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Message: <blockquote data-quote="Kenny Coyote" data-source="post: 201353" data-attributes="member: 102">Great thread [USER=3717]@Herofan[/USER]!  While you're waiting for your answer from [USER=152]@Snarky's Ghost[/USER], I can give you my opinion on that. Ideally you'd have positive change, but if you had to choose between keeping things the same, or negative change (which is what we got), I'll take maintaining the status quo any day over decline!I think in a long running show like Dallas, for them to maintain the level quality they had in their first 8 years, they should have had people change, but as you alluded to, have them change in ways that have entertainment value! Change for the sake of change is a terrible idea. If change for the sake of change was good, TNT Dallas would have been a huge success because, after all, how much more change could you possibly have? They even changed history when they felt like it!What I'd find interesting and entertaining to watch, is to have some characters change through either going through a process of personal growth. A lot of people are afraid of personal growth because it's a painful process . You are going to make some mistakes along the way and those mistakes hurt. That can make a great story though. JR and Sue Ellen are two characters in particular who were in need of personal growth. Without making this too long, basically the more dysfunctional you are, and the more flaws you have, the more you are in need of personal growth, so clearly JR and Sue Ellen could have benefitted from that. If they were going to stay together, it would have been absolutely essential.How can you have a show run for 10 years or more and never have your lead characters maturing and growing as people? That doesn't mean making the characters so different they're hard to even recognize, but hopefully over time, we all learn and grow as people. For a person who is actually a fictional TV character, in most cases, learning and growing over time is essential to maintain their interest to the viewer and their entertainment value. Personal growth keeps your characters fresh and vital.Yes! When you do everything yourself, you're going to burn out. I believe that's what happened with Katzman because clearly he'd been a creative guy who had contributed valuable things to the show or he wouldn't have been where he was for long. When he made the decision to do everything himself though, getting burned out was inevitable.When that starts to happen, that's when you really need to bring in new, competent writers. I'm not even saying Katzman necessarily had to step down, but he had to become willing to bring in these talented people who had a good understanding of the show and be willing to accept their input. Sometimes when you're in a  position like Katzman was, you're so involved with it that you can't see the forest for the trees. That's when it's great to bring in some outside people who will have a much more objective way of looking at what you're doing and be able to tell you what changes you need to make.</blockquote>

Verification: What month follows July?