Not every “Dallas” storyline ends on a satisfying note. What if you had the power to change the things that disappointed you?
Would Bobby choose Jenna over Pam? Would Sue Ellen ride off into the sunset with Dusty? Would Miss Ellie have returned to Southfork after her travels abroad? How would you have written J.R. out of the TNT series?
Your #DallasChat Daily question: Which “Dallas” storylines should have ended differently?
Share your comments below and join other #DallasChat Daily discussions.
Dallas Decoder 
I wish that the “Who Killed JR?” story had ended differently as regards to someone other than Bum having had to shoot JR. I kind of wish it had been brother Gary that had shot/killed JR just because JR treated him like crap all his life and no one would have seen that one coming.
Brother Gary has a vagina Miss Jenny, or perhaps you haven’t talked to Ted Shackleford. Its Valene that had the balls in that marriage or marriages. I wish Miss Texas had married J.R. b4 he had gone to Mexico so she could add “respectable widow” to her moniker. This would have only helped her street cred in politics and in business!
IV the record, I am not degrading vaginas or any female or transgender with a vagina. I’m degrading Brother Gary. Mind u, Garrison Arthur EWing had the chutzpah to helm his own series, “Knots Landing.” Something that Brothers J.R., Bobby, & Ray can’t claim Miss Jenny.
This is a fun discussion, but let’s remember the “Miss Ellie Rule” and keep it respectable: https://dallasdecoder.com/2014/05/19/now-every-day-is-dallaschat-day-at-dallas-decoder/
Thanks, all!
I’d like 2 apologize 4 my comparison here C.B. & Miss Jenny. Its just that how Brotrher J.R. always talked about Garrison Arthur
My knee jerk would be to say not kill April but I realize there wasn’t much else they could have done with her. Sheree was pregnant and everyone knew it would be the last season so what else could they do with her? Have her walking around all the time carrying a strategically place grocery bag?
My flippant answer would be that JR never sent those good old boys after Valene to bring back Lucy when she originally fled Southfork. (Prior to the airing of the show.) I’ve never cared for the character and never understood why JR cared about her or wanted her around. To me it would have made more sense if JR saw Lucy as a reminder of Valene and since he didn’t like her/deem her worthy or even have to many found feelings for his brother Gary for that matter why would he want that constant reminder around?
But for my serious answer I think Sue Ellen probably should have been married to someone else between her JR marriages and Dusty would make the most sense. Dusty had his faults. Chief among them was he didn’t know how to help Sue Ellen and unwittingly became an enabler. But then how is that any different than Ellie or Jock who liked Sue Ellen? But Dusty did love her unconditionally and I don’t think we can honestly say that about JR even though so many think of him as the soul-mate. One thing I never understood was the marriage to Don Lockwood. There wasn’t a lot of chemistry there and he just didn’t seem to be a match for her.
Miss.Ellie and Clayton should have had a closure story, it was a bit lame to say she was sick of the drama.
Jamie Barnes should have become stronger instead of Cliff’s dumped ex-wife.
Of course Pamela should have had closure on the original show.
Sue Ellen’s revenge should have been more fulfilling than the movie.
I would have liked Cally to have completed the whole of the last season
Lastly there should have never been a ‘dying’ scene for Bobby, as things were at the end of the 85-86 season, his return would have shaken things up a whole lot more, without the need for the ‘dream’ cop-out.
Victoria Principal’s character, Pam’s departure from the show. If the writers and producers knew she wanted no part of the show from that point, they should have respected her decision.
Sue Ellen should have married Dusty and even had a child with him. It would have been more intriguing to see JR not always get his way with her. Dusty loved her much more than JR ever could. I am still not convinced JR truly loved her.
Patrick Duffy leaving. It caused three big should have ended different-lies! The Pam’s Dream explanation for the return of Bobby wiped out 31 hours the audience spent watching the show. If the show isn’t committed to itself how can the audience be expected to be! This obviously caused the next one, Pam’s departure was handled. She deserved a full on deathbed scene, mourning, etc. Give the audience closure, even if you film the death scene and use it later and have her ‘return’ after being missing. (Maybe they should have this footage in the can for all the main characters!) The other one was during the Dream Season when Pam just sold JR Christopher’s Ewing Oil shares. What a missed opportunity for conflict with JR and that ‘Barnes woman!’ It would be so much worse for JR than working with Bobby everyday and it would have been great for DALLAS to elevate a female character so high, especially at that time too. I think that conflict would have made great TV. I’d have also had Pam discover she was carrying Bobby’s child, a daughter, part way through the season.
I think that Duffy returning should have ended different. I heard there was several alternatives to the “dream season” that was considered. Linda Gray talks about Bobby returning on Letterman in 1986- http://youtu.be/zdWB9diXh3E
They could have explained that Bobby was still alive and have some wild storyline explaining what happened.
JR should have killed Kristen. During the court case when it was decided that she died from the fall/drugs/pool, JR should’ve remembered, via a silent black and white scene, encountering Kristen in the bedroom. She tries to seduce him, maybe extort money from him; she is stoned. When she fails, she picks up a picture of John Ross. Is there a threat? JR takes the picture away from her and Kristen laughs and struts her way onto the balcony. JR looks at the picture calmly, then violently shoves Kristen through the railing.
The audience, not the characters on the show, would be the only ones to know.
Yeah but CBS JR was never a murderer.
They never explain how Kristen was killed. Sue Ellen implied she had something to do with it during this current season.
If there was one storyline that I would’ve changed, it would’ve been the last episode of the original Dallas. It was sad how they ended a series with Bobby coming into JR’s room and saying “Oh my God!” without knowing what happened to JR. If it would’ve been me being the writer of the episode, I would have Clayton return to Southfork telling JR and Bobby that Miss Ellie had suddenly died.
Now before everyone gets on their soapbox and gets irritated and say “Why do this?”. I don’t blame you. Miss Ellie is an integral character of this series since day one and the bond that holds the Ewings together.
The episode would bring back some of the characters from Dallas past including Ray, Gary,Val,Lucy, Jenna, Punk Anderson and his wife, Dusty and Sue Ellen to name a few. Some of the characters would reminsce about the memories of Miss Ellie with flashbacks of previous episodes.
The funeral would be on Southfork, as Miss Ellie would’ve wanted to. The episode would be emotional. The ending of the series would have Bobby reading a letter from Miss Ellie, months before she died. The narration of the letter would have to be from Bel Geddes from beyond the grave telling Bobby about keeping Southfork the way it is, beautiful and majestic. After reading the letter,(theme music starts) Bobby goes outside in the front of Southfork, leaning against the pillar and looking out as the sun sets.
Bobby says, “Goodbye Mama, I’ll keep that promise”.
With that ending, it would all tie in to the new Dallas with JR in the sanitorium and Bobby handling Southfork, instead of the “It’s A Wonderful Life” sendoff.
Yeah but would your Miss Ellie letter have warned Bobby that 25 years later she will retcon half of it to John Ross? Or is that still going to be a surprise?
TH, this would have been a lovely way to end the series. Too bad it didn’t happen.
Dan, your comment made me laugh.
That would have worked so much better than what they did. Miss Ellie really deserved a big send off and you are right it’s a great way for a big cast reunion and a great way to mark the end of an era. The new show should at least hint they she and Clayton returned to Dallas just after the last episode and ended their days together at Southfork. Maybe even the remodel could be blamed on Clayton, that Miss Ellie did it so he would finally be comfortable living in Jocks house. The Southern Cross was modern compared to Southfork and he did initially struggle with the idea of living at Southfork.
Bobby should have gone into a coma for a year instead of supposedly dying – at the end of the year he could have just come out of his coma instead of returning from the dead via the dream method.
Pam’s departure should have been less messy – either a straight forward death or leaving for a more noble reason ( maybe finally fed up of all the infighting of the Ewings which she indirectly contributed to).
Also the Wes Parmalee storyline seemed to fizzle out after an intriguing start – can’t remember the details off the top of my head but I seem to remember an unsatisfying conclusion to this.
please victoria principal
Most of TNT Dallas (three seasons so far) should be rewritten in my opinion, as well as the last few years of the original series. The early seasons of Dallas had good writing and string, memorable characters.
I personally believe that JR and Sue Ellen were taken down the wrong path in the late 80s. There was a great window of opportunity for them to become business partners in JR’s fight for WestStar. Sue Ellen was buying large amounts of stock at the same time as their other acquaintances. The two of them could have become majority shareholders by fooling the Cryders and Jeremy Wendell into thinking that they were sworn enemies but instead still living together and plotting delicious sabotage. What could be better than a couple who gets off on power together?
Bobby should have been in a year coma off screen, and when PD decided to come back he wakes up. The twist would be he has memory loss and does not remember professing his love for Pam or marriage proposal. .
I like that idea!