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Message: <blockquote data-quote="Kenny Coyote" data-source="post: 197106" data-attributes="member: 102">Thank you, Lastkid. After all these years after Dallas ended, and all these years we've all discussed it, sometimes I wonder if there's anything new to say about it. This time I decided to go back to something and take a look it it from a new perspective. That's getting hard to do after everything that's already been said, ha ha!  So, I took a look at what were some turning points for Dallas and identified what I believe is the key factor that was missing in the executives in charge of running the show when those events took place. I'm glad you found some value in what I wrote. It's always nice to be acknowledged.Yes! These long term story arcs are what made the stories meaningful. They were taking the characters in specific directions, and that can only be done when you know where you want to take your characters. That requires having a specific vision for the show, committing to it, and executing the plan thoughtfully.You'd hope they would have thought: "OK, we’ve learned from how we handled Patrick Duffy’s departure - instead of committing to the vision we had in mind for the show, that Bobby is killed by Katherine while saving Pam’s life, we brought him back with the explanation that it was all a dream, which none of the audience bought. The “dream explanation” became a joke! We also wiped out a whole season of our show in the process. So let’s not do that again! Victoria Principal is leaving, so let’s use that in the most meaningful, impactful way we can. Pam will die an a car accident and the result will be devastating, especially to Bobby. There’s a great story we can tell with that.” Since Pam didn’t actually die from the accident, she just disappeared, it had nowhere near the impact on the audience or on the characters of the show that it could have had.  Just think of what could have been if they'd been decisive enough to have Pam die in her car accident. Watching Bobby react to losing Pam, watching Cliff's reaction, would have had a dramatic impact they never came close to getting from what they did decide to do, but they were afraid to commit - to make a decision to handle Victoria Principal's departure from the show in the way that would make the most powerful story possible. Pam dying could have had long term implications for storylines similar to the how Jock's death did.They wrote Jock's death was an event that had a tremendous dramatic impact. The story of how the family reacted to Jock's death was incredibly well acted by the cast. Jock's death and the implications Jock’s will had on the whole show were felt for seasons and seasons to come. They got one of their best storylines out of that  - the contest for Ewing Oil. Jock's death changed the course of the whole show in a way that was fascinating.They could have had something equally powerful but since they didn't entirely believe Victoria Principal when she said she was leaving permanently, and they couldn't trust themselves to not bring her back in case she changed her mind, they sacrificed what should have been fascinating television. When they should have acted definitively and said: "This is our vision for how to best proceed with the show" they couldn't commit to one specific vision. Their idea of having vision for the future of the show was: Let's leave our options open. Let's not create a story so decisive that we can't undo it if we change our minds.They went half-way with it instead of going all-out, and as a result they delivered a half-assed story that was received poorly by the fans.</blockquote>

Verification: Who played Sue Ellen in Dallas?