Let’s discuss the TV show Dallas, Part 2

In the first seasons, I thought Pam was so cool. Smart, beautiful, normal...among a lot of abnormal people.

I'm Brooks Oliver's caterpillar eyebrows!

I'm the opening credits that look like tanning reflectors. And Priscilla's earnest face. Bealiesu or whatever it was.

I'm Dack Rambo's stretched out hole.

I'm a sad-faced Miss Ellie.

I’ve been watching season 8 - it’s a fun and Pam looks soooo good.

^^^. **…it’s a fun one…***

Is it just me or does Pam have an entirely new hair style in every scene? I don't think I've ever seen the same hairdo twice.

R8 no she did. Unlike Linda Evans on Dynasty who inexplicably never changed hers for 9 years.

All the wig budget went to Ms. Collins. Linda Evans could only get two whereas Joan Collins must have had a dozen through her entire run.

I'm the aerial shot of Texas Stadium, with the hole in the roof through which God can watch the Cowboys lose.

I'm one of those cows.

Pamela Sue Martin hosted SNL; she played Linda in a scene and the woman playing Alexis quipped: "I know what your hair reminds me of -- cafe curtains!"

the woman playing Joan, I meant.

Dallas was basically Succession 0.0.

Don't you mean that Succession is a sad, drab, Dallas wanna-be?

To follow up -- I've been re-watching season 4 and it's jam-packed with big events! Who Shot JR reveal, Lucy's wedding, Takapa, Ray is a Ewing, Bobby losing control of Ewing Oil, JR overthrowing a government, the return of Dusty...and I'm probably forgetting some.

Any one of these events could/would be season-ending cliffhangers on today's little 8-episode "dramas." I'm staggered at just how much plot the Dallas writers are burning through and surprised that they didn't run out of steam and ideas much sooner than they did.

I'm JR, pretty much raping Sue Ellen and Holly Harwood.

I'm up to where Jock divides up the shares in Ewing Oil. I love this now probably overused plot device. Lucy is so stupid. John Ross gets 10 percent and she as the eldest and only other grandchild gets nothing. John Ross is two and she's like 22. All she says in the scene is, "What's all this mean?"

R17, didn't some episodes go for 29 or 31 episodes?

that's a lot; technically, I think Bobby gave up Ewing Oil at Lucy's wedding.

Great stuff.

Yesterday I watched season 1 episode 5 where Jock and Digger face off at the Ewing barbeque, Bobby appears in tiny running shorts AND wet from a shower, Sue Ellen begins her spiral of alcoholic messiness, and Pam loses her baby when drunk JR confronts her in the barn. It was excellent. And the original house had a cool gothic, rural majesty to it.

Jock is the one who stands out when you rewatch it as an adult. He was really good looking when he was younger. He also aged really well. fakeJock was the stupidest story during the entire run.

Victoria was great as Pam, the outsider heroine who takes on Lucy's problems, puts SueEllen in her place and wins the admiration of Miss Ellie. Then they sort of zoned her out to be a bubblehead when J.R.'s machinations took over. Pam should have stayed a spitfire.

I don't ever spit.

I’m OP, who has no sense of humor.

[quote] Don't you mean that Succession is a sad, drab, Dallas wanna-be?

Well, first of all, if anything Dallas was Succession 0.0 as Dallas came first.

But Dallas was really just a prime time soap opera on network teevee for the hoi polloi. Succession was *at least* two steps up.

I spent a summer in the UK in the mid 80s when the show was at its height and when people would hear my American accent they would ask me what was going to happen on Dallas. This annoyed me — as if Americans had secret awareness other people didn’t. But what really annoyed me was people assumed I watched it.

It wasn't secret awareness. The UK was always about two seasons behind.

Please! You were flattered that people in other countries assumed you had any special qualities because your country owned a worldwide blockbuster show.

Knowing stuff about a dumb show =/= “special qualities”

Why didn’t Lucy get any shares? Was it because she was female OR was it because she was Gary’s kid?

R30 It's because she was a midget. Gary gives her his voting proxy.

[quote]This annoyed me — as if Americans had secret awareness other people didn’t.

In fairness, most Americans believe it as well.

I'm the Tundra Torque! I was Pam's vibrator, such a hit I named a drill bit after it.

Lucy and Sue Ellen saw right through scheming bitches Kristin, Afton and Katherine.

They should have had lLucy buy the Oil Baron’s Club so she could be a snide cunt to JR when he showed up with one of his whores.

r20 here; didn't some SEASONS go to 29 or 30 episodes, I meant.

Yesterday I watched the two part season 2 opener "Reunion" where Lucy reunites Val and Gary, and they return to Southfork.

The essence of who Val and Gary were through the entirety of Knots was established in those two episodes. I wish I could see those scenes again with Ted Shackleford after he replaced David Ackroyd.

Good stuff.

Lucy always looked slightly chubby in clothes but she wasn’t because when in a swimsuit, she looked fine.

I couldn’t figure that out.

We all know it became a mega-hit in 1980 but it must have been popular enough beforehand to merit a spinoff. When did it start getting noticed and talked about?

R35 The season I'm watching now (4) has 23 episodes. The range seems to be anywhere from 23-28.

You bastard!

So I'm up to right before fake Jock shows up (not to be confused with when fake Jan shows up at Southfork). I'm not exactly counting but it seems like most of J.R.s schemes fail but through his family's help and sheer luck he always comes out singing I'm Still Standing by Elton John. Will this be the same for the rest of the seasons? Just give me a teaser.

In the later seasons, he keeps scheming and cheating, but his wins will be smaller and less often. It's another reason why the show flatlines in the last four seasons. His adversaries are becoming smarter, and he doesn't see it coming. At some point he outsmarts himself and he ends up in the looney bin. At that point the J.R. character is just a shadow of his former menacing self.

Season 4 (the season where JR’s shooter was revealed) was short because of a writer’s strike in 1980.

The ratings for the first five episodes were good-the show was in the top 15. During the next season, the show’s ratings were lousy (it ranked in the 40s ), until the show was moved to a new timeslot midseason, at which point the ratings shot up.

The next season (79-80),, the show entered the top 10 and stayed highly rated until Pam woke up from her dream.

I'm Katherine Wentworth THE biggest bitch to every appear on Dallas.

fakeJock was almost as bad as the dream.

I'm Mr. David, Sue Ellen's gay hairdresser!

R23 Victoria preferred Pam as a spitfire and with some edge. She lost interest in the show and character when they turned her into Saint Pam. This, along with the declining writing, is why she gave notice in 1985 that she was leaving in 1987. It should have ended in the spring of 1986. JR gets Ewing Oil to himself when Pam sells the shares to him and marries Mark. Everyone is more or less happy. Of course a rewrite of Sue Ellen and Jamie blowing up would’ve been needed. The show still has Victoria. No dream bullshit to accommodate Duffy’s return when he thought he was too big for the show, and found out no one wanted to hire him. No hillbillies, blonde bimbos, and stupid characters getting the best of JR. No horrible writing. None of the main cast leaving one after the other.

R47 How about instead of ending it in 1986, they hired some better writers, which would have kept the cast happy so they didn't depart one by one, and gave the audience 5 more excellent seasons? Bring Duffy back, if necessary (was it, though?), in a different way.

R48 in a perfect world. The audience wouldn’t have accepted Duffy as anyone but Bobby. It just would have been more compelling if he was brought back another way instead of a dream. He flatlined but we didn’t see his body in the casket. Any talented writing team can get around this. Basically you’re telling a huge audience the joke is on you, and you’ve wasted time and tears by watching a whole seasons worth of shows which never occurred in the Dallas universe. The audience started to lose interest at this point and jumped ship. Rule number 1 don’t insult the people that watch your show. Victoria picked the perfect time to get the hell out. Even with everything intact the viewers would’ve eventually dwindled off I think. With long running shows that stay on the air there’s always a decline. We got 8 great seasons with 9 and 10 a mixed bag.

Jamie Sommers flatlined. Oh yes she did. Just saying.

Discussion of TV’s DALLAS Part 2: Southfork Boogaloo

[quote] The audience started to lose interest at this point and jumped ship. Rule number 1 don’t insult the people that watch your show.

Thank God we never did anything as off-putting and ridiculous as a dream season!

As a resident, I’m shocked at the interest.

[quote] they hired some better writers, which would have kept the cast happy so they didn't depart one by one, and gave the audience 5 more excellent seasons?

It wasn't just poor writing that made them leave. Some actors were let go because the show became too expensive. Hagman and Duffy could get what they wanted, but the other ones needed to go. They needed to let seasoned actors go and bring in new actors with more grounded base salaries.

These Dallas threads have convinced me. It's time to rewatch the entire series. Haven't done that in about 20 years, if not 25.

I'm CockTails, the shady bar where JR meets Walt Driscoll. Was I a gay bar?

I'm Aunt Lil, not wanting to put anyone out. Bitch it's just a cup of Donna's shitty Mr. Coffee sludge. It ain't no trouble.

I'm Donna's defective pussy.

I'm Donna and Ray's house. There is no kitchen. We never make breakfast and just show up unannounced and uninvited at Southfork every morning because we're too cheap to spring for our own instant scrambled eggs.

Beg pard' but we had a hot plate, grill, and a root cellar.

In response to r59's part, I am any door in Ray's house or Southfork. We are never locked; everybody is welcome to just enter. I am not the doors in Pam's house or Cliff's condo. People always have to wait there to be let in.

That’s because the Barnes family were poor trash living in the slums of Dallas, so they knew they had to lock the doors.

Rich bitches like Donna and Miss Ellie were accustomed to having staff open their doors opened by the help; even though Donna moved into Ray’s dirt floor shack, she was used to living in an estate in Turtle Creek prior to that.

I am Lucas Ewing. Yes, you read that right. In the next Dallas reboot (you know it'll happen eventually), I will come to Dallas and claim my birthright and my inheritance. I am true evil, unlike my gullible old father. John Ross won't have a quiet minute anymore. Have you ever wondered why Christopher was killed by that bomb under the car? Hmmm...

I'm the CHiPs-esque car crash with drunkard Sue Ellen and Mickey. That car rolled over several times and was flattened like a pancake, just coming out of the Southfork driveway.

It took us over a year, but we finished all seasons of the original series, the made-for-TV movies, and the TNT episodes.

We came to hate Miss Ellie, what a dumpy, pointless, whiny, always-wrong relic. Donna Reed was far more believable as a monied Dallas matriarch.

It was truly great in the beginning.

Donna Reed was better but I preferred OGMiss Ellie. Donna added some color. Literally.

[quote]Donna Reed was far more believable as a monied Dallas matriarch.

The Southworths came from cattle money, not oil money. They worked the land, they didn't drill oil wells. Bel Geddes was more believable in that role, given that background.

I can't fathom why the producers or a director didn't show Donna the 'Ray, get me the shotgun' scene.

She might have played it differently. Nancy Olson from Paper Dolls might have been a good replacement; ironically, she's still alive as is Priscilla Pointer.

I've suggested this before but all they had to do was have Katherine kidnap Bobby from the hospital and fake their deaths.

Pam and Mark marry in finale, they go to Europe for a honeymoon; Mark has to take a business meeting which Pam IS FINE WITH BECAUSE THERE'S NO BIG PASSION in their lives.

She goes out shopping and across a crowded street she sees Bobby! He does not see her. Freeze frame on Pam.

Pick up the next season, Bobby has no memory of who he is. Pam fights to find him, finding an ally in Miss Ellie.

They're reunited; Mark's heart breaks; Jack and Jenna find love and leave town.

In 2000 I was on business in Ukraine. All over Kiev there were billboards with Larry Hagman as JR. The show hadn't been on for almost a decade in the US.

I'm Ray's shirt he never wears when chopping wood.

I'm Miss Ellie's glass menagerie

I'm Jock's no doubt

HUGE COCK that Miss Ellie worships 🍆

Our family would watch Dallas every Friday night.

One time, JR walked out to the outdoor breakfast table during the battle for Ewing Oil; Miss Ellie chided JR: "JR, I hear you're pumping at full capacity."

My siblings didn't bat an eye; I looked over at my mom and she's beet red, trying not to laugh.

Whenever Miss Ellie or anyone would call Jock by his name..."Jock..." my brother would snark out "STRAP!"

I'm Falcon Crest, and forever grateful for that cushy timeslot. Without it we would never have gone past the initial 13 episode order.

Falcon Crest was so fucking boring.

I thought Falcon Crest seasons 2-5 were pretty good, but yes it definitely benefited from the Dallas lead in. Still snarky characters like Angela, Richard, Terry made it fun.

How dare anyone blaspheme Falcon Crest! On another note Lucy's modeling agent is Laura Palmer's father. Spoiler alert. He ends up murdering her. Laura not Lucy.

R74- and being the little gay boy that you were you would blurt out

COCK

ANGELA WORE DEPENDS!

I remember that news anchor on Channel 2 New York- He was hot.

Sue Ellen was so pretty like in this episode from November 1980 before she transformed herself 2 years later with that FUCKIN UGLY hairstyle that she got in the hospital hair salon apparently while visiting Cliff Barnes who had just tried to kill himself.

[quote]He ends up murdering her. Laura not Lucy.

Damn it. You had me going there for a minute.

[quote] He ends up murdering her. Laura not Lucy.

Unfortunately.

That would have been a good story-line. If I were the writer I would have had it be Miss Ellie. She was having flashbacks of walking in a Jock and Lucy fucking after having suppressed it for years.

[quote]Miss Ellie. . . was having flashbacks of walking in a Jock

Pics please.

Now do it in Miss Ellie twang while collapsing, crying into Bobby's arms: "I dropped my purse when I saw. I caught their attention. Then she just stood there. Naked as the day she was born. Laughing at me. Just laughing. The two of them. I'd forgotten all about it. Until recently. I couldn't take it anymore. Every time I saw her just made me sick. In my bed. There they were in my wedding bed. Where I conceived his children. I just couldn't. Oh Bobby what am I going to do? I killed my own flesh and blood. Your father made me a murderer."

A slightly drunk Sue Ellen breathes a sigh of relieve. She, of course, was the number one suspect. As usual. The police were there to cuff her not Miss Ellie. Miss Ellie's better angel wouldn't let them arrest Sue Ellen. Ray convinces the police not to cuff Miss Ellie as they take her to the station. Stay tuned to next season.

The cast in March. Scroll down to see the pic of all the Dallas attendees, many of whom I don't recognize. But if that's Marilee Stone in the hat in the front row, she aged well!

R88 Not gonna lie, I'd love the opportunity to have my picture taken in front of that set-up with the bar and the Jock painting. That is definitely Marilee Stone in the front row, and Leigh McCloskey as Mitch to her left. I think the woman in the floral shirt is one of the Ewing secretaries, but the name escapes me.

At any rate,what a display of horrid plastic surgery!

Im the fancy house dress Miss Ellie wears to the Oil Barons Ball

The one next to Mitch is April Stevens. Marilee is red dress with hat, no? Linda Gray looks good, so does Charlene Tilton.. Joan Van Ark and the actress who played Jaime Ewing, oh boy. What hath time wrought?

John Ross is too thin. Christopher unrecognizable.

Oops, in the big cast photo I mistook Linda Gray for Marilee. Shame on me, but they have similar jawlines and it's low-res image.

R89, that looked like Bobby's secretary Phyllis.

It made no sense for ME to update her home, patios, furniture and china through the years, but still dress in potato sacks for, and in, Dallas society?

To be fair, the frumpier the character, the less BBG had to act. She only had three notes: cry and simper, cunt, and BAD-TAKE mentor. By the time she got to the last seasons and put on a little makeup, it looked amateur and jarring. Just wrong.

Donna Reed, on the other hand, always looked showered and put together--like she just took a break from running lemonade out to the hands in order to order a purty from the N-M catalogue. And her affection for Clay, coupled with a cold indifference to the family fighting, felt more right for where the character should have been.

I guess after seven seasons of having BBG simper "Stop it, stop it!" it was too late to give that one a backbone.

Jim Davis said it best in one of the bloopers with BBG: "Goddamned old CUNT."

Interesting story about Reed: Several episodes into her season, producers called a meeting to upbraid the crew for lighting her with 'monster lighting" (severe overhead lights that aged her face with harsh shadows) and ordered them to knock it off and light her properly. Larry Hagman was a ring-leader, very anti-Reed, and wanted ME to go back to being a hag. He said he didn't like the "fancy" direction the production was taking--clearly talking about Reed, because the sets continued to get bigger and more lush, and everyone else's clothing continued to get fancy. All except for ME (by then BBG again), whose clothing got baggier and frumpier.

Oh, in the last couple of seasons they also cheaped out on the cars. Another small quibble: WHY did they never give Ray a front door??

And if you're watching the first couple of full seasons, keep an eye out for the top of the background canvas when they're filming on the outdoor studio set. We looked at each other like "Did you just see those lights sitting on top of the sky??"

[quote] WHY did they never give Ray a front door??

Because he was a dumb cowboy who built the house. He didn't know what he was doing.

[quote] WHY did they never give Ray a front door??

Because Ray was all about the back door

R88 - Was Joan Van Ark invited to this thing, or did she just happen to wandering around and stumbled upon the convention?

Thanks for posting that, r88!

Not sure I recognize everybody. I thought next to Fern Fitzgerald/Marilee Stone that was Victoria Principal. But it's Leigh Taylor-Young, I think. Who is the woman behind Joan Van Arc? She looks free of any plastic surgery, so maybe she is not an actress?

R94 you clearly don’t understand the ME character. She was a ranchers daughter and really didn’t care about designer clothes and material things, except when she went out to the Oil Barons Ball, dinner, or a public family function. If you Google BBG Dallas some of her gowns were beautiful and rivaled Donnas. Donna changed the character and was smart not to copy BBG, but she wasn’t right for the role. Howard Keel said himself Donna was too pretty and polished for the role. BBG saw the show through its glory years and became the matriarch off stage as well as on, plus played the part with an edge and grit Donna lacked. BBG also had heart issues beginning in 1982, and smoked like a chimney, so i think the sack dresses were maybe used to cover up the weight gain from some of the meds she was probably on.

They wanted Lucy to play Miss Ellie but Gary talked her out of it.

[quote]Donna Reed, on the other hand, always looked showered and put together-

Can you really see Donna Reed as a down to Earth rancher's daughter? Can you see her chasing Jock with a whip when he wouldn't commit to marrying her? Can you see HER telling Ray to get the shotgun?

R101, you’re kind of describing my Mom. Depression-era scrappy, ranch-to -Dallas. The city polishes a lot of edges. But the scrappy and pragmatic never went away.

I actually WOULD have liked to see what academy award-winning actress Reed could have done with any of that.

Again, just my opinion. We liked Reed better.

I'm Harry McSween's loud plaid jackets!

Maybe not all those things R101 but I bet she knew where to score the valium in a pinch.

R102 Bel Geddes won an Emmy as ME. As well as a multiple Tony nominee and received an Oscar nomination. She was no slouch in the acting department.

Reed wasn't bad, not even as Miss Ellie. But casting her against type of an established character was daunting. Had she been Miss Ellies sister, nobody would have had a problem with her. The other thing was the writing. She had nothing to do. She was written very reactive. I think the only actual story line Reed's Miss Ellie was given was that damn Jock portrait that made Clayton feel unwelcome. Then came the dream season with Miss Ellie having to mourn, keep the family together, support Pam, fend off Jeremy Wendell etc.

Wasn't part of the problem that Reed was somewhat typecast as the perfect 1950s TV housewife, and Dallas was a long way from there. Bel Geddes wasn't strongly associated with any particular past role, let alone one that was so antithetical to a steamy, tawdry melodrama.

Before Barbara Bel Geddes had heart surgery, Miss Ellie wore more tailored dresses and skirts-she wore a lot of twinsets. Everything she wore looked like old money. She wore pants sometimes but mostly twinsets and skirts.

The sack dresses/muu muus really began to appear when she returned in season 7 from surgery.

This blog did recaps and analyses of Dallas episodes, until he stopped during the dream season. The gown Miss Ellie wore to the Oil Baron’s Ball that season weighed 20 lbs!

I love Dallas Decoder. His reviews are pretty insightful. I'd say it's the best fan site for any of the 80s soaps. Falcon Crest has a good fan site, too. But its episode reviews are not that smart or skilled.

If anyone has other great fan sites for 80s soaps with reviews, please post.

R106 agreed. Her two big scenes were taking down Jocks picture and when Bobby flatlined at his dream death. I think she did fine, but the character by and large wasn’t needed this season. Donna said when she was cast she wanted a scene where she could back JR up against the wall, similar to the material Barbara was given and her showdowns with JR, but alas she never got them. Barbara left the show in a salary dispute, not the usual poor health excuse they told the press. She wanted more money, and a reduced work schedule, since she was still recuperating from heart surgery, but the producers balked. They could’ve easily scripted her out of the show, or gave her the season, or most of it, off, and avoided the whole Donna Reed firing fiasco.

Poor Donna was more than likely a gambit the producers took to scare BBG back to the bargaining table. Donna probably never had a chance and deserved a lot better than getting played. I imagine it was an awful experience behind the scenes for her, and then the embarrassment of being so publicly fired.

R111 so true. They treated her like shit, all because she wasn’t Barbara. I’m sure the stress of the situation exacerbated her pancreatic cancer which she died of. Only Susan Howard from the show attended her funeral. Reportedly Barbara saw Donna on screen and called up the producers and told them I wanna come back. Larry has said he would’ve gotten Barbara what she wanted because of the clout he had, but found out after the negotiations with Barbara fell through that the show was moving on without her. Donna really believed the role was hers permanently. But with Duffy and Tilton leaving, I can’t blame them for wanting as many of the original actors on set. They were able to overcome the death of Jim Davis by keeping his memory alive via the fight for Ewing Oil and Larry taking over the show, but the Barbara Donna ME thing was one of the first death by 1000 cuts that was leading to the deterioration of the show.

Those assholes over at Knots Landing didn't try to pull that shit with me. I would've kicked Miss Julie Harris right in the cunt bone!

they should have brought in that walton lady as miss nelllie

Yes, Ellen Colby would have been a good choice.

The show needed an uppity black maid, maybe Pearl Bailey? Imagine her zingers to JR and Sue Ellen? She would have kept Lucy in line, too.

"She's just like your Mama -- another drunken slut who ran away."

Damn, the season finale of Season 4 is bringing it.

Was Dora Mae, the hostess at the Oil Baron's Club, the only black character on Dallas?

What was with Kristen and all the orange peels? Are oranges some sign of drug addiction?

Speaking of the Season Finale of Season 4, it would have been interesting had we actually seen (later on) what took place between JR and Kristen before her “accident”.

Maybe the writers intended it to be JR causing her fall but were unable to at the time due to censors?

I still say he did it.

If they wanted to show J.R. killing her, I don't see where the censors would have an issue with that. They had no problems showing Julie Gray's death two years before that.

If I remember correctly, Kristen, Pam and Sue Ellen are all wearing similar black and white outfits in the finale. I think they wanted the viewer to think that Sue Ellen and Pam were in jeopardy.

I wonder how much of the cliffhanger was rewritten at the last minute because of Jim Davis’ illness. He says 2 lines from the backseat of a limo in the previous episode, and that was his last appearance.

They should have called in Ann B. Davis.

I think they knew for the most part of his last season that he was dying. Katzman said that he showed him a made-up outline of the next season that still included him just to make him feel better. But they knew even he did not. And I could see that the uncertainty of the WHEN may have been a challenge for the next season's bible.

But the handling of Kristin's demise in the next season was kinda weird and eventually pointless. So she was dead in the pool, and Cliff and J.R. accused each other of having killed her. And eventually it was ruled an accident. That was lame and could have been handled with some more exciting stuff. Did that coincide with Falcon Crest's Who Killed Carlo Agretti season? Maybe CBS intervened and didn't want two shows back-to-back with the same story line. And then there was the Who-killed-Ciji?-season on Knots Landing. I may get the years crossed.

A good murder mystery WITH trial always jazzes up a soap. ABC daytime understood this an they were great at it.

R121, I meant maybe producers ( ok, not so much the censors) backing away from JR actually killing somebody. As R125 said, it was handled very anti-climactically.

And why did they back away from having Christopher be JRs? That would have been a really great thread for the rest of the series.

I agree that the Kristin death explanation was totally lame, that she was hopped up on PCP and thought she could fly. A JR murder trial would've been a much better storyline.

[quote] If I remember correctly, Kristen, Pam and Sue Ellen are all wearing similar black and white outfits in the finale. I think they wanted the viewer to think that Sue Ellen and Pam were in jeopardy.

If memory serves, it was Sue Ellen who Cliff pulled out of the water. She was floating face down and he flips her over in a nanosecond, but if you look close it's Linda Gray. Then it was reshot for the season opener with Mary Crosby. They were definitely leaning into our thinking it was Sue Ellen or maybe Pam.

Cliff would have had a stronger initial reaction if it had been Pam or Sue Ellen in the pool; his focus on was JR -- I knew it had ti be Kristen.

I thought it was Sue Ellen. Miss Ellie told her she filled the pool with vodka. It was a prank gone terribly wrong.

Kristin Shepard died at the end of the 1980-81 season. “Falcon Crest” had not premiered yet. The Carlo Agretti murder story was in the 1982-83 season as was the murder of Ciji on “Knots Landing”.

Look at the broken railing and then the distance between the pool and the porch on the house. If Kristin's fall broke that railing, her body would have landed on the pool deck, not in the water, the force expended on breaking the bannister would have reduced the trajectory of the body. Also in the long shot when Cliff's car arrives, the balcony rail doesn't appear broken, does it? I mean, yes, dramatic license but it always bugged me.

Thanks for clarifying that, R131!

I'm on Season 7--Cliff is a total dumbass schmuck for falling for JR's offshore drilling scheme. And getting set up again by Marilee Stone. What a fool, he deserved to be destroyed by JR.

On the DVD I had, there was no sound in the scene when Sue Ellen catches JR with Holly Harwood. It made it very dramatic but was there a non-licensed song originally in that scene? Does anybody remember?

Never understood the regard for Miss Ellie. In the first season, she just sits back while Lucy skips school, fully aware of it and just comments that Lucy won’t graduate if she doesn’t attend.

And despite her “backbone”, Jock and JR always ran right over her and did what they pleased.

R61, I liked Cliff’s house and I LOVED Pam’s house circa season 8.

Did we ever see inside Pam’s house? Seems like they were always in the front of the house or outback by the pool.

Pam's house was inherited from Rebecca Wentworth, filled with lots of antiques. Very classy.

I just started rewatching the dream season. In one of the early episodes, Jack goes sports car shopping with Jamie. The camera lingers briefly as he looks at a red Mercedes SL identical to Bobby’s convertible, then he moves to another car. Were they trying to position him as Bobby’s replacement?

Also, Jenna’s story arc in the dream season doesn’t work, because Priscilla Presley is a terrible actress. She starts the season being stoic about Bobby’s death; then she flirts with Jack; then she turns into a basketcase. Jenna is the only female character who regresses in the dream season.

They did have few scenes inside her house. In those weeks when they filmed on location they filmed pool scenes outside. When the crew was back filming in LA there were fewer scenes at Pam's, but then they were inside. Her downstairs interior was so much more elegant than Southfork. They may have filmed those scenes in an actual mansion. Hard to believe that she moved back to that mischpoche into that Southfork trash house.

R139 the idea was for Rambo to be Bobby’s replacement. They were setting that up, and it’s no coincidence he saved Ewing Oil, right before Bobby dreamed died. That would mean JR would always be grateful and form a bond with Jack. But of course we know how that turned out when Duffy came back. Larry reportedly hated Dack, so his days were numbered during season 10. Plus there was no use for the character when Duffy returned. Presley was ok as Jenna, but the dream season should’ve been her last. Pam wakes up, and Bobby and her realize Jenna left town. I hated the pairing with Ray. But Presley eventually quit so it worked out for the character but unfortunately Ray had to go to. Kanaly didn’t want to leave.

Who is the blond woman standing behind Charlene Tilton?

She played one of the secretaries Kendall.

Thanks, R143!

[quote] She played one of the secretaries Kendall.

And apparently she is still wearing that same wig.

Some dialogue from season. 8:

Jenna is awaiting trial for the murder of her ex-husband (Daniel Pilon with the worst accent).

Donna enters the Souhfork kitchen and sees Jenna baking about 22 loaves of her father’s famous split-top wheat bread. Jenna, distracted, drops a hot loaf.

Donna: Jenna, is something wrong? Jenna: (solemnly) yes, I’m afraid I’m going to go to jail.

Later on:

Bobby enters their bedroom and speaks to Jenna.

Bobby: I just checked in on Charlie. She seems depressed.

Of course she’s depressed! Her new found fake Italian papa, the one who gave her the biggest cameo pin even on television, kidnapped and tried to rape her mom while sending her off, also kidnapped, with his ex-lover.

I thought Daniel Pilon was so hot.

Priscilla Presley was just the worst actress.

R148, I agree. There were a few actor proof moments she was okay and even pretty good in.

She had Katherine's number from the beginning when Katherine showed up at the bar to try to size up Jenna; Jenna said that Pam has to worry about more than her (Jenna).

The mechanical bull scenes where Pam said "I am a tough act to follow!" and Jenna just shrugged "We'll see."

Last, she gave Bobby up after Lucy's wedding; I liked her with Jack in the dream season. Other than that? No, I had no investment in her.

If they had made Jenna a raging, nasty, manipulative cunt it would have been better. The show already had to many ladies who lunch.

Priscilla Pointer turned 100 today.

Victoria Principal posted on Instagram about it.

Morgan Birttany gave an interview to one of the soap sites.

Bobby scooped up John Ross in his arms and jumped into the pool during the fire that JR and Ray's fight caused.

I'm sure a stunt 'baby' was used but how cool that might have been in real life; scooped up in Patrick's strong arms and carried to safety.

Splash!

It would have been better if JR threw the baby through the window so he could escape.

It would have been better if JR used the baby like a battering ram to break through the window.