(no subject)

[shadowkat]

So I'm watching the revival of Dallas and I have the same problem with it now that I had back in the 1980s... the only interesting characters are Sue Ellen and JR. Everyone else is grating and can't act. It is the acting...Larry Hagman loved playing JR, and he was fun to watch and Linda Gray loved it too. Patrick Duffy's Bobby was so self-righteous.
And the actor just...is boring. I've tried to watch him in other things...and ugh.

This revival has similar issues. John Ross is sort of interesting but everyone else but maybe Annie, Bobbie's new wife...is dull as toast.

Soaps only work with good and complex characters that pull you in. They aren't like procedurals or mysteries, where you can hang in there for the puzzle. You have to get into the characters and actors, or its dull. The writing is also so Danielle Steele...by that I mean cliche and boilerplate. (I've read Danielle Steele...god, boring.)

ETA: Now that I've watched all of it, its not bad - multiple level double-crosses. And lots of mysteries. We have Marta double-crossing John Ross, John Ross double-crossing JR, JR double-crossing John Ross, and someone else involved. Plus Bobby and his son manipulating each other. It's sort of fun. Also not one but three strong female characters.
And god, Linda Gray, Larry Hagman and Patrick Duffy look old. Time it flies.

Comments

[beer-good-foamy.livejournal.com]

I had to watch this. I realise that Dallas was huge in the US at the time, but over here it was ENORMOUS. It pretty much had a 100% rating for its entire run (not so hard since there were only 2 TV channels for most of that time, but still) and pretty much formed an entire generation's view of what it's like in the US :) and what a TV show should be. I've never really watched it since it ended, but a lot of it is still burned into my memory.

And, y'know, this wasn't bad. It's not really the kind of show I watch anymore, I guess, but as long as they do something with the plot (drilling for oil in the US? Lots of interesting things to do with that) and don't just repeat the same old soap storylines, I think I'll give it a go. And I love the continuity cavalcade - all the original actors, even for (in this episode) minor characters like Ray and Lucy! Also, I've always liked Jordana Brewster. Nice to see her on TV.

Larry Hagman is 81 and battling cancer. How awesome was his first scene with John Ross? In ten seconds, he turns from a half-dead, senile old man into... well... JR Ewing. I hadn't realised how much I missed that old bastard.

And come on, nobody really believes Bobby is going to die as long as there are showers left in the world.

Now I'm going to have the Dallas theme stuck in my head all day.

[shadowkat67.livejournal.com]

Larry Hagman is 81 and battling cancer. How awesome was his first scene with John Ross? In ten seconds, he turns from a half-dead, senile old man into... well... JR Ewing. I hadn't realised how much I missed that old bastard.

Hagman impressed the heck out of me. I think he's in remission, because he looks better than he did in the reunion movie back in the 1990s, where he was haggard and gaunt, here he's gained the weight back.
And those eyebrows and wicked smile. LOL!

I realise that Dallas was huge in the US at the time, but over here it was ENORMOUS. It pretty much had a 100% rating for its entire run (not so hard since there were only 2 TV channels for most of that time, but still) and pretty much formed an entire generation's view of what it's like in the US :) and what a TV show should be.

This was true in France too...I remember people asking me about Dallas and everyone was like that - when I visited France in the 1980s.
(No, I kept saying, we're actually more like you than you think. Or the Brits. Shocking, I know.)

Sad. Cheesy soap operas are what the rest of the world thinks life in US is like. LOL!

It was huge here too though, made the cover of Time magazine. And next to General Hospital's Luke and Laura's Wedding (1977 or 1978?), the MASH Finale, had the highest rated episode in US history - Who Shot JR (it was Sue Ellen's sister who was portrayed by Bing Crosby's daughter of all people).

I didn't watch it that much, but I had a lot of friends who did and I checked out episodes here and there.

And, y'know, this wasn't bad. It's not really the kind of show I watch anymore, I guess, but as long as they do something with the plot (drilling for oil in the US? Lots of interesting things to do with that) and don't just repeat the same old soap storylines, I think I'll give it a go. And I love the continuity cavalcade - all the original actors, even for (in this episode) minor characters like Ray and Lucy! Also, I've always liked Jordana Brewster. Nice to see her on TV.

Agreed. Although Jordana Brewster is too thin - she must be anorexic in real life. My god. I saw her first on a daytime soap back in the 1980s or 1990s - As the World Turns.

But she has a good role here. And the plot is interesting...it has a lot of twists and turns. Also neither Christopher or John Ross is in the right. I've decided Christopher's new wife probably had someone send the email to Elena, so she could seduce Chris and get into the family. Nice ironic twist there. It also created a wedge between Christopher/John Ross and Elena. Loved the fact that they didn't go the cliche route on any of the plot twists.

This has potential.

Also agree...unless Duffy wants out, there's no way he's dying. It's just there to create angst.

[cinematixyz.livejournal.com]

I figured 'screw it, I will watch high (or Low) lights on "Kathy" or "The Soup" LOL

Zu

[shadowkat67.livejournal.com]

Oh, I'm sure they are having a field day poking fun at it. It is fun in its own cheesy way. I love tv shows like this...far more entertaining than the reality show crap. Fictional characters being delightfully nasty to each other I can handle, real life people..not so much. ;-)