Larry and Patrick or Linda and Victoria?

[Grangehill1]

During the final years of Dallas who would you rather have left? JR?, Bobby, Sue Ellen or Pam?
Linda and Victoria went and that contributed to the show failing. Would it have made a difference if they’d stayed and one of the others gone instead?

 

[Laurie!]

I used to be a big Bobby fan and I missed him during the dream season but if they'd written the role of Pam better that season and beyond, it still could have been a great show without Bobby.
Pam going up against JR as equal partner of Ewing Oil could have practically written itself for a few seasons...almost what the show was naturally building up to all along. Instead, they brought in Angelica Nero and had Pam searching for emeralds in South America...and giving JR the shares.
So in my opinion, the true big three should have been JR, Pam and Sue Ellen by the later seasons.

 

[Luke_Krebbs_Ewing]

What ultimately ruined the show was the break up of the family. So I would've made a better offer to both Barbara Bel Geddes and Howard Keel for the final season.

As regards choosing between Larry and Patrick or Linda and Victoria this is a difficult question. They're all core cast members however some of them are more core than others. Both Larry and Victoria were more central to the shows success which is why Dallas survived to a certain extent after Pam's exit. However if Victoria Principal had stayed Dallas could've lasted beyond 1991.

I believe it was a mistake to let Linda Gray go inasmuch as it was a mistake to renege on making Steve Forrest a Jock Ewing recast.

The latter half of Dallas is littered with quite a few creative mistakes which damaged the integrity and popularity of the show. Chiefly among them was the resurrection of Patrick Duffy as Bobby. He really shouldn't have come back but if he had they really should not have used the dream explanation to account for it!

 

[Billy Wall]

However if Victoria Principal had stayed Dallas could've lasted beyond 1991.

I’ve heard this over the years and I just don’t see it. Dallas was on for an astonishing 14 years with almost enough episodes to fill a calendar year. I chalk it up to “all good things must eventually come to an end.” Pam was an important character, but was she that much of a ratings magnate that she would have brought in another few seasons? Wasn’t their ratings starting to dip by the time she left?

 

[Luke_Krebbs_Ewing]

I’ve heard this over the years and I just don’t see it. Dallas was on for an astonishing 14 years with almost enough episodes to fill a calendar year. I chalk it up to “all good things must eventually come to an end.” Pam was an important character, but was she that much of a ratings magnate that she would have brought in another few seasons? Wasn’t their ratings starting to dip by the time she left?

No. The ratings only dipped because she left.

Both season nine & season ten (her last season) had more or less identical ratings.

Season eleven (without Victoria) saw a significant drop in the show's ratings.

I'm firmly convinced if she had stayed that Dallas could've lasted beyond 1991.

 

[Snowcat]

No. The ratings only dipped because she left.

Both season nine & season ten (her last season) had more or less identical ratings.

Season eleven (without Victoria) saw a significant drop in the show's ratings.

I'm firmly convinced if she had stayed that Dallas could've lasted beyond 1991.

It’s not just that she left. It’s how she left. The mummy story was unbelievable. Her running out on Bobby & Christopher & no one going after her? Then they jumped into Lisa Alden right away. No one could have lived through that car crash. They should have given her a proper & final ended. Pam abandoned her child after she herself was abandoned? It’s all such a disappointment

 

[Snowcat]

Honestly I think it’s Victoria & Larry. There is no Dallas without JR. He needed an arch enemy & rival. There was an element of love between JR & Sue Ellen and him & Bobby. There was no love lost between JR & Pam. I love the idea of her working at Ewing Oil for Christopher & Bobby

 

[Luke_Krebbs_Ewing]

It’s not just that she left. It’s how she left. The mummy story was unbelievable. Her running out on Bobby & Christopher & no one going after her? Then they jumped into Lisa Alden right away. No one could have lived through that car crash. They should have given her a proper & final ended. Pam abandoned her child after she herself was abandoned? It’s all such a disappointment

That was a character assassination of Pam Ewing because Victoria Principal left.

It wasn't very professional of them.

I still stand by my assessment that that was the worst Dallas storyline in its entire run.

The fickle finger of blame falls directly at Leonard Katzman for allowing that storyline to play out.

 

[Snowcat]

That was a character assassination of Pam Ewing because Victoria Principal left.

It wasn't very professional of them.

I still stand by my assessment that that was the worst Dallas storyline in its entire run.

The fickle finger of blame falls directly at Leonard Katzman for allowing that storyline to play out.

At that point in the series it was the worst. What we didn’t realize is how much worse it would get!

 

[Grangehill1]

Yes I think it’s JR and Pam who are the main characters and the ones most needed