New posts

A little forum update...We're planning an upgrade.

Find out more about what's planned and how you can help support the forum
Click here for the details

Reply to thread

Message: <blockquote data-quote="James from London" data-source="post: 130906" data-attributes="member: 22">18 Nov 88: DALLAS: Out of the Frying Pan v. 18 Nov 88: FALCON CREST: JeopardyBad boys JR Ewing and Lance Cumson end up behind bars this week, but this time round are more sinned against than sinning — falsely accused of rape and arson/wrongful death respectively. “I didn’t rape anybody — she’s the age of consent. She consented, that’s all,” protests JR. “I wouldn’t hurt Melissa. You know that,” Lance insists. True to form, JR tries to bribe his way out of trouble — “if you help me, you could end up a real fat cat,” he tells the local sheriff —  but as Sheriff Hanks soon makes clear, the normal Soap Land rules don’t apply in this situation: “This ain’t Dallas or whatever you’re from, this is Haleyville. You break the law here, you’re gonna pay for it — but our way, not yours.” Alarmed at the prospect of a trial presided over by a Justice of the Peace, JR promises to marry Cally if she helps him break out of jail. She agrees, but it’s all for naught when the sheriff catches up with them. During a makeshift hearing in the lobby of the local hotel, JR is pronounced “guilty on all counts brought before this court.” He protests that “this is the biggest miscarriage of justice I’ve ever heard of” but for once, no-one’s listening.By contrast, Lance’s storyline contains all the ingredients we’ve come to expect from a Soap Land arrest scenario: an opening montage where his mug shot and fingerprints are taken (the very indignity we saw Sue Ellen, Val and Lance’s own mom subjected to in Soap Land’s early years), a DA with a personal grudge against the accused’s family who sets bail at a million dollars, the hiring of “the best criminal attorney in the country” who comes complete with idiosyncratic personality, a mouthy reporter who goads Lance (“Hey Cumson, they’re calling you the billion dollar baby!”) into punching him on the courthouse steps, and even a sexy star witness, Pilar Ortega (“Hispanic - that could work for us,” muses the attorney). Curiously, the last time Lance was a murder suspect, following the death of Roland Saunders at the end of Season 6, I was so bored I can hardly remember what happened, but this time around, it’s really fun — even though we already know that Melissa started the fire and therefore killed herself. Sometimes in Soap Land, the story itself is less important than how it is executed — and this week’s FC is tight, focused and moves along at a fair lick.While JR is in Haleyville, the rest of this week’s DALLAS feels a little lost without him. Cliff sells Barnes Wentworth to West Star while Sue Ellen accepts an offer to sell Valentine Lingerie to some big corporation, and both deals feel more depressing than dramatic. The most notable business development is Miss Ellie’s strange suggestion that Bobby make Cliff a partner in Ewing Oil. This makes as little sense to Bobby as it does to the viewer at home (“I can’t imagine JR and Cliff even being in the same building together!”), but by the end of the episode he has somehow come around to the idea — and then it’s Cliff’s turn to act incredulous. “Bobby, that’s gotta be the dumbest idea I ever heard!” he exclaims.Whereas DALLAS misses JR being in the middle of things and last week’s DYNASTY felt kind of strange with Krystle existing just off screen, this week’s FALCON CREST manages just fine without Angela. Apparently, parts of the episode had to be rewritten at the last minute when the actress became ill on set, but it really doesn’t show. In fact, this is the best episode of FALCON CREST in ages. (The fact that Melissa is no longer around to screech the house down is a big plus.)Like JR and his adventures in Haleyville, FC’s Emma has her own storyline that is completely extraneous to the rest of the show’s action. That’s nothing new — most of Emma’s stories over the past couple of years have been self-contained subplots that involve her being fleeced by one comedy conman or another, to not very hilarious effect. Her current story, which entails her posing as a secretary in the hopes of nabbing an interview with a reclusive novelist, is no less farfetched, but feels more focused, more substantial than the kind of half-hearted sitcom stuff she’s usually given. In fact, lame comedy is entirely absent from this week’s FC — although I did laugh at the scene where Garth breaks the news of John Remick’s death to Richard. “Somebody shot him.” “When?” “On Monday.” “Where?” “In the head.” “What part of the world?!” Garth’s very funny in this sort of scene precisely because he plays it so straight.JR’s and Lance’s situations take a turn for the (even) worse at the end of their respective episodes. In the final scene of DALLAS, JR is transported to the county penal camp. “How long is Mr Ewing going to be staying with us?” the guard asks. “Ten years,” replies the sheriff. Cut to a free frame of JR looking absolutely horrified. Meanwhile, Lance is informed by his lawyer in the penultimate scene of FALCON CREST that “the DA’s gonna ask for murder in the first degree. It could mean the death penalty.”FC ends with a variation on the fatal showdowns that ended last season’s DYNASTY and DALLAS. Back then, Alexis and Sue Ellen watched helplessly while Dex and Sean, and JR and Nicholas, fought to the death. Now it’s Maggie’s turn as Richard and Senator Ryder (the surprise Big Bad behind the murders of the Thirteen) attack each other in front of her. The exciting variation this time round is that, instead of waiting for the fight to end before picking up a gun the way Sue Ellen did, Maggie already has one in her hand. As Ryder grabs a poker and prepares to deliver a fatal blow to Richard’s skull, everything goes into slow motion and Maggie pulls the trigger. But who has she hit?And this week’s Top 2 are …1 (3) FALCON CREST2 (4) DALLAS</blockquote>

Verification: Who played Sue Ellen in Dallas?