Thu
Jun 14 2012 5:28pm

Back at the Ranch: Did You Return to Dallas?

The cast of TNT’s Dallas The ratings for last night’s premiere of TNT’s Dallas (a continuation of the popular 1980s nighttime soap) are in, and with 6.8 million viewers, it looks like a lot of people were eager to get see the Ewing family again.

Were you one of them? What did you think? Twitter was certainly buzzing with reactions last night, good and bad (naturally).

I only saw the first half and am embarrassed to say I’m not familiar with the original series (feel free to educate me!—I’ll probably at least Wikipedia the family tree), but while I have to say I wasn’t blown away by...well, any of it, I did think the tension between John Ross, Elena, and Christopher was interesting. What can I say? I’m a sucker for triangles involving ~~brothers~~ cousins and the epic angst that generally accompanies them.

Will you watch again, or did you get it all out of your system last night? And are/were you in it for one generation in particular, or both? Let’s talk Dallas, people!

*For more on the new Dallas, read Aliza Mann’s “The Deliciousness of Dallas Is Returning to Television” as well as Rachel Hyland’s “Summer Lovin’, Part 2”*

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1. kwanawrites

view all by kwanawrites | Thursday June 14, 2012 06:07pm EDT

I did return and watching it with a bunch of twitter folks made it so much more fun. It was great to see the old scheming JR back and little JR is just bad enough to make his daddy proud. I will be back in next week for sure.

And yes I was around back in the day to ask "Who shot JR?". Young, but I was around so I'm not a newbie.

2. redline_

view all by redline_ | Friday June 15, 2012 09:12am EDT

@kwanawrites -- I saw some of the Twitter convos! Very cool. I really like watching shows that way; it's a blast.

So is John Ross the bad boy while Christopher is more the straight arrow? That seemed to be the way it was going, but I haven't gotten to finish watching yet. What did you think of Elena? Is she heroine material?

3. Kim

view all by Kim | Saturday June 16, 2012 01:50pm EDT

I was a fan of the original series, so it was nice seeing J.R., Bobby and Sue Ellen again. Unfortunately, that wasn't enough to overcome the poor writing and the bad casting of some of the younger characters.

The original Dallas revolved around the dynamic performance that J.R. brought to his character. John Ross just doesn't have the same acting chops. I thought he was the weak link in the new series.

As far as the plot, Bobby always loved Southfork and I don't think the Booby of the original Dallas would allow it to ever leave the family. So having him sell it to that trust rang hollow. His mother may not have wanted drilling, but I don't think Miss Ellie would have wanted it sold. Also, Pam disappeared from the original series, so Bobby didn't have to take care of her. Their relationship was akin to Romeo & Juliet. Therefore, it was another weak point that no background was given on his new marriage in the first episode.

The creator of the series wanted to be consulted to have some continuity, but the writer made it clear that she didn't want any advive. One of his suggestions was to make John Ross the good one and Christopher the bad one, so they didn't look like a retread of J.R. & Bobby.

4. redline_

view all by redline_ | Saturday June 16, 2012 09:07pm EDT | amended on Saturday June 16, 2012 09:08pm EDT

@Kim -- Ah, yeah, especially since this is a continuation rather than a reboot, I'd think attention to continuity would be important. That's too bad.

John Ross as the good one if his daddy makes sense to me too just because it most certainly would have meant some interesting tension between family members (for different reasons than in the original series) for them to work out over the course of the series. Could've mixed it up a bit, like you said.

5. sk1336

view all by sk1336 | Sunday June 17, 2012 10:15am EDT

I went back to Dallas last night (thanks dvr) and have to say that as a Dallas junkie of the highest order (I really wanted to live on that ranch) I am very satisfied with the first 2 hours. Of course there have to be youngsters to take over the future, but I LOVE that both Bobby and JR are back! I think the casting of the cousins is perfect, and am happy that already EVERYBODY but Bobby and his family already have an agenda going....so like the original!!! Can't wait for the next episode, and if they continue to be as good, I'm in for the whole ride!!!

6. kwanawrites

view all by kwanawrites | Sunday June 17, 2012 03:40pm EDT

@redline_ Yes, John Ross is the bad boy and Chris the good. New Jr and Bobby thing. I think they will make Elena your good girl but she is already annoying me with her tsfw way about her. Who would just let the love her her life and a wedding go with a bogus email that doesn't look like an email? I'm already rooting or the bad girl that Chris married but that's how I roll. LOL.