Give us what we want, TNT
Will TNT renew “Dallas” for a fourth season? I have no idea, but there’s no shortage of reasons why this show deserves another year.
Let’s start with the numbers:
• TV ratings. Yes, they’ve dropped. “Dallas” averaged 1.9 million viewers on Mondays this year, down 28 percent from its second season, according to Nielsen. However, the audience includes approximately 592,000 adults between ages 18 and 49, a demographic TNT is eager to court. Among these viewers, “Dallas” fares better than three other TNT dramas — including “Murder in the First,” which just got renewed.
• DVR ratings. “Dallas” gets a nice boost from DVR users who record the episodes and watch them a few days later. Example: The third-season finale opened to 1.7 million viewers on September 22, but within three days, DVR users lifted the audience to 2.4 million viewers. Although this is the smallest DVR-boosted audience that TNT has reported for “Dallas,” it still means the finale’s viewership grew roughly 40 percent — not bad when you consider the two-hour episode debuted amid the crush of fall premiere week, when DVRs fill up fast.
• Social media. “Dallas” has 1.6 million Facebook fans, more than any other TNT drama, and 94,000 Twitter followers, second only to “Rizzoli & Isles.” Also, five times during the past six weeks, “Dallas” has cracked a weekly ranking of cable’s 25 buzziest shows on social media — including last week, when the season finale ranked fifth.
Is any of this good enough for TNT? Let’s hope so. The network’s executives are likely weighing a lot of other numbers that fans like us aren’t privy to, including “Dallas’s” production costs and revenue from product placement, DVD sales, merchandising and foreign broadcasts.
But this decision shouldn’t be about numbers only.
“Dallas” also deserves another season because the show is a creative success. Vets like Patrick Duffy and Linda Gray are doing some of the finest work of their careers on the new “Dallas,” while Josh Henderson has become a breakout star. The production values are also first-rate, and even though some of us diehards quibble with the storytelling now and then, “Dallas” remains one of the most absorbing hours on television.
This brings me to the other big reason “Dallas” deserves another year: Loyalty.
It’s one of the show’s major themes, but it’s also part of the fabric of “Dallas” fandom. Few shows inspire this kind of devotion. Some of us have been watching “Dallas” for more than 30 years — we tuned into the original show on Fridays nights in the 1980s, and then we watched the reruns and DVDs — while others are newcomers who’ve stuck with the TNT series through time slot changes, long hiatuses and split seasons.
TNT has a history with “Dallas” too. Back in 1991, when the network was still new, it showed “Dallas” reruns weekday mornings at 10, right after Bugs Bunny cartoons. TNT even ran a contest inviting viewers to submit lyrics to the theme. None other than Larry Hagman showed up to introduce the winning entry, which went like this:
Oh we own this
And we own that
As far as the eye can see!
From Texas soil
We pump Ewing oil
Daddy Jock, brother Bobby
And me!
Yes, I’m J.R.
I’m known near and far
A rat in a town
That’s cat-free!
I make big deals
And I’ve got one that’s real
Merging “Dallas” with TNT!
TNT, “Dallas” isn’t just part of our heritage. It’s part of yours too. Renew it today, and keep the tradition going.
Why do you think “Dallas” should be renewed? Share your comments below and read more opinions from Dallas Decoder.
Dallas Decoder 
Yes, it deserves more time. Look at Star Trek, only showed up on tv for such a short time, only to be axed, then come back better than ever. People quit too soon, its not always about ratings. I could not always see Dallas on Monday night due to work, so I would catch it at 7a on Saturday morning, before I leave for work. Does that count for the ratings also.
I still would like to know if the way I see the show counts for anything – season pass purchase on iTunes.
Dallas should be renewed,it really has potential,it is raw,fresh,intense,and when it gets going,it never stops,youngJR,has the potential of being JR,and he should be given the chance to do that. now that Christopher is dead,bobby will be out for blood,i would like to see him be on the borderline of being mr.nice guy with a little of evilness in him,and also would like to see Lucas,come back from paris,with jenna wade intowed. that will surely stir things up with bobby and anne.
I love John Ross. He has proven to be J.R.’s son in every way.
A nice article, sums it all up very nicely. Hopefully you have forwarded it onto the relevant person at TNT.
Renew it and give it another night and time slot and I think we would see a stronger fan base start to build, I read today where a lot of this past Monday night episodes suffered a ratings dip, as much as I loved starting my week off with Dallas I think a Tuesday or Wed night would be more favorable myself for the show. I was glad to see that about the DVR ratings that help raise Dallas, I am not surprised that Dallas finale took a dive though fans were livid really believing Patrick Duffy or Linda Gray was going to be killed off and many were threating not to watch. I just hope Cynthia take the show into a direction that respects the fans desire to keep watching, I love this show
It’s the best damn show on televion. I got every DVD and I would like to continue my selection I have been watching Dallas since the original and it really needs to continue. I love Dallas please give us season 4. I believe its the best show on television.Please Please give us season 4
It was blatantly obvious it wasn’t going to be Linda Gray or Patrick Duffy. Those two will remain on Dallas as long as they want to do it or the series ends. I thought this season was the best overall of the three seasons to date. The continuity from the original series was a lot better as well.
I think one of the problems Dallas has is it doesn’t have a good lead-in. Basically you have a bunch of reruns of shows like Castle or another series, then a new Dallas and then more reruns. TNT needs to start pairing all their shows (in other words two series airing on the same night first run episodes). I really think Dallas and Murder in the First would be a strong pairing. Rizzoli and Isles would be nice too but I fear our rating would be much lower than R&I which has a different kind of audience.
Creatively the show has a lot of life left in it and Josh Henderson has emerged as a fine actor and so are Emma Bell and Julie Gonzalo. I have nothing against Jesse Metcalfe, but I don’t think the Christopher character ever really developed in the new series and with the limited episodes, they have they need John Ross to drive the series.
A couple of other things I failed to mention. I don’t think the split seasons work well for TNT and a serial like Dallas. Fans forget about the show and with so few episodes it is gone, right as you are getting into it. I think it would be more wise for TNT to air the 15 episodes straight through. Also if they plan to bring back Katherine Wentworth (which is rumored and a great, great idea), they need to promote that. She could give the show a short term boost and I think fans still want the missing Ewing children to be mentioned in the new show and a storyline for Ray and/or Lucy. In my opinion, if you brought back Bobby’s biological son with Jenna, that would give the writers a good storyline to include Ray and Jenna while giving John Ross a new rival.
A lot of people knock the split season and in the grand sceme I don’t like it either. But I’ll say this for the concept: It has allowed them to do a first true cliffhanger (recycled though it was) which isn’t otherwise practical at the end of the season given the show is always wondering if it will be cancelled and renewed.
Why would u have to send me this? Ol’ R.J. knows its needs to be renewed for Season IV. If only to see John Ross “bone” Judith Ryland. Then if he marries her he’d be Emma’s step grandpa!
first he would have to divorce Pamela
Hell yes! Checkmate, TNT!
It should be renewed it is a great show.excellent cast.just change day and time it comes on.
What makes Dallas so great, besides the actors and actresses, is that it is one of the most suspenseful shows on TV. Like the original Dallas, it has you wanting more! You live on pins and needles until the next episode!!!
The show is great and entertaining. I think what Dallas needs to do is to bring in someone from the old series (just a character or two) that is going to get viewers excited. We know it is not going to be Victoria Principal (time to move on with that), but Katherine Wentworth would be great to bring in or even Jeremy Wendell or hire a big name actor to play one of J.R’s kids or Bobby’s kid, Lucas. Something that can be promoted.
Dallas should be renewed without a doubt, it is Television Royalty. But. A few things need to change: time slot being one and the dark writing Cidre loves so much needs to be dialed way back. She needs to be a good steward of the legacy of Dallas and not treat it as her own personal plaything. Bring back some characters of old and don’t be too quick to kill them off.
The split seasons also need to go, let it run through with no break.
I’m sure Dallas will be with us for many years to come if the Powers That Be make a few critical changes.
Is the decision still expected to come this month, with production going forward immediately and the first part of the season arriving in February, like last year?
I’m willing to be a little more patient with the show’s return than I have been in the past. If we had to wait a year, well that beats the crap out of cancellation. And I have no beef with waiting at least one year for the next sequel in various film series I enjoy, so I guess the same logic can apply to TV.
Bring it back, TNT…the burden of good marketing and a prosperous time slot falls on you geniuses!
Do not just “renew” the show. Promote the show. Please do not use the same promotion and marketing team that created “Team This and That” That was the largest mistake. I never got that and I know it is ignored now anyways, Also the Dallas web content on TNT is terrible. If they are going to make a show then please take the time and effort to market the show properly and professionally. If it does get renewed, take the show serious.
Everybody I work with loved the spit season, it gave them something to look forward to during the summer and because the season was only 8 weeks before the split they made sure they watched every week. I personally do not know how I feel about the split season I enjoyed both season finales but I also understand the feelings of not supporting it. However it was nice to have Dallas in the Winter and Summer if production companies can only budget a small percentage at a time I guess it works
Do you have any information on the advertisers of Dallas? Those are the people we need to reach out to. I watch it on iTunes so I don’t know who they are.
The show has a product placement deals with Microsoft and Miller Lite, and ads for the Sonic fast-food chain popped up a lot during the first half of the season. What am I missing, fellow fans?
Just found out that TNT just cancelled Dallas. It’s a shame TNT left Dallas viewers hanging. The show was getting real good. I would like to really know what could’ve been if there was a 4th season of this series. Who could’ve been cast as JR’s daughter? What was the outcome from the death of Bobby’s son, Christopher? Which former character was to return on Dallas? Looks like now we won’t know, just speculation.
Just read the NEWS of Dallas’ cancellation. Not surprised.
I’ll always be grateful that it at least came back in time to give Larry Hagman a chance to renew J.R. Ewing. I wish he was still alive, but I take comfort in the fact that he died not only as an employed working actor, but playing the character he loved the best and was best known for. He got to see that he was still loved and, at the time of his death, the show was considered a “hit”. So that’s something.
Bad news…i’m very sad about it…unfair because the show is great, actual, good drama, storie…some hope maybe? Dallas is the best show ever…
http://deadline.com/2014/10/dallas-cancelled-tnt-845717/
Dallas is a classic and should stay on. The only reason I watch TV at night, the only show I look forward to. It brings back a good feeling when I listen to the opening music, a time when all we had to worry about was what was JR up to next. Please bring back Dallas, the only good series we all love with a lot of great memories.
I feel tnt has made a hugh mistake in not renewing Dallas! This type of drama keeps us wanting more. Reminds me of younger years watching Dallas, knots landing, ………..and many others i miss so much! With the new cast members ( josh henderson) i am always intrigued as to what hes going to do next…..love love him! When i first saw Dallas returned i was so tickeled….today im not……please reconsider!
I think Dallas should be continued becauase it is a high quality entretainment show. Actors are really into their role as no other.
Also because the show reflects the reality that we live in Texas, where the gas and oil industry is at it’s peak.
Josh reflects the driven personality of the people that works in this segment, as my company is doing right now.
In the other hand Uncle Bobby reflects the family values that people from Texas is educated with, which I highly respect.
Further it even reflects the international situations and relations with Mexico… And it would be proihibited to reflect that reality in a TV show there I guess.
But the cast is just amazing, all of them.
And of course since it has a lot of fans, it should be a great business for TNT or any other.
I would realy love to see it on the long.. Very long run.
AAV.
I simply love watching Dallas! I love all the actor’s! I love Josh singing wow what a great voice! Please keep this great show on!
Dallas is one of the top shows on tv..we need to #RENEWDALLAS Please!
#SaveDallas because it is awesome! It shows up and downs of families, but with the ewings blood always wins out.
Best show on TV in years. I won’t watch anything in TNT again because they chose to cancel this one. Judith, John Ross, Pam and all the Ewings are awesome. What a mistake it was to take it off the air!!
#savedallas please
Shame on you TNT!! Dallas is the Best Drama ever! What are you thinking?
I think TNT has made a major mistake in not renewing the show for the fourth season. I was a big fan of the first Dallas and I loved how they have woven in the children of JR and Bobby into the new “Dallas”. The entire production is classy, the storyline keeps you always thinking and I love that they have brought as many of the original cast members back as they could to enrich and bridge the audience over to the new. “Dallas”. They cast the perfect actor for John Ross and Christopher and I like how they are not just falling back on a formula that worked for the original show but they took the time to build each character’s strengths and their vulnerabities. This takes time to pull your audience in and then bam you are hooked, can’t wait to see how your favorite show will take you away for just an hour into entertainment heaven. Then some knot head executive pulls the plug and your favorite show is cancelled. I can’t believe that Ted Turner would allow this to happen to such a good show. He should be so proud of the entire team who puts this show together and keeps the audience stimulated for just one hour. Everything was great, the writers, the wonderful actors, wardrobe, makeup people, basically every person involved in getting this show to us to entertain us for just an hour where we could forget about what a lousy day we might of had or people that are disabled and look forward to a great show so they can forget about there problems for awhile. So now that this great show is being pulled by some genius over there at TNT you are forcing us to find something out there to watch that is the same calibar as what you just yanked and we are left with only a few quality programs such as Blue Bloods, Homeland, Rizzoli and Isles, Outlander and NCIS. Please God I really don’t want to waste my time with horrible reality shows like “Honey Boo-Boo”. Please reconsider your lapse in judgement in canceling this wonderful series and renew it for a fourth, fifth and six seasons. I live within five minutes of the real Southfork Ranch and the people of Texas are very proud of this wonderful show and do not want to see it cancelled. So whom ever you listened to Mr Turner the buck stops with you. The station is named after you and you are a pioneer in bringing us the first 24 hours a day news coverage. I know you can save this show if you wanted to and you would have the loyalty of millions of fans in doing so. If you have not been involved thus far in allowing this series to be cancelled then get involved now and save our show for all of us. “Dallas” lovers. If you don’t you are going to lose a lot of good people who will not watch TNT anymore because of this big blunder. Please look into this matter seriously and save a really great show that you can be proud of. If TNT still decides to cancel the show I hope one of the other cable stations like STARZ or SHOWTIME will see it’s value and pick it up.
I’m glad to hear you enjoyed the show too, Shirley. Thanks for sharing your thoughts.
CB
I’m afraid Ted Turner has absolutely zero say in this one. Yes the network is named for him but his name is the only part of him which survives at this time. Back in 2006 he resigned from the Time Warner board of directors and since that time he has sold each and every share he once owned in that company. He as a zero stake in that corporation and his word is absolutely meaningless there as a result. So it is completely unfair to give him any blame or responsibility at all for this.