Dallas Character The Most Hated Character on "Dallas"

Crimson

Telly Talk Star
Oh I loved Patricia. She was so self-righteous, shallow, and superficial. Perfect soap material.

I always find it interesting how people respond to questions like this. Some characters are meant to be hated. I'm pretty sure no one involved thought Patricia was going to be likeable. I think she was a great and underused character, because she was so unlikeable.

I pretty much disliked every regular or semi-regular character that was introduced from 1987 and beyond. From the classic years, I really can’t stand the Presley version of Jenna, from Bobby’s ”death” on.

I mostly agree with this. There are really no characters during DALLAS' first half or so that I truly hated, and no characters introduced after that midway point that I particularly liked.

To pick one character I hated above all others, I'll go with whoever the heck Susan Lucci played. That character single handedly caused me to stop watching DALLAS. I didn't like or understand the character, and couldn't shake the feeling that whatever the writers were up to with her (i.e., killing April), they should have just used Katherine for some closure.
 

Sarah

Moderator Emerita
I always find it interesting how people respond to questions like this. Some characters are meant to be hated. I'm pretty sure no one involved thought Patricia was going to be likeable. I think she was a great and underused character, because she was so unlikeable.



I mostly agree with this. There are really no characters during DALLAS' first half or so that I truly hated, and no characters introduced after that midway point that I particularly liked.

To pick one character I hated above all others, I'll go with whoever the heck Susan Lucci played. That character single handedly caused me to stop watching DALLAS. I didn't like or understand the character, and couldn't shake the feeling that whatever the writers were up to with her (i.e., killing April), they should have just used Katherine for some closure.
Shiela Foley and that is a brilliant response. Not only about Patricia but about a character that made you actually stop watching! Wow.

For me it is obviously Mandy Winger. A nastier more self absorbed manipulative full of herself entitled bitch I have never come across. And she wasn’t beautiful- she was vacant and basic. I always said had she cheated with Bobby it would have led to her being more despised, but because of how she manipulated and used and spoke to Sue Ellen, she will forever be the One I Despise.

I could happily have seen her shot in the face and felt nothing but sheer joy.
 

Snarky Oracle!

Telly Talk Supreme
I always find it interesting how people respond to questions like this. Some characters are meant to be hated. I'm pretty sure no one involved thought Patricia was going to be likeable. I think she was a great and underused character, because she was so unlikeable.

There is a subjective tendency for a lot of people to almost fetishize certain characters, or despise other characters who get in the way of that. I have no problem with loving the character of Sue Ellen but knowing I'd hate her if she existed in real life. I can enjoy watching Jock and JR, but still recognize they were horrible people with sociopathic leanings and not to be admired for their "power and success."

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the-lost-son

Telly Talk Well-Known Member
There is a subjective tendency for a lot of people to almost fetishize certain characters, or despise other characters who get in the way of that.
Exactly. I think the first time I strongly disliked a character was in "Married with children" when I was watching it as a teenager. They came quite close to jump the shark when they introduced a generally unpopular child character "Seven". It changed the show significantly, consequently he was written off without explanation.

The last 5 years of Dallas have been very disappointing for me. I watched it once in a 90s rerun and won't watch it again. I stayed to this very end, because I was hoping for improvement which unfortunately never came. It's easy to blame individual characters like James, Michelle, Cally and their likes for the poor quality, but at time that the bloom was just off the rose. The same goes for the Ramos in TNT Dallas. It's easy to blame 1-2 characters/actors if a product detoriates/isn't as hoped for.
But it all comes down to the writing. If the writing is great like in season 3 (DVD4), nobody ( Leslie Stewart included ) can spoil that for me.

There are characters which I like, love and dislike. But I don't watch TV to hate someone, Before that happens, I'll change the Programme or do sth. else. There are plenty alternatives out there.
 
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Sarah

Moderator Emerita
There is a subjective tendency for a lot of people to almost fetishize certain characters, or despise other characters who get in the way of that. I have no problem with loving the character of Sue Ellen but knowing I'd hate her if she existed in real life. I can enjoy watching Jock and JR, but still recognize they were horrible people with sociopathic leanings and not to be admired for their "power and success."

.
Guess it’s the same for people who have an irrational hatred of April or Jenna (PP) , even though Pam dumped him both times.

But then it’s Pam. Bit like dissing the Blessed Virgin.
 

Luke_Krebbs_Ewing

Telly Talk Champion
I've noticed there was no mention of Ben Stivers/Wes Parmalee as a character that was hated.

I would've thought there was plenty of Dallas fans who might've hated him because of Jim Davis, considering that he claimed he was Jim's character Jock Ewing. :)
 

Snarky Oracle!

Telly Talk Supreme
Guess it’s the same for people who have an irrational hatred of April or Jenna (PP) , even though Pam dumped him both times.

But then it’s Pam. Bit like dissing the Blessed Virgin.

I agree hating April or Jenna is ridiculous (although I hate how they shoe-horned April's character just to pair her with Bobby). But viewers aren't always rational.
 

Garry

Telly Talk Fan
I go on and off Dallas characters all the time. A long time viewer will notice little annoying things over the years. But I have very little time for Nicholas Pearce who didn't really add much to the show. There wasn't much chemistry between he and Sue Ellen either and the mafia sub plot later in his season turned into one big bore fest. I don't think anybody really cared if he and his family lived or died.

Harrison "Dandy Dandridge" was another that troubled me. Bert Remsen was a great character actor but Dandy only really came on as a filler so Ken Kercheval had something to do after the loss of Victoria Principal. Viewers were used to seeing Afton, Mandy and Jamie lurk around Cliff's town house. Dandy wasn't exactly in the same league.

Another problem was Laurel Ellis. You could almost see the strings.

It's no coincidence that I find the most annoying Dallas characters in the season that I'm most critical off. With the loss of V Principal and S Howard Dallas really needed to up its game in Season 11 and with the magic writing team of Katzman/ Paulsen/ Lewis back together again I was hoping for big things. You know a long running show is in trouble when producers bring in a host of new "exciting" characters and Season 11 had more new faces than any other Dallas season. But it just proved that Leonard Katzman had become creatively dried up and the show was now in the slippery slope.
 
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Snarky Oracle!

Telly Talk Supreme
It's no coincidence that I find the most annoying Dallas characters in the season that I'm most critical off. With the loss of V Principal and S Howard Dallas really needed to up its game in Season 11 and with the magic writing team of Katzman/ Paulsen/ Lewis back together again I was hoping for big things. You know a long running show is in trouble when producers bring in a host of new "exciting" characters and Season 11 had more new faces than any other Dallas season. But it just proved that Leonard Katzman had become creatively dried up and the show was now in the slippery slope.

I know. It's so tempting to blame the (lack of a) spring hiatus in 1987 for Season 11's problems, but those problems just got worse over the next three years, especially with -- dare I say it again?? -- Paulsen gone.
 
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Crimson

Telly Talk Star
I can enjoy watching Jock and JR, but still recognize they were horrible people with sociopathic leanings and not to be admired for their "power and success."

I think too that language lacks the nuance to differentiate meaning in this instance.

I hated Shiela Foley (thanks @Scream Queen Sarah ) because she was a lousy character and I wish she had never been on DALLAS.

I 'hated' Patricia because she was a terrific character and I wish she had been on DALLAS more.

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cws

Formerly kcmimichar
Shiela Foley and that is a brilliant response. Not only about Patricia but about a character that made you actually stop watching! Wow.

For me it is obviously Mandy Winger. A nastier more self absorbed manipulative full of herself entitled bitch I have never come across. And she wasn’t beautiful- she was vacant and basic. I always said had she cheated with Bobby it would have led to her being more despised, but because of how she manipulated and used and spoke to Sue Ellen, she will forever be the One I Despise.

I could happily have seen her shot in the face and felt nothing but sheer joy.
I never really cared for Deborah Shelton either.
 

Laurie!

Telly Talk Fan
For me personally, it was Sue Ellen and a close 2nd was JR. I at least understood the entertainment value of JR but Sue Ellen was just alien to me as a child watching...and I still to this day, fast forward her scenes as an adult. They were both such one- dimensional characters. Partly because Larry played the role like he was always about to burst out laughing, even during what was supposed to be a serious scene...and aside from an occasional lip quiver, Sue Ellen looked like a robot without any layers of emotion beneath the surface.

When Sue Ellen wasn't struggling with the earth shattering importance of what silverware to use for the next Daughters of the Alamo meeting, she was just trying to shoe-horn her way into existence in JR's brain. I guess I just didn't grow up with that kind of sub-servient, spineless females in my life to want to give a damn about such a narcissistic, masochistic, shallow person.

Cliff had layers that I wanted to see pulled back and so did Pam. There was so much to explore with those characters but SE and JR were just drink, cheat and repeat. Although, I did crave the showdowns between Pam and JR but they were far too rare. I would have paid to see that during the dream season...just like I paid to see E.T., Footloose or NeverEnding Story.

We were supposed to hate SE and JR so I guess I'm normal, lol.
 
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