TNT's "Dallas" Cancelled after 3 Seasons
by Matt Webb Mitovich
October 3, 2014


Put another fork in Southfork.

Not two weeks after "Dallas" aired its season finale, TNT has decided against renewing the primetime sudser for Season 4.



A statement from TNT reads as follows:

“We are extremely proud of Dallas, which defied expectations by standing as a worthy continuation of the Ewing saga. We want to thank everyone involved with the show, from the extraordinary cast to the impeccable production team, led by the show’s creative forces, Cynthia Cidre and Mike Robin. We especially want to thank the people of Dallas for their warm and generous hospitality during the production of the series.”

http://tvline.com/2014/10/03/dallas-cancelled-season-4-tnt/

Good. Season 3 has been bad. Killing Christopher was the worse. As far as I'm concerned this show was a dream.

:(

I thought they were going to get one more chance.

The Ramos Family Ruined This Show (http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1723760/board/thread/235251409)

Let the attacks on Cidre begin! (http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1723760/board/thread/235247733)

TNT didn't exactly do the show any favors (http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1723760/board/thread/235247468)

Would have been best to end it after season 2 (http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1723760/board/thread/235246642)

Dallas ended when JR died... (http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1723760/board/thread/235246262)

CANCELLED! (http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1723760/board/flat/235245029?p=1)

http://forums.previously.tv/topic/3830-dallas-in-the-media/#entry436212

The character of Elena Ramos killed Christopher and the show.

There was too much emphasis on Elena and her problems and it killed the show (http://www.lipstickalley.com/showthread.php?t=774772).

After she dumped John Ross and then Christopher dumped her, that should've been the end of Elena unless she were to turn up pregnant with Christopher's baby. The writers created the following characters to justify keeping the Elena character around:

Drew
Nicolas
Lucia
Drug Kingpin Guy
Drug Henchman Guy who raped Emma
Various drug henchman extras

They misused/destroyed the following characters to justify Elena staying around:

Cliff Barnes
Hunter McKay
Heather
Christopher
Ewing Oil
JR
Pamela
Southfork

Other characters that had potential had to be in this Ramos/Mexico storyline or get no airtime:

The entire Ryland family. Harris in particular was wasted with CIA and drug trucks.

I understand the writers wanted diversity. Nicolas could've been written in as an ambitious young exec at Ewing Oil, Ryland could've been a formidable business rival. Hunter McKay could've been brought in as a friend of Christopher.

Heather could've been brought in as a sassy secretary who caught Christopher's eye. But she and Bo had to go so Christopher could go running after Elena again.

Christopher Ewing died for nothing. He died to prop up a suck of a character who ended up killing the entire show. At least we don't have to watch DALLAS starring Elena Ramos, Carmen Ramos and Nicoquin, guest starring various Mexican Cartel members, with special appearances by the Ewings anymore.

http://www.avclub.com/article/tnt-has-canceled-dallas-210095

TNT presumably decided to kill the series due to its dwindling ratings, with THR (http://www.hollywoodreporter.com/live-feed/dallas-canceled-by-tnt-738052) citing the network’s baffling decision to move Dallas from the summer to the winter and then back to the summer as a reason for those dwindling ratings. Also, one of the hooks of the new version of Dallas was its ties to the original series, so the death of Larry Hagman in 2012 was, as THR puts it, “a blow.”

The show was of its time,namely 1978 and the short following years thereafter. People eventually got tired of the imbroglios of the rich and famous with its concomitant chicanery entwining the working classes,with whom they had more in common than they ever imagined. This is not the failure of "Dallas" but could extend to many other shows of its genre such as Dynasty,Flamingo Road,Falcon Crest and others which mimicked the same formula and which served up an apathetic if still poisonous cocktail whose shelf-life had ultimately expired.

I thought this might happen. It was clear Cynthia Cidre had major disdain for the original series

Bummer. I liked the show.

Of course one does feel a sense of nostalgia now the show is at an end,with the waxwork dummies of Sue-Ellen and Son in this scene and Bobby,who looks like he's slept in his face. The new characters never did bed down: Christopher and John Ross looked like lost little boys, the girls' roles were undefined and rootless,and marrying off Bobby to Brenda Strong was a continuity mistake. Maybe one is guilty of reminiscing on the better times,which have been superseded by a nagging uncertainty as the Western world reels from pan-Pacific competition and its unrelenting capitalism,giving shows such as this a gritty realism as we contemplate an undefinable malaise which now surrounds us, which the elites have managed to escape. The scenes could have been shot anywhere as there was never any primary focus,but ultimately it all ceased to matter as viewers turned to The Big Bang Theory for solace and those few moments in which one could defer the all-too consuming reality of our daily lives.http://youtu.be/-m1QhFpqqdo

I thought this might happen. It was clear Cynthia Cidre had major disdain for the original series
That was the major problem I had with it. There were some things I liked such as how they handled JR's death and writing Pam out but by and large it just did not gel with the original series. I just don't understand how Cliff turned so evil. No explanation at all and all those Ewing heirs that weren't even mentioned. Then you had the whole Mexican Cartel and Ramos family. Too little Ewings..

The first half of season 2 killed nuDALLAS (http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1723760/board/flat/235271078?p=1)

Glad it's been cancelled (http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1723760/board/flat/235265709?p=1)

The John Ross/Pamela Marriage - Wasted Opportunity (http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1723760/board/flat/235266715?p=1)

Based on the series' low numbers during its season 3, I guess many fans must have refused to watch the 2012 Dallas series since Larry Hagman's death. Plus, there must have been some bad (I meant awful/terrible) storylines during season 3.

From day one I said "What is the point?"

The first half of season 2 killed nuDALLAS (http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1723760/board/flat/235271078?p=1)

Glad it's been cancelled (http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1723760/board/flat/235265709?p=1)

The John Ross/Pamela Marriage - Wasted Opportunity (http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1723760/board/flat/235266715?p=1)

Why are you posting stuff from that toxic dump they call imdb? Seriously :rolleyes:

I didn't watch the show post JR/Larry Hagman's passing. He was too much of a presence for the show to maintain momentum without him...

That doesn't surprise me

Dallas wasn't the same w/o JR and it doesn't have the same feel like in the CBS Years back in the Early 80's

I never watched it but I'm surprised that it's been canceled given the strong positive reaction to the new version.

A lot of people enjoyed the new version, including my family.

It probably won't happen but it would be nice to have a series finale -- maybe a two-hour movie. ????

I didn't watch the show post JR/Larry Hagman's passing. He was too much of a presence for the show to maintain momentum without him...I really tried to watch the show after larry hagman passed away but it just did not work for me no j r no dallas

totally bummed out by this...really enjoyed this show...:(

im trying to save it love dallas trying get it on cbs check me out on fb im trying save dallas along with lot of others.

https://www.facebook.com/groups/SaveDallas/

In order, here are the main (http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1723760/board/flat/235461495?d=235465955#235465955) reasons for the show's failure (http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1723760/board/flat/235461495?p=1):
1. Cidre. She was handed an iconic brand, that turned in 7M strong for it's premiere episode back in June 2013, mostly of people who were avid fans of Dallas 25 years earlier - and she did her "best" to alienate that group to the point the show's ratings at the end were menial. The show got cancelled not because it couldn't build ratings - it got cancelled because it couldn't hold on to the ratings that it was provided, sight unseen from Day 1.

2. The Ramos Family. Who are they? Why should we care about them? They had no connection to the old show, but Cidre took liberties with creating this fictitious family and building a huge story line on the daughter of the Ewing's cook (who just happened to be living on SF all these years?). Really?

3. The Mexican Revolution/The Cartel. Another senseless story line that carried on WAY too long. Cidre clearly wanted to promote a heavy hispanic influence on this show, an did so for the sole purpose of molding a show that she wanted. She prioritized what she wanted to do, and "used and abused" an iconic show like Dallas to advance/continue your failed Cane show from years ago.

4. The John Ross/Pamela-Rebecca Union. Because Cidre was so agnostic to the old Dallas - she had no appreciation for the show's history, and had no idea that she was sitting on a gold mine with the son of JR and the daughter of Cliff joining forces. Instead of building the show around those 2 (which incredibly presented itself right after Larry died) and recognizing how dynamic their relationship was - she killed within seconds of their wedding by having John Ross whore around with Emma.

5. Couple Swapping. Elena's relationship with John Ross, then her relationship with Christopher, and then having the same swap between the two cousins with Pamela-Rebecca? I know Cidre thinks that story line is "delicious", but the fact that the show could not string together 3 episodes without couples switching partners. Who do you root for? Some may say that was how the old Dallas was - well, while it did happen - it was done so in more believable, evolving story lines. After all that happened - when Cidre had Elena and John Ross have sex, and Elena stole the letter that JR wrote, because it was in John Ross' wallet (how stupidly and unbelievably was that who story line)?

6. Elena. Cidre admits that she wanted Elena to be the central character. Back to #2 - the viewers who tuned in wanted stories build around the Ewings, build around the oil/alternative energies business - not about some gringo-girl's misguided revenge plot.

7. Show Me The $$$! What made Dallas a great show was how people flocked to see how power families with $$$ lived. The Ewing BBQ, the Oil Barron's Ball, hard-nosed business dealings, family dinners and pre-dinner drinks at SF, high end fashion - where was any of that in this show?

im trying to save it love dallas trying get it on cbs check me out on fb im trying save dallas along with lot of others.

https://www.facebook.com/groups/SaveDallas/

https://tv.yahoo.com/blogs/tv-news/the-future-of-dallas-netflix-173121376.html

Dallas fans, keep those save-the-show campaigns going, and keep the show alive with social media mentions. That's the word from Dallas reboot creator and showrunner Cynthia Cidre (http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1723760/board/flat/235586475?p=1), who tells Yahoo TV she's still optimistic the series will find a new home, after TNT canceled the show shortly after airing its explosive (literally) Season 3 finale.

Cidre, who has a detailed framework for Season 4 (http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1723760/board/flat/235563431?p=1) all planned out, with even the script for the season premiere all ready to go, says she and the cast and crew are in such good shape that they could be ready to begin production on a new season (http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1723760/board/flat/236431426?p=1) in as little as five weeks. That, she hopes, will be one of the selling points for potential new cable network homes as executives from Warner Bros., the production company behind Dallas, try to set it up elsewhere.

Cidre talked to Yahoo TV about the surprise and disappointment of not getting a green light for another round at TNT, where else she thinks the show could fit in nicely (not Netflix: Read on for the reason why), and how she and the cast and crew appreciate and encourage the fans to continue to voice their love for more Ewing adventures.

How surprised were you when you got the call informing you the show wouldn't continue at TNT?
First of all, let me say that I am not an optimist by nature, but I do actually believe that we have a chance at other networks. I know that Warner Bros. and [head of Warner Bros. Television] Peter Roth in particular, who is our greatest champion, are going to be out there very soon trying to set us up somewhere else. I do have a bible for the next 15 episodes, and I turned in [Episode] 401 two days before we got canceled. The next day, the next writer turned in 402, and another writer turned in 403. It's not like we're pitching a blind show to somebody. It's a show where you know what it's been like for three years, and now, here, we can tell you what it's going to be like in the fourth season.

You had a lot of reasons to be optimistic when the season ended on such a big storyline, big character death, big cliffhanger.
Yes, we had almost every reason to be optimistic, which was that they had paid us an awful lot of money, keeping us alive with stages, and offices, and the writers, and the bible, and the first two scripts. And then the extra $100,000 they paid, what it cost to blow up Christopher in the car, which we did just two weeks before we aired and which we didn't have to do if we weren't going to get picked up. We could have just finished the [season] the way we had originally shot it. Because of Christopher's death, we had so many storylines going forward: Bobby's grief, Elena's guilt, do we get the person who killed him? I would have loved the respect of getting another season, just to end it. We even had that. We had a version of it that would not have ended with a big cliffhanger, that would have had the resolution of the show.

However, at a certain time you have a radar about the situation, and the fact that we had lost our two greatest champions, when [Turner Entertainment Networks president] Steve Koonin and [TNT head of programming] Michael Wright left, was not a good thing. And that it took so long [to make a decision about Dallas's future], and that they had so loudly announced the fact that they wanted to change the network completely… it didn't bode well. It just took too long. When people love you, they tell you they love you sooner than that. So, I had started to mourn the show [at TNT]. By the time I actually got the phone call, it wasn't a relief, but at least I didn't live in limbo anymore.

Can you talk about what that non-cliffhanger ending would have been?
I don't want to tell you yet, because what if we go somewhere else? We had a really fun cliffhanger coming for the end of Season 4, too.

So, moving forward, are the cast members still contracted to the show?
Yes, I think the studio has a hold on them for at least another month, month and a half. And this is sad for them, too. We've been in touch. On Friday night, I had the writers and some editors over to my house, just a Mulberry Street Pizza, beer, and howling-at-the-moon evening. The last person left about 2:45 a.m., and then I was up another hour looking online at [reactions] from all of our wonderful fans. I was about to go to bed around 4, and Patrick Duffy texted, and I'm like, "Really? Why are you up, Patrick?" Then Linda Gray texted, then Josh Henderson texted, "Well, I haven't gone to sleep." Patrick is like, "Neither am I." Then [executive producer] Mike Robin texted, "Me, too." We were texting each other until like 6:30 in the morning. I haven't [stayed up all night talking] like that since I was about 22. This is a close bunch, cast and crew, and we all want the show to move forward.

After AMC canceled The Killing for the final time, Netflix picked it up for one season, which at least provided an opportunity to wrap up storylines. Is that a possibility for Dallas?
I wish that were the case, because that was absolutely everybody's first thought, but unfortunately I don't believe that our foreign deals allow that. A streaming service is not compatible with our foreign deals, unfortunately, because those deals are all very profitable, and the rest of the world loves Dallas. So I think we're looking at cable. There's CMT, there's Reelz, there's WGN, there are a lot of possibilities.

The fans have mobilized. A save-the-show petition has more than 72,000 signatures as of earlier today, and people are tweeting and posting on Facebook about their love for Dallas. What else would you advise them to do?
It is very gratifying — the love for the show — to all of us. Other than them just trying to change their network, so that it's all about young people, I don't know what they can do. They can just keep calling, they can send in the signatures, they can send letters. I don't know when that's ever worked, but I sure hope it does. It surely will help us with the next phase. Whoever else is interested in seeing that kind of [show] ... because our fans are devoted. Their hair's on fire. We may only get 3.3 million [viewers] or something, but those are people you can count on and who will find it if it moves to a different network. You don't even have to do this massive advertising. It's not like a casual fan who drops in and enjoys the show for three weeks and then decides they're going to go watch something else.

I agree with a lot of what's been written here. By the middle of Season 3, I felt at times like I was watching out of obligation. I was not interested in many of the storylines, including all the focus on the Ramos family. But I figured it would get better.
The original show survived for 10 years after Jock died. There was no way this version would do so after losing J.R., because no one could touch that character. So much ran opposite to the original series that that was hard to overlook.

Yeah it's time for this show to go. Without Larry Hagman/J.R. what's the point?

Ed.

My point being that there isn't any point. It had a long run but it's time to move on.

Ed.

I didnt see a problem with the show. I thought it was very good. The one thing that I agree with TMC's link above was there should have been an oil baron's ball etc. That was usually so good.

I didnt mind the Cartel. I mean The Cartel was part of the old Dallas. Also, who would you have the Ewings up against? The Barnes. Cliff wasnt seen all the time and the only Barnes was Pamela.