speculate as to what heir reasons were.

I agree with you that Bobby and Pam weren’t entirely stable as a couple and yes, Pam temporarily leaving after Julie Grey's death is a good example. I think they had to be that way to make the story exciting. I expected their marriage to certainly be tested because of the feud the two families had going, but I thought they would be the couple that would always endure any test. I considered them a couple who were so intensely loyal to each other that neither of them would ever leave the other.

You mentioned we have the benefit of hindsight, and that’s a good point. Considering what we now know what happened to their audience in that two year period, I believe that the divorces were detrimental to the show. I think it would have probably turned out better if they had kept those two couples together, or at least kept Bobby and Pam together, and allowed the audience to see them go through the process of working through their problems instead of divorcing.

It’s my belief that a show can do pretty much anything it wants to make a story exciting as long as they remember to: Keep things believable and don’t break up your most popular couple!

By the way, are you saying you preferred seeing Sue Ellen when her marriage was going badly, as opposed to when her marriage was going well? That’s funny because I feel the opposite way about Sue Ellen. Seeing a couple have a serious argument from time to time is one thing, but with JR and Sue Ellen we saw them antagonistic towards each other for periods of 4 to 6 months at a time in some cases and that’s a lot of constant negativity. There is only so long I can see the constant fake smiles, Sue Ellen continually saying the opposite of what she means, and the overall nastiness towards each other that we saw between JR and Sue Ellen without it just being too much. Seeing couples in prolonged misery doing their best to ugly to each other is not my idea of a good time. I like to see happy couples!