Post by Hulkshi Tanahashi on Sept 5, 2007 23:02:09 GMT -5
Dallas—"It Was All A Dream."
I Wish It Had Been A Dream; That Way It Wouldn’t Have Existed And I Could Forget About It.
Ah, the cliffhanger. If there’s one way to get a lot of people to tune into your show, then this is it. Basically, shows will end their seasons with a loose end. That way people will have to tune in when the next season begins to see how the loose end will be tied up. If you have a good cliffhanger, then a lot of people will tune in to see the season premiere. However, in order to keep those viewers, you have to have a good end to it. If you don’t, then it may drive viewers away. And, that is what I’m here to talk about today. But first, a little background on the show Dallas.
Dallas was a miniseries that became a TV show in the late 1970s. The show was about the Ewing family. When the series began, the founder of Ewing Oil and patriarch of the Ewing family was Jock (veteran movie actor Jim Davis), who was an oil tycoon who had supposedly schemed his one-time partner, Digger Barnes (David Wayne, later replaced by Keenan Wynn) out of his share of the company and also his only love, Miss Eleanor "Ellie" Southworth (veteran stage/movie actress Barbara Bel Geddes). Together, Jock and Miss Ellie raised three sons, J.R. (Larry Hagman), Gary (David Ackroyd/Ted Shackelford) and Bobby (Patrick Duffy). J.R., the eldest Ewing son, was a totally unscrupulous man who was unhappily married to a former Miss Texas, Sue Ellen Shepard Ewing (Linda Gray). J.R. was frequently opposed by his younger brother, Bobby, who had the morals and integrity that his elder brother lacked. After the Ewing family's illegitimate son and ranch foreman, Ray Krebbs (Steve Kanaly) had a short fling with an attractive young woman, Pamela Barnes (Victoria Principal), who was Digger Barnes' daughter and Cliff's (Ken Kercheval) sister, Bobby married her; Ray was dejected by this. After the new marriage, J.R. continued to jeopardize the new family's relationship to his advantage as president of Ewing Oil.
Now, I know what you’re thinking: “What does this have to do with the cliffhanger?” And, my response: “WHAT ARE YOU, STUPID!!!!? HAVE YOU BEEN LIVING UNDER A ROCK FOR THE PAST 30 YEARS!!!!? HASN’T ANYONE TOLD YOU ABOUT THIS SHOW!!!!? DON’T YOU KNOW ANYTHING, YOU DUMBASS!!!!?” Um…I mean, my response: “Because Dallas pretty much put the cliffhanger on the map.” You see, the most popular character on the show was J.R. Ewing, and the reason for his popularity was that everybody hated him. J.R. was the epitome of greed and immoral pleasure. He pretty much represented everything that was bad about the 1980s, EVEN “Howard The Duck!” The fans loved to hate him, and some wanted to see him get shot. Well, that happened.
On March 21, 1980, J.R. was shot in his office. For the whole summer in 1980, everyone wondered who shot J.R., as he had a lot of people who had a good reason to shoot him. It became a huge media storm that ensured that Dallas would last throughout the decade. And, the episode where the shooter was revealed (it was Kristin by the way) was the highest rated episode until the M*A*S*H series finale took that spot. And, the “Who Shot J.R.?” storyline became widely regarded as the best cliffhanger. Afterwards, Dallas became known for the cliffhanger; and every season of the show ended with a cliffhanger. However, like most shows, by the later seasons the writers began to scrounge for ideas. And, Dallas ended up with the distinction of have the best AND worst cliffhanger in TV history.
It started with the episode "Swan Song." At the time, Patrick Duffy, who played Bobby Ewing, wanted to leave the show to pursue other projects. Dallas fans were sad with the news, because it meant that most likely Bobby would die. It had been a hectic season in the life of the Ewings. Jenna Wade, Bobby’s fiancée, had been found guilty of murder and spent most of the series in prison, this opened the doors for the reunion of Bobby and Pam. At last they were about to find happiness again but fate had other ideas. After this show things were never quite the same again for the good folk of Dallas.
Its early morning and Bobby and Pamela have spent their first night together since their divorce. Bobby asked Pamela to remarry him and she agreed.
Bobby leaves the house to go back to Southfork to tell Jenna their relationship is over and Pam is the one he loved. Meanwhile a mysterious car is waiting in the driveway of Pam's house.
As Bobby and Pam say their goodbyes the car heads at full speed towards Pamela.
Bobby shouts for Pam to move out of the way.
He runs towards her
And
Flings
Her to one side…IN SLOW MOTION. (It’s more dramatic.)
This saves her life, but…
The car smashes into him. Bobby's body is tossed over the top of the car which then crashes into a parked van belonging to a gardener. The gardener runs over to the crashed car and pulls back the body of a dead woman from the driving seat.
It’s Katherine Wentworth, his ex-sister-in-law. Apparently, she was CRAZY!!!! Or, pissed that Bobby didn’t like her chicken parmesan. Thought, it was dry; and the cheese wasn’t melted very well.
Pam in shock crawls over to Bobby's shaking body and cradles him in her arms before let out a painful scream.
Bobby is rushed to Dallas memorial hospital where the family gather to say their goodbyes. After a tearful speech from Bobby he tells them to be a family and how much he loves them - he closes his eyes as a single tear rolls down his cheek. The heart monitor lets out a shocking tone signaling that Bobby is dead.
Bobby Ewing is dead. *cries*
Now, we fast forward through Season 8 to the season finale "Blast From The Past." The ratings for the show were falling, and Duffy’s career was at a standstill. Remember, the “Step By Step” pilot hadn’t been written yet. There was also Larry Hagman. He blamed the low ratings on the producer Philip Capice. And, Hagman also missed working with his old friend Patrick Duffy. Hagman did not hide his contempt for Capice and finally said either Capice went or he did. Capice left and Hagman also demanded Duffy back. With nothing to do, Duffy agreed to return to Dallas to help the ratings. Though, with his character Bobby dead, many wondered how he would return. But, the producers and writers had an idea. A GOOD IDEA!!!! Well, a good to them.
The season had been one long nightmare for the Ewing family as they came to terms with the death of Bobby. Mark Graison returned into Pam's life and Dusty's into Sue Ellen’s. Sue Ellen hit rock bottom with her alcohol addiction but managed to recover and reunited with J.R. Donna and Ray found out their unborn baby had down syndrome but Donna lost the child when she was butted by a bull at the Rodeo. Jenna had a breakdown and the mysterious Angelica Nero flew into Town with a plot to take control of a Greek Shipping company by using J.R. and Jack. The scheme went wrong and Angelica wanted revenge. As the season drew to a close a mysterious man called Ben Stivers arrived at Southfork and Pam and Mark planned to marry.
Pamela and Mark marry at her home with all the Ewings present, meanwhile J.R. tells Sue Ellen he is meeting Angelica Nero at Ewing Oil. She has the documents which will save Ewing Oil from going under.
Angelica plots an explosive murder as she packs a suitcase with explosives. J.R. waits for her at Ewing Oil unaware of her killer intentions.
Jack decides to leave Dallas and says his goodbyes to Jamie. He gives her his car as a going away gift. Miss Ellie informs Sue Ellen that she can't find Clayton: he's missing. Sue Ellen says that she’s going to Ewing Oil to see J.R.
At Ewing Oil Angelica arrives to see J.R., she sets off the timer for the bomb in the suitcase. After handing J.R. the documents she confesses she planned to kill him and Jack. J.R. then calls in the Police who overhear everything and arrest Angelica. Angelica says it’s too late and that soon both Jack and J.R. will be dead.
J.R. rings Jack to warn him of Angelicas threat. Suddenly there is a huge explosion, Jack runs out shouting Jamie's name. But it’s too late; the car has exploded. Angelica’s henchman watches on.
J.R. leaves Ewing Oil, but as he does Sue Ellen arrives. She runs into J.R.'s office and at that point the bomb in the suitcase explodes.
Pamela wakes up in bed to the noise of a shower door closing. She gets out of bed and makes her way into the bathroom and opens the shower door.
Bobby turns around. "Good morning" he says smiling.
Episode ends.
Now, for those stupid people I insulted earlier, here’s what you’re thinking: Wh…wh…WHAT!!!!? But…but…but…HE WAS DEAD!!!! Bobby was dead!? Now, he’s alive!!!!? What’s going on!? Did Bobby fake his death!? Or, was he like Bruce Willis in “The Sixth Sense”: dead but hanging around? But, if he’s a ghost, how can he take showers!!!!? Do the dead take showers!!!!? SOMEBODY CALL JOHN EDWARDS!!!!
Now, calm down. There’s no reason to call the biggest douche in the universe, and I’m not just saying that: he won an award, beating out a 6-foot douche!!!!
Anyway, in the closing credits for that episode, there was the bizarre credit of "Starring Patrick Duffy as ? ", leaving doubt as to exactly whom Duffy was portraying. Fans had to wait until September 26 to learn how the writers would explain his return. And, when the big day came, we got our answer:
Bobby came out of the shower and asked Pam what was wrong. She said she had a horrible nightmare.
Bobby comforted her by saying that it was all just a dream. None of the events in Season 8 had happened. Yes, that was Dallas’s solution, a pure deus ex machina: Pam had dreamt the entire previous season, including Bobby's death.
Had Bobby not returned, Mark Graison was due to be killed off leaving Pam more powerful then ever and vow to destroy J.R. Jack would of been Pam's comforter resulting in more Jenna/Pam confrontations. Jamie would of been killed in the car explosion, Sue Ellen would be paralyzed and blame J.R. Cliff would also blame J.R for Jamie's death and again refuel the feud this time backed by Pamela. Ben Stivers would have turned out to actually be Jock and take away Ewing Oil from J.R. But, because Duffy came back, those good ideas were gone.
If you’re wondering why it had been a dream, well it’s because of Duffy’s wife. This idea was made as a joke by Patrick Duffy's wife, they liked the idea, so blame her. There were other alternatives to bring Bobby back, and several alternatives were filmed, including a Bobby evil twin and Bobby being away to recover for a season. A Bobby evil twin!!!!? Why didn’t do they!? Sure, it would have been bad, but it would have been awesomely bad. I mean, PATRICK DUFFY WITH A GOATEE!!!! THAT’S GOLD, JERRY, GOLD!!!!
This caused previous plot lines to be severed: Certain characters were lost, including Mark Graison, Jerry Kenderson, Tony (Ray and Donna's son). The Ben Stivers character was kept, but his name was changed to Wes Parmalee, so I gather Pamela was rather psychic. Some characters due to leave or that had been killed were now back or alive, including obviously Bobby, Katherine Wentworth (killed originally when she ran down Bobby), Mandy Winger (Deborah Shelton believed she had filmed her last show in episode 'Hello, Goodbye, Hello'), Jamie Barnes was brought back, she was meant to be dead. Donna was pregnant again, so her baby did not die. The biggest impacts were Donna and Ray split up resulting in the axing of Susan Howard (a strong supporter of Capice) and the character of Pamela turned from strong independent woman to a very weak character resulting in Victoria Principal quitting her role.
Continuity conflicts arose elsewhere. You see, Dallas had a spin-off show, Knots Landing; in fact, creator David Jacobs originally pitched Knots Landing to CBS instead of Dallas, but they passed on the idea until Dallas became a hit and asked Jacobs if he would want to do Knots Landing as a Dallas spin-off. Anyway, there were references to Bobby's death were made on the show, including Gary Ewing re-evaluating his whole life and Valene naming their son Bobby. Knots Landing were furious that Dallas did not consider them when the dream idea came about, so Bobby remained dead in Knots Landing and the two shows completely severed ties from then onwards. After this, Dallas and Knots Landing effectively cut ties as they then took place in different universes.
However, it wasn’t just continuity that this stupid storyline hurt; it also hurt the show. The storyline drove away viewers, and it changed the show from a well regarded drama into a joke by critics worldwide. Even now, 14 years later, the dream is still mentioned when people refer to Dallas. It became a focus that damaged the show in a lot of ways. It just goes to show you: a good cliffhanger needs a good ending, and saying that an entire season of a TV was just a dream NEVER WORKS!!!!
Unless it’s on a sitcom, right Bob Newhart!
I Wish It Had Been A Dream; That Way It Wouldn’t Have Existed And I Could Forget About It.
Ah, the cliffhanger. If there’s one way to get a lot of people to tune into your show, then this is it. Basically, shows will end their seasons with a loose end. That way people will have to tune in when the next season begins to see how the loose end will be tied up. If you have a good cliffhanger, then a lot of people will tune in to see the season premiere. However, in order to keep those viewers, you have to have a good end to it. If you don’t, then it may drive viewers away. And, that is what I’m here to talk about today. But first, a little background on the show Dallas.
Dallas was a miniseries that became a TV show in the late 1970s. The show was about the Ewing family. When the series began, the founder of Ewing Oil and patriarch of the Ewing family was Jock (veteran movie actor Jim Davis), who was an oil tycoon who had supposedly schemed his one-time partner, Digger Barnes (David Wayne, later replaced by Keenan Wynn) out of his share of the company and also his only love, Miss Eleanor "Ellie" Southworth (veteran stage/movie actress Barbara Bel Geddes). Together, Jock and Miss Ellie raised three sons, J.R. (Larry Hagman), Gary (David Ackroyd/Ted Shackelford) and Bobby (Patrick Duffy). J.R., the eldest Ewing son, was a totally unscrupulous man who was unhappily married to a former Miss Texas, Sue Ellen Shepard Ewing (Linda Gray). J.R. was frequently opposed by his younger brother, Bobby, who had the morals and integrity that his elder brother lacked. After the Ewing family's illegitimate son and ranch foreman, Ray Krebbs (Steve Kanaly) had a short fling with an attractive young woman, Pamela Barnes (Victoria Principal), who was Digger Barnes' daughter and Cliff's (Ken Kercheval) sister, Bobby married her; Ray was dejected by this. After the new marriage, J.R. continued to jeopardize the new family's relationship to his advantage as president of Ewing Oil.
Now, I know what you’re thinking: “What does this have to do with the cliffhanger?” And, my response: “WHAT ARE YOU, STUPID!!!!? HAVE YOU BEEN LIVING UNDER A ROCK FOR THE PAST 30 YEARS!!!!? HASN’T ANYONE TOLD YOU ABOUT THIS SHOW!!!!? DON’T YOU KNOW ANYTHING, YOU DUMBASS!!!!?” Um…I mean, my response: “Because Dallas pretty much put the cliffhanger on the map.” You see, the most popular character on the show was J.R. Ewing, and the reason for his popularity was that everybody hated him. J.R. was the epitome of greed and immoral pleasure. He pretty much represented everything that was bad about the 1980s, EVEN “Howard The Duck!” The fans loved to hate him, and some wanted to see him get shot. Well, that happened.
On March 21, 1980, J.R. was shot in his office. For the whole summer in 1980, everyone wondered who shot J.R., as he had a lot of people who had a good reason to shoot him. It became a huge media storm that ensured that Dallas would last throughout the decade. And, the episode where the shooter was revealed (it was Kristin by the way) was the highest rated episode until the M*A*S*H series finale took that spot. And, the “Who Shot J.R.?” storyline became widely regarded as the best cliffhanger. Afterwards, Dallas became known for the cliffhanger; and every season of the show ended with a cliffhanger. However, like most shows, by the later seasons the writers began to scrounge for ideas. And, Dallas ended up with the distinction of have the best AND worst cliffhanger in TV history.
It started with the episode "Swan Song." At the time, Patrick Duffy, who played Bobby Ewing, wanted to leave the show to pursue other projects. Dallas fans were sad with the news, because it meant that most likely Bobby would die. It had been a hectic season in the life of the Ewings. Jenna Wade, Bobby’s fiancée, had been found guilty of murder and spent most of the series in prison, this opened the doors for the reunion of Bobby and Pam. At last they were about to find happiness again but fate had other ideas. After this show things were never quite the same again for the good folk of Dallas.
Its early morning and Bobby and Pamela have spent their first night together since their divorce. Bobby asked Pamela to remarry him and she agreed.
Bobby leaves the house to go back to Southfork to tell Jenna their relationship is over and Pam is the one he loved. Meanwhile a mysterious car is waiting in the driveway of Pam's house.
As Bobby and Pam say their goodbyes the car heads at full speed towards Pamela.
Bobby shouts for Pam to move out of the way.
He runs towards her
And
Flings
Her to one side…IN SLOW MOTION. (It’s more dramatic.)
This saves her life, but…
The car smashes into him. Bobby's body is tossed over the top of the car which then crashes into a parked van belonging to a gardener. The gardener runs over to the crashed car and pulls back the body of a dead woman from the driving seat.
It’s Katherine Wentworth, his ex-sister-in-law. Apparently, she was CRAZY!!!! Or, pissed that Bobby didn’t like her chicken parmesan. Thought, it was dry; and the cheese wasn’t melted very well.
Pam in shock crawls over to Bobby's shaking body and cradles him in her arms before let out a painful scream.
Bobby is rushed to Dallas memorial hospital where the family gather to say their goodbyes. After a tearful speech from Bobby he tells them to be a family and how much he loves them - he closes his eyes as a single tear rolls down his cheek. The heart monitor lets out a shocking tone signaling that Bobby is dead.
Bobby Ewing is dead. *cries*
Now, we fast forward through Season 8 to the season finale "Blast From The Past." The ratings for the show were falling, and Duffy’s career was at a standstill. Remember, the “Step By Step” pilot hadn’t been written yet. There was also Larry Hagman. He blamed the low ratings on the producer Philip Capice. And, Hagman also missed working with his old friend Patrick Duffy. Hagman did not hide his contempt for Capice and finally said either Capice went or he did. Capice left and Hagman also demanded Duffy back. With nothing to do, Duffy agreed to return to Dallas to help the ratings. Though, with his character Bobby dead, many wondered how he would return. But, the producers and writers had an idea. A GOOD IDEA!!!! Well, a good to them.
The season had been one long nightmare for the Ewing family as they came to terms with the death of Bobby. Mark Graison returned into Pam's life and Dusty's into Sue Ellen’s. Sue Ellen hit rock bottom with her alcohol addiction but managed to recover and reunited with J.R. Donna and Ray found out their unborn baby had down syndrome but Donna lost the child when she was butted by a bull at the Rodeo. Jenna had a breakdown and the mysterious Angelica Nero flew into Town with a plot to take control of a Greek Shipping company by using J.R. and Jack. The scheme went wrong and Angelica wanted revenge. As the season drew to a close a mysterious man called Ben Stivers arrived at Southfork and Pam and Mark planned to marry.
Pamela and Mark marry at her home with all the Ewings present, meanwhile J.R. tells Sue Ellen he is meeting Angelica Nero at Ewing Oil. She has the documents which will save Ewing Oil from going under.
Angelica plots an explosive murder as she packs a suitcase with explosives. J.R. waits for her at Ewing Oil unaware of her killer intentions.
Jack decides to leave Dallas and says his goodbyes to Jamie. He gives her his car as a going away gift. Miss Ellie informs Sue Ellen that she can't find Clayton: he's missing. Sue Ellen says that she’s going to Ewing Oil to see J.R.
At Ewing Oil Angelica arrives to see J.R., she sets off the timer for the bomb in the suitcase. After handing J.R. the documents she confesses she planned to kill him and Jack. J.R. then calls in the Police who overhear everything and arrest Angelica. Angelica says it’s too late and that soon both Jack and J.R. will be dead.
J.R. rings Jack to warn him of Angelicas threat. Suddenly there is a huge explosion, Jack runs out shouting Jamie's name. But it’s too late; the car has exploded. Angelica’s henchman watches on.
J.R. leaves Ewing Oil, but as he does Sue Ellen arrives. She runs into J.R.'s office and at that point the bomb in the suitcase explodes.
Pamela wakes up in bed to the noise of a shower door closing. She gets out of bed and makes her way into the bathroom and opens the shower door.
Bobby turns around. "Good morning" he says smiling.
Episode ends.
Now, for those stupid people I insulted earlier, here’s what you’re thinking: Wh…wh…WHAT!!!!? But…but…but…HE WAS DEAD!!!! Bobby was dead!? Now, he’s alive!!!!? What’s going on!? Did Bobby fake his death!? Or, was he like Bruce Willis in “The Sixth Sense”: dead but hanging around? But, if he’s a ghost, how can he take showers!!!!? Do the dead take showers!!!!? SOMEBODY CALL JOHN EDWARDS!!!!
Now, calm down. There’s no reason to call the biggest douche in the universe, and I’m not just saying that: he won an award, beating out a 6-foot douche!!!!
Anyway, in the closing credits for that episode, there was the bizarre credit of "Starring Patrick Duffy as ? ", leaving doubt as to exactly whom Duffy was portraying. Fans had to wait until September 26 to learn how the writers would explain his return. And, when the big day came, we got our answer:
Bobby came out of the shower and asked Pam what was wrong. She said she had a horrible nightmare.
Bobby comforted her by saying that it was all just a dream. None of the events in Season 8 had happened. Yes, that was Dallas’s solution, a pure deus ex machina: Pam had dreamt the entire previous season, including Bobby's death.
Had Bobby not returned, Mark Graison was due to be killed off leaving Pam more powerful then ever and vow to destroy J.R. Jack would of been Pam's comforter resulting in more Jenna/Pam confrontations. Jamie would of been killed in the car explosion, Sue Ellen would be paralyzed and blame J.R. Cliff would also blame J.R for Jamie's death and again refuel the feud this time backed by Pamela. Ben Stivers would have turned out to actually be Jock and take away Ewing Oil from J.R. But, because Duffy came back, those good ideas were gone.
If you’re wondering why it had been a dream, well it’s because of Duffy’s wife. This idea was made as a joke by Patrick Duffy's wife, they liked the idea, so blame her. There were other alternatives to bring Bobby back, and several alternatives were filmed, including a Bobby evil twin and Bobby being away to recover for a season. A Bobby evil twin!!!!? Why didn’t do they!? Sure, it would have been bad, but it would have been awesomely bad. I mean, PATRICK DUFFY WITH A GOATEE!!!! THAT’S GOLD, JERRY, GOLD!!!!
This caused previous plot lines to be severed: Certain characters were lost, including Mark Graison, Jerry Kenderson, Tony (Ray and Donna's son). The Ben Stivers character was kept, but his name was changed to Wes Parmalee, so I gather Pamela was rather psychic. Some characters due to leave or that had been killed were now back or alive, including obviously Bobby, Katherine Wentworth (killed originally when she ran down Bobby), Mandy Winger (Deborah Shelton believed she had filmed her last show in episode 'Hello, Goodbye, Hello'), Jamie Barnes was brought back, she was meant to be dead. Donna was pregnant again, so her baby did not die. The biggest impacts were Donna and Ray split up resulting in the axing of Susan Howard (a strong supporter of Capice) and the character of Pamela turned from strong independent woman to a very weak character resulting in Victoria Principal quitting her role.
Continuity conflicts arose elsewhere. You see, Dallas had a spin-off show, Knots Landing; in fact, creator David Jacobs originally pitched Knots Landing to CBS instead of Dallas, but they passed on the idea until Dallas became a hit and asked Jacobs if he would want to do Knots Landing as a Dallas spin-off. Anyway, there were references to Bobby's death were made on the show, including Gary Ewing re-evaluating his whole life and Valene naming their son Bobby. Knots Landing were furious that Dallas did not consider them when the dream idea came about, so Bobby remained dead in Knots Landing and the two shows completely severed ties from then onwards. After this, Dallas and Knots Landing effectively cut ties as they then took place in different universes.
However, it wasn’t just continuity that this stupid storyline hurt; it also hurt the show. The storyline drove away viewers, and it changed the show from a well regarded drama into a joke by critics worldwide. Even now, 14 years later, the dream is still mentioned when people refer to Dallas. It became a focus that damaged the show in a lot of ways. It just goes to show you: a good cliffhanger needs a good ending, and saying that an entire season of a TV was just a dream NEVER WORKS!!!!
Unless it’s on a sitcom, right Bob Newhart!
