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<blockquote data-quote="ClassyCo" data-source="post: 333112" data-attributes="member: 7">There&#039;s a few different threads circling around on the forums about the Peter Richards story line, but I suppose since this is the newest one, I&#039;ll give my two cents on the matter right here. For me, I thought the story-arc was a good idea --- well, in theory at least. On paper, I can imagine how salacious the producers wanted the fling to be: &quot;Oh, so Sue Ellen&#039;s going to cheat on J.R. with a boy half her age!&quot; That certainly sounds juicy, or at least &quot;fresh&quot; enough to give Sue Ellen someone else to step-out on J.R. with. Like so many others have said, the problem with the Peter Richards story was in the execution. I think Christopher Atkins is an alright actor, but he was wrong physically for Peter. He looked far too young, and that made the difference in age between Peter and Sue Ellen more creepily obvious. In some scenes, the age gap was so painfully precedent that it appeared as if Sue Ellen was having an affair with a high schooler that probably didn&#039;t even have his real driver&#039;s license yet. That&#039;s not salacious or sexy. That&#039;s creepy. I&#039;m often drawn back to the memory of the scene where Sue Ellen meets up with Peter and his friends at this little teenage-hangout-style dinner. Peter&#039;s friends instantly recognize Sue Ellen as Peter&#039;s &quot;mother&quot; and it makes Sue Ellen feel awkward. It made me feel awkward too. Linda Gray was 20 years older than Christopher Atkins (and therefore giving their characters 20 years difference in age) and they looked it. Sue Ellen was beautiful, and Peter was handsome, but the obvious age gap is just too hard to overlook. As I said earlier, I think Atkins is a decent actor. I haven&#039;t seen a lot of his work to make a strong judgment, but I don&#039;t think his portrayal of Peter was necessarily bad. Yeah, he gets a little whiny in spots for my tastes, and I don&#039;t like how he suddenly feels guilty about his fling with Sue Ellen and feels the need to rat them both out to J.R. Which that, I&#039;m sure, wasn&#039;t to lay at Atkins&#039; feet -- he was just doing what the script was telling him to do.Had they chosen a stronger, more muscularly older-looking young actor, I do think the story would&#039;ve played better. Right off, I think of young actors like Judd Nelson or Robby Benson (he still might&#039;ve looked too young) that could&#039;ve played Peter instead. Nelson and Benson were both just a few years older than Atkins, but they looked older -- or at least I think that they did back then. I understand why the producers and CBS wanted Atkins back in 1983. He had BLUE LAGOON and other salacious-orientated things on his resume, and they wanted someone popular and young to draw in some younger viewers to DALLAS. That all makes perfect sense from a PR standpoint. But what they didn&#039;t think over was how Gray and Atkins lacked any strong on-screen chemistry (in some scenes it&#039;s not there even in the slightest) or the fact that the age difference was just a little too much. Maybe I&#039;m being too picky. &nbsp; [ATTACH=full]39497[/ATTACH]</blockquote>

[QUOTE="ClassyCo, post: 333112, member: 7"] There's a few different threads circling around on the forums about the Peter Richards story line, but I suppose since this is the newest one, I'll give my two cents on the matter right here. For me, I thought the story-arc was a good idea --- well, in theory at least. On paper, I can imagine how salacious the producers wanted the fling to be: "Oh, so Sue Ellen's going to cheat on J.R. with a boy half her age!" That certainly sounds juicy, or at least "fresh" enough to give Sue Ellen someone else to step-out on J.R. with. Like so many others have said, the problem with the Peter Richards story was in the execution. I think Christopher Atkins is an alright actor, but he was wrong physically for Peter. He looked far too young, and that made the difference in age between Peter and Sue Ellen more creepily obvious. In some scenes, the age gap was so painfully precedent that it appeared as if Sue Ellen was having an affair with a high schooler that probably didn't even have his real driver's license yet. That's not salacious or sexy. That's creepy. I'm often drawn back to the memory of the scene where Sue Ellen meets up with Peter and his friends at this little teenage-hangout-style dinner. Peter's friends instantly recognize Sue Ellen as Peter's "mother" and it makes Sue Ellen feel awkward. It made me feel awkward too. Linda Gray was 20 years older than Christopher Atkins (and therefore giving their characters 20 years difference in age) and they looked it. Sue Ellen was beautiful, and Peter was handsome, but the obvious age gap is just too hard to overlook. As I said earlier, I think Atkins is a decent actor. I haven't seen a lot of his work to make a strong judgment, but I don't think his portrayal of Peter was necessarily bad. Yeah, he gets a little whiny in spots for my tastes, and I don't like how he suddenly feels guilty about his fling with Sue Ellen and feels the need to rat them both out to J.R. Which that, I'm sure, wasn't to lay at Atkins' feet -- he was just doing what the script was telling him to do. Had they chosen a stronger, more muscularly older-looking young actor, I do think the story would've played better. Right off, I think of young actors like Judd Nelson or Robby Benson (he still might've looked too young) that could've played Peter instead. Nelson and Benson were both just a few years older than Atkins, but they looked older -- or at least I think that they did back then. I understand why the producers and CBS wanted Atkins back in 1983. He had BLUE LAGOON and other salacious-orientated things on his resume, and they wanted someone popular and young to draw in some younger viewers to DALLAS. That all makes perfect sense from a PR standpoint. But what they didn't think over was how Gray and Atkins lacked any strong on-screen chemistry (in some scenes it's not there even in the slightest) or the fact that the age difference was just a little too much. Maybe I'm being too picky. [ATTACH type="full" width="514px"]39497[/ATTACH] [/QUOTE]

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