It's official : Reunions ignored.

[bilbob20]

I loved JR Returns, it's one of my favorite tv movies and I can watch it over and over. I loved how JR/SE was united, how JR won and how Cliff was reunited with Afton and his daughter.

But WOTE was a disappointment and didn't really work, especially not since the kids were not there anymore.

I think on some level it makes sense to block out the movies as the adult actors who were John Ross, Chris and Rebecca in "JR Returns" are not consisting with the new cast.
But at the same time I am not wild about Cliff owning Ewing Oil that long and never reuniting with Afton or that JR & Sue Ellen's reunion never occurred.

I guess I have mixed emotions about it and can see pros and cons.

Also even if they have dismissed the movies from the show's canon I'd want a European release of the movies with swedish subtitles to complete my Dallas DVD collection!
Are you listening WB?

Its perfectly feasible though that JR and Sue Ellen had that reunion and she may still have left Southfork in the interim years. I doubt the writers will be clarifying that she left Southfork or Dallas in '89 or '99. I think if its just not mentioned then you can make up your own mind about it. I think its there to feed your imagination rather than to dictate to it.

[Cutlass Supreme]

As long as she's rewriting history, why stop with the reunions? She could wipe out everything post-'87 and the show's tapestry would be markedly improved.

[Ray_Krebbs]

I don't like this at all. It's rewriting history.

[Nemos]

I dont think that it matters much to be honest. How much of what happened in 1998 would be relevant to the new batch of storylines anyway. Its not like they would have JR storming into Southfork ranting and raving about Carter McKay trying to drill on nearby land even if the films were to be recognised. And I dont think that, in honouring the movies as part of the storyline, that they'll all be sitting round the table discussing how JR once shot a mirror. Most of what happened in the entire 13 year run wont be referenced, so nobody will even notice that the movies wont be referenced. The thing about ongoing drama is that much of it focuses on the present, so even our current long running drama's dont really call upon storylines from 20 years ago to tack on their new storylines.

I also think that the two reunion movies are only just 3 hours of storylines - barely more than a tenth of ONE season in terms of quantity and length. Nothing to get too excited or upset by.

COME ON! Those three hours and the rest of the changes Cidre has made, make a difference between JR, THE CENTRAL CHARACTER ON THE SHOW (AS RECOGNIZED BY VAST MAJORITY OF CRITICS AND AUDIENCE), being the most powerful man in the city of Dallas and patriarch of the Ewing family, and him being some broke loser people feel sorry for. I'd say this is a whole new series now, and I don't like this change one bit.

[Seaviewer]

There's so much time off screen that so many of these things could've happened.

Exactly. As I've said before, I don't mind if they ignore certain things as long as they don't contradict anything.

[Pam's Twin Sister]

I think that they are doing it the right way: JR wasn´t a mafioso type who could be able to fake his own death and upset his son, not to mention his mother and brothers!

Both reunions were untrue not only to the series best years but event to the latter days. I won´t get into the fact of Afton being put out of the sanitarium just like that!

And Sue Ellen using JR for sex relief in JRR didn´t make her the lady she should have become through the years, but the ultrabitch that Katzman wanted her to be! (And her part was to me the best of both reunions).

Let´s give a chance to the new writers and wait a few months before sending them to the guillotine...

[Miss Lush]

Although I am very critical re: Cynthia Cidre - for this - I say: Thank you!

I thought both movies were absolute crap and I'm glad that she's ignoring them.

[MSW]

Let´s give a chance to the new writers and wait a few months before sending them to the guillotine...

I'm all for giving this show a chance. However, the more I learn about it, the more reservations I have. And rightfully so, I think. It's not just one thing; it's lots of smaller things that are building up and making me wonder just how much of a grasp Cidre actually has on Dallas.

[Fortune]

Its perfectly feasible though that JR and Sue Ellen had that reunion and she may still have left Southfork in the interim years. I doubt the writers will be clarifying that she left Southfork or Dallas in '89 or '99. I think if its just not mentioned then you can make up your own mind about it. I think its there to feed your imagination rather than to dictate to it.

WRONG. If you pay ANY attention to what's been going on this week you'd know (& wouldn't make yourself look like a preachy ass) that the movies are not only being ignored but they're being retconned. It's one thing to just not mention events of the past. But to reset the clock is stupid & reeks of lazy uselessness. I suppose there are dumbassess in this world (some people right here even) who will happily swallow whatever they're fed. Either that or have a serious case of unmedicated ADD. It's not dictating to expect continuity in something that's 34 years old. A successful show will build on it's history. A show that doesn't have a long term plan will make $h!t up as it goes & ignore what's come before. Let's see what happens at the end of summer...

[Sid Fairgate]

Although I am very critical re: Cynthia Cidre - for this - I say: Thank you!

I thought both movies were absolute crap and I'm glad that she's ignoring them.

Lots of Dallas was absolute crap, which is why I don't like the selective picking and choosing. I could do without Halleyville, for example, but I don't see that getting retconed. New Dallas needed to change the tone and the execution of the plots, not the backstory.

[Sid Fairgate]

WRONG. If you pay ANY attention to what's been going on this week you'd know (& wouldn't make yourself look like a preachy ass) that the movies are not only being ignored but they're being retconned. It's one thing to just not mention events of the past. But to reset the clock is stupid & reeks of lazy uselessness. I suppose there are dumbassess in this world (some people right here even) who will happily swallow whatever they're fed. Either that or have a serious case of unmedicated ADD. It's not dictating to expect continuity in something that's 34 years old. A successful show will build on it's history. A show that doesn't have a long term plan will make $h!t up as it goes & ignore what's come before. Let's see what happens at the end of summer...

Yes. It's such a daytime soap thing to do. You can almost forgive the daytime producers, however, because they go on for 30 to 50 years straight and have 1000s of episodes. Dallas, on the other hand, only ran 13 years and 358 episodes (counting the reunion films). The backstory of Dallas is not that difficult to get right, especially with the DVDs, Ultimate Dallas, and the Curan book at their disposal.

[Fortune]

Dammit Sid! When will I be able to give you more karma?! And yes, I TOTALLY AGREE! It's the execution that needed changing, NOT the history.

[Ray_Krebbs]

I hope that it's acknowledged that the movies were a dream or something.

[Pamela Barnes]

Although I am very critical re: Cynthia Cidre - for this - I say: Thank you!

I thought both movies were absolute crap and I'm glad that she's ignoring them.

I have to agree with this sentiment. The only downside being sentimental is that it was Leonard Katzman's swansong but sentiment aside it wasn't what I call Dallas . JR arriving on a pig truck, the kids acting like The Red Hang Gang, they just needed a dog to complete the group.

In the draft script that was doing the rounds, I think nearly everyone saw that, John Ross was upset that JR had got them back by pretending to be dead and had not seen his father since. That was obviously cut from the timeline and rightly so.

It sounds like a comedy when you have a character explaining that JR turned up on a pig truck after pretending to be dead. It's crazyness.

This happens all the time with movies. You have Halloween and then all the sequels are ignored because they are lame when it returned for H20

But like I say I can understand people being a little aggrieved by it but maybe the outcome will be better.

Rebecca Sutter can turn out to be Rebecca Barnes. Perhaps Afton is dead if her parents are meant to be dead or she was given up. I guess it opens up some possibilities.

[Miss Lush]

Yes, the pig truck always comes to mind. That caused me physical pain! It was cringe-worthy.

I am a fan of a JR who still made sense (sort of). Post S 10 buffoon JR didn't make sense anymore and he stands for the development of the whole series:
It absolutely didn't make sense and it was embarrassing, including both reunion movies, they were embarrassing as well.

[Sid Fairgate]

I think some people have completely missed the point. I'm a fan of the JR (and the show as a whole) that "made sense" too. But if you're going to cut the reunions with the excuse being that "they're bad," why not cut out Haleyville, JR in the asylum, Sue Ellen's movie, James and Michelle, ect.? All of those beyond shitty plots and characters are referrenced in the timeline, and the reunions were certainly no worse than that dreck. That's why selective slicing and dicing doesn't work for me.

IMO, you can leave the bad stuff in the past if it has no bearing on the present without writing it off all together. The only thing Dallas needed to change is the tone and the execution of the plots, not storylines from the past. And John Ross could certainly have referrenced JR faking his death without bringing up the part about the pig truck.

As for "Rebecca Sutter," she should have been Pamela Rebecca to begin with. From what I understand, she originally was in one of the original drafts of the script. IMO, it was a dumb move to change that, leaving the entire Barnes family out of the pilot completely. IMO, that alone doesn't show a lot of foresight.

[Tessie]

I dont think that it matters much to be honest. How much of what happened in 1998 would be relevant to the new batch of storylines anyway. Its not like they would have JR storming into Southfork ranting and raving about Carter McKay trying to drill on nearby land even if the films were to be recognised. And I dont think that, in honouring the movies as part of the storyline, that they'll all be sitting round the table discussing how JR once shot a mirror. Most of what happened in the entire 13 year run wont be referenced, so nobody will even notice that the movies wont be referenced. The thing about ongoing drama is that much of it focuses on the present, so even our current long running drama's dont really call upon storylines from 20 years ago to tack on their new storylines.

I also think that the two reunion movies are only just 3 hours of storylines - barely more than a tenth of ONE season in terms of quantity and length. Nothing to get too excited or upset by.

Not mentioning something is fine. Changing the past is the problem.

[Sid Fairgate]

Not mentioning something is fine. Changing the past is the problem.

Precisely. There are events from my past I wish I could "retcon," but they're still a part of me, warts and all. Maybe it's unrealistic, but I expect the same from fiction. It's hard to buy into a show if what you're watching can be altered or written off completely at any time. Unfortunately, Dallas has been infamous for doing just that, and it looks like we're going to be getting more of the same.

[Tessie]

I think some people have completely missed the point. I'm a fan of the JR (and the show as a whole) that "made sense" too. But if you're going to cut the reunions with the excuse being that "they're bad," why not cut out Haleyville, JR in the asylum, Sue Ellen's movie, James and Michelle, ect.? All of those beyond shitty plots and characters are referrenced in the timeline, and the reunions were certainly no worse than that dreck. That's why selective slicing and dicing doesn't work for me.

.

Cut out the damn dream season and make Bobby dead as a doorknob, as he should be.

As for "Rebecca Sutter," she should have been Pamela Rebecca to begin with. From what I understand, she originally was in one of the original drafts of the script. IMO, it was a dumb move to change that, leaving the entire Barnes family out of the pilot completely. IMO, that alone doesn't show a lot of foresight.

Yes, a million times yes. It's not The Ewing Show, it's supposed to have the Barnes family in equal measure.

[Tessie]

Precisely. There are events from my past I wish I could "retcon," but they're still a part of me, warts and all. Maybe it's unrealistic, but I expect the same from fiction. It's hard to buy into a show if what you're watching can be altered or written off completely at any time. Unfortunately, Dallas has been infamous for doing just that, and it looks like we're going to be getting more of the same.

And this reboot itself could be retconned 20 years from now if they do version 3.0, so really there's no point in watching, IMO.