Re replacing actors: Supposedly when Dallas was super-popular and Larry Hagman was holding out for more money, there was a plan in place to have JR in a car wreck that forced him to undergo plastic surgery. When the bandages came off we would see another actor (Robert Culp).

I'm not sure, but I think this may actually have been done on some daytime soaps over the years.

This post was edited on 2/18/13 at 12:02 pm

2 ...

Report Post

Posted by yurintroubl

Dallas, Tx.

Member since Apr 2008

30164 posts

Posted on 2/18/13 at 12:00 pm to Kafka

I was more a Dynasty fan than a Dallas one... So I can tell you that Fallon was played by somebody else before she returned from a disappearance with an Aussie accent and played by Emma Samms.

1 ...

Report Post

Posted by DallasTiger11

Los Angeles

Member since Mar 2004

11869 posts

Posted on 2/18/13 at 12:08 pm to Kafka

Daytime soaps change actors all the time and retain the same character. They pretty much have to unless that actor devotes his or her life to the show.

I can't decide whether it would have been better to change actors or not. I think I would have preferred if he went away for a time and then they could have had written him out in some sort of character decision, not some ridiculous car accident when he was going 20 MPH on a dirt road. For example, they could have let Robert and Matthew's fight over the Abbey escalate where Matthew leaves and refuses to come back. Building on that basic plot line would have been tremendously better than this abortion.

One more thing and I know I have been ranting the last few posts. I understand Stevens put them in a tough position. It always is if one of your characters is refusing to return. This is what makes TV shows so fragile. Imagine if Jon Hamm or Bryan Cranston did this. But they should have NEVER killed Sybil right after she had her baby if they knew they were going to kill Matthew RIGHT after Mary had his. The juxtaposition here just flat out did not work.