The All-New DALLAS!

[Warp Core Breach]

Tonight's episode was pretty fantastic as well...

Spoiler: Click to view spoilers

JR is definitely back in fine form. Also, that nitwit Cliff Barnes makes an appearance. Was Cliff's bodyguard Captain Robau?

 

[doubleohfive]

Tonight's episode was pretty fantastic as well...

Spoiler: Click to view spoilers

JR is definitely back in fine form. Also, that nitwit Cliff Barnes makes an appearance. Was Cliff's bodyguard Captain Robau?

Yep. That's the same guy.

 

[startrekwatcher]

Heck, I'm named after Kristin Sheppard, so you can presume how much I enjoyed this show. However, it is one of tv's longest running series, what's really left to tell? Why go back at all? Why not leave well enough alone? As a kid, I could tell people I was named after 'Who Shot JR' and they knew exactly what I meant. In the last decade, however, if I say that in reference to how to spell my name for someone, they don't get it. How much capitalizing on the original can there be if new folks can't appreciate the old one? I think that might be what's really at the new one's problem. Is it for the original fans nostalgia or the hotties and 90210 scandals? I don't think it can be both.

Yeah I agree. DALLAS should have been left alone and not resurrected. I've said it a million times you can't go back. It's over. Let it go. I guess Hollywood has run out of ideas so they poach oldsuccessful properties hoping that the name alone and trappings will be enough but it never is.

All of the shows or films they have tried resurrecting and giving a modern sensibility just remind me of what was once and can never be again(Footloose, Karate Kid, Nightmare on Elm Street, Melrose Place, 90210 etc). I think Hollywood knows it isn't putting out worthwhile stuff so their only hope is to feed off our nostalgia for how great music and pop culture was in the 80s/90s. Truth is I'd rather watch a rerun of these originals that I've seen a million times than watch the new updated dreck they have paraded out.

That's why I decided not to watch nuDallas after the weak start last week with the first two episodes--it isn't the Dallas I grew up on and rewatched on The Nashville Network.

 

[doubleohfive]

I don't have to see another episode to tell you this new DALLAS even with JR et al will never be as thoroughly entertaining or as good as the original.

So.... are you going to stop watching? Or are you going to keep watching just so you can complain?

Yeah I agree. DALLAS should have been left alone and not resurrected. I've said it a million times you can't go back. It's over. Let it go. I guess Hollywood has run out of ideas so they poach oldsuccessful properties hoping that the name alone and trappings will be enough but it never is.

All of the shows or films they have tried resurrecting and giving a modern sensibility just remind me of what was once and can never be again(Footloose, Karate Kid, Nightmare on Elm Street, Melrose Place, 90210 etc). I think Hollywood knows it isn't putting out worthwhile stuff so their only hope is to feed off our nostalgia for how great music and pop culture was in the 80s/90s. Truth is I'd rather watch a rerun of these originals that I've seen a million times than watch the new updated dreck they have paraded out.

Yeah, you said almost the exact same thing in this thread a few pages ago:

^ Nothing wrong with revisiting old properties. Sometimes it's more fun and creative to redo or continue old stuff. And some things should be revisited or explored more than once.

the only one coming to mind that worked--and even then to mixed results--was BSG--every other remake of a show I loved I checked out sucked and was nowhere as good as the original--Melrose Place, Knight Rider, Bionic Woman, 90210, V, Charlies Angels etc. Even films--Karate Kid, Footloose, Nightmare on Elm Street etc. I have not seen one successfully pulled off--they are so horribly written and given such horrible modern sensibilities that it sucks. I understand why Hollywood does it--the 80s/90s were fun and entertaining and nothing in the last decade can muster that enthusiasm and Hollywood would love nothing but to recapture that kind of loyalty and fandom but you can't go back.

The original DALLAS was thoroughly entertaining with a cast of great characters--Pam, Sue Ellen, Clayton, Jock, Miss Ellie, Donna, Ray, Cliff, Bobby, JR--who was a character you loved to hate unlike John Ross who I just hate like most young actors these days.

I'm not trying to suggest you shouldn't critique it, but if you've already made up your mind that it's crap, why even bother anymore? Why watch something you don't like? Is it just to rain on the parade of people who actually are enjoying it, or is it just because there's nothing better to do?

Too: Don't you think it's a bit presumptuous (and, frankly, unfair) to already be condemning the show before three whole episodes have even aired? If this were a Firefly discussion, I have no doubt fire and brimstone would be raining down upon this very thread for similar commentary on its third episode...

 

[startrekwatcher]

So.... are you going to stop watching? Or are you going to keep watching just so you can complain?

Uh... I think I said I stopped watching after last week's two hour premiere.

I'm not trying to suggest you shouldn't critique it, but if you've already made up your mind that it's crap, why even bother anymore? Why watch something you don't like? Is it just to rain on the parade of people who actually are enjoying it, or is it just because there's nothing better to do?

I'm talking about it because it is yet another poorly done update of a show I loved and I hate seeing it mangled so badly. I bitched when they brought back and horribly botched Melrose Place, 90210 etc etc. Why can't Hollywood try to be original and come up with their own ideas for television shows the way these original shows' creators did.

What next a Roseanne reboot? How about a Golden Girls reboot with Kim Kardasshian, Lindsay Lohan, Snooki and Paris Hilton? It is just lazy. Dallas told all it needed to in 13 seasons--I'd argue S1-7 and 9 were the only really good ones with 10-13 just grasping for ideas so why go back to this well. It was absolutely unnecessary.

 

[startrekwatcher]

Don't you think it's a bit presumptuous (and, frankly, unfair) to already be condemning the show before three whole episodes have even aired?

No, not really considering my personal experience with tv shows from the last decade demonstrate if it doesn't start out of the gate strong in S1(like The Vampire Diaries, Veronica Mars, Heroes, BSG, LOST) it isn't going to get better(Falling Skies, The Killing, Rubicon, V, FlashForward, The Event, Melrose Place 2.0, 90210 2.0, Alcatraz, Revenge, Game of Thrones, True Blood, Camelot, SGU, Kidnapped, Daybreak, The Nine, No Ordinary Family, The River, The Borgias, Invasion, Surface etc) and I end up wasting my time thinking it might get better the way some shows would in the 80s/90s like orig Melrose Place, TNG etc. And even if it starts out hot it always crashes and burns with the first inkling in season 2(Heroes S2-4, BSG S3-4, LOST S2, 3 and 6; VM S2/3,)

Plus I can't stand the new cast of youngsters and since they aren't going anywhere and are a big focus of the new show I can safely say the show won't ever get better.

If this were a Firefly discussion, I have no doubt fire and brimstone would be raining down upon this very thread for similar commentary on its third episode...

Well you wouldn't be getting that from me since I tried out Firefly and thought it to be an overrated piece of garbage pumped up by hyperactive Whedonites.

 

[doubleohfive]

Meh. Your mileage obviously varies. The range war storyline when Carter McKay shows up in 1988 (or was it 1989?) was well done I thought, but you're not wrong in your assessment of the later years of the show. Too many of the original characters were written out and of the new ones brought in, really only April had any real impact in terms of staying power. Cally and Michelle were great in the beginning, but quickly lost steam. Writing out Donna, Ray, Jenna, and Clayton was unfortunate too. The Russia arc was fun, as was the Europe arc a year later. And I also enjoyed Sue Ellen's making the movie as a weapon against J.R.

So I disagree that there was nothing of value in the final years of the show. Was it as good as the earlier seasons? Of course not. But it wasn't all terrible either.

 

[Admiral2]

Decided to catch the third episode. Still like the old timers, still hate the kids.

 

[Guy Gardener]

Well you got a girl from Chuck facing off against a girl from Eli Stone.

It's Second Banana City.

 

[Mr. Laser Beam]

Tonight's episode was pretty fantastic as well...

Spoiler: Click to view spoilers

JR is definitely back in fine form. Also, that nitwit Cliff Barnes makes an appearance. Was Cliff's bodyguard Captain Robau?

Yep. That's the same guy.

I wonder how many Trek actors have appeared in this series over the years...probably dozens, but I can only think of one at the moment (Mary Crosby, i.e. Kristin Shepard, played a Cardassian on DS9).

 

[RandyS]

Tonight's episode was pretty fantastic as well...

Spoiler: Click to view spoilers

JR is definitely back in fine form. Also, that nitwit Cliff Barnes makes an appearance. Was Cliff's bodyguard Captain Robau?

Yep. That's the same guy.

I wonder how many Trek actors have appeared in this series over the years...probably dozens, but I can only think of one at the moment (Mary Crosby, i.e. Kristin Shepard, played a Cardassian on DS9).

Off the top of my head:

Morgan Woodward--Captain Tracy and Van Gelder
Susan Howard--Mara
Mary Crosby--Natima Lang
Glenn Corbett and James Cromwell--both Zephram Cochranes
Robert O' Reily--Gowron
Dedrie Imershien--Lt. Whatley (DS9) and Risian Girl (TNG)
Kate MulGrew--Not gonna name her, you guys know
Leigh McCloskey --Joran Dax
Michelle Scarabelli--Data's girlfriend Jenna something

And at least 50 more that escape me at the moment.

 

[Professor Zoom]

Yeah I agree. DALLAS should have been left alone and not resurrected. I've said it a million times you can't go back. It's over. Let it go. I guess Hollywood has run out of ideas so they poach oldsuccessful properties hoping that the name alone and trappings will be enough but it never is.

It's good that they are using more than the name and "trappings" then.... unless you count Larry Hagman as a trapping...

Third episode, I'm surprisingly still interested... less so with the kids, though Jon Ross is growing on me...

 

[Mr. Laser Beam]

Off the top of my head:

Morgan Woodward--Captain Tracy and Van Gelder
Susan Howard--Mara
Mary Crosby--Natima Lang
Glenn Corbett and James Cromwell--both Zephram Cochranes
Robert O' Reily--Gowron
Dedrie Imershien--Lt. Whatley (DS9) and Risian Girl (TNG)
Kate MulGrew--Not gonna name her, you guys know
Leigh McCloskey --Joran Dax
Michelle Scarabelli--Data's girlfriend Jenna something

And at least 50 more that escape me at the moment.

Yeah, I figured it was a lot more than I could think of.

And I repeat: going the other way around, I always thought Connor Trinneer would make a good J.R. Certainly better than bloody John Travolta!

 

[Agent Richard07]

^ I'm glad they got this series off the ground instead of that John Travolta remake.

 

[startrekwatcher]

Yeah I agree. DALLAS should have been left alone and not resurrected. I've said it a million times you can't go back. It's over. Let it go. I guess Hollywood has run out of ideas so they poach oldsuccessful properties hoping that the name alone and trappings will be enough but it never is.

It's good that they are using more than the name and "trappings" then.... unless you count Larry Hagman as a trapping...

Meh to me it just doesn't feel like DALLAS even with Hagman--it just feels more like the "jump the shark" years on Dallas when Duffy and Hagman were the only ones left on the show after all the other characters left and they kept bringing in new characters to try to spark some life into the show.

 

[OmahaStar]

I'm still thoroughly interested in this series, and enjoying it. The kids, not as much as the older folks, but maybe they will grow on me.

doubleohfive, thank you so much for all your posts here. Reading your comments is reminding me of so many things I had forgotten about the series, and making me enjoy it that much more.

 

[Crusher Disciple]

And, finally, (and I admit, I'm a bit hazy on the details here) for a while, everyone thought Christopher was J.R.'s son by Kristin, which is why Bobby was willing to "buy" Christopher from Jeff Faraday to begin with - so as not to have the Ewing name tarnished by a baby born out of an affair. It wasn't till later that they determined that Christopher was actually Faraday's and Kristin's.

I ran to Wikipedia the other night, and apparently she claimed he was J. R.'s son from the affair, but tests later showed that he was Kristin and her husband's son. So he's Sue Ellen's biological nephew.

Or the nephew of the Next Governor of Texas (I'd vote for her).

 

[Professor Zoom]

Meh to me it just doesn't feel like DALLAS even with Hagman--it just feels more like the "jump the shark" years on Dallas when Duffy and Hagman were the only ones left on the show after all the other characters left and they kept bringing in new characters to try to spark some life into the show.

Great, then I guess you'll be spending your time watching the DVDs.

 

[Temis the Vorta]

The third episode was somewhat better than the first two, probably because JR's scheming is front & center now, and that's fun. Also, no Sue Ellen (sorry, her bug-eyed weird acting just annoys me).

Cliff has Robau working for him; JR should just surrender now.

 

[Paulcpick]

[--it isn't the Dallas I grew up on and rewatched on The Nashville Network.

Something else for you to bitch about, TNN is being relaunched shortly as well, by Luken Communications and Jim Owens Entertainment.