Missed Opportunities
- Thread starter Kenny Coyote
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Herofan
Telly Talk Active Member
I think they missed an opportunity to give Jeremy Wendell’s character a much bigger role at some point. I thought he had a great personality to by JRs arch enemy. Perhaps William Smithers didn’t want a bigger role. It’s odd that they brought in George Kennedy and then gave Westar and it’s leader a bigger role than ever before.
Billy Wall
Telly Talk Dream Maker
By the time the original Dallas ended, both JR and particularly Sue Ellen was too old to have another child. But I think it was a missed opportunity to not have JR’s child with Cally show up on TNT Dallas.
Kenny Coyote
Telly Talk Star
I would have liked for JR and Sue Ellen to have a daughter. Just a few days ago in the thread Season 10 Episode When JR Confronts Sue Ellen about BD Calhoun I made the following comment:
"Suppose they'd committed to having JR achieve that and they had storylines where we saw him put forth the effort to make the changes that would allow him to achieve his goal. If he becomes a better, more mature, more considerate man, then they could have JR and Sue Ellen's marriage finally become good! They could have had another child. I think seeing how JR would act towards a daughter of his own and how he'd raise her would have created some great TV!"
Oh no it shouldn't have happened after the show but earlier, like in the season she had the miscarriage.
Yes they brought back Cally but missed her child. However I missed them bringing on Lucas even more.
I have always felt that way as well. JR and Sue Ellen having a daughter after John Ross would have added to the show and on Dallas TNT she, along with John Ross and Christopher would have added some drama. I would not have made her like Lucy however.
Kenny Coyote
Telly Talk Star
I agree. I'd have liked for them to have made William Smithers a member of the main cast. He was much more interesting in the role of the man who ran Westar than George Kennedy was. He was a much more formidable adversary for JR than Cliff ever was. Cliff was so repellent that it was satisfying to see JR grind him out under his heel like a roach, even though just like a roach, Cliff kept on coming back. After a while though, seeing JR face a more serious adversary would have been a nice change. Smithers played Wendell perfectly. I think he provided a better adversary than Carter McKay did. George Kennedy could act too, but he wasn't even close to being on Smithers' level in the role of running Westar.
The only thing that comes to mind at the moment as to why they might have gone with McKay is he had a daughter, whereas Wendell didn't and they wanted to repeat that story of Bobby being in love with the daughter of a man who hated Bobby's family. The original is always the best. They would have been better of trying something they hadn't already done better before.
Kenny Coyote
Telly Talk Star
A particular thing I would have loved to have seen them do is have a scene that would have been a confrontation between Jock and Wendell. They already had William Smithers in the show before Jim Davis died, so it could have been done. They might have done something along the lines of having Wendell threaten Ewing Oil after Bobby reneged on his agreement to sell oil to Wendell. I picture Bobby having a drink at the Cattleman's Club. Wendell walks over to his table and makes a threat. Jock walks in, a few minutes late to meet Bobby there, and overhears Wendell's threat. Then all hell breaks loose.