Dallas biggest mistakes

[Pam&Bobby4ever]

What Do you think were Dallas biggest mistakes?

Please list maximun of 10.

1- Dream season solution
2- Dream season
3- Kill Bobby
4- Kill Rebecca Wentworth
5- Mark came back
6- Mark Graison and Jenna so boring (the last one, I love Priscilla but her Jenna was so boring)
7- Pamella's mummy
8- Kill Kristin
9- Replace Barbara
10-Pamela's mental illness

[Crimson]

Revealing that Pam was not Digger's daughter was my least favorite decision ever made on the show. The decision was all the more baffling because it was completely ignored thereafter.

Digger & Rebecca both were killed too soon; the writers of "Dallas" were overly fond of dramatic death scenes, and they lost long term dramatic possibilities as a result. Digger did not have to die to initiate Pam's search for Rebecca, and Rebecca did not have to die for Katherine to run amuck.

Recasting Miss Ellie with Donna Reed. She was badly cast, giving an ill conceived, terrible performance. If the role had to be recast, there were better choices (I've long thought Jane Russell or Ava Gardner would have done nicely.)

Making Lucy "sympathetic". Early on she was a rather fun character: spoiled, bratty, slutty, wild. And then she became nice. Zzzzzz.

Angelica Nero and almost all of the Dream Season. If I wanted to watch "Dynasty", I would have watched "Dynasty."

Not making more of Katherine or Afton during their later re-appearances on the show.

Making Sue Ellen "strong." Even more of a snoozefest than "nice" Lucy.

Pretty much everything after 1987.

[JRandSueEllenForever]

I couldn't stand Priscilla's performance as Jenna. She was always so whiney and combative, always picking fights with Bobby. Everything was a problem with her. It didn't even make sense to me why Bobby was hanging around her and falling in love with her, as bad as she was. There was just nothing sympathetic about the way she played the character. Nothing to love about her. But I guess she was nothing but a rebound for Bobby. He lost Pam and he was alone, so he latched on to her.

[ronald mascot]

1. Donna Reed
2. Pam Crash
3. Haleyville
4. Carter McKay
5 Sue Ellen's "movie" cliffhanger
6 JR trapped in insane asylum
7 James Beaumont
8 Michelle Stevens
9 Getting rid of Lucy
10 Jenna and Ray

[DallasFan20yearslate]

1. Victoria Principal leaving. her decision or not BAD! 2. Digger: I know he's Pam's Dad, but I can't get behind this character. 3. Lucy's parents: Can't the Ewings have a tragedy? Why couldn't they have died in a car accident? These characters were horrible IMO. 4. J.R. NOT killing Julie, and it being his business associates. He had more to lose than they did, he should've handled his business not them. 5. The eluded to 'affair' between Julie and Jock. I had always thought of him being a family guy, and this kind of took away from that.

[DallasFan20yearslate]

I forgot two others both including Lucy: 1. Lucy and Ray. Lucy was 17, and I'm not sure that even back in the late 70's when it was less P.C. than it is now this storyline was 'ok'. I know the actress was probably in her 20's, but the character was what 16? And with that said 2. Several times in season one they shot close up of Lucy's rear end. I'm a guy and usually not bothered by this, but for some reason it bothered me this time.

[SnarkyOracle!]

Recasting Miss Ellie
Dream resolution
Almost ignoring Pam's crash
Increasing campy tone of show
Carter McKay replacing Jeremy Wendell

[PAMANDBOBBYFOREVER]

1. Bringing back a character who was ran down on screen
2. Donna Reed as Miss Ellie
3. Pam's departure
4. Bringing back a character who was ran down on screen
5. Bringing back a character who was ran down on screen
6. Peter in speedo's
7. Bringing back a character who was ran down on screen
8. Bringing back a character who was ran down on screen
9. Bringing back a character who was ran down on screen
10. Bringing back a character who was ran down on screen

[Eyeshotjr]

1 Dream season
2 Shower scene
3 Killing Bobby
4 Watching a whole season and feeling scammed
5 replacing Ellie
6 Did I mention the dream season?

[DallasFan20yearslate]

Ok question, what would you have done with that season then? If you want to message me privately please feel free to do so. I'm very interested in your thoughts on this topic.

[Stimpy]

i dunno, i haven't seen the whole series just yet. but here's a few in no particular order. like you said killing Digger too damn soon.
though i prefer "David Wayne" as "Digger" both men did a great job. i have no issue with him FINALLY forgiving Jock. i like that. i have no issue with Sue Ellen becoming a strong character cause there's only so many times she can be a drunk. but like i said i havne't seen the whole series yet. oh it doesn't bother me that they had Lucy not be a brat anymore. though them stop giving her good story lines was a bad mistake.

having this Illness that Pam's unborn kids would SUPPPOSLY have than change it & say oh Digger wasn't her father. why even bother with the illness storyline? i do agree with Killing off Rebecca though. that was just plain stupid. she was a good character & they killed her off to damn soon.

the killing of "Julie" i think it would have been interesting to see how that storyline would be if J.R. had his own little love triangle maybe between Sue Ellen & Julie? or maybe something else perhaps? if not that. the kiling off of "Mickey" was stupid as well.

i DO agree that killing off Bobby was also stupid. making Pam a weak character was stupid. being confused all the time was just plain annoying, much like the season she had her poodle perm. he he. though i do think it's funny that even SHE regrets that one. he he

yes replacing "Ellie' was stupid. i think "Donna Reed" is a good actress' but her acting on "Dallas' was horrifying to say the least. & yes the shower scene was stupid. & the killing off or rather have Gary be dead wouldn't have allowed "Knots Landing" to exist had they wrote in that he was dead. & while i do agree that having Lucy sleep with Ray was stupid. than ignoring it later.

& yes the character of as many call him here PEEEEEEEEEEEDURRRRRRRRRR in speedos & in any scene really. i can't stand "mark Graison' either. here's one that you all left out. calling "The Store' well "The Store"! how unoriginal is that? it's like calling a libary a place to rent books. yes that is pretty much what it is, but it's stupid never the less. oh i'm sure there's a LOT MORE but that's the only things i can think of for now.

[Swami]

1: Angelica Nero & all that rodomontade
2: Granny Beaumont & her clan
3: Haleyville
4: Making JR a wimp
5: Poor storylines for Ellie & Clayton latterly

Swami

[Karin Schill]

I'm gonna add another one to the list. The one Katzman said.

1. Kill off April Stevens Ewing.

Even if Ann doesn't bother me and works well as a third wife for Bobby. I do think the show would have been better if Bobby had been married to April for 20 + years and had a couple of kids who were teenagers or in their early 20s. It would have given the show a totally different dynamic with kids that still lived in the house and were growing up. Also the dynamic between Chris and his siblings would have been interesting... so there's so many missed opportunities there.

[bogus jock]

i think you gotta go to the ultimate jump the shark moment and that was obviously bringing Bobby back to conclude the dream season. to get even more detailed, i think you gotta go to the root of that problem and that was the decision to kill Bobby off in the first place. when Duffy told producers he wanted to leave, they shoulda had him leave in the manner he was going to leave when JR got shot. he was just so sick of JR and his scheming and the city of Dallas in general that he "Gary'd" his way off the show. that way the possibility of his return coulda been left open, and the show would not have come off the rails right at that moment.

eventually the show came off the rails anyway (angelica nero etc..) but the dream season killed credibility so fast with viewers to get it all rolling.

[Sarah]

1. Separating JR and Sue Ellen over the WestStar storyline
2. JR's 'relationship' with Vanessa
3. The Pride Storyline with Miss Ellie's Jessica Fletcher stylee
4. James Beaumont, nuff said
5. Michelle working at Ewing Oil
6. No one bothering to grieve/look for Pam after her disappearance
7. JR's marriage to Cally
8. JR in mental institution
9. Sue Ellen's movie
10. Season 12 and 13......

[Pam&Bobby4ever]

I think the later seasons were consequences of early mistakes, if they hadn't made the early mistakes we will not have the bad seasons(later ones). because after the biggests mistakes on early seasons make Dallas downhill later.

Kill Bobby and bring Bobby back I think make the fans feel like dumb.

Pam not Digger's daughter a great mistake too.

[Sarah]

I will always defend the dream solution because it was a hell of a lot more believable than the likes of an evil twin or - God forbid - a flying spacecraft like The Colbys!

[Eyeshotjr]

Didnt the Donna Reed season come a year before the dream?
It could be argued that the decline began there
Caveat I think Donna Reed was a Great actress and was just miscast as Miss Ellie and if BBG didnt come back they would have had to do something else like have her cancer return

[DallasFan20yearslate]

ok dumb question. Why didn't Miss Ellie die when Barbara Bel Geddes was no longer involved in the show? To me it would seem that you couldn't recast ANY of the Ewings.

[JRandSueEllenForever]

Didnt the Donna Reed season come a year before the dream?
It could be argued that the decline began there
Caveat I think Donna Reed was a Great actress and was just miscast as Miss Ellie and if BBG didnt come back they would have had to do something else like have her cancer return

Yes, Donna Reed's only season was the season before the "dream season." She was fired after Bel Geddes agreed to come back. Supposedly Reed learned of her firing from a reporter while she was on vacation in France. She was in the process of suing the show's producers when she died of cancer. I believe she must have died not long after shooting that season, so she would not have lived to do another season anyway. I wonder if she knew she had cancer while shooting the series. If she didn't know, she must have died soon after a diagnosis. I agree Reed was a good actress, just not a good Miss Ellie. Maybe we all loved Bel Geddes too much at that point and couldn't accept anyone else in the role. Could anyone see anyone else but Hagman playing JR? Never.