TNT greenlights 'Dallas'

[Prison Mike]

I found a place where I could watch the old series. Well, season 1 at least. After all these years, the show still holds up pretty well. I thought it would be boring but it's pretty entertaining. I wish the show was on netflix though.

[Dark Raven]

Originally Posted by Prison Mike

I found a place where I could watch the old series. Well, season 1 at least. After all these years, the show still holds up pretty well. I thought it would be boring but it's pretty entertaining. I wish the show was on netflix though.

When you say Season 1, do you mean the mini series? That's often counted as Season 1, but sometimes Season 1 is for the series proper. The mini series was a short season, probably about as long as this new 2012 series. They got longer as the show progressed. What you want to see is Season 3 - that's the really classic season and probably one of the most famous of all time, especially the cliffhanger with "Who shot JR?" - that literally changed the face of prime time TV and introduced the season-ending cliffhangers to all shows.

The early stuff is more interesting. It's when you get to Season 10 that the show jumps the shark and never quite recovers. That's when it retcons the previous season as a dream with Bobby coming back in the shower and everything is set back a whole year. So you have to work through all of Sue Ellen's alcohol problems yet again (she had become strong and more independent the previous season) and people are at each other's throats who shouldn't have been. You just don't feel like having to go through all of that and there's too much of a feeling of deja vu.

There's also a serious budget cut in Season 10 and the quality of the show goes downhill. In Season 9 (the dream season), the costume design and filming style is really quite glossy, almost rivalling Dynasty. They drive much more fancy cars and everything looks quite slick. Then in Season 10 instead of driving a Mercedes, Bobby Ewing is reduced to a Ford, and I think even the filming looks rather video taped.

Season 9 is not bad as a season at all, but of course they had to retcon it away just to bring back Bobby, and of course the show suffered after that and lost direction and never quite recovered. If they were able to find a way to bring him back (eg he faked his death) while maintaining the Season 9 continuity, then maybe it wouldn't have jumped the shark.

Unfortunately, to understand some of what is going on in the show today, you have to watch past Season 10 up to Season 14.

I can say though that the new 2012 series has managed to get back to the pre-shark-jumping level and the series feels fresh once again.

They probably have the old series on these torrent sites.

[Prison Mike]

Yeah, I mean the miniseries. I hate to go into a seaon without watching from the beginning so I'm starting with the miniseries and then season 2 before I go into season 3 which has the famous who shot JR cliffhanger. Honestly, the first time I heard about that cliffhanger was when they did it on The Simpsons with Mr. Burns. I remember everyone talking about the famous JR cliffhanger from Dallas but I had no idea what they were talking about. I was only 9 years old at the time.

[Prison Mike]

I finished watching season 1 (the miniseries). The stories are good but the music was hilariously bad. This is a classic scene:

VIDEO-CLick to Watch!:

[Primal Slayer]

Lol that was such a classic scene for those times. I also started over with the mini series but I dont know if I can continue through with the rest since I already have enough tv shows on my plate.

[Dark Raven]

Originally Posted by Prison Mike

I finished watching season 1 (the miniseries). The stories are good but the music was hilariously bad. This is a classic scene:

VIDEO-CLick to Watch!:

You know, Victoria Principal never really danced sexily like that again in the series. Everyone at the start in the first 2 seasons were much more laid back and things weren't as serious. I think once she fell out of that barn in season 2 then Pamela became more serious and angst-ridden, because she couldn't have children. Correct me if I'm mistaken, but I think also the early episodes weren't really as serialised but more like one-off stories that were resolved each week.

I think Bobby gets kidnapped in Season 2, but they were really after JR and nabbed the wrong guy. JR himself wasn't quite as much the main character as Bobby and Pam in those days, but he increasingly came to the forefront, especially once he got shot. After "Who Shot JR" the series found its stride, but also kind of lost some of its breezy innocence.

BTW if you sit through the whole series, you'll become a Dallas expert, because you'll be more familiar with all the details, having watched the original series more recently than the rest of us.

Originally Posted by Primal Slayer

Lol that was such a classic scene for those times. I also started over with the mini series but I dont know if I can continue through with the rest since I already have enough tv shows on my plate.

Yeah, I don't think I could sit through all of that again. They show the early episodes over here on TV - can't remember which channel - I think it might be CBS drama. I remember catching parts of them even while the 2012 series was running a few weeks ago. I never really sat through them because they are much slower compared to the modern series. Plus I don't feel like reliving that again.

All I will say though is that Gary Ewing was originally played by a different actor instead of Ted Shackleford the first time he appears, and also Jenna Wade is played by 2 different actresses in her cameo appearances (one of them was the woman who played in the Paper Chase, and the other is Morgan Fairchild). Only later is she played by Priscilla Presley when she becomes a full character.

And if you're really going the distance, in one of the later seasons (can't remember which one now but it's at least season 8) Miss Ellie is replaced by Donna Reed for one season, and then switched back to Barbara Bel Gedes for the next season.

[GoblinScrier]

I've been buying them season by season off of ebay to see all of them...I've bought the first six so far...currently on season 4...I love it! Everybody is so likable...especially Miss Ellie and Jock...wish Jim Davis hadn't died back then...and wish Barbara was still alive today to appear on the new Dallas...still there are a couple of awesome quotes from the old show that I've seen thus far:

Sue Ellen: Tell me J.R. which **** will it be tonight?

J.R.: What difference does it make? Whatever one it is, has to be a lot more interesting than the one I'm looking at!

Bobby: Cliff is entitled to Ewing 23's profits. He is beaten J.R. He isn't a threat to us anymore.

J.R.: Not a threat to us anymore? Bobby, the only way Cliff won't be a threat is when he he is buried in the ground and even then I wouldn't put it past him to come back and haunt us!

Genius writing....

[Dark Raven]

Originally Posted by GoblinScrier

I've been buying them season by season off of ebay to see all of them...I've bought the first six so far...currently on season 4...I love it! Everybody is so likable...especially Miss Ellie and Jock...wish Jim Davis hadn't died back then...and wish Barbara was still alive today to appear on the new Dallas...still there are a couple of awesome quotes from the old show that I've seen thus far:

Sue Ellen: Tell me J.R. which **** will it be tonight?

J.R.: What difference does it make? Whatever one it is, has to be a lot more interesting than the one I'm looking at!

Bobby: Cliff is entitled to Ewing 23's profits. He is beaten J.R. He isn't a threat to us anymore.

J.R.: Not a threat to us anymore? Bobby, the only way Cliff won't be a threat is when he he is buried in the ground and even then I wouldn't put it past him to come back and haunt us!

Genius writing....

Lol, JR always was one for one-liners.

What are you going to do when it gets to the infamous Season 10 and beyond though, which completely invalidates the previous season?

The end of Season 10 is important though because that's Victoria Principal's last appearance when she crashes into that truck. Or maybe that was the end of Season 11. I can't remember. I think the last couple of seasons are particularly bad and well past its sell-by date.

[Prison Mike]

My goal is to finish all 14 seasons before season 2 starts up in January (or will it be the second half of season 1?)

[Sawyer]

It'll be season two. 15 episodes, instead of the 10 we got this season.

[Prison Mike]

They'll show the 15 episodes straight without a break? If so, then that's great. Also, after watching the miniseries just now, I can appreciate the cameos of Lucy and Ray a lot more.

[Sawyer]

I'm not sure about breaks. The only two shows I've watched regularly on TNT are this and Falling Skies and, thus far, both have had only 10 episodes a season.

[Dark Raven]

Originally Posted by Prison Mike

They'll show the 15 episodes straight without a break? If so, then that's great. Also, after watching the miniseries just now, I can appreciate the cameos of Lucy and Ray a lot more.

Yeah, you'll appreciate a lot of things much more, and you'll suddenly see certain plot points or other storylines which are mentioned in passing in the new series and will think "hey I remember that!"

I think even once John Ross is born at the end of Season 2 you'll appreciate the link between that and the adult version of him later on. Same with Christopher. How often do you get to see the main characters of a series being born and growing up in other shows?

Originally Posted by Prison Mike

My goal is to finish all 14 seasons before season 2 starts up in January (or will it be the second half of season 1?)

BTW that is a lot to get through. There's more than 200 episodes there. Maybe close to 300. Are you watching them every night? You could probably just about do 14 seasons though if you're watching it nightly (or more than one a night).

Edit - I just saw there are 357 episodes. That's certainly more than the number of days remaining this year.

[Prison Mike]

Well maybe 14 seasons in 4 or 5 months is pushing it. If each season has 22+ episodes then yeah, I probably won't finish it in time.

[Dark Raven]

If the show runs from January to April now, then Season 3 won't be until January 2014, unless they start showing it in September as well and making longer seasons or have shorter breaks between seasons, or having a break in the season like shows on USA.

[Prison Mike]

I watched the Reunion episodes where Gary first appeared. JR is such a sly sneaky bastard. I love him.

[Dark Raven]

I forgot to mention that there's a "Dallas: The Early Years" TV movie as well, which is a prequel to the original Dallas series. It's about how Jock and Miss Ellie came together, and the origin of the Ewing/ Barnes feud. I think JR is just a little boy in there. It has different actors in the various roles, including Dale Midkiff as Jock. Larry Hagman is narrating the story in the present to a reporter. Might be worth watching that too.

[Prison Mike]

I read about that on wikipedia. I also read that Knots Landing was a spin off. Never knew that. Was that ever as good as Dallas?

[Dark Raven]

Originally Posted by Prison Mike

I read about that on wikipedia. I also read that Knots Landing was a spin off. Never knew that. Was that ever as good as Dallas?

It was okay. Some people liked it as much if not more. You'll have to ask the Knots Landing fans here. It lasted 14 seasons as well. I only really watched the first couple of seasons or so properly and the later ones very casually. It was quite a different feel to Dallas. They all lived in a little suburban cul-de-sac. Think of it more like Australian soap "Neighbours" but set in California.

There were some really weird episodes in there. There was one where the women visited this haunted house and Valene Ewing began seeing ghosts and the rest of them were experiencing poltegeists. I still don't know what the heck that episode was about, but I don't think it was a figment of their imaginations either.

The problem with Knots Landing was that they continued with their own timeline after the Dallas dream season, because they had already made reference to Bobby's death, so they didn't want to undo their own continuity just to fit in with Dallas Season 10 continuity.

One thing I'll say though is that the saxophone music for Knots Landing was pretty good, although they changed the instrumentation for it a lot over the course of the series.

BTW Alec Baldwin used to play in Knots Landing in the later seasons.

[Prison Mike]

Patrick Duffy and Larry Hagman are the only two men who can say "daddy" and still maintain their masculinity 100%.

[Primal Slayer]

I think if they get the chance, they should get Knots landing back in continuity with Dallas one way or another.

[Dark Raven]

Originally Posted by Primal Slayer

I think if they get the chance, they should get Knots landing back in continuity with Dallas one way or another.

I'm sure if they did bring back Knots Landing it wouldn't be difficult. They would probably just do a gloss over, the same way they did with the Dallas TV movies.

I don't think we'd get any Star Trek 2009 alternate timeline plot with the Gary Ewing from Knots Landing continuity crossing over to the Gary Ewing from Dallas continuity, although i'm sure that would be pretty interesting to see that happen with KL Gary wondering why Bobby isn't dead.

I think though they could throw in a wink at the audience with a humorous commment from someone about wondering if life ever seems like it's all a dream.

[Sawyer]

TV Line:

Dallas Scoop: Jordana Brewster's Getting a [Spoiler] in Season 2!
by Michael Slezak

There’s a forecast for rising temperatures on Season 2 of TNT’s Dallas reboot, as the show’s producers are planning to add two scorching series regulars to the cast.

First up is the role of Andres Ramos, the estranged older brother of Jordana Brewster’s Elena (pictured). Andres is described as being in his early-to-mid 30s, Hispanic, sexy and with a “great body.” (Um, this is Dallas, of course he wasn’t going to have a spare tire and chicken legs!)

Known by his close associates as “Drew,” Elena’s bro has a big personality and a little bit of a past: He witnessed his father’s death as a young man and grew up to be a lost, angry, bar-fighting, drug-taking screw-up. After a tour in Iraq, however, Drew got his affairs in order and, according to producers, has “spent the last 10 years bouncing around the world working oil rigs in exotic locales.” He’ll return to Southfork to “to drill the land his father died drilling,” but there’ll still be bitterness bubbling underneath Drew’s stated desire to continue dear old dad’s legacy.

Crazy/Beautiful‘s Jay Hernandez seems like he’d fit the bill, or perhaps fresh off the success of his Dancing With the Stars‘ gig, telenovela star William Levy?

A little less is known about Dallas‘ other newcomer, a tall, willowy blonde in her early 20s named Emma Brown, but she sounds like she might just as easily fit into an Edith Wharton novel as she would a modern-day soap opera. Emma is described as a classic beauty who’s been able to travel throughout Europe since she was a toddler, and was raised by her grandmother to be poised, graceful, and slightly aloof — and to look like a million bucks on horseback.

Emma’s priveleged upbringing has turned her into a complicated young woman. Her completely sheltered existence means she has “difficulty relating to anyone or anything outside that bubble, which gives her an otherworldly quality.” And not surprisingly, she’s more book smart than street smart. Still, while Emma’s father has instilled in her his own distrust of the larger world, and raised her to “feel safest in the ivory tower he’s constructed,” a deeper fascination with forbidden people and places will take hold of her throughout the season, according to a Dallas source.

Emma will make her first appearance in the Season 2 premiere and I could definitely envision Harper’s Island alum Cameron Richardson in the role. Or perhaps, if it means the permanent disappearance of Eileen’s irksome daughter on Smash, Grace Gummer could work for the role?

What do you think? Excited for some new blood in Southfork? Which actors would you like to see in the roles of Drew and Emma? Hit the comments with your thoughts!

I knew they'd be introducing a brother for Elena, but I didn't know he'd be a new regular.

[Prison Mike]

I kind of like the size of the cast as it is. The Rebecca storyline is the one I'm looking forward to the most!

[Dark Raven]

They should bring in the McKay brothers. They've already alluded to them before when John Ross and Christopher were playing basketball. They can be the same age as the Ewings and start up the old rivalries again there as well. Maybe they could have a cameo from George Kennedy as Carter Mckay.

I don't know who this Emma Brown is going to be. Will she turn out to be yet another character in disguise? Who else is left? Bobby's daughter that Jenna and Ray raised? JR's child (I forget which sex) that Callie had? What about James Beaumont, JR's illegitimate son? These characters seem conveniently forgotten.

But then we thought Pamela Rebecca Barnes was as well, and look how she showed up.