The WORST casting choice in Dallas history

[Jimmy Todd]

@Snarky Oracle , why they didn't make you a writer for Dynasty, I'll never know. Great idea

 

[Snarky Oracle!]

@Snarky Oracle , why they didn't make you a writer for Dynasty, I'll never know. Great idea

I knoooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooow!!!

 

[Luke_Krebbs_Ewing]

I knoooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooow!!!

Oh good grief no!

Wes Parmalee would never have been revealed as Blake Carrington then!

 

[Monzo]

Susan Lucci is one of the very few daytime soap actors that is known in pop culture. It was surprising that of all the primetime soaps she ended up on Dallas in its waning years.

With all the love for Susan Lucci, it seems like she might have been the right casting choice for Hillary Taylor and be a season 14 highlight for many. Still, I find her unconvincing every time I watch the final season. I liked her on Devious Maids, but on Dallas her character was too serious for her kind of acting.

 

[Chris2]

Yeah, Lucci is better in roles where her natural hamminess is an asset.

Did anyone mention Dack Rambo as Jack yet? Rambo was a good looking guy and a decent performer but had this cool remoteness to him that resulted in a lack of chemistry with pretty much everyone. Perhaps if they had had a better Bobby replacement in place (maybe Greg Harrison?) they wouldn’t have been so desperate to turn the season into a dream in order to get Patrick back.

 

[Ray_Krebbs]

Gregory Harrison would have been awesome on Dallas. They should have put the Michael Sharpe character on it instead of Falcon Crest. He would have been more appreciated there, I think. He would have been a good successor to Jeremy and adversary to the Ewings as the later seasons came in.

 

[Jock Ewing Fan]

Steve Kanaly was bad casting ???????

I don't think Sheree Wilson was a bad actress, but Katzman made April U-turn her personality in order to shoehorn her into Southfork as Bobby's improbable bride.

George Kennedy was, obviously, a terrific actor, but the Howard Lakin-era of writers never really knew what they wanted to do with Carter McKay --- and then they had him usurp Wendell's role when Larry allegedly tricked William Smithers into asking for a raise when Lorimar-Telepictures was cutting back.

Kimberly Foster had greatish hair. Maybe she might have worked better as a character in a period of DALLAS when the writing was better.

J Eddie Peck was a good crazy-guy. but was briefly shoved in and out of DALLAS to undermine his mysterious presence on DYNASTY being produced by Katzman's prodigal protégé Paulsen.

Susan Lucci and Barbara Eden were over stunt casting choices.

Good points.
I thought SK was a good choice

I am little more supportive of Barabara Eden and Susan Lucci. I think the show was on its last legs, and the writing
and directing were just not as good

Oh good grief no!

Wes Parmalee would never have been revealed as Blake Carrington then!

There's an idea.

Fan Fiction of Dallas and Dynasty characters meeting.

I think Jock and Blake would have respected each other.

seeing JR v Alexis with Bobby, Pam, Ray, Donna, Jeff, Krystal, Steven caught in the middle
while Dex, Adam and Cliff try to manuever for position could be quite a story

 

[Crimson]

Apparently this would have been a much shorter list if we had gone with the best casting because my takeaway is that pretty much everyone was bad except for a handful.

I always want to see Rita Moreno in the role of Vanessa, for some reason, bringing an aspect of Latina Texas into the show other than the staff.

Perhaps not as Vanessa -- it's been too many years since I've seen her season(s) to have an opinion on her -- but I wish Valerie Perrine had shown up on DALLAS. Sexy, intelligent, funny and Texan to boot!

 

[Brian Kinney]

Valerie Perrine would have been great as April's and Michelle's open-minded aunt who somehow connects with Carter McKay (instead of Rose).

 

[Priscilla]

I recently joined this forum and am just now noticing this thread.

I so much agree with those who put Priscilla Presley at the top of their worst choice. I winced, as her acting was so terrible (IMHO.) I kept wishing for Morgan Fairchild to return as Jenna.

 

[captainarcher]

Sheree J. Wilson as April , very bad choice but the character is as bad. met the actress once in fan reunion, she seems so bored and unhappy to meet the fans.

 

[Toni]

I knew it!

 

[CeeCee72]

I recently joined this forum and am just now noticing this thread.

I so much agree with those who put Priscilla Presley at the top of their worst choice. I winced, as her acting was so terrible (IMHO.) I kept wishing for Morgan Fairchild to return as Jenna.

Honestly, the character of Jenna should have been written out after Pam and Bobby reconciled.

PP was always bad. But it was the forces pairing with Ray that made that character truly unwatchable.

 

[Monzo]

Since a lot has been written about Susan Flannery in this thread, I wonder if she was the first bad casting choice on Dallas or if there was an actor before her who could not convince in his/her character. I can't think of anyone else I would name as the first bad casting choice.

 

[Snarky Oracle!]

t's always interesting to see just how much of DALLAS the fans here disliked. If this forum ever had a chance to edit DALLAS down to just the parts they enjoyed, I think the entire series would last about 4 hours. My own take on DALLAS is pretty simple. The first half of the series, I have no particular problem with; the second half, I have no use for.

I pretty much agree with this, almost entirely. I have no use for the second half of the series either (even David Jacobs said he stopped watching it), the death of Bobby the line in the sand for you.

But for me, that line is a bit muddled; I can't quite deny Pam's last season there, what with Jock's ghost and that terrorist. It's like a satirical Hamlet. And Season 10 may have the highest most-frequent rewatch value of any year of the show (Jock's Will notwithstanding) despite opening with the unfortunate dream explanation scene.

 

[Richard Channing]

Did anyone mention Dack Rambo as Jack yet? Rambo was a good looking guy and a decent performer but had this cool remoteness to him that resulted in a lack of chemistry with pretty much everyone. Perhaps if they had had a better Bobby replacement in place (maybe Greg Harrison?) they wouldn’t have been so desperate to turn the season into a dream in order to get Patrick back.

I'm inclined to agree. I'm rewatching the dream season now and I just can't warm to Jack. Like you say he's a decent actor but I think the role needed someone with a different kind of charisma that Dack Rambo exhibits. And considering that he was pretty much Bobby's replacement, he needed much better storylines than the ones he got to establish him as a core character. So they got the casting and the writing wrong with him. The character could have been a keeper if handled better.

 

[Jock Ewing Fan]

Since a lot has been written about Susan Flannery in this thread, I wonder if she was the first bad casting choice on Dallas or if there was an actor before her who could not convince in his/her character. I can't think of anyone else I would name as the first bad casting choice.

Not too sure. I thought Susan Flannery was a terrible casting decision. I can never believe that she could be any real concern to JR.

I'm inclined to agree. I'm rewatching the dream season now and I just can't warm to Jack. Like you say he's a decent actor but I think the role needed someone with a different kind of charisma that Dack Rambo exhibits. And considering that he was pretty much Bobby's replacement, he needed much better storylines than the ones he got to establish him as a core character. So they got the casting and the writing wrong with him. The character could have been a keeper if handled better.

I thought Dack Rambo was a choice of a good actor who just never quite made the character effective, possibly because of the writing or the storylines were
not well developed.

Honestly, the character of Jenna should have been written out after Pam and Bobby reconciled.

PP was always bad. But it was the forces pairing with Ray that made that character truly unwatchable.

I thought there was some potential for the character - maybe align with Jeremy Wendell and/or Cliff after Bobby left her

 

[LMLDallas78]

In early Dallas I would say Alex Ward, Clint Ogden and most of all DR Elby. The latter was meant to be a ladies man and have a new woman on his arm every week, really? JR once said to Sue Ellen; "Out of all the psychiatrists in Dallas, you picked the one that's gonna get you in the sack".

Mitch was irritating and boring, Lucy deserved a much better man.
Lesley Stewart started off well, but then just fizzled into nothingness. She should've been much better, not sure if that was Susan Flannery or the writing. She did dress far too old aswell.

Later Dallas, definitely vote for Priscilla (could she save Dallas) Presley and all the forgettable so called characters from the last 2 seasons, but most of all Cally.

 

[Snowcat]

I thought there was some potential for the character - maybe align with Jeremy Wendell and/or Cliff after Bobby left her

No. Jenna never hated the Ewings. Her beef was with Bobby. Not the family

 

[southfork88]

Yesterday Priscilla was at the Venice Film Festival (Italy) to present the film about her life with Elvis.

Her life has been filled with tragedy, but she could have chosen to improve her acting.

She had started out on a convincing career in Dallas ... but by the 1986-1987 season became a miserable actress.