Was There A Prime Time Soap With A Character With As Abrasive A personality As That Of Sue Ellen?

[Karin]

In fact, the only person who mentioned the term was Patricia who was depicted as minimising her daughter's problems by saying "she must be suffering from that postpartum depression -- it's not uncommon." Also, the "cure" provided for Sue Ellen's malady, however you wish to term it, was almost daily visits to an expensive psychiatrist.

Well I think the fact that Patricia said that shows that the writers were aware of that it was really what Sue Ellen was suffering from. Also I think theraphy can help people sort through their problems and understand the root of why they feel bad so it's not all that bad. Who knows maybe someone saw Sue Ellen on TV and realized that they were suffering from the same thing and also sought help?

So well I do think the show tackled this topic in a good way.

 

[James from London]

Well I think the fact that Patricia said that shows that the writers were aware of that it was really what Sue Ellen was suffering from.

Possibly, but in the scene, Miss Ellie is the one who's trying to address the seriousness of Sue Ellen's condition, while Patricia casually dismisses it as "postpartum depression", something that's "not uncommon." In terms of the story, Patricia's diagnosis is irrelevant compared to Sue Ellen's triangle with JR and Cliff.

I think theraphy can help people sort through their problems and understand the root of why they feel bad so it's not all that bad.

I didn't suggest it was bad at all, just that the kind of treatment Sue Ellen had would be prohibitively expensive for most people.

Who knows maybe someone saw Sue Ellen on TV and realized that they were suffering from the same thing and also sought help?

Who knows? Maybe someone did.

I do think the show tackled this topic in a good way.

It didn't feel like Dallas was "tackling a topic" with this storyline anymore than Hamlet was "tackling depression" by having Hamlet contemplate suicide and Ophelia drown herself. If any topic-tackling did occur, it was as a by-product of telling a rattling good story. Perhaps, in the end, that's the best way to tackle a topic -- you don't tackle it, you just create fascinating characters and let them do their thing.

 

[Laurie Marr]

The gender politics of the show were always, ahem, dodgy. Sue Ellen’s neurosis was merely one manifestation of a whole series of female characters that, sometimes cast as vamps, avengers and femme fatales, all trod the same path to temporary or permanent madness:
Pam
Sue Ellen
Amanda
Katherine
Lucy
Kristin
Lady Jessica
Jenna
Ray’s assailant
Lisa
Michelle
Sheila
TNT even retconned the idea that Mamma Ellie had a spell in a sanatarium.

And I’m sure I’ve missed out several....

Dallas recycled the mad woman in the attic schtick throughout its run. I never recall Dr Danvers issuing one of his stockpile of sedatives to any of the male protagonists.

 

[Clubsoda]

The one thing that truly put me off about Sue Ellen was how she constantly used people and I really don't believe JR was to blame for that one.

Overall I love watching her though.

 

[Willie Oleson]

I never recall Dr Danvers issuing one of his stockpile of sedatives to any of the male protagonists.

I think it's called female hysteria, but maybe that was a long time ago (19th century?)

 

[Laurie Marr]

I think it's called female hysteria, but maybe that was a long time ago (19th century?)

Indeed. I think the ghoulish Dr Danvers had more hysterics on his client list than Charcot or Freud combined. And most of them were attached to the Ewings. If hysteria was the female malady of Dallas, anxiety appeared to be the one that afflicted the men.

 

[Snarky Oracle!]

DALLAS did use their crazy sister-in-law dynamic repeatedly, it's true.

JR went to a shrink in the later seasons, and the show let us know he was essentially beyond hope. Digger wound up in detox more than once. But few of the men ever wound up incapacitated to the point of being incarcerated against their will like poor Uncle Jonas whom we never saw.

But neither JR nor Sue Ellen were capable of a healthy relationship: Sue Ellen "loved" JR, and JR probably assumed he didn't deserve that love, so he punished her and rejected her for it. (A lot of people have that problem). But if JR had treated her better, Sue Ellen would have lost interest in him as she did her various suitors who'd actually been nice to her.

It's the old Groucho joke about not wanting to belong to any party that would have you as a member. And it's very common.

 

[Toni]

The gender politics of the show were always, ahem, dodgy. Sue Ellen’s neurosis was merely one manifestation of a whole series of female characters that, sometimes cast as vamps, avengers and femme fatales, all trod the same path to temporary or permanent madness:
Pam
Sue Ellen
Amanda
Katherine
Lucy
Kristin
Lady Jessica
Jenna
Ray’s assailant
Lisa
Michelle
Sheila
TNT even retconned the idea that Mamma Ellie had a spell in a sanatarium.

And I’m sure I’ve missed out several....

Dallas recycled the mad woman in the attic schtick throughout its run. I never recall Dr Danvers issuing one of his stockpile of sedatives to any of the male protagonists.

Well, alcohol and pills shouldn´t be mixed, and as we all know, the Ewing men always were drunk just because. Because they were men...Especially J.R. and Bobby. Re Sue Ellen...well, everybody got sick of her when she was drunk so they probably told Dr. Danvers she had just a terrible headache and anxiety. If she was given sedatives, peace could return to the Fork. Yes I know: Poor, poor Sue Ellen...

And this is to that old dear Dr. Danvers...
...I miss those drugs he used to mix with my bourbon.​

 

[LMLDallas78]

So I've been catching up with some past threads (some brilliant ones by the way) and desperately wanted to share my opinion about this one as it concerns my beloved Sue Ellen.
Sue Ellen was meant to be a bitchy character at the beginning and could indeed be cold towards people, mostly Pamela. I've heard Linda Gray say in interviews that she wanted to bring vulnerability into the character and she states it was her own suggestion to bring about Sue Ellen's back story with her mum and then having therapy with Dr Elby.
Although she was never diagnosed with postnatal depression, I reckon that says more about the dysfunctional behaviour of the family towards her, that she had to seek help herself and which JR ridiculed her for.
I've always loved how Sue Ellen could be feisty, comical, outspoken and would smirk when she thought someone had got the better of JR. Let's not forget her famous stare, slamming doors, throwing things and even violent behavior. Also her loving side. She did love her son, but had to have help to show it for fear of being hurt.
Apart from Miss Ellie only she had the guts to stand up to Jock ( near the end of paternity suit) something even JR couldn't manage to do. She broke that toy infront of Bobby because he reminded her about Cliff, yes he was trying to be supportive, but she was so depressed and was blocking it out.
Sue Ellen was verbally abused by her husband and treated poorly by others, little wonder she was like she was. Bobby, Pam and Miss Ellie were good to her, but mostly people didn't "get" her.
In other soaps and dramas, characters are usually either or and not all of it rolled into one like Sue Ellen. That's what made her so watchable and fascinating. Sorry for the long post, but as you can guess it's a subject I'm passionate about.

 

[Luke_Krebbs_Ewing]

I would've said the character of Jilly Stewart played by Peta Toppano could be quite abrasive at times, vindictive too. She was a good actor and Jilly was very much played like a vixen similar to Joan Collins Alexis on Dynasty. The series of Return To Eden was very under rated with a great cast.

 

[LMLDallas78]

I would've said the character of Jilly Stewart played by Peta Toppano could be quite abrasive at times, vindictive too. She was a good actor and Jilly was very much played like a vixen similar to Joan Collins Alexis on Dynasty. The series of Return To Eden was very under rated with a great cast.

View attachment 45502

Heard a lot about Return to Eden in the past, but have never watched it, I'm intrigued now.

I always enjoyed Patricia in "Sons & Daughters" played by the wonderful Rowena Wallace. Day time soap for us in the UK, not sure about anywhere else.
Most soaps tried to emulate JR with a female version, some were good others not so good.
Sue Ellen every time for me, a bit of her husband in her plus a whole lot more!

 

[Jock's Ghost]

Krystal Carrington was far worse.... goody two shoes. Cries at the drop of hat. I always rooted for Alexis.
Sammie Joe was lame too. She wanted to be bad, but didn't know how. Just dumb and annoying. She was just a gold digger for the sake of it. Alexis had a motive.

 

[Jock Ewing Fan]

The gender politics of the show were always, ahem, dodgy. Sue Ellen’s neurosis was merely one manifestation of a whole series of female characters that, sometimes cast as vamps, avengers and femme fatales, all trod the same path to temporary or permanent madness:
Pam
Sue Ellen
Amanda
Katherine
Lucy
Kristin
Lady Jessica
Jenna
Ray’s assailant
Lisa
Michelle
Sheila
TNT even retconned the idea that Mamma Ellie had a spell in a sanatarium.

And I’m sure I’ve missed out several....

Dallas recycled the mad woman in the attic schtick throughout its run. I never recall Dr Danvers issuing one of his stockpile of sedatives to any of the male protagonists.

I think that the characterizations may have been more plot-driven than anything. To be fair, some female characters were developed with both good and bad traits over time, but the scripts necessitated bad behavior because the show became JR and Bobby centric post Jim Davis, and all (almost) stories revolved around their characters, while Cliff had to remain a constant nemesis (Therefore writing him as a kind of eve-rpresent adversary/buffoon)

I thought Linda Gray did a great job in developing Sue Ellen over time, that VP's Pam regressed, that Katherine was given a bad deal (She had a right to more of her Father's company), Lucy had to be the troubled one who made bad choices, and Miss Ellie was often reduced to saying 'Shame on You' to JR

Any number of characters could have been written better, including JR post Dream season. I think that characters became secondary to the JR/Bobby show and those events.

 

[DarkVader]

Sue Ellen was a simp and easily manipulated - - - and not only by J.R. After J.R. recovers from the shooting he "becomes" more attentive to her and she does a complete 360 and starts telling Dr. Ellby how much J.R. "has changed". Of course, Dr. Ellby isn't buying any of this B.S. and begins to question the validity of her claims. And all J.R. had to do to get her to think that he changed was a roll in the hay and a brand new Mercedes station wagon...LOL. She was a mess.

 

[LMLDallas78]

Sue Ellen was a simp and easily manipulated - - - and not only by J.R. After J.R. recovers from the shooting he "becomes" more attentive to her and she does a complete 360 and starts telling Dr. Ellby how much J.R. "has changed". Of course, Dr. Ellby isn't buying any of this B.S. and begins to question the validity of her claims. And all J.R. had to do to get her to think that he changed was a roll in the hay and a brand new Mercedes station wagon...LOL. She was a mess.

Sue Ellen may have been all those things, she only wanted to be loved.
If she was a mess, she was a brilliant mess.

 

[DarkVader]

Ugh, just when you couldn't fathom Sue Ellen getting any worse, in Season 4, Episode 10 - "Executive Wife" - Sue Ellen is such a miserable bitch to Bobby. I wanted to slap her through my 4K UHD television monitor...

:ll:

 

[LMLDallas78]

Ugh, just when you couldn't fathom Sue Ellen getting any worse, in Season 4, Episode 10 - "Executive Wife" - Sue Ellen is such a miserable bitch to Bobby. I wanted to slap her through my 4K UHD television monitor...

:ll:

Sue Ellen was trying to stick by her man and love him, I agree she treated Bobby badly after always looking out for her. But if Bobs can forgive her, why can't we?
And don't be such a slap fan!! Ha Ha.

 

[DarkVader]

Well I am almost done with Season 4. At this point in the story I feel bad for Sue Ellen. Dusty spurns her because of his impotency despite the fact that she’s told him it doesn’t matter. She’s so desperate for love that she runs into the arms of Clint, her old college sweetheart. So desperate in fact that she’s willing to settle being the other woman and relive the past. She doesn’t see that she’s worth more than just settling for that. Even Dr. Ellby can’t convince her.

 

[LMLDallas78]

Well I am almost done with Season 4. At this point in the story I feel bad for Sue Ellen. Dusty spurns her because of his impotency despite the fact that she’s told him it doesn’t matter. She’s so desperate for love that she runs into the arms of Clint, her old college sweetheart. So desperate in fact that she’s willing to settle being the other woman and relive the past. She doesn’t see that she’s worth more than just settling for that. Even Dr. Ellby can’t convince her.

Yes, in both those relationships Sue Ellen thought of the man, not herself when she ended it. She put their needs before her own in some pretty emotive scenes with Dusty, Clint and his wife.

 

[DarkVader]

Yes, in both those relationships Sue Ellen thought of the man, not herself when she ended it. She put their needs before her own in some pretty emotive scenes with Dusty, Clint and his wife.

And it helps that Sue Ellen is played by the gifted Linda Gray who has a way of making you care for Sue Ellen by not playing her as a one dimensional character. She makes you care about Sue Ellen and what happens to her by instilling in the character a very layered, multi-dimensional and ultimately vulnerable side. She’s a joy to watch.