Mitch Pileggi Upped to Regular

[johnmark13]

Harris Ryland is no Jeremy Wendell or Carter McKay...

[Coffeecup]

I found Harris Ryland was turned into a sort of pantomime villain in the season finale when Ann punched him in the face, waved the audio recording in his face, threatened him, and he simply stood their shocked without doing or saying anything.

I notice that too, but felt he would be calculating his next move to get her back and the season didn't have enough episodes to allow us to see that part -- yet! Dallas never showed them speaking after that scene so we don't know what could be planned and executed by Ryland in Season 2.

I'm glad he has a permanent role in Season 2. I liked the character and the actor. Someone on another thread mentioned that we needed someone who was bad and we didn't feel sorry for him. Ryland fits that description. I actually feel a little sorry for JR now that he lost everything and was in an institution for the last 5 years.

[Canyon340]

Harris Ryland is no Jeremy Wendell or Carter McKay...

Carter McKay was never considered a credible character let alone a credible foe for many devotees of the classic series. Me included.

Wendell, however, was a masterful invention and beautifully acted. I doubt whether we will ever get a villain of a similar vintage.

Rylands has potential....

[SnarkyOracle!]

Carter McKay was never considered a credible character let alone a credible foe for many devotees of the classic series. Me included.

Wendell, however, was a masterful invention and beautifully acted. I doubt whether we will ever get a villain of a similar vintage.

Rylands has potential....

Yes, Ryland could be far better than lousy McKay ever was. But there's only one Wendell.

[Pamela Barnes]

Carter McKay was never considered a credible character let alone a credible foe for many devotees of the classic series. Me included.

Wendell, however, was a masterful invention and beautifully acted. I doubt whether we will ever get a villain of a similar vintage.

Rylands has potential....

I never got the whole McKay thing, I never found him interesting in the slightest and I'm not sure why that is. I didn't have any empathy for him and rather than being complex he felt all over the place. I really liked Rose though.

[SnarkyOracle!]

I never got the whole McKay thing, I never found him interesting in the slightest and I'm not sure why that is. I didn't have any empathy for him and rather than being complex he felt all over the place. I really liked Rose though.

Yes, Rose had potential and McKay was a waste of hot air.

Of course, McKay benefitted when William SMithers asked for a raise at the wrong time.

[Colonel Lucas]

No, the original didn't. Think of Jock, Ellie, Pam, Lucy, Ray ... none of them was like Mitch. There was chiefly a single evil-doer - J.R. We still have J.R.

The original had Katherine, Cliff later became one... Ryland is awesome. Not sure why cartoony is bad if it were true.

[Colonel Lucas]

Wendell was just like Ryland...

[quiche]

[I am dictating this post to you using voice recognition and Windows seven.]

With all this talk about Wendell and Mackay, we too easily forget that these characters were in the last years when Dallas was failing. Therefore, Wendell and Mackay were not successful characters.

The new Dallas could very well fail also, if they feature Ryland.

[Laurie!]

I found Harris Ryland was turned into a sort of pantomime villain in the season finale when Ann punched him in the face, waved the audio recording in his face, threatened him, and he simply stood their shocked without doing or saying anything.

You felt that way too huh? Cause that's exactly how I felt about that scene as well. I enjoyed Harris Ryland and always felt he reminded me of the super villain Jeremy Wendell...due largely to the lack of background info for both characters which in my opinion....is a good thing for an unapologetic villain which the audience doesn't need to find a redeeming quality in. It gives them that air of 'stranger danger' which causes us to forever distrust them and beware of their potential desire to cause harm.

All of that was tossed aside in the final scene, solely to raise the Ann character up to some sort of silly cult hero status for women who enjoy Jerry Springer style vengeance....punching, threatening, blackmailing, etc....in fact, when the scene ended, I half expected Maury Povich to appear in the next scene with a "who the baby Daddy?" montage.

[Canyon340]

[I am dictating this post to you using voice recognition and Windows seven.]

With all this talk about Wendell and Mackay, we too easily forget that these characters were in the last years when Dallas was failing. Therefore, Wendell and Mackay were not successful characters.

The new Dallas could very well fail also, if they feature Ryland.

Wrong. Wendell made his first appearance in 1981/2.

[Canyon340]

You felt that way too huh? Cause that's exactly how I felt about that scene as well. I enjoyed Harris Ryland and always felt he reminded me of the super villain Jeremy Wendell...due largely to the lack of background info for both characters which in my opinion....is a good thing for an unapologetic villain which the audience doesn't need to find a redeeming quality in. It gives them that air of 'stranger danger' which causes us to forever distrust them and beware of their potential desire to cause harm.

All of that was tossed aside in the final scene, solely to raise the Ann character up to some sort of silly cult hero status for women who enjoy Jerry Springer style vengeance....punching, threatening, blackmailing, etc....in fact, when the scene ended, I half expected Maury Povich to appear in the next scene with a "who the baby Daddy?" montage.

Go Laurie! Go Laurie! Go Laurie!

As always, I agree with some of this. The Playtex payoff was indeed cheesy, but I suspect Ryland's revenge will prove to be very nasty. If he has been recruited to Season 2 merely as another dastardly daddy then his villainy will be rather one note.

Wendell's power as a villain was his icy indifference to the grubby motivations that we usually associate with bad boys. He was in a different league from every other foe the Ewings ever faced; and his credibility was helped by a consistently stellar performance by Smithers.

[A House Divided]

Go Laurie! Go Laurie! Go Laurie!

As always, I agree with some of this. The Playtex payoff was indeed cheesy, but I suspect Ryland's revenge will prove to be very nasty. If he has been recruited to Season 2 merely as another dastardly daddy then his villainy will be rather one note.

Since an audio recording exists of Ryland confessing to blackmailing Sue Ellen, Ann or Sue Ellen can hand it over to the Police if he tries anything to exact revenge. Although I thought he was a very promising villain, it appears Ryland has been defanged in that scene with Ann in his office in the season finale. Same way J.R. was defanged in the second half of the season. Seems to be a show where the villain doesn't win, unlike J.R. in old Dallas.

Wendell's power as a villain was his icy indifference to the grubby motivations that we usually associate with bad boys. He was in a different league from every other foe the Ewings ever faced; and his credibility was helped by a consistently stellar performance by Smithers.

I wish William Smithers was one of those appearing in Season 2.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature...&v=XhzHnJyMQDU

[quiche]

Since an audio recording exists of Ryland confessing to blackmailing Sue Ellen, Ann or Sue Ellen can hand it over to the Police if he tries anything to exact revenge. Although I thought he was a very promising villain, it appears Ryland has been defanged in that scene with Ann in his office in the season finale. Same way J.R. was defanged in the second half of the season. Seems to be a show where the villain doesn't win, unlike J.R. in old Dallas.





I wish William Smithers was one of those appearing in Season 2.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature...&v=XhzHnJyMQDU

The one thing I liked in that scene with Ann and Ryland was when she punched him in the face. However, Ann exposed her a weak spot, which is her family.

So I would expect that Ryland will either go after Bobby or he is going to torment her about her lost child. Then he will be the classical villain twirling his mustache.

[A House Divided]

The one thing I liked in that scene with Ann and Ryland was when she punched him in the face. However, Ann exposed her a weak spot, which is her family.

So I would expect that Ryland will either go after Bobby or he is going to torment her about her lost child. Then he will be the classical villain twirling his mustache.

Ann threatened Ryland that if he bothers her or her family again, she'll use the audio recording against him, so she could give it to the police or even give it to the press. Perhaps in season 2 the writers won't bring up that scene or Ryland's recorded confession again as he's been really defanged.

Yes, I think Ryland probably won't do anything nasty to her or Bobby but torment her about her lost daughter.

[quiche]

Ann threatened Ryland that if he bothers her or her family again, she'll use the audio recording against him, so she could give it to the police or even give it to the press. Perhaps in season 2 the writers won't bring up that scene or Ryland's recorded confession again as he's been really defanged.

Yes, I think Ryland probably won't do anything nasty to her or Bobby but torment her about her lost daughter.

That tape recording doesn't necessarily amount to much. Indeed, Ann could be harming Sue Ellen. Ryland could turn it around on Sue Ellen and expose what she did with the medical examiner. Ryland isn't holding public office.

Ryland should have a web cam in his office, then he could have had a video of Ann and her threats. Because I would think she was acting somewhat illegally.

If I were Ryland, I would not be taking Ann's threats seriously. In fact, she looked juvenile and rather a fool.

[Canyon340]

Since an audio recording exists of Ryland confessing to blackmailing Sue Ellen, Ann or Sue Ellen can hand it over to the Police if he tries anything to exact revenge. Although I thought he was a very promising villain, it appears Ryland has been defanged in that scene with Ann in his office in the season finale. Same way J.R. was defanged in the second half of the season. Seems to be a show where the villain doesn't win, unlike J.R. in old Dallas.





I wish William Smithers was one of those appearing in Season 2.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature...&v=XhzHnJyMQDU

Not sure JR has been defanged. They are drilling on Southfork and he has cut himself a piece of the new Ewing Energies company. Not a bad outcome considering where he was at the beginning of the season.

[quiche]

Not sure JR has been defanged. They are drilling on Southfork and he has cut himself a piece of the new Ewing Energies company. Not a bad outcome considering where he was at the beginning of the season.

J.R. Doesn't have a piece of Ewing Energies yet. John Ross only promised him a piece if he taught John Ross the dirty tricks in order to take Christopher and Elena's share of the company. Right now the only owners of Ewing Energies are John Ross, Christopher, Elena, and Bobby.

[A House Divided]

You felt that way too huh? Cause that's exactly how I felt about that scene as well. I enjoyed Harris Ryland and always felt he reminded me of the super villain Jeremy Wendell...due largely to the lack of background info for both characters which in my opinion....is a good thing for an unapologetic villain which the audience doesn't need to find a redeeming quality in. It gives them that air of 'stranger danger' which causes us to forever distrust them and beware of their potential desire to cause harm.

All of that was tossed aside in the final scene, solely to raise the Ann character up to some sort of silly cult hero status for women who enjoy Jerry Springer style vengeance....punching, threatening, blackmailing, etc....in fact, when the scene ended, I half expected Maury Povich to appear in the next scene with a "who the baby Daddy?" montage.

I like Mitch Salem's review of the new Dallas pilot, and especially his comparison of the antagonists of Dallas and Revenge:

“Dallas feels terribly old-fashioned. Partly that’s because half the main characters are at least in their 60s, but it’s also due to the pace and flat simplicity of the dramaturgy. Even the attempted double-and triple-crosses are plain and uninteresting, revealed almost at once and not terribly surprising. There’s no suspense or ambiguity, because JR and John Ross will always be plotting whatever can bring them money and/or Southfork, and neither can ever be vanquished or the show is over. Look, in comparison, at a new-generation Dallas-influenced soap like Revenge, where the antagonist characters of Emily and Victoria are drawn with some nuance, so that we’re never quite certain how evil they’ll be at a given moment or where they’ll draw the line, and we go back and forth on whether we can sympathize with them–that’s what gives the show its dramatic bite. The only thing that keeps the rebooted Dallas going is Hagman, who brings a wry pleasure to his own villainy. The rest of the cast is too straightforward for its own good, making them hard to care about, like or root for.

Dallas got off to a solid, if old-skewing, start for TNT last week, but that came after months of marketing and hype. We’ll find out very soon how many viewers really want to devote an hour of their weeks to the travails of Southfork.”

MITCH SALEM has worked on the business side of the entertainment industry for 20 years, as a senior business affairs executive and attorney for such companies as NBC, ABC, USA, Syfy, Bravo, and BermanBraun Productions, and before that, at the NY law firm of Weil, Gotshal & Manges. During all that, he has more or less constantly been going to the movies and watching TV, and writing about both since the 1980s. His film reviews also currently appear on screened.com and the-burg.com. In addition, he is co-writer of an episode of the television series "Felicity."

http://www.showbuzzdaily.com/reviews...ew-dallas.html


As a fan of old Dallas I had hoped I would really enjoy the new series. Instead I found myself really enjoying the far superior Revenge.

[A House Divided]

Not sure JR has been defanged. They are drilling on Southfork and he has cut himself a piece of the new Ewing Energies company. Not a bad outcome considering where he was at the beginning of the season.

By defanged, I mean J.R. is not an effective villain, and neither is Ryland after that scene with Ann in the season finale. I don't want to see J.R. be a continuation of the weakened and softer J.R. of the final three seasons of the old series. I want to see J.R. winning and an effective villain like he was in the early years of the old series (“the man you love to hate and hate to love”). Enough of J.R. losing all the time and a pantomime villain. Why shouldn’t J.R. have won in his scheme and succeeded in drilling on Southfork? Why does Bobby have to always win in the end against J.R.?

J.R. had Southfork in his possession only to sign it back to his brother. At least they should have written it that J.R. gave back 50% of Southfork to Bobby so that both brothers are co-owners of the ranch, instead Bobby is still the stronger and more powerful brother (just the way Duffy likes it!). And if J.R. losing Southfork wasn't enough, Bobby has computer files from Marta's cloud drive of her and J.R.'s Southfork fraud with Bobby holding it over J.R.’s head and threatening J.R. that should he step out of line again, he'll send J.R. to prison. Definitely a defanged and declawed J.R. I did read that Hagman is not too pleased with how J.R. turned out by season's end.