Season 13 rewatch

[Chase Gioberti]

It’s been difficult through the last two seasons but I think I can make it. Three major gripes early on…

Why did they bring back Lucy two years ago with absolutely nothing for her to do? There was ‘nothing to do at the ranch except make unfunny comments about JR. Did someone owe Charlene something?

2. Alex Barton - torture. Did the producers say “Man the Laurel Ellis and Don Lockwood stories were so well received, let’s add another British artist to the storyline here!!” (Season 12 was so beneath Ian McShane.)

3. Whose brilliant idea was it to add that talentless Kimberly Foster to the main cast? They couldn’t have brought back Tracey Lawton instead?

4. (One more). I hate that JR is a bumbling buffoon who is bested in every deal now and Bobby has to explain the oil business to him. I know this has been said a million times but who thought it would be a great idea to have our supervillain become this emasculated? Losing once in a while is subverting expectations. At this point I’m surprised he can get himself dressed in the morning.

 

[Trick-or-Treat Stevens]

3. Whose brilliant idea was it to add that talentless Kimberly Foster to the main cast? They couldn’t have brought back Tracey Lawton instead?

Talentless??? With all due respect ...

 

[Spooky Owl!]

Paulsen said Katzman regarded DALLAS as a cartoon. Larry regarded DALLAS as a cartoon and said so.

That's not what the audience wanted, an overtly satirical version of something that was already a not-so-overt satire.

But there was no one left behind the camera to keep DALLAS on track... KNOTS always had David Jacobs, regardless of which writing team was in place. The first three seasons of FALCON CREST had Bob McCullough, but after he was fired, the show had no one else to keep it in line... Jacobs and McCullough were brilliant constructionists. As was David Paulsen.

But Paulsen left in 1988, in part because of Katzman's desire to lazily turn DALLAS into a facetious shadow of its former self. And Katzman did just that, with seemingly few apologies. It wasn't that the show simply slid, it egregiously slid in a way that seemed to evoke images of Katzman shooting double barreled birds at the camera.

Lucy could have been used well, but she wasn't. Tracey should have been kept on, as she had the most interesting dynamic with Bobby. Michelle could have been used well, but she wasn't. JR's depression could have been portrayed effectively, but it wasn't. Miss Ellie was being shoved slowly out the sliding glass door on the fake patio.

How can any of the characters, new or old, possibly work when the writing just isn't there? At all?

It only took a couple of years for DALLAS to drop from #11 to #61. No mysteries as to why.

Sometimes, I wish Uncle Lenny had tripped over a Southfork ottoman -- not fatally, of course, but just banged up enough to be kept off the set in the later seasons.

 

[Kaleid]

4. (One more). I hate that JR is a bumbling buffoon who is bested in every deal now and Bobby has to explain the oil business to him. I know this has been said a million times but who thought it would be a great idea to have our supervillain become this emasculated? Losing once in a while is subverting expectations. At this point I’m surprised he can get himself dressed in the morning.

My issue wasn't JR getting beat so much, but rather who he was losing to. He always bested Cliff Barnes and other formidable foes early on, and even beat his biggest threat, Jeremy Wendell, with ease. When you rooted for him to lose, he always prevailed. Then in the last couple of seasons, he gets defeated by unlikable yokels that you're actually rooting for him to defeat.

 

[Spooky Owl!]

My issue wasn't JR getting beat so much, but rather who he was losing to. He always bested Cliff Barnes and other formidable foes early on, and even beat his biggest threat, Jeremy Wendell, with ease. When you rooted for him to lose, he always prevailed. Then in the last couple of seasons, he gets defeated by unlikable yokels that you're actually rooting for him to defeat.

And his easy beating of Wendell was so bogus. The result of salary negotiations.

 

[Jock Ewing Fan]

My issue wasn't JR getting beat so much, but rather who he was losing to. He always bested Cliff Barnes and other formidable foes early on, and even beat his biggest threat, Jeremy Wendell, with ease. When you rooted for him to lose, he always prevailed. Then in the last couple of seasons, he gets defeated by unlikable yokels that you're actually rooting for him to defeat.

He wasn't the same JR.
I never understood that.

 

[Jock Ewing Fan]

It’s been difficult through the last two seasons but I think I can make it. Three major gripes early on…

Why did they bring back Lucy two years ago with absolutely nothing for her to do? There was ‘nothing to do at the ranch except make unfunny comments about JR. Did someone owe Charlene something?

2. Alex Barton - torture. Did the producers say “Man the Laurel Ellis and Don Lockwood stories were so well received, let’s add another British artist to the storyline here!!” (Season 12 was so beneath Ian McShane.)

3. Whose brilliant idea was it to add that talentless Kimberly Foster to the main cast? They couldn’t have brought back Tracey Lawton instead?

4. (One more). I hate that JR is a bumbling buffoon who is bested in every deal now and Bobby has to explain the oil business to him. I know this has been said a million times but who thought it would be a great idea to have our supervillain become this emasculated? Losing once in a while is subverting expectations. At this point I’m surprised he can get himself dressed in the morning.

A horrible season, with almost no redeeming stories.
I do think having a unknown son appear was a good idea. The writing didn't make it work.
Gayle Hunnicutt is a good enough actress, who had some good scenes, but also could have been better utilized.
Audrey Landers should have been used more, so should Karen Kopins
I wonder if Karen Kopins was supposed to be like Donna - an intelligent, attractive, accomplished woman who could have been
similarly written
Always great to see Alexis Smith - again, another character who was underutilized.
Stephanie Rogers, Liz Adams - no real impact.
Poor Howard Keel - stuck in a bad Jessica Fletcher storyline
Michelle Stevens - a good character who didn't quite work as well as she could have been.
Also, wouldn't she have been a good nemesis in NuDallas?

 

[Spooky Owl!]

Also, wouldn't she have been a good nemesis in NuDallas?

I still say Jeremy Wendell.

 

[Jock Ewing Fan]

I still say Jeremy Wendell.

I was suggesting Michelle Stevens as a possibility, not the only possibility.
Also, William Smithers (who is now 96!) would have been 85 in 2012,
and had no tv or film credits since 1994 (according to IMD),
and none in 1991, 1992 and 1993.
so maybe he was retired.
So there would have been a recast - oh no LOL!
Knowing how some people are so inflexible about recasts in any way, shape or form,
it would not likely be well received.

 

[Spooky Owl!]

So there would have been a recast - oh no LOL!
Knowing how some people are so inflexible about recasts in any way, shape or form,
it would not likely be well received.

Some folks like to start fights, re-start them, and play the victim. Such that no one can converse with them.

I guess that's fun occasionally, but it's hard to have any constructive dialogue.

 

[Monzo]

Serena and Jessica returned, which was a plus.

The downside was that for the first time, JR had a lover who was completely uninteresting: Diana.

 

[Jock Ewing Fan]

Some folks like to start fights, re-start them, and play the victim. Such that no one can converse with them.

I guess that's fun occasionally, but it's hard to have any constructive dialogue.

Projecting much?
Read your own post.
You are hardly one to talk about basic discourse, or constructive dialogue when you continually mock..almost everything
IE You asked me if I would like an actress better if she wore a bouffant wig. So much for constructive dialogue
I am not starting/restarting anything. You seem to be the one who is intent on such things.
Talking about the reality of how people object to recast is not playing the victim.
Do they not stand by what they said?
Your posts says more about you playing victim
and BTW one of my posts was deleted, when other similar posts were not. Talk about tolerance

I indicated that William Smithers would not be available for reprising Jeremy Wendell, based on age and lack of recent credits.
and that a recast would not be well-received based on the past reactions to a number of recasts in both Dallas and Dynasty.
Not exactly an earthquake of an observation

I do congratulate you on one thing.
Your postings on political matters minimalize almost every dissenting opinion
to the point where posting anything to the contrary is not worth the effort.

 

[Spooky Owl!]

The oil tanker collision, the Pam lookalike story, the bungled Lady Jessica murder spree -- those are the only things I've ever remembered about Season 13. I've only seen it more than two or three times. Jessica should be murdering the Dallas cartel she'd slept with in the '40s and whom she'd been blackmailing for forty years over Dusty's parenthood. The scam exposed, they've decided to stop paying, and Jessica isn't having it... Only the story is executed in a creepy fashion (and not campy) and last much longer than it did.

They needed Paulsen back, and he didn't want to do it.

There is a key year I "remake" in my head for each of the nighttime soaps: for DYNASTY it's Season 8 (and phantom Season 10, which I make out of whole cloth because it never happened at all); for FALCON CREST, it's Season 7.

Always something more focusedly macabre than what they did.

For DALLAS, it's Season 13 (per DVD count)... Find out Wendell's all-too-easy-imprisonment was a scam, have April turn Bobby-crazed (but non-homicidal) stalker instead of his betrothed, learn Jeanne O'Brien was hired by somebody other than J.R., Afton is gradually drawn close to Bobby after she and Lucy take over the Oil Baron's Club, use David Jacobs' idea of Miss Ellie having a local talk show to combat bad press over the tanker disaster (she takes over The Roy Ralston Show after he leaves for a national program) and then alienates the Dallas cartel as her folksy homily anecdotes turn too liberal and pro-environmental (leaving JR to pull the plug on his mama's program by any means necessary), and Lady Jessica resumes her homicidal ways -- but killing the cartel members with whom she'd slept 40 years earlier and had since ceased paying her blackmail demands -- but done in gothic horror movie style (and not campy-silly) for much of the season.

Projecting much?
Read your own post.

Double projection?

I do congratulate you on one thing.
Your postings on political matters minimalize almost every dissenting opinion
to the point where posting anything to the contrary is not worth the effort.

Wow. I had no idea I was so powerful. So I guess I just shouldn't post anything anywhere!!

 

[Jock Ewing Fan]

The oil tanker collision, the Pam lookalike story, the bungled Lady Jessica murder spree -- those are the only things I've ever remembered about Season 13. I've only seen it more than two or three times. Jessica should be murdering the Dallas cartel she'd slept with in the '40s and whom she'd been blackmailing for forty years over Dusty's parenthood. The scam exposed, they've decided to stop paying, and Jessica isn't having it... Only the story is executed in a creepy fashion (and not campy) and last much longer than it did.

They needed Paulsen back, and he didn't want to do it.

There is a key year I "remake" in my head for each of the nighttime soaps: for DYNASTY it's Season 8 (and phantom Season 10, which I make out of whole cloth because it never happened at all); for FALCON CREST, it's Season 7.

Always something more focusedly macabre than what they did.

For DALLAS, it's Season 13 (per DVD count)... Find out Wendell's all-too-easy-imprisonment was a scam, have April turn Bobby-crazed (but non-homicidal) stalker instead of his betrothed, learn Jeanne O'Brien was hired by somebody other than J.R., Afton is gradually drawn close to Bobby after she and Lucy take over the Oil Baron's Club, use David Jacobs' idea of Miss Ellie having a local talk show to combat bad press over the tanker disaster (she takes over The Roy Ralston Show after he leaves for a national program) and then alienates the Dallas cartel as her folksy homily anecdotes turn too liberal and pro-environmental (leaving JR to pull the plug on his mama's program by any means necessary), and Lady Jessica resumes her homicidal ways -- but killing the cartel members with whom she'd slept 40 years earlier and had since ceased paying her blackmail demands -- but done in gothic horror movie style (and not campy-silly) for much of the season.



Double projection?



Wow. I had no idea I was so powerful. So I guess I just shouldn't post anything anywhere!!

Thank You for being so attentive to my posts.

 

[Spooky Owl!]

David Jacobs' idea for the prospective DALLAS movie twenty years ago of Miss Ellie having a TV talk show seems to me a good idea for the series at some point (smells like Season 13). After the Ewing-Valdez tanker disaster and the resulting oil spill, JR goes on The Roy Ralston Show for PR purposes, but it doesn't work all that well. But once Ralston then meets Ellie at, say, The Oil Barons Ball and he's utterly charmed by her, JR brings his mama onto the Ralston talk show a couple of times, she's a hit, and, shortly thereafter, when Ralston's show finally goes national, the local station, wowed by the audience's affection for her, offers Miss Ellie Ralston's time slot... Ellie frets about whether or not she should do it, Clayton is wary of the whole thing, Bobby smirks patronizingly as he always does whenever any woman wants to do anything, but JR wholeheartedly encourages the venture (which makes Clayton even more wary) because JR sees the show as an opportunity to influence public opinion in a way he'd like.

Ellie takes the job, and delights east Texas with her chatter, recipes, celebrity interviews and homespun wisdom -- until she begins revealing her own liberal political leanings and environmental concerns, horrifying JR along with the Dallas oil cartel. So, Mama being unassailable to his criticisms, JR begins scheming to pull the plug on SOMEONE'S IN THE KITCHEN WITH ELLIE as fast as possible -- Miss Ellie almost dying as a result of her eldest son's manipulations.

She survives, but leaves her TV talk show before the end of the season.

But then, I always saw Miss Ellie as the secret star of DALLAS.

 

[Moderator]

This thread is again going off topic with snide comments and tit for tat remarks

Please can it remain on topic and no more baiting, any irrlevant post will be deleted.

It might be a good time to remind posters about the forum rules - found in bottom R hand corner of forum and in particuular this one

Always respect the views of other participants even if they don’t agree with you.

It’s okay to disagree with other members, in fact we encourage debate, just keep the dialogue positive.

Always focus on the logic of the argument rather than the individuals involved in the argument.

Simply put, treat others as you would be treated; respect them and their views, even if you disagree with them.

 

[Chase Gioberti]

I still say Jeremy Wendell.

They defecated all over McCay’s grandson in NuDallas, lol.

 

[Jock Ewing Fan]

Talentless??? With all due respect ...

Kimberly Foster was a series regular in All my Children circa 1994-95, and then seemed to have no more acting credits. Not evaluating her talent. Does anyone know of anything else?

 

[Trick-or-Treat Stevens]

Kimberly Foster was a series regular in All my Children circa 1994-95, and then seemed to have no more acting credits. Not evaluating her talent. Does anyone know of anything else?

She got married and had a family. Her role as Liz Sloan on AMC was her last acting credit.

 

[Piggyrella Sanderson]

3 days ago it was Kimberly´s 63rd birthday, and someone posted these pics on Facebook...