A Comparison of Classic Dallas vs New Dallas from the Beginning

[Beware of Bobby's shower]

Just for fun, I went back to the first few episodes of Classic Dallas to see if some of the criticisms people have of New Dallas applied there. Kinda interesting:

1. New Dallas is ignoring a lot of important characters (Margaret, Lucas, Cally's son, James).
As of the end of episode 4 of Classic Dallas, there was no mention yet of Jock's brother Jason or the Ewing cousins Jack and Jamie. No mention that Ray was Jock's son, or that Jock had had an affair or had a previous wife. No mention of Ellie's brother Garrison or Sue Ellen's sister Kristin, or Pam's first husband or Bobby's ex-fiance. Gary was mentioned but not seen. They all came in the second season or later. Guess they wanted to focus on the core cast that first shortened season, although they had time to do stories focused on Lucy's teacher, Julie Gray, and Luther Frick.

2. New Dallas doesn't pay attention to details and rewrites history.
In Barbara Curran's excellent book on Dallas, she notes that in episodes 1 to 3 Bobby's secretary is named Connie. In episode 4 he has a new secretary named Jeanne. In episode 5, J.R. introduces a new Ewing secretary named Susan, and in episode 8 the actress who played Susan is now playing Bobby's secretary, named Connie. I suppose it's possible Bobby had four secretaries over 8 episodes, two with the same name and two who were twins, but more likely the producers just didn't feel the name and actress playing the Ewings' secretary was that important a detail in the big scheme of things. The secretaries and actresses stabilized to Connie and Louella in the second season.


In episode 1 Ray tells Pam that Miss Ellie's father gave Southfork to Jock. In episode 19, J.R. tells Sue Ellen that Miss Ellie's father left Southfork to Garrison in his will, and when he was presumed dead it went to Ellie. That appears to be a rewrite to fit the story they wanted to tell at that point (Garrison dying).

3. The young characters on New Dallas aren't developed and can't act.
It took episode 4 of Classic Dallas to really give Sue Ellen something to do. As the casting director said of her in Barbara's book, "All we wanted . . . was kind of a walk-on actress who could look as if she had once been a Miss Texas in the Miss America contest." So, she set the table and drove Miss Ellie places and had drinks on the sofa. And Larry Hagman famously told Linda Gray after her first episode that she was terrible. They could have developed Sue Ellen in episode 2, but instead made the plot about Lucy's teacher being blackmailed to develop Lucy more. Sue Ellen developed more in season 2, and Linda Gray earned an Emmy nomination for Outstanding Lead Actress in a Drama Series for the 1980-1981 season.

4. New Dallas wastes time with pointless scenes like Bobby birthing a calf.
In episode 2 of Classic Dallas there's an extended scene in a disco where there are at least two 20- to 30-second stretches of nothing but close-ups of people disco dancing. Maybe close-ups of Victoria's chest and backside while she was dancing somehow advanced the story of the Barnes-Ewing feud or Bobby's role in Ewing Oil, but those scenes seemed pretty pointless story-wise other than to show how attractive and limber the cast was.

5. New Dallas's rating dropped from 6.9 to 4.7 in the second week. People are losing interest.
In Barbara's book she notes the first episode of Classic Dallas was ranked 18th for the week and had a 21.5 rating. The second episode dropped to 50th and had a 15.2 rating--about 70% of the first week (New Dallas kept 68% of the first week's audience for comparison). Ratings then stabilized and started to grow, although the episodes fluctuated from a ranking of 11th to 59th week by week in the second season. It didn't have a Top 10 episode until the 31st episode.

6. Lucy never called Bobby "Uncle Bobby."
Fair enough. But in episode 1 of Classic Dallas Julie Gray answers J.R.'s phone as "John Ewing Jr.'s office." Not John Ross Ewing Jr.'s office. Not J.R. Ewings's office." You'd think his secretary of many years would know everyone called him J.R., especially since she does it herself. And J.R. called Jock "Father" rather than "Daddy." That was very inconsistent to what we remember, unless it was done just to establish who he was--kind of like calling someone "Uncle Bobby."

It's kinda interesting Classic Dallas had its growing pains and unmentioned history the first few episodes, too, but seemed to correct most of them by season 2. Maybe New Dallas will, too.

[Cliff Barnes]

I agree these are great points. I don't think the calf scene was pointless though, that was great. To me the whole plot evoked episodes like "The Lost Child" from the second year-self-contained plots that revolved more around the ranch.

It would also be great if, as it came into play by the third year, we eventually see Weststar re-enter the story.

[ronald mascot]

Great analysis!

[James from London]

What a refreshingly sane perspective. Thank-you.

[Miss Lush]

Classic Dallas usually had 25 - 30 episodes a season, therefore they had plenty of time for disco dancing, birthing cows and other pointless rubbish. TNT Dallas doesn't. 4 out of 10 already, growing pains for season 1 should be over by now. If things do not change (writing, character development, establishing a bit of an interesting main storyline) and fast there may not be a glorious season 2 to fix all these things. Because people will stop watching and won't bother to tune in for a possible season 2...

[Lovely Linda]

Very good observation! Thanks for sharing!

Dallas and continuity has always been an issue.... great to see the producers decided to stick to at least one thing from the original show

[pamlovesdallas]

I agree the continuity is not there. In Dallas reunion movie War of the Ewings, Sue Ellen and Bobbie were running Ewing Oil. What happened? JR was running Westar. What happened. I love Dallas but tie up the loose ends please.

[Beware of Bobby's shower]

Just saw on another thread Dallas got renewed for a second season. Hopefully that'll give them time to build on what they have so far!

[OmnisValidus]

Also on the subject of rewriting history for the sake of plot, the original series completely rewrote the history of Jenna and Naldo. Charlie was being put on a plane to go and spend time with him in season 3 and then later they'd never met when season 7 came along!

Plus there is of course the big one, that nobody seemed to notice that the entire ranch house was transformed without explanation.

I don't think the new series is doing anything worse than the early episodes of the original did. If it succeeds long term then things will get ironed out and we'll forget these little niggles.

[Mason Carrington Colby]

Classic Dallas had two completely different Southfork Ranchs! But people only seem to bitch about not liking the interior of Southfork on the new Dallas, despite it being the same exterior as the second ranch from the classic show... Eeks! Confusing!

[Pamela Barnes]

Classic Dallas usually had 25 - 30 episodes a season, therefore they had plenty of time for disco dancing, birthing cows and other pointless rubbish. TNT Dallas doesn't. 4 out of 10 already, growing pains for season 1 should be over by now. If things do not change (writing, character development, establishing a bit of an interesting main storyline) and fast there may not be a glorious season 2 to fix all these things. Because people will stop watching and won't bother to tune in for a possible season 2...

I think it's great we saw some ranching scenes, I like the idea of Bobby birthing a cow. I just didn't like the Little House on the Prairie morality tale within it. I love the pace of it all. It feels quite balanced, it feels like a great deal happens within nothing happening. It reminds me at times of the UK soaps, where they spend a great deal of time talking about the plot.

[CarlD]

Classic Dallas had two completely different Southfork Ranchs! But people only seem to bitch about not liking the interior of Southfork on the new Dallas, despite it being the same exterior as the second ranch from the classic show... Eeks! Confusing!

only on this webpage, the "average" fan out there probably didn't give it a second thought as the interior being different.

[Mason Carrington Colby]

only on this webpage, the "average" fan out there probably didn't give it a second thought as the interior being different.

I know...

[quiche]

Here's my list:

1. Classic Dallas had a pilot season of 6 episodes. New Dallas has an opening season of 10 seasons. Each episode of classic Dallas, in its pilot season, managed to tell a complete story with a beginning, middle, peak, and an end. New Dallas strings us along.

2. Classic Dallas had opening credits that featured clips of all the characters with the actors names, by alphabetical order, and therefore, you were introduced to the Ewing family. New Dallas doesn't show the characters, just the names.

3. Classic Dallas had a Southfork mansion that resonated money, power and Texas. With the new Dallas, we lose track of where we are and where the people are in relation to a Ewing household, because a Ewing household does not exist. In the classic Dallas, it was an extended family with power over the people's lives vested in the patriarch. In new Dallas, it is a marital family and there is no family authority. When we are in the "house" of the new Dallas, we are literally hanging out in somebody's den.

4. Birthing a cow is fine of it shows us something important about the characters. But we saw nothing important about the characters with these scenes on the new Dallas. In the classic Dallas, we came to know Pam and Bobby as young sexually attractive people who like to go out and dance. We learned about them. And Pam being so sexually attractive was a main point of her character because J.R. was usually ogling her. He was covetous and jealous. On the other hand, we got nothing out of Bobby's scene with the cow.

5. Classic Dallas built in a rather quick time-frame complex characters. They didn't need cheesy, cliche scenes to do it. When we saw Sue Ellen beg J.R. for sex and him rejecting her, and then he was crawling in bed with his secretary, we knew precisely who these people were. We saw their insides, and it captivated us. Probably because they showed us both sides of the marriage. It beats being strung along, and not knowing the real story of the characters.

6. In Classic Dallas, we saw hard hitting Texas politics. We saw Bobbie meet with a state senator that the Ewings had been paying off for years. That was during the opening season. Classic Dallas never painted any character as a saint. New Dallas bends over backwards to worship at the alter of goodness with Bobby, Ann and Christopher. The new Dallas is heavy-handed with stark contrasts and misses the finer shadings.

I will continue this list later.

[Miss Lush]

I think it's great we saw some ranching scenes, I like the idea of Bobby birthing a cow. I just didn't like the Little House on the Prairie morality tale within it. I love the pace of it all. It feels quite balanced, it feels like a great deal happens within nothing happening. It reminds me at times of the UK soaps, where they spend a great deal of time talking about the plot.

The writing is way too simple for my taste and I feel like losing brain cells while watching it. I thought absolutely nothing happened in these first 4 episodes, like it's one long agonizing drag. I can't pinpoint what it stands for and I don't feel anything for the characters. I do hope that it improves but at the moment, I couldn't care less if they cancel it.
I only watch it for old times sake and because JR is great.

[Miss Lush]

I was really looking forward to it. But I'm disillusioned at the moment and although I would love to, I just can't appreciate it because I think the quality is poor.
And I don't feel like praising it merely for the fact that the show is back after 20 odd years.

[Beware of Bobby's shower]

5. Classic Dallas built in a rather quick time-frame complex characters. They didn't need cheesy, cliche scenes to do it. When we saw Sue Ellen beg J.R. for sex and him rejecting her, and then he was crawling in bed with his secretary, we knew precisely who these people were. We saw their insides, and it captivated us. Probably because they showed us both sides of the marriage. It beats being strung along, and not knowing the real story of the characters.

And you touch on the thing Classic Dallas has far and away on the current version--character development. That's probably due to David Jacobs being more into characters (like he showed on Knots Landing) and Cynthia being more into story. I do think the characters are starting to flesh out more, although we don't know everything (that was also true of the original--five episodes in, Ray was pretty much a jerk who drank, was willing to help J.R. break up a marriage, and was secretly sleeping with his boss's teenage granddaughter, but we learned more about the different, more positive sides of him later).

I would disagree that Bobby's being portrayed as a saint. He's done a number of things that aren't exactly perfect so far--keeping his wife and son in the dark about his cancer, not taking anybody else's views in the family into account when selling off the family ranch. But his character through most of Classic Dallas has been the "good, responsible one," so to make the argument that Bobby is being portrayed as good is kinda just saying he's true to form. I don't consider him sanctimonious because he was mad somebody was drilling for oil on land that didn't belong to him, especially when that person knew his grandmother had talked over and over about NOT drilling on that land. Seriously, if someone's dog takes a crap on my lawn and doesn't pick it up, I'm mad, let alone if they set up an oil rig. If anything, I think J.R. is being portrayed as too much of a devil. The J.R. I remembered would wheel and deal and backstab, but family was still important to him. Now in his eyes, Bobby's a fool, Christopher's not a real Ewing, he's double-crossing his son, and as charming as he is with Sue Ellen, his MO in the original always seemed be this way until he had her again, and then he lost interest and started to stray. I miss his nuances more thna anything.

But, we can agree to disagree. I still prefer the original to the current version, but I find the new one a perfectly fine way to spend an hour each week.

[Beware of Bobby's shower]

Good points on the original, though.

[quiche]

And you touch on the thing Classic Dallas has far and away on the current version--character development. That's probably due to David Jacobs being more into characters (like he showed on Knots Landing) and Cynthia being more into story. I do think the characters are starting to flesh out more, although we don't know everything (that was also true of the original--five episodes in, Ray was pretty much a jerk who drank, was willing to help J.R. break up a marriage, and was secretly sleeping with his boss's teenage granddaughter, but we learned more about the different, more positive sides of him later).

I would disagree that Bobby's being portrayed as a saint. He's done a number of things that aren't exactly perfect so far--keeping his wife and son in the dark about his cancer, not taking anybody else's views in the family into account when selling off the family ranch. But his character through most of Classic Dallas has been the "good, responsible one," so to make the argument that Bobby is being portrayed as good is kinda just saying he's true to form. I don't consider him sanctimonious because he was mad somebody was drilling for oil on land that didn't belong to him, especially when that person knew his grandmother had talked over and over about NOT drilling on that land. Seriously, if someone's dog takes a crap on my lawn and doesn't pick it up, I'm mad, let alone if they set up an oil rig. If anything, I think J.R. is being portrayed as too much of a devil. The J.R. I remembered would wheel and deal and backstab, but family was still important to him. Now in his eyes, Bobby's a fool, Christopher's not a real Ewing, he's double-crossing his son, and as charming as he is with Sue Ellen, his MO in the original always seemed be this way until he had her again, and then he lost interest and started to stray. I miss his nuances more thna anything.

But, we can agree to disagree. I still prefer the original to the current version, but I find the new one a perfectly fine way to spend an hour each week.

Of course Bobby is acting like a saint. Not telling anyone he has cancer was him acting the martyr. Not letting the other Ewings decide was him playing the savior of Southfork.

That's the problem. Cidre is using the cheap tricks of daytime soap writers ... and the foremost cheap trick is propping characters. The writing on the new Dallas does that endlessly with Bobby, Christopher and Ann. It's manipulating the audience, and that's what makes it a cheap trick and dishonest.

Classic Dallas was brutal and honest. If new Dallas was to emulate its greatness, it would have had Rebecca as a known character and Christopher marries her for specific reasons. And by the 2nd or 3rd episode, he hits the sheets with Elena. But they won't do such a brutally honest story. They won't ruin Christopher's character, and this is the reason he mostly comes off as a phoney.

With Bobby, he did need to tie him more to the past ... because he's nothing without the Dallas history. That means more about Pam and about being a Ewing.