TNT has cancelled “Dallas” after three seasons, the cable network announced in 2014. "DALLAS" should come back home to CBS where it first started, make it into a Summer series!!!
In 2014 news was not such a surprise – the show was a victim of bad scheduling, terrible plotting and plunging ratings.
The revival of the long-running serial debuted with original stars Larry Hagman, Linda Gray and Patrick Duffy in the summer of 2012 to almost 7 million viewers.
The big two-hour finale last month that killed off Christopher Ewing (Jesse Metcalfe)? That only drew about 1.7 million viewers.
TNT mismanaged this show, by shifting it from summer to winter, and then breaking what turned out to be its final season into two parts.
Critical momentum was lost. Scheduling the now-series finale for opening night of the network fall premieres was just asking for a beating.
Executive producer and writer Cynthia Cidre was off her game as well. The pacing of the third season was sluggish and erratic. The second half accelerated the pace, but by that time, the damage had been done. Many viewers, bored, just wandered off to other series. Who could blame them?
The driving thrust of the relaunch was supposed to be the journey of the next generation of Ewings. But this year Christopher was sidelined for most of the season into a time-waster of a romance with a ranch hand and rarely crossed paths with his rival cousin John Ross (Josh Henderson).
Instead, John Ross fell prey to Emma’s machinations for half the season and clashed more often with Bobby (Duffy). Sue Ellen (Gray) fell off the wagon again – we’ve only seen that 47 times in the original series and it was a waste of the actress.
It wasn’t all bad. Pamela (Julie Gonzalo) regained some of her fighting spirit. Nicolas (Juan Pablo Di Pace) was a man of about 1,001 secrets, all of them twisted, and he finally made Elena (Jordana Brewster) interesting.
But that finale squandered so much good will: The cartel’s master plan dribbled and piddled and came to a late close. Emma was sexually assaulted, almost as an afterthought. John Ross had a breakdown in the elevator and then inexplicably decided he was more devious than his daddy.
But the greatest insult to longtime fans was the murder of Christopher.
Christopher was a legacy character, and while viewers didn’t exactly see him grow up before their eyes, they knew him as a boy and as a man, and there was nothing that warranted that ghastly, grisly death.
(He was the victim of a car bomb. His vehicle exploded and incinerated him.)
Sidenote: Did anyone in the production have any concern for Brewster, who lost her “Fast & Furious” co-star Paul Walker in a horrible car wreck? How awful for the actress to have to play that screaming horror oncamera.
In killing Christopher, “Dallas” broke trust. It murdered the Ewings' future. What was left for season four? Bobby clashing with John Ross, a lesser version of his pappy, for the fate of the Ewings? John Ross’ search for his long-lost sister? That revelation was a dud. J.R. also has two sons, James Beaumont and the child with Cally. One more heir means nothing.
Cidre allegedly plotted out most of season four. Perhaps we’ll yet learn the finale was yet another “Dallas” dream.
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