The WORST casting choice in Dallas history

[Taylor Bennett Jr.]

I recall Ray Parker, Jr. saying he wanted to go on DALLAS and "be kissin' on Sue Ellen"

Having read this I now feel strongly that they should have held off on the Peter Richards storyline for a year and cast Ray Parker Jr. in the role to capitalize on his #1 hit of the summer of ‘84, the jaunty, undeniably catchy Ghostbusters.

Why settle for mere middle-aged woman/barely pubescent boy taboo when you can shatter prime-time racial barriers while you’re at it? Ray was only 30 in 1984 and could have easily played a college kid in his early 20s with the right coaching and makeup and cutoff t-shirts.

John Parker wasn’t writing music for the show in those years (thankfully, some would say) but they could have brought him back to write a special Sue Ellen/Peter love theme - a jazzy, sexy mashup of Sue Ellen’s sultry sax theme,The Adulteress, from earlier seasons and, of course, Ghostbusters. (admit it, the result’s going through your head now and it’s triumphant!)

With all that star power on the screen, is there any doubt the ratings would have approached and possibly even surpassed Who Shot JR levels?

 

[DallasFanForever]

I see people mentioning Susan Flannery as Leslie Stewart and I have to say that her time on the show has always puzzled me. The character seemed so bland and boring but it was always difficult for me to think that it was necessarily her fault. Susan is such a daytime legend and a well accomplished actress yet on Dallas she just didn’t seem to fit well for whatever reason. I chalk it up to them just not using her correctly. Perhaps they didn’t know what to do with her. Maybe she should’ve played a different role.

 

[Luke_Krebbs_Ewing]

Well obviously it was Donna Reed as Jock!

Here she is as Ellie taking Jock's painting down.

The fans would've all have had heart attacks!

Come back Steve Forrest all is forgiven.

 

[Chris2]

I recall Ray Parker, Jr. saying he wanted to go on DALLAS and "be kissin' on Sue Ellen" but it wasn't going to happen.

He had to settle for going on Berrenger’s, where he got to kiss one of the department store mannequins instead.

 

[Mustard]

I'm shocked that Christopher Atkins was 22-23 years old when he was on Dallas, because he looked 4-5 years younger than that, possibly underage.

 

[Rove]

Well I'm going to shock tellytalk posters here and go out on a limb with my choice...

Charlene Tilton as Lucy Ewing.
​

From the get go - up against established actors - her acting chops were woeful. Any of the daytime soap darlings could have easily taken this role on but every time I do a re-watch I could easily skip any scenes of Lucy. It's not until Mickey makes an entrance Charlene shows some acting ability. There I've said it, laid bare for all to whip out their ferocity towards me.

Go for it tellytalkers, fire up those keyboards....I dare you ​

 

[ArnaudB]

Steve Kanaly. Aucun charme.

 

[Chris2]

Rove, I agree with you. I’ve always thought they changed Lucy from her original bad girl characterization because Charlene Tilton didn’t have the acting chops to pull it off. And I wondered what they could have done with Lucy had she been played by a more versatile actress with a more compelling screen presence (someone more like Pamela Sue Martin).

 

[Jock Ewing Fan]

I see people mentioning Susan Flannery as Leslie Stewart and I have to say that her time on the show has always puzzled me. The character seemed so bland and boring but it was always difficult for me to think that it was necessarily her fault. Susan is such a daytime legend and a well accomplished actress yet on Dallas she just didn’t seem to fit well for whatever reason. I chalk it up to them just not using her correctly. Perhaps they didn’t know what to do with her. Maybe she should’ve played a different role.

Could not stand the Leslie Stewart actress or the character. Not attractive, never saw her as much of a worthy adversary.

The idea for the character was good, but it failed in casting and writing.

An unworthy second place to Kimberly Foster as Michelle Stevens.

Again, the idea was good, but the casting and the writing did not work

 

[Jimmy Todd]

Well I'm going to shock tellytalk posters here and go out on a limb with my choice...

Charlene Tilton as Lucy Ewing.
​

From the get go - up against established actors - her acting chops were woeful. Any of the daytime soap darlings could have easily taken this role on but every time I do a re-watch I could easily skip any scenes of Lucy. It's not until Mickey makes an entrance Charlene shows some acting ability. There I've said it, laid bare for all to whip out their ferocity towards me.

Go for it tellytalkers, fire up those keyboards....I dare you ​

You're point is completely valid, but for me Charlene' acting became part of Lucy's charm

 

[Laurie Marr]

And here’s a pic of Flannery from a couple of years ago. Her casting at the time was perplexing but looks like she could now do a fairly convincing turn as Digger…..

 

[Snarky Oracle!]

You're point is completely valid, but for me Charlene' acting became part of Lucy's charm

Precisely right. It just read as Lucy's nerdiness. So it worked.

Likewise, Joan Collins could almost never do "vulnerable," but you just accepted it as Alexis' disingenuous manipulation. So it also worked.

Further still, Shannon Tweed's tricky elocution on FC just came off as ex-porn-star tonsil-damage (John Ross and Christopher in nuDALLAS had it, too). So that also worked.

Sometimes bad acting can be the right creative choice.

 

[Crimson]

It'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've never had a problem with Leslie Stewart; she wouldn't rank among my favorites, but I didn't dislike the character or the actress. I wouldn't go to great lengths to defend Charlene or Priscilla, but I think any failings had as much to do with the writing as their talents. Even Donna Reed -- woefully miscast and ill-conceived -- had minimal impact; the producers seem to limit her involvement and thus any damage.

On the other hand, I'm hard pressed to think of a new character introduced after the mid-point of the series who seemed beneficial; most of them were pretty dire. But the worst of the worst was Sascha Mitchell; an actor so awkward he didn't seem capable of playing a human being.

 

[Luke_Krebbs_Ewing]

Ian McShane is a fine actor, but yes, it was a serous miscast. He and Linda Gray had no chemistry (like JR and Vanessa) and every scene they were in together was a snooze fest.

Actually I liked Ian McShane with Linda Gray.

They must've became firm friends in real life because Linda later guest starred on an episode of his TV series Lovejoy.

That wouldn't have happened if McShane had not starred on Dallas.

 

[CeeCee72]

On the other hand, I'm hard pressed to think of a new character introduced after the mid-point of the series who seemed beneficial; most of them were pretty dire. But the worst of the worst was Sascha Mitchell; an actor so awkward he didn't seem capable of playing a human being.

He would have been perfectly cast as one of those lizard aliens in "V."

 

[Snowcat]

Well I'm going to shock tellytalk posters here and go out on a limb with my choice...

Charlene Tilton as Lucy Ewing.
​

From the get go - up against established actors - her acting chops were woeful. Any of the daytime soap darlings could have easily taken this role on but every time I do a re-watch I could easily skip any scenes of Lucy. It's not until Mickey makes an entrance Charlene shows some acting ability. There I've said it, laid bare for all to whip out their ferocity towards me.

Go for it tellytalkers, fire up those keyboards....I dare you ​

I’ve tried, but I’ve never liked Lucy. I’ve found her extremely annoying

 

[Snowcat]

It'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've never had a problem with Leslie Stewart; she wouldn't rank among my favorites, but I didn't dislike the character or the actress. I wouldn't go to great lengths to defend Charlene or Priscilla, but I think any failings had as much to do with the writing as their talents. Even Donna Reed -- woefully miscast and ill-conceived -- had minimal impact; the producers seem to limit her involvement and thus any damage.

On the other hand, I'm hard pressed to think of a new character introduced after the mid-point of the series who seemed beneficial; most of them were pretty dire. But the worst of the worst was Sascha Mitchell; an actor so awkward he didn't seem capable of playing a human being.

I don’t have an issue with the lady who played Leslie Stewart. I never fully understood the point of her character. She could have been more impactful, but her time was so short lived

 

[Jock Ewing Fan]

Rove, I agree with you. I’ve always thought they changed Lucy from her original bad girl characterization because Charlene Tilton didn’t have the acting chops to pull it off. And I wondered what they could have done with Lucy had she been played by a more versatile actress with a more compelling screen presence (someone more like Pamela Sue Martin).

I never thought Lucy was portrayed well by Charlene Tilton.
I didn't think she was a good actress, and I didn't think she was that attractive

I think Lucy could have been an interesting character if a better actress who was more attractive (and Taller)
was cast in the role

 

[Chris2]

I think Lucy could have been an interesting character if a better actress who was more attractive (and Taller)
was cast in the role

Then they would have had to scrap the “Miss Short Dallas” storyline.

 

[KayLloyd]

- P. Presley, her non-acting daughter in fiction, and Darius the horse.
- The Wilson woman. She and Katzman must have had a really good (working) relationship.

About all the others you mention, probably Vanessa, and Lesley-Anne Down was wrong for her part. But James, Peter...? Have you ever watched a daytime soap? People want to see beautiful people, not Shakespearean actors. Ian McShane was awful on "Dallas", and the lady who played Mrs. Scottfield.

Oh yes, dear Sheree must have done something that Uncle Lenny really liked on his casting couch. No other explanation for why he kept such a mediocre at best actress on.