Dallas 2012 (1 Viewer)

[younger1968]

Victoria Principal is apparently rich as all get-out from getting involved early in the infomercial business. We'd all love to see her back but she has no real reason to come back. She doesn't need the money. However, it would certainly be good publicity for her.

It is too bad that Vicky has said no. However, the show has been very good, especially with Bobby and JR. The younger stars that play Christopher/John Ross are developing their own following. Jordana Brewster is babe and plays an excellent role as the love interest for both Christopher and John Ross. It is very good that JR still can wield the power, especially at his age along with the rivalry barnes/ewing. The only thing that would be interesting to the plot would be adding Afton's child, which would be Cliff's daughter to the story line.
The use of alternative fuels -vs- oil/gas is very good plot as it is relevant today. I am surprise more talk about gas fracking and/or Steam-assisted approach to oil extraction has not been mention as way to modernized the oil/gas extraction process. It could be that the story continues to evolve and the main focus is on traditional oil extraction.
I also believe the show is only signed on for about dozen or so episodes and then studio will decide whether or not they will pick up the show.

 

It was just renewed this week for a second season.

 

[younger1968]

It was just renewed this week for a second season.

Thanks Eric!
I watched a few episodes from S10 of the original Dallas last night as it was the last full season of Victoria Principal. I think she does show up in other seasons either in dreams and/or discussions. I was a huge fan of Vicky Principal and have her up there as one of my favorite gals from 1960-1990 tv/movies. Here is my list, which is not in any particular order:
1. Raquel Welch
2. Phoebe Cates
3. Betsy Russell
4. Victoria Principal
5. Jaclyn Smith
6. Kate Jackson
7. Emma Samms
8. Ann-Margaret
9. Angie Dickinson
10. Michelle Pfieffer

 

[Brent S]

It is very good that JR still can wield the power, especially at his age along with the rivalry barnes/ewing.

I'm interested to see where the Cliff Barnes storyline will go, but I hope the creators don't ignore the original series' resolution of the feud.
DALLAS tended to be a parody of itself in the later seasons, with stunt casting (Barbara Eden, Susan Lucci) and Ewing Oil changing ownership amidst numerous machinations a couple times a season. But one of the better storylines was in the 11th season when Cliff helped out an old wildcatter (played by Bert Remsen), and the two hit a major strike. In a reversal of roles, circumstances left the old man thinking Cliff gypped him out of his fortune... Cliff found himself in the position of "Jock Ewing" and the old man a reflection of "Digger Barnes."
That led to one of the series' best moments, when Cliff met with Miss Ellie and told her that he realized the Ewing-Barnes troubles may have been a huge misunderstanding, and he apologized to her for his part in the feud over the decades. It sounds contrived, but the writers did a great job with that story arc, and the scene between Ken Kercheval and Barbara Bel Geddes was genuinely played.
They left it with Cliff telling Miss Ellie that the fight between he and JR had become a different matter entirely. He wouldn't start anything, but if JR did, he wouldn't hesitate to fight back with everything.
I hope the new story picks it up from there. The Ellie-Cliff moment is too good to ignore. But clues to Cliff's motivation, so far, indicate he's back to avenging the family feud.

 

[younger1968]

I'm interested to see where the Cliff Barnes storyline will go, but I hope the creators don't ignore the original series' resolution of the feud.
DALLAS tended to be a parody of itself in the later seasons, with stunt casting (Barbara Eden, Susan Lucci) and Ewing Oil changing ownership amidst numerous machinations a couple times a season. But one of the better storylines was in the 11th season when Cliff tried to help out an old wildcatter (played by Bert Remsen), and the two hit a major strike. In a reversal of roles, circumstances left the old man thinking Cliff gypped him out of his fortune... Cliff found himself in the position of "Jock Ewing" and the old man a reflection of "Digger Barnes."
That led to one of the series' best moments, when Cliff met with Miss Ellie and told her that he realized the Ewing-Barnes troubles may have been a huge misunderstanding, and he apologized to her for his part in the feud over the decades. It sounds a little contrived, but the writers' did a great job with that story arc, and the scene between Ken Kercheval and Barbara Bel Geddes was genuinely played.
They left it with Cliff telling Miss Ellie that the fight between he and JR had become a different matter entirely. He wouldn't start anything, but if JR did, he wouldn't hesitate to fight back with everything.
I hope the new story picks it up from there. The Ellie-Cliff moment is too good to ignore. But clues to Cliff's motivation, so far, indicate he's back to avenging the family feud.

I have watched the new dallas on bravo Canada and the scene with Cliff and Christopher is very well timed. I believe Cliff says something do not let the Ewings destroy you like they did your mother.
The scenes with Christopher and Bobby are also well timed, especially when Christopher reaches out to his dad. The new dallas did an amazing job casting both JR and Christopher's characters.
It also seems they have spotted Lucy Ewing and Ray Krebbs periodically in the new series. I am surprise there is no Donna and/or Jenna Wade in the series. I believe the gal that played Charlie would now be about 40 and has left acting.

 

[AlanP]

Even if Victoria does not want to return Jaclyn Smith would be a great replacement for her, she has a very similar persona to Victoria, and I think she would be perfect as PAM

 

[younger1968]

Even if Victoria does not want to return Jaclyn Smith would be a great replacement for her, she has a very similar persona to Victoria, and I think she would be perfect as PAM

I would be ok if Vicky Principal did not come back as long as they found a way to tied up the loose ends after Pam Ewing was injured in a car crash. There was subtle on Pam Ewing disappearing and in some cases saying she re-married. It would also tied up why Christopher appears to be broke when in fact Pamela was a rich lady.
There is also some loose ends on John Ross as well. John Ross appears to have not completed college. John Ross ended up in England in the old series. It would be nice to know what happen from when left for the UK and to how he ended up in Dallas.

 

[David Rain]

The show really needs flashbacks to fill in the blanks. Either they don't have access to scenes from the original series or they don't want to pay for the rights to them. At the very least, it would help to create "new" flashbacks to show more of why John Ross & Chris hate each other so much. It's rather lazy writing to have them simply hate each other "just because".
More Sue Ellen would help a lot. Perhaps Linda Gray hasn't been available. I also think they need to do more with characters like Lucy. Clearly some of the original actors are willing to appear and should be put to better use instead of giving them glorified cameos.

 

[younger1968]

The show really needs flashbacks to fill in the blanks. Either they don't have access to scenes from the original series or they don't want to pay for the rights to them. At the very least, it would help to create "new" flashbacks to show more of why John Ross & Chris hate each other so much. It's rather lazy writing to have them simply hate each other "just because".
More Sue Ellen would help a lot. Perhaps Linda Gray hasn't been available. I also think they need to do more with characters like Lucy. Clearly some of the original actors are willing to appear and should be put to better use instead of giving them glorified cameos.

Hi David,
I think the issue with Christopher and John Ross evolves around Elena. The first episode Bobby Ewing went to an area of South Fork where there was a tree and that tree had some initials on it.
It is too bad that Charlene Tilton does not have a bigger role as John Ross and Christopher would be her cousins. I can only speculate that the issue may be that the series wants to focus on John Ross and Christopher. However, I think that has changed by having JR more involved with doing his scheming again.
The other issue that is strange is that Pamela Ewing has on been mentioned sparingly and there has no real tie-in to what happen to her money. One can on hazard a guess that Pam has not been declared dead so her estate/affairs are sitting in Trust. Since the rumor is that Vicky Principal does not want to come back for her role then the studios at some point will need to make a decision on how to handle the estate of Pamela in the upcoming episodes.
The show has a lot of promise, but the plots seem to much around the oil on southfork. There needs to be more about Christopher's alternative energy approach as sub plot. The original series had many sub plots.

 

[younger1968]

Hi all,
Now that S1 has been completed, it would be interesting to have a discussion on your thoughts about Dallas 2012. I have watched all the episodes from start to finish and i have been impressed with the show, especially on how the old and the new are integrated into the shows. The plot about back stabbing appears to be coming back with a vengeance with the last episodes. There are some interesting twist and turns on the various characters as the S1 wrapped up. The only thing that would have been icing on the cake would have been Victoria Principal showing up congrats Christopher on being dad and her for being a grandmother.
I like how Cliff has been used sparingly as it fits well into the plot development. Barnes and Ewing feud is still not dead!! It is also good see the introduction of Cliff's daughter. I remember from the old series that Cliff went looking for the daughter he had with Afton.

 

[WaveCrest]

The revival series of Dallas premieres on Five in the UK on Wednesday 5th September, the first episode airing from 9 pm - 10.15 pm (source of TV listing info: Radio Times' website).

Also, airing in the next week on Five is a two-part preview programme of the revival series.

 

[AlanP]

I say recast Pam with Jaclyn smith ! They did. It before with Margaret Micheals on the original!

 

[WaveCrest]

Thought the second episode was better than the pilot of the Dallas revival series. Even though the show was technically, already established, once the setting up of the new series was out of the way, the test was going to be with the second episode. And it didn't really disappoint. One of the highlights was J.R. on his zimmer frame at the Cattle Baron's Ball. Hopefully there will be the trademark Ewing barbeque at some point in the series, as usually that came after the Oil Baron's Ball in the original series.

 

[younger1968]

Hey Richard,
I would not be surprised if you see the Ewing BBQ when the series resumes in January. The plot is set up for at least one more season. The problem is that Bobby (Patrick Duffy is 63), Sue-Ellen (Linda Gray is 72), JR (Larry Hagman is 82) and Cliff (Ken Kercheval is 77) and may not have much left in the tank. My initial thoughts is that the show may last 1-3 season and then close out into a series of movies as way to end the Dallas chapter.

 

[Ethan Riley]

Hey Richard,
I would not be surprised if you see the Ewing BBQ when the series resumes in January. The plot is set up for at least one more season. The problem is that Bobby (Patrick Duffy is 63), Sue-Ellen (Linda Gray is 72), JR (Larry Hagman is 82) and Cliff (Ken Kercheval is 77) and may not have much left in the tank. My initial thoughts is that the show may last 1-3 season and then close out into a series of movies as way to end the Dallas chapter.

I believe they are hoping the younger cast will be strong enough to carry on the series after the eventual departures of the original cast members. I'd rather hope, however, that Hagman and Co. could stick around for at least 5 seasons and then just cancel the thing outright. Hagman is pretty old--I'm not sure the world wants to see a 90 year old J.R. in a few years. But I also believe that the younger cast isn't really strong enough to carry the show without the older cast members. Maybe in time, I dunno. I've seen a lot of Jesse's work--he was pretty good on Passions and Desperate Housewives, but I never would see him as a leading man. Maybe, maybe. I don't know. The others are okay, but they don't really have that fiery star power that the original Dallas cast members had (and still have).
I'd personally rather see the thing continue for five or six seasons, and just pretend that's it's a really long reunion movie lol. If they're only going to do 12-15 eps a year, however, it's not going to burn itself out anytime soon.

 

[younger1968]

I believe they are hoping the younger cast will be strong enough to carry on the series after the eventual departures of the original cast members. I'd rather hope, however, that Hagman and Co. could stick around for at least 5 seasons and then just cancel the thing outright. Hagman is pretty old--I'm not sure the world wants to see a 90 year old J.R. in a few years. But I also believe that the younger cast isn't really strong enough to carry the show without the older cast members. Maybe in time, I dunno. I've seen a lot of Jesse's work--he was pretty good on Passions and Desperate Housewives, but I never would see him as a leading man. Maybe, maybe. I don't know. The others are okay, but they don't really have that fiery star power that the original Dallas cast members had (and still have).
I'd personally rather see the thing continue for five or six seasons, and just pretend that's it's a really long reunion movie lol. If they're only going to do 12-15 eps a year, however, it's not going to burn itself out anytime soon.

I am not sure John Ross's actor will be able to do what JR did for 14+ years and that could be the problem as the story lines continue to develop into S2. I think what could help the show is if Victoria Principal comes back or is written out and Christoper inherits his mother's estate. The plot of Cliff's daughter will help, but i am not sure that it will enable the show thrive with current plot lines.
Dallas over it run change things up, i.e. death of Jock, battle for Ewing oil, who shot JR, JR schemes with Latin America. etc. The initial run help bring the sons into the war, but their staying power for the war is not as strong as Bobby/JR's characters. I just hate to see the show be remember in the wrong way!!

 

[AlanP]

Pay Victoria anything but bring her back or recast her ! I vote for Jaclyn Smith she would be great as Pam

 

[younger1968]

Pay Victoria anything but bring her back or recast her ! I vote for Jaclyn Smith she would be great as Pam

Victoria Prinicipal is Pam Ewing and replacing her could be suicide for Dallas 2012. I think there two options: 1. try to convince Pam to Return 2. Kill her off and then settle her estate up with Christopher.
I think there are some deeper issues with the series as Charlene Tilton and Steve Kanally have very little parts in any of the episodes. I would also like to see a tribute to the late Barbara Bel Geddes as way to salute her key role in the original series.
I think the show started off right, but can it build its audience in year 2? I am still not sure that fans are connecting enough with John Ross or Elaine Ramos or Christopher Ewing's character as the older generation is still connected to Bobbys/JRs/Sue Ellen, etc. Dallas was a great show at its peak and it was different time on how the oil sector was portrayed. There has been so much changed in business practices/ethics that is causing a disconnection with reality. I like to see Ewing's make a play for the Bakkans and/or Oil Sands or Gas Fracking, etc to highlight to new trends in oil. Christopher's methane process is neat, but it only highlights the focus on alternative energy.

 

[AlanP]

Agree with you about many points to me the main thrust of the series was Bobby and Pam I quit watching the serEs a year after Pam left. The series was lost without Pam and Bobby. April bored me his new wife has no spunk no one for Bobby but Pam in my opinion . No chemistry with the new wife .....

 

[AlanP]

Here you gang have your say about Victoria and Pam returning
http://www.facebook.com/pages/The-Come-Back-To-Dallas-Victoria-Principal-Page/108977195885538