The Way Bobby Treated Jenna

[DallasFanForever]

When I see the early episodes with the Priscilla Presley Jenna, she was trying hard to protect her heart from Bobby. But he kept pushing even though he wasn’t over Pam. I thought that was very selfish of him

I think a lot of it had to do with the fact that Pam was moving on with Mark and Bobby was left feeling very lonely. He had known Jenna a very long time and there was a certain degree of comfort with her for him. Not a reason to push her, of course, but I think that was his rationale.

 

[Luke_Krebbs_Ewing]

I think a lot of it had to do with the fact that Pam was moving on with Mark and Bobby was left feeling very lonely. He had known Jenna a very long time and there was a certain degree of comfort with her for him. Not a reason to push her, of course, but I think that was his rationale.

I think he was secretly hoping to get back with Pam but when Pam told him that she was going to marry Mark his hopes were dashed.

He probably did love Jenna but he loved Pam more.

 

[Mustard]

He also bended over backwards to keep her ungrateful self out of jail. And for whatever reason that no one understands, she leads Bobby for years into thinking that Charlie might be his daughter.

Well, if you watch the Morgan Fairchild as Jenna episode, that paternal issue was all resolved (i.e. Charlie wasn't Bobby's). And in the Francine Tacker as Jenna episodes, Naldo is even becoming quite a good father to Charlie according to Jenna. All this was pretty much jettisoned a few years later.

 

[DallasFanForever]

Well, if you watch the Morgan Fairchild as Jenna episode, that paternal issue was all resolved (i.e. Charlie wasn't Bobby's). And in the Francine Tacker as Jenna episodes, Naldo is even becoming quite a good father to Charlie according to Jenna. All this was pretty much jettisoned a few years later.

A curious rewrite of history considering it was less than four years later at that point. I’m guessing they couldn’t come up with anything else to create drama between Bobby and Jenna #3 and so they decided to change course, figuring we had forgotten.

 

[Snarky Oracle!]

Re-writing faux history is okay as long as it's acknowledged (which it rarely is) a la an umbrella explanation which accounts for all the inconsistencies or, barring that, the "somebody lied" or "somebody can't remember" scenario.

It's all I ask for.

But, noooooooooooooooooo.....

'

 

[Toni]

Jennas 2 & 3 were robots, especially Presley. They had limited memory capacity hence Prissy´s pauses when she looked away all confused (her batteries were almost finished).

"Bobby looooved emer....." (Beep)
​

 

[Mustard]

Jennas 2 & 3 were robots, especially Presley. They had limited memory capacity hence Prissy´s pauses when she looked away all confused (her batteries were almost finished).

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"Bobby looooved emer....." (Beep)
​

I think Francine Tacker was the best of the Jennas. A confident woman with high self-esteem. She could stand up to Pam and Bobby better than the others as well, having the best chemistry with Victoria Principal and Patrick Duffy. I can believe her most as Bobby's first love and as a possible threat to Bobby and Pam if she stuck around.

 

[DallasFanForever]

I think Francine Tacker was the best of the Jennas. A confident woman with high self-esteem. She could stand up to Pam and Bobby better than the others as well, having the best chemistry with Victoria Principal and Patrick Duffy. I can believe her most as Bobby's first love and as a possible threat to Bobby and Pam if she stuck around.

I enjoyed Francine in the role also and for a lot of the reasons you mentioned. I wish she would’ve stayed around longer during that time.

 

[Snarky Oracle!]

I think Francine Tacker was the best of the Jennas. A confident woman with high self-esteem. She could stand up to Pam and Bobby better than the others as well, having the best chemistry with Victoria Principal and Patrick Duffy. I can believe her most as Bobby's first love and as a possible threat to Bobby and Pam if she stuck around.

Exactly right. Tacker may have been "less glamorous' (ie, a larger nose with flatter hair unwisely parted in the middle) but she was the strongest actress among the three Jennas and there was nothing robotic about her.

Fairchild was an acceptable entry-level Jenna, but more predatory than Presley's Jenna would be. The more-naive Bobby of the earliest seasons might have bought Fairchild's opportunistic strategies as being mostly benign and innocent, but the later, smugger Bobby would only have settled for the more docile Presley version.

Fairchild's Jenna would have instinctively known to steer clear of Pam's viperish rage (as did the actress, which is allegedly why she refused to return in 1983) while Tacker's Jenna had no reluctance to combat Pam face to face or, if need be, fist to fist.

Poor Presley's Jenna didn't even mind if Captain Drebin complimented her beaver.

 

[Chris2]

I also agree that Francine Tacker’s Jenna was the one that Bobby would most likely go for. Jenna’s background was the girl-next-door that Bobby was supposed to marry, but her head got turned by someone more exciting that the boy she grew up with. That’s a tried-and-true trope. I think Tacker’s problem was that her look wasn’t right, and she was a bit serious. The girl next door should be cute and vivacious, if we want to follow the stereotype, especially if she’s the kind who ran off to Europe on the spur of the moment.

Morgan Fairchild is a charismatic performer, but I didn’t buy her as the girl next door, at all. Didn’t buy that she grew up on a ranch - too glamorous.
I could have bought Priscilla Presley as the girl next door if she had any kind of acting range, but she had the right look, especially during her early episodes.

i think, ultimately, that Jenna was a huge missed opportunity for the show.

 

[Luke_Krebbs_Ewing]

I also agree that Francine Tacker’s Jenna was the one that Bobby would most likely go for. Jenna’s background was the girl-next-door that Bobby was supposed to marry, but her head got turned by someone more exciting that the boy she grew up with. That’s a tried-and-true trope. I think Tacker’s problem was that her look wasn’t right, and she was a bit serious. The girl next door should be cute and vivacious, if we want to follow the stereotype, especially if she’s the kind who ran off to Europe on the spur of the moment.

Morgan Fairchild is a charismatic performer, but I didn’t buy her as the girl next door, at all. Didn’t buy that she grew up on a ranch - too glamorous.
I could have bought Priscilla Presley as the girl next door if she had any kind of acting range, but she had the right look, especially during her early episodes.

i think, ultimately, that Jenna was a huge missed opportunity for the show.

One thing I will give the character is the uniqueness of the first name and it's use in popular culture.

The actress Jenna Coleman who starred opposite both Matt Smith & Peter Capaldi in Doctor Who is named after the character. Her grandmother was apparently a big fan of Dallas and that's why she's called Jenna.

This is testament to how popular Dallas was in the United Kingdom back in the 1980's.

 

[Luke_Krebbs_Ewing]

A curious rewrite of history considering it was less than four years later at that point. I’m guessing they couldn’t come up with anything else to create drama between Bobby and Jenna #3 and so they decided to change course, figuring we had forgotten.

Either that or Pam actually dreamt those episodes and they never happened after all.

 

[Chris2]

Very possible. Who really knows how much of the series Pam dreamed. Perhaps she never married Bobby at all, and the whole series was a fantasy that happened while she was taking care of drunk Digger. The final episode could have been Margaret Michaels’ Pam waking up. She even dreamed that she was prettier.

 

[KayLloyd]

I also agree that Francine Tacker’s Jenna was the one that Bobby would most likely go for. Jenna’s background was the girl-next-door that Bobby was supposed to marry, but her head got turned by someone more exciting that the boy she grew up with. That’s a tried-and-true trope. I think Tacker’s problem was that her look wasn’t right, and she was a bit serious. The girl next door should be cute and vivacious, if we want to follow the stereotype, especially if she’s the kind who ran off to Europe on the spur of the moment.

Morgan Fairchild is a charismatic performer, but I didn’t buy her as the girl next door, at all. Didn’t buy that she grew up on a ranch - too glamorous.
I could have bought Priscilla Presley as the girl next door if she had any kind of acting range, but she had the right look, especially during her early episodes.

i think, ultimately, that Jenna was a huge missed opportunity for the show.

Morgan's friendly gesture of putting her hand on Victoria's shoulder in the old photo that Victoria posted on her Instagram account shows that it wasn't Victoria who Morgan had a problem with on the Dallas set. Larry Hagman was probably the one who made Morgan feel uncomfortable by making an inappropriate lewd pass at her.

 

[Snarky Oracle!]

Morgan's friendly gesture of putting her hand on Victoria's shoulder in the old photo that Victoria posted on her Instagram account shows that it wasn't Victoria who Morgan had a problem with on the Dallas set. Larry Hagman was probably the one who made Morgan feel uncomfortable by making an inappropriate lewd pass at her.

The picture proves that? Well, Larry did yank out Victoria's top and look inside when the helicopter was landing at the 1986 barbecue.

But that just proves Larry was an inappropriate, pre-MeToo flirt, but does that have anything to do with Fairchild?

 

[KayLloyd]

The picture proves that? Well, Larry did yank out Victoria's top and look inside when the helicopter was landing at the 1986 barbecue.

But that just proves Larry was an inappropriate, pre-MeToo flirt, but does that have anything to do with Fairchild?

The picture proves that? Well, Larry did yank out Victoria's top and look inside when the helicopter was landing at the 1986 barbecue.

But that just proves Larry was an inappropriate, pre-MeToo flirt, but does that have anything to do with Fairchild?

No, but Larry, Patrick, and Ken were the only other adults other than Victoria that Fairchild worked with on the Dallas set, and I really don't see Patrick or Ken crossing the line to make Fairchild feel uncomfortable enough to give up good money to play Jenna again. Larry wasn't just a "flirt", he had a long history of very unprofessional and inappropriate behavior in addition to grabbing Victoria's top. He peed all over the IDOJ set to show his displeasure, and put a banana down his pants and drooled at Mary Crosby. Whatever happened with Fairchild, it was serious enough that the money from being on Dallas wasn't worth it to her, and Larry is the only one of the 3 men whose behavior fits.

 

[Snarky Oracle!]

No, but Larry, Patrick, and Ken were the only other adults other than Victoria that Fairchild worked with on the Dallas set, and I really don't see Patrick or Ken crossing the line to make Fairchild feel uncomfortable enough to give up good money to play Jenna again. Larry wasn't just a "flirt", he had a long history of very unprofessional and inappropriate behavior in addition to grabbing Victoria's top. He peed all over the IDOJ set to show his displeasure, and put a banana down his pants and drooled at Mary Crosby. Whatever happened with Fairfield, it was serious enough that the money from being on Dallas wasn't worth it to her, and Larry is the only one of the 3 men whose behavior fits.

I don't doubt Larry was a masher.

 

[Snowcat]

In my perfect world, Jenna would be released from prison and tell the Bobster: "Honey, I´ve been thinking a lot in there, and I realized I never loved you. I miss the big time living in Europe and being the Morgan Fairchild I always was. So kiss Charlie goodbye and bye-bye baby!"

So Jenna gives Bobby what he wants, and leaves the SF at last. She would prove to have a bit more of pride and character, just like the two previous incarnations. Besides, if Bobby was going to be killed, who wanted Jenna still in the show? Also this:

View attachment 19421
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I wanted to post this particular scene but didn´t find it online. As many of you must remember, it was Jenna herself who noticed that Bobby didn´t seem to be too excited by the idea of marrying her. So she broke their engagement after Lucy´s departure in the "Swan Song" episode. Aside from being (probably) Presley´s best scene ever, it sort of implied that Bobby was allowed to do what he wanted the most: proposing to Pam again, which he did. So I think that he was morally ok with it. But it´s just my 2 cents. Of course, in real life everything might be different, but "Dallas" is not real life. It´s much better.

I love your version of the end of Bobby and Jenna so much more! The PP version of Jenna was so much more desolate than how she was initially portrayed. Jenna was proud & beautiful and manipulative. She should have left the show after she & Bobby ended. The Ray storyline completely ruined her character.

 

[Ray_Krebbs]

Perhaps Jenna could have married Bobby but got gunned down in Paris instead of April. This could happen while Pam is still around. She is a great comfort, and they eventually get back together. That could lead to drama with Charlie, who is living at the ranch

 

[Snarky Oracle!]

Perhaps Jenna could have married Bobby but got gunned down in Paris instead of April. This could happen while Pam is still around. She is a great comfort, and they eventually get back together. That could lead to drama with Charlie, who is living at the ranch

Jenna and April dying together in Paris seems an inspired idea.

And Charlie perpetually stomping around the house on Southfork in a tantrum to get whatever she "wants" would certainly have brought clarity to the closing seasons.