Dallas Couples Ray and Donna - Appreciation Thread

Mrs Bobby James Ewing

Mrs Bobby James Ewing

Telly Talk Well-Known Member
I recently watched the episode Ewing vs Ewing and I love the scene where Jock and Miss Ellie make up in front of Ray&Donna even though Jim Davis was ill at the time. :):( I love them so much and it so sad that they didn’t get to live happily ever after with their daughter Margaret.:):(
 
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DallasFanForever

Telly Talk Supreme
Mrs Bobby James Ewing said:
I recently watched the episode Ewing vs Ewing and I love the scene where Jock and Miss Ellie make up in front of Ray&Donna even though Jim Davis was ill at the time. :):( I love them so much and it so sad that they didn’t get to live happily ever after with their daughter Margaret.:):(
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I love how Ray and Donna were the ones to get Miss Ellie and Jock back together. It made sense since they were part of their feud also.

It would’ve been nice if we could’ve been told that Ray and Donna did reconcile at one point. They could’ve said it in TNT Dallas or one of the reunion movies and said that Jenna and Ray split up and Donna and Ray reunited. Just a thought, I don’t know. It’s not an onscreen reunion of course but it could’ve been done at some point.
 
D

DallasFanForever

Telly Talk Supreme
Karin Schill said:
Yeah the more I think about it, the less I think Jenna & Ray made sense. It was like Donna left him and took his child so he replaced her with Jenna and his brother's child. Ray raising his brother's child would only have made sense if his brother was dead.
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I wasn’t a big Ray and Jenna fan but I did find myself rooting for them to make it as a couple at times. As much as I wanted Bobby and Pam back together, I felt bad for Jenna and Charlie that they were alone again. So I guess I was happy that Jenna and Ray found one another but I just couldn’t get vested in them much after the beginning. Nothing against Jenna but I think Ray with anyone after Donna was going to be a letdown. That’s who he belonged with. They had way too much history.
 
Luke_Krebbs_Ewing

Luke_Krebbs_Ewing

Telly Talk Champion
Karin Schill said:
Yeah the more I think about it, the less I think Jenna & Ray made sense. It was like Donna left him and took his child so he replaced her with Jenna and his brother's child. Ray raising his brother's child would only have made sense if his brother was dead.
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You can blame Leonard Katzman for Ray and Donna splitting up and Susan Howard leaving the show.

Katzman apparently didn't like Howard's views on negating season nine as a dream. She was also a supporter of Philip Capice and presumably that put Katzman's nose out of joint! :(
 
K

Karin

Moderator
Staff Member
Yet we have Leonard Katzman to thank for that Susan Howard was on the show in the first place as she had worked with him previously on Petrocelli. So I think he wrote the part of Donna Culver for her.

Then as for Donna & Ray, they shared more than just history. Their chemistry was great too. They were totally believable as a married couple.:hat:
Ray and Jenna on the other hand didn't have the same kind of chemistry. It didn't sizzle. I think in a way it's hilarious how they made a huge deal out of Ray & Jenna's first love scene in the stables when Bobby & Jenna never shared any steamy scenes like that and yet I think they had more chemistry and were more believable as a couple too.
 
D

DallasFanForever

Telly Talk Supreme
Karin Schill said:
Then as for Donna & Ray, they shared more than just history. Their chemistry was great too. They were totally believable as a married couple.:hat:
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That’s what I loved about them the most. They felt like a real couple to me and by far the most underrated couple on the show.

Karin Schill said:
Bobby & Jenna never shared any steamy scenes like that and yet I think they had more chemistry and were more believable as a couple too.
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Bobby and Jenna were much more believable to me and with better chemistry as well. Ray and Jenna just felt like two characters they didn’t know what to do with anymore so let’s just throw them together with no buildup whereas Bobby and Jenna at least had a nice backstory of knowing each other as kids.
 
K

Karin

Moderator
Staff Member
Actually Bobby and Jenna didn't just know each other as kids. They were each other's first loves. So they must have been High School Sweethearts who were going to get married before Jenna left Bobby at the alter for some reason.

Ray and Jenna on the other hand just knew each other since Jenna was Bobby's girlfriend/fiancée. Sure one can argue that Bobby stole Bobby's girl (Pam) so therefore Ray stealing Bobby's girl (Jenna) made sense. But I don't think it did. I mean Ray and Pam were together before the show started. Bobby & Jenna we saw them being together in season seven and eight. So it was not the same thing at all.

Also most fans wanted Donna and Ray together. So it was a mistake to write them out with one season in between. It would have been better to write them out together.
 
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Karin

Moderator
Staff Member
Thanks @Mrs Bobby James Ewing
Yes let's hope 2022 will be a better year for everyone. It's so sad to think of that we lost Tommie in 2021. I didn't expect that when the year started and he is much missed around the board and I can't post in this thread without thinking of him. :(
 
J

Jock Ewing Fan

Telly Talk Star
I thought that Susan Howard's departure was a significant loss to the show.
I may be mistaken, but I once read that Susan Howard objected to plans for her character to have an affair with
a Washington politician, and the powers that be fired her as a result. I agree with her, it seemed that Ray was always getting the short straw,
and this would have been another hardship.
 
K

Karin

Moderator
Staff Member
I am not sure if Susan Howard was fired or if she was just "let go" when the show was downscaling. I guess since they had paired Ray with Jenna they didn't feel like they had any use for Donna anymore. But I agree with you that Susan's departure was a significant loss to the show just as Steve's departure was a year later. It's a shame they didn't write Ray and Donna out of the show together.

I think the Washington Politician was Senator Dowling, who Donna later ended up marrying. I am glad they didn't expand on their romance on screen as he was really dull. Or what do you think?
 
J

Jock Ewing Fan

Telly Talk Star
Karin Schill said:
I am not sure if Susan Howard was fired or if she was just "let go" when the show was downscaling. I guess since they had paired Ray with Jenna they didn't feel like they had any use for Donna anymore. But I agree with you that Susan's departure was a significant loss to the show just as Steve's departure was a year later. It's a shame they didn't write Ray and Donna out of the show together.

I think the Washington Politician was Senator Dowling, who Donna later ended up marrying. I am glad they didn't expand on their romance on screen as he was really dull. Or what do you think?
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I think that Dowling was really dull, and I think that Ray and Donna were good together and should have exited together. However, I can't begrudge Steve Kanaly wanting to continue with a role on such a popular program.
 
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DallasFanForever

Telly Talk Supreme
Donna and Ray certainly deserved their happy ending. But as much as I would’ve loved to have seen them have that, their ending was very realistic considering their differences and Ray’s lack of self confidence. Their ending is a sad one, with both remarrying other people and Ray not really being a big enough part of Margaret’s life, but unfortunately it’s all too common. They deserved better as a couple, no question, but I guess that’s life.
 
Billy Wall

Billy Wall

Telly Talk Dream Maker
DallasFanForever said:
Donna and Ray certainly deserved their happy ending. But as much as I would’ve loved to have seen them have that, their ending was very realistic considering their differences and Ray’s lack of self confidence. Their ending is a sad one, with both remarrying other people and Ray not really being a big enough part of Margaret’s life, but unfortunately it’s all too common. They deserved better as a couple, no question, but I guess that’s life.
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Well said.
 
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