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Who Was The Dumbest Character On Dallas?

Billy Wall

Telly Talk Dream Maker
Anyone who questions that JR doesn’t qualify, remember, he once let Leslie Stewart sabotage Ewing Oil getting back in with the cartel. A move that would have scored him MASSIVE points with the one man he respected and idolized, his daddy.
 

Jock Ewing Fan

Telly Talk Star
Another candidate for dumb would be Jordan Lee.
The Cartel and their dealings with JR was one thing,
but he died as a result of his dealings with unsavory characters in the final season
Bobby asked him outright 'Are You that stupid?'
 

Jimmy Todd

Telly Talk Mega Star
Miss Ellie when she fell for Wes Parmalee was a tragic moment of stupidity. I can’t claim her character as a whole was dumb, but that was one of Dallas’ dumber moments.
It didn't show that Miss Ellie was stupid.ir conveyed her humanity. The intellect and the heart are part of the package, and they don't always align perfectly, if at all.
 

Jock Ewing Fan

Telly Talk Star
Miss Ellie when she fell for Wes Parmalee was a tragic moment of stupidity. I can’t claim her character as a whole was dumb, but that was one of Dallas’ dumber moments.
I thought that Miss Ellie made some questionable decisions during the series, but She thought that WP was Jock Ewing (for a time) and this may have been more emotion than stupidity.
 

Trainwreck

Telly Talk Member
How could you live your entire life with a person and not knowing their unique quirks and nuances? Also she would immediately have known by Jocks smell and with his touch. As for Miss Ellie to not to know her own husband for over 40 years is actually embarrassing.

JR and Clayton got it right and labeled this snake oil salesman from the beginning.
 

Lastkidpicked

Telly Talk Dream Maker
JR and Clayton got it right and labeled this snake oil salesman from the beginning.

This was one time J.R. almost gave Clayton some credit. Once Wes Parmalee was revealed, J.R. said something like, "And many of you fell for it. Only Clayton and I fought him the whole time."
 

Jimmy Todd

Telly Talk Mega Star
How could you live your entire life with a person and not knowing their unique quirks and nuances? Also she would immediately have known by Jocks smell and with his touch. As for Miss Ellie to not to know her own husband for over 40 years is actually embarrassing.

JR and Clayton got it right and labeled this snake oil salesman from the beginning.
Well, it's also a bit of wishful thinking on Miss Ellie's part. Of course part of her wants Jock back, despite her moving on and being remarried. That's very powerful. Also, there was a lot of strong evidence that pointed to him being Jock, not the least of which being the x-rays showed he had the exact same fractures, bone structure, etc., as Jock.
Clayton on the other hand was very much invested in Wes definitely not being Jock. It's not at all surprising he would side with JR this one time. It was an interesting pairing, that's for sure.
 

Chris2

Telly Talk Dream Maker
About the idea that Wes was intended to be Jock, Dallas writer/producer David Paulsen said, “No that was not a possibility, anymore than it was our intention to bring back Patrick as his twin brother, which we joked about. No, Jock was there; that painting of him was virtually there in every episode and how could you do that? We would not do that and it certainly would not serve him. The character of Jock remained in Dallas all the way through. So insinuations that Wes was Jock were there, but there was never any intention to do that, no."
 

Luke_Krebbs_Ewing

Telly Talk Champion
About the idea that Wes was intended to be Jock, Dallas writer/producer David Paulsen said, “No that was not a possibility, anymore than it was our intention to bring back Patrick as his twin brother, which we joked about. No, Jock was there; that painting of him was virtually there in every episode and how could you do that? We would not do that and it certainly would not serve him. The character of Jock remained in Dallas all the way through. So insinuations that Wes was Jock were there, but there was never any intention to do that, no."
I wouldn't take much stock in that statement from Paulsen!

They did try to bring Jock back with another actor but it got messed about with the dream season explanation and Patrick Duffy's return. :)
 

One Mighty Hobble

Telly Talk Member
I wouldn't take much stock in that statement from Paulsen!

They did try to bring Jock back with another actor but it got messed about with the dream season explanation and Patrick Duffy's return. :)
I always wondered how intentional Jock's return was. During the dream season, we were baited/primed for the possibility with Steve Forrest's appearance as Ben Stivers and snow white hair. Once that season was over, it seemed the writers wanted to continue that storyline even though all the others had to be reversed. This time they dyed Steve's hair so "Jock" could be in disguise and then accelerated his agenda. Did they think the viewer would not realize it was the same actor? If during the dream season the storyline about Jock's return was to be the same, why wasn't his hair dyed for disguise back then? Maybe they had a longer contract with Steve and had no choice but to move forward with the same storyline post dream? Too many loose ends and I feel the whole thing should have been dumped once Pam awoke.

P.S. I hated that entire storyline. The only part I liked was that JR never considered Wes to be Jock for a second and met him at the rodeo with a snide, "Hello, daddy."
 
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Luke_Krebbs_Ewing

Telly Talk Champion
I always wondered how intentional Jock's return was. During the dream season, we were baited/primed for the possibility with Steve Forrest's appearance as Ben Stivers and snow white hair. Once that season was over, it seemed the writers wanted to continue that storyline even though all the others had to be reversed. This time they dyed Steve's hair so "Jock" could be in disguise and then accelerated his agenda. Did they think the viewer would not realize it was the same actor? If during the dream season the storyline about Jock's return was to be the same, why wasn't his hair dyed for disguise back then? Maybe they had a longer contract with Steve and had no choice but to move forward with the same storyline post dream? Too many loose ends and I feel the whole thing should have been dumped once Pam awoke.

P.S. I hated that entire storyline. The only part I liked was that JR never considered Wes to be Jock for a second and met him at the rodeo with a snide, "Hello, daddy."

Steve Forrest would've been still under contract which was probably why they brought him back.

I'm guessing they dyed his hair dark to help mask that it was the same actor.

If Patrick Duffy had not returned it's likely Steve Forrest's Ben Stivers character would have stayed on the show as Jock.

They did try again with Wes Parmalee but the news leaked whilst season ten was being filmed that he was going to play Jock and there was a backlash from fans not receptive to the recast. That's why the character disappears rather abruptly and without a proper resolution. :)
 

Chase Gioberti

Telly Talk Fan
Harv Smithfield.

Every time something comes up it’s “They have us by the balls this time JR, there’s nothing we can do.”

What good are you? The worst attorney in Dallas. They should have convinced Scottie Demrest to be their full time attorney.
 

Billy Wall

Telly Talk Dream Maker
Harv Smithfield.

Every time something comes up it’s “They have us by the balls this time JR, there’s nothing we can do.”

What good are you? The worst attorney in Dallas. They should have convinced Scottie Demrest to be their full time attorney.

Lol…Scottie Demrest? Did he ever win a case? Jock got off only after Digger confessed to Hutch’s murder on his deathbed. Jenna got off after Bobby got Renaldo Marchetta’s killer to confess. He lost Cliff and Jamie’s case against the Ewings.
 

Jock Ewing Fan

Telly Talk Star
Lucy was pretty much an airhead but Cliff was probably more stupid for being so wrapped up in his little world of hatred and greed.
I think it depends on how wide 'stupid' is considered.

Probably Lucy , basically an uneducated, rich spoiled brat, wasn't bright.
Cliff was basically smart, but his vendetta against the Ewings led to foolish choices.
The cartel would be my "winner" for trusting JR and the Ewings too much.
Special mention to Jordan Lee, for the fiasco in the final season. Bobby said "are you that stupid?"

The ultimate stupid goes too anyone who ever trusted JR, and too a lesser extent, Ewing Oil
 

Chase Gioberti

Telly Talk Fan
Lol…Scottie Demrest? Did he ever win a case? Jock got off only after Digger confessed to Hutch’s murder on his deathbed. Jenna got off after Bobby got Renaldo Marchetta’s killer to confess. He lost Cliff and Jamie’s case against the Ewings.

Scottie Demrest got Jenna off.
 
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