Dallas Random Thought Thread

[Toni]

Wondering if Dr. Ellby was ever intended to be a bed partner for Sue Ellen.
Have you noticed the only person Jeff Cooper had any scenes with was Linda Gray?

Maybe the Doc actually was Swellin´s imaginary friend, someone to talk to, since those b*tches from DOA were, well, that.

 

[Toni]

Completed Season 8- Bobby is now dead. What a terrific send off. I have to say the best cryer award goes to STEVE KANALY AND SUSAN HOWARD. What great acting from everyone.
Season 8 of course feels off for obvious reasons. No one is to check on JR, not too many schemes happening. Linda Gray of course, brings it. He Lost Weekend routine was amazing.
Episode 12 I think....

1. the good things.... Sue Ellen's mother hasn't been seen in a while, good to see her.
2. Omri Katz is a fantastic kid actor! Brings it. He's not cloying or gimmicky.
3. Hagman has some good stuff, he really mourns Bobby. Although why he was ever paired with Mandy is lame. Did he not once say kissing DEBRA SHELTON was like, "Kissing Hitler!" LOL. She's a fine actor, although a tad one-note.
4. Pricilla Presley is less annoying this season. She works well with Jack, who i never really liked as he was not fully formed.

That´s really arguable...

 

[Seaviewer]

Best guess is that he never thought about Cliff and Pam,although Rebecca presumably would have told him at some point

I don't think so. Isn't that why Rebecca refused to acknowledge them until after her husband died?

 

[Seaviewer]

Still watching Season 11. I'm surprised at how blatant April is about wanting Bobby this early in the series. I have no recollection of that at all. I must have dismissed it because I still expected Pam to return in some form. That means their eventual relationship isn't so out of the blue as I thought.

 

[CeeCee72]

Watching the last episode of season 10. Sue Ellen fired Mandy and calls her disposable, Mandy retorts "I'll show you how disposable I am when I leave Dallas with your husband!"

Okay. Right.

Mandy should know that JR would never leave Dallas, Southfork, or Ewing Oil. Planning to win him back is one thing, but was she honestly stupid enough to think JR would walk away from his entire life for her? No wonder Sue Ellen smirked when Mandy said that. It's suddenly clear that Mandy didn't understand JR and his wants and needs at all.

 

[DallasFanForever]

Still watching Season 11. I'm surprised at how blatant April is about wanting Bobby this early in the series. I have no recollection of that at all. I must have dismissed it because I still expected Pam to return in some form. That means their eventual relationship isn't so out of the blue as I thought.

I remember April cozying up to Bobby when Pam was still in the hospital, right? It was still a long time before they were involved in any way but I guess the seeds were being planted early on.

I always get a good laugh at Pam’s reaction to April at the season 10 Oil Baron’s Ball. Little did she know then she was meeting Bobby’s next wife.

 

[Jock's Ghost]

Season 9 still watching.... Zzzz. JR is not his old self. It took me awhile, but now I think I know why. JR is too involved in the family. He's too concerned, too nurturing. Aside from the aftermath of Bobbys death when he snapped at Ray and Gary, he's not said one snide word to Ray or Donna. He's actually been heard getting along.... it felt odd. Use to, he would do some shady business. Go home, get accused, have an arguement and then on with the show.... Now no one seems to care what JR does to be offended.

 

[CeeCee72]

Season 9 still watching.... Zzzz. JR is not his old self. It took me awhile, but now I think I know why. JR is too involved in the family. He's too concerned, too nurturing. Aside from the aftermath of Bobbys death when he snapped at Ray and Gary, he's not said one snide word to Ray or Donna. He's actually been heard getting along.... it felt odd. Use to, he would do some shady business. Go home, get accused, have an arguement and then on with the show.... Now no one seems to care what JR does to be offended.

In a way, I didn't mind the kindler, gentler JR that season. It seemed as if losing Bobby made him realize how important family was to him (especially Sue Ellen, John Ross, and Ellie). Having said that, not sure the show itself could have survived with JR being such a family man. Fans loved JR when he was doing everyone dirty - especially other Ewings.

 

[DallasFanForever]

In a way, I didn't mind the kindler, gentler JR that season. It seemed as if losing Bobby made him realize how important family was to him

I didn’t like the kinder version really. Give me the dirty dealing snake that we grew to love after all those years.

But I did like how Bobby’s death affected him to the point where he showed a more human side by going in Bobby’s office and talking to him despite not being there. That scene always got to me.

 

[CeeCee72]

I didn’t like the kinder version really. Give me the dirty dealing snake that we grew to love after all those years.

But I did like how Bobby’s death affected him to the point where he showed a more human side by going in Bobby’s office and talking to him despite not being there. That scene always got to me.

One thing I did really like about the softer JR is that it seemed to bring out the softer side of Ellie. She showed JR real affection during the dream season. That's the only time in the show I can remember her doing that.

 

[Billy Wall]

One thing I did really like about the softer JR is that it seemed to bring out the softer side of Ellie. She showed JR real affection during the dream season. That's the only time in the show I can remember her doing that.

Miss Ellie showed JR affection many times. JR was not the easiest person to like.

 

[Jock Ewing Fan]

After season 4, I didn't find any of the main characters, or major supporting characters likeable, except for Donna.
Donna was an intelligent, accomplished, attractive woman who could stand on her own, and she didn't
whine and complain every time she didn't get her way, unlike the other female characters.
The male characters were various shades of good and not -so-good, and the writing tended to
emphasize their not so better nature.
I did have some empathy for Ray. He seemed like a good man who was insecure because
he was not as business savvy as his brothers, his wife was so much more successful,
and he experienced devastating personal loss.
JR was probably right in describing Ray's ceiling as a good ranch foreman.
Bobby was not perfect by any measure, but I could understand his
frustration with Pam

 

[CeeCee72]

Miss Ellie showed JR affection many times. JR was not the easiest person to like.

I don't recall any moments of real affection between JR and Ellie outside the dream season, but I could have just forgotten.

And you're right. JR was hard to like - but it was Ellie and Jock who made him that way.

 

[Billy Wall]

I don't recall any moments of real affection between JR and Ellie outside the dream season, but I could have just forgotten.

And you're right. JR was hard to like - but it was Ellie and Jock who made him that way.

The one time she showed JR genuine affection was when JR was down and she gave him a letter Jock had wrote.

 

[Jock's Ghost]

Ellie was a jerk to JR most of the time. He tried to win her approval, but it never worked. The only moments I've enjoyed of the Dream Season so far are the moments of Ellie and JR bonding.

 

[CeeCee72]

The one time she showed JR genuine affection was when JR was down and she gave him a letter Jock had wrote.

I had forgotten all about that. You're right, she was very soft with him then.

 

[Jock's Ghost]

In the middle of Season 9 with the awful Emerald mine BS.

1. If Cantrell is such a good friend of Bobbys, why is he so eager to double cross Pam?
2. Mark is a lot more likable in these episodes than he ever was. He was never going to replace Bobby, but he's not bad. Although his quick to punch someone, even moreso than Bobby is quite laughable.
3. Susan Howard got a terrible hairstyle this season that aged her about 10 years.
4. Why is Jenna STILL in the Ewing's house? An alternative would have worked better had Charlie been revealed as Bobby's daughter. Then she and Jenna would stay at Southfork for a reason. Her Emerald speech was so stupid... Pricilla was one of the most beautiful women ever, but she is very limited in her acting.
5. Sue Ellen as the corporate woman is good. Linda Gray's contributions to the series were often overlooked. Occassionally exploited, but not really appreciated it seems. Her arc from wandering drunk to CEO is quite satisfying. She sparks well with Dr. Jerry. Probably the only man she met after JR that was worth a damn.
6. Omri Katz as John Ross III is still one of the best kid actors on the show. He makes Charlie and that moron Christopher really stand out in their limited forms. Katz and Hagman really spark too.
7. Cliff vs JR battle seems muted and pointless now. It's very revealing how Bobby's death did alter the dynamics of the show, although it doesn't explain some of the obvious dumber elements.
8. Ray and Donna's discovery of their child having Down's Syndrome was quite good. Lots of crying from two of the best cryers ever!
9. Kind of crappy how the Krebs storyline with Tony is trashed.
10. I never got the point or appeal of the Marinos shipping thing. Jack and all his BS....
11. Jack Ewing? What is the point. Was he suppose to play for the vacant Bobby? He's zero charisma and all he seems to do is try to date Jenna, Grace and complain about his "work life."
12. I still say the Ewing cousins should have had JASON EWING come with them. Another Ewing family with their dynamics would have been set.
13. Ewing Oil should have been split up- giving JR his super shark abilities and working extra hard to wrestle control away from the Barnes and the cousins, FOR BOBBY. Jamie should have been her families JR, the money maker, shark. Jack the gambler, wild card.

 

[DallasFanForever]

I never got the point or appeal of the Marinos shipping thing.

Til this day I don’t even understand this storyline. It was all over the place and seemed to keep shifting in nature every single week. I had no problem with Angelica. I just wish they had given her something better to do.

 

[CeeCee72]

The only point of the Marinos Shipping plot was to try to "Dynasty up" Dallas. Angelica was glamorous, mysterious,and dangerous. The masquerade ball was supposed to be glamourous but it ended up looking like a Amway costume ball in a Ramada Inn lobby.

 

[DallasFanForever]

The only point of the Marinos Shipping plot was to try to "Dynasty up" Dallas. Angelica was glamorous, mysterious,and dangerous. The masquerade ball was supposed to be glamourous but it ended up looking like a Amway costume ball in a Ramada Inn lobby.

That’s why I’ve always found that season so incredibly odd as it unfolds. It really feels like two completely different shows over the course of the season. We go from Bobby’s death and everyone mourning him to masquerade balls, lookalikes, emerald mines and the whole world at Jamie’s bedside after her accident followed by the search for Jack. It’s all so strange.