If the dream hander have happened - what was the plans for Ewing OilAnd JR?

[Grangehill1]

At the end of season 9 JR finally had everything and Ewing Oil all to himself. If the dream hadn’t have happened and Bobby never returned what was the plan?

Jamie would probably be dead so Cliff would have vowed vengeance on JR. But who would have been at the offices with JR discussing everything and fighting? The writers had written themselves into a corner by Pam selling him her share so what would have happened?

 

[the-lost-son]

Ewing Oil being run by the family and all these votings in the living room were a real treat to watch.
It was a big mistake by Capice to end that structure by Pam selling out to JR. We can witness these consequences after Katzman in the following season committed the same mistake again by taking down EwingOil by the feds. Storylines then started to feel increasingly islated, especially MissEllie was lost when the producers no longer could throw her into the fights of Ewing Oil.

What would have happened after the dream season with Capice on board? I assume he would have continued with the Dynasty-vibe of doing Dallas, so:
- Ben Stivers would have turned out to be Jock without any much fuss about it. He would have taken back EwingOil, maybe starting a fight with Clayton whose refinery was in financial trouble by season's end. I assume JR would have stayed as president.
- Cliff would have blamed JR (and Jack?) for Jamie's death. He would have used Barnes-Wentworth to get back at JR.
- JR had dirt on Mark Grayson by season's end (classmate dead after highschool prank gone wrong etc.) which he intended to use against him. (That's why I doubt the often mentioned idea that Pam found Mark dead in the shower to close the season happened.) They obviously planted the seeds for Pam going after JR/joining Cliff in his revenge.

It's really amazong that both Capice and Katzman got rid of one of the show's most iconic elements. It was so easy to fix. They did a great job writing in Donna when she sat in when Bobby was shot. They could have used Clayton in the same capacity as he didn't have anything to do either or new characters which were becoming increasingly difficult to introduce naturally.

Last but not least the whole plot did not make sense: Pam was tasked to "administer" Bobby's shares till "Christopher reaches the age of consent", and not to sell it in less than a year.

 

[Monzo]

I always wondered what would have become of Jenna. Would she have become a regular couple with Jack? Would that have left Ray and Donna a couple? Would Jack have stayed on the show? Would April have ever existed? Would we have seen Mandy in season 10?

Storylines aside, would Dallas have made it to season 14 without Bobby's return? Or significantly less? Or maybe even more?

 

[the-lost-son]

For the ordinary Dallas fans Dalllas consists of JR&Sue Ellen, Bobby&Pam and Miss Ellie who all live on Southfork, Dallas - period. That's what the general fan expects - so Bobby must be on board.

One also has to keep in mind that Dallas was predominantly an international success. They renewed Dallas for its last two (!) seasons combined despite its poor US ratings, its increasingly subpar quality towards the end and a continuing cast exodus.

I strongly assume Dallas wouldn't have lasted without Bobby for 13 years. We've been discussing that for years and decades, I think after 8/9 years the bloom was just off the rose, there was no way keeping that high quality. Dallas was firing on all cylinders for many years and suddenly you simply just run out of gas - or oil to use some Dallas vocab.
In regards to Jenna/Donna...the ex-wive of Elvis obviously had more international appeal than Susan Howard and Dack Rambo/Jack simply never worked despite different showrunners or with/without Bobby on board.

Hagman said after the dream season that he could get another 5 years (of income) and he was not willing to risk that for the guy who was producing it.
That's what we got- for better or worse - another 5 years.

 

[Luke_Krebbs_Ewing]

I'm guessing the original cliffhanger of Ben Stivers revealing to Miss Ellie that he's Jock would've ended season nine.

Jock and JR would've been at loggerheads for a while before they would've teamed up. We might even have had BD Calhoun and the collapse of Ewing Oil with Mrs Scotfield and Jeremy Wendell still play out on season ten.

Jack probably would've remained on the show as the replacement for Bobby and probably would've been paired up with Jenna.

Ray and Donna wouldn't have split up but it's highly likely that Victoria Principal would still have left at the end of season ten. Possibly Pam and Christopher would've began a new life away from Dallas now that she was married to Mark Graison.

It would've been interesting to see what would happen to Clayton after Jock's return. Perhaps he could've had a dalliance with Sue Ellen before being written out as he's paired off with Patricia Shepard Sue Ellens Mother.

It certainly would've been interesting seeing Steve Forrest in the main opening sequence just after Barbara Bel Geddes. It would've echoed the original line up of Barbara followed by the late Jim Davis. I always thought it was iconic having the matriarch and patriarch first and it would've been restored with Steve Forrest now playing Jock.