Who Was The Dumbest Character On Dallas?

Lastkidpicked

Lastkidpicked

Telly Talk Dream Maker
Billy Wall said:
For me it has to be Vaughn Leland. JR swindled him in the Asian oil leases and he was a leading suspect in the “who shot JR” storyline. But then he a few years later, he gets involved with JR in a plan to destroy Cliff that backfires.
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If you watch those episodes again, you'll notice what a fine acting job was done by Dennis Patrick. He underplayed the Vaughn Leland character perfectly.

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lbf522

Telly Talk Well-Known Member
That would be quite a list. Yes Vaughn Leland and the Cartel members should have been wary of ever going into business with JR ever again after he screwed them all over in the Asian fields. Then again, they should have known better. For one thing, the governments in South American governments are not very stable. Who is in power today maybe someone else in power tomorrow. Also, JR has by this time earned a reputation as someone not to do business with.

Cliff is certainly on this list. I get it that to make JR a winner, they had to make Cliff a loser which is a shame. Cliff should have seen through JR's trap when Cliff was the CEO of the OLM and was close to destroying Ewing Oil and then there is this groundswell for him to run for Congress but he would have to quit as CEO (which was stupid) first.

Sue Ellen for remarrying JR. He was a crappy husband to her so for her to remarry him as dumb.
 
Taylor Bennett Jr.

Taylor Bennett Jr.

Telly Talk Winner
if characters from the early self-contained episodes are fair game, it’s hard to beat the dastardly Willie Gust, who apparently thought it was a good idea to drive across Texas in a conspicuous green van committing armed robbery and assault for petty cash, not to mention semi-kidnapping Lucy and forcing her at gunpoint to sing in a talent contest at a crowded bar for a potential grand prize of $100, with said green van parked right out front in a no parking zone

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J

Jimmy Todd

Telly Talk Mega Star
Ostensibly, Sue Ellen could be considered dumb for her second wedding to JR, but I see that as more her dysfunction and addictive behavior than lack of intelligence. Smart people can make dumb choices.
There were times Lucy was written as shrewd and intuitive, but these were few and far between, unfortunately. For example, she stayed by Bobby's bedside when Katherine came to visit him because she knew something wasn't right about Katherine's visit. She probably saved Bobby's life.
As far as stupid goes, I'd say Holly Harwood for going into business with JR without checking into him first and giving him a whopping 25% of the company. Like, wow.
Honorable mention for dumb goes to Miss Ellie. For all the hand wringing she did over not getting to see Gary, she never once in all the seasons thinks about getting on a plane and going to visit him. Like, wow part 2.
 
Luke_Krebbs_Ewing

Luke_Krebbs_Ewing

Telly Talk Champion
Mustard said:
Ray Krebbs on some things. Cliff Barnes on others.

Lucy Ewing ain't dumb, but she did have bad taste in men.
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It's not that Lucy had poor taste in men, it's more that some of them had ulterior motives for being with her. They just wanted to use her. I guess you could say she had poor taste with some of them like Roger the photographer. He was a bit of a psycho that guy. :)
 
J

Jock Ewing Fan

Telly Talk Star
I think that there may be other layers to these characters' choices. They may be motivated by greed and
other things, that led to poor decisions, or they outright gambled and lost.
The most effective shows, I think dealt with making imperfect decisions in difficult situations.
Case in point the Asian oil leases, which had serious consequences
On some level, every character made poor choices.
 
Mustard

Mustard

Telly Talk TV Fanatic
Via The Void said:
It's not that Lucy had poor taste in men, it's more that some of them had ulterior motives for being with her.
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That's what I meant. Lucy didn't have a radar for sensing out guys with bad motives. That wouldn't matter as much if it was just a one night stand or a brief fling, but Lucy would fall in love. It makes sense when you consider that Lucy must have spent most of her childhood feeling a bit lonely, without her parents around, and not people of her generation who could understand her. Pam moving in changed that a bit. Pam did understand a lot of Lucy's mindset. But those years of a loneliness feeling is obviously a big part of Lucy desiring a bloke to look after her. Even her fling with Ray had some of that.

Via The Void said:
They just wanted to use her. I guess you could say she had poor taste with some of them like Roger the photographer. He was a bit of a psycho that guy. :)
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I don't think Lucy ever fell for Roger. My memory is that he came on to her heavy the first time, and she regretted it afterwards. The second time, he showed her the shrine, came on to her even more heavily with more obvious lust involved and she couldn't resist, and then she ended it afterwards, calling their relationship weird. The third time and subsequent times, kidnap and rape, until Bobby and Pam put an end to him. As you say, Roger was a psycho.
 
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