Dallas 5 Reasons The Original Series Is Better (& 5 It’s The Reboot)

Dallas: 5 Reasons The Original Series Is Better (& 5 It’s The Reboot)

The Dallas reboot lasted 3 seasons on TNT, but does it outdo the original 1980s show?

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Exactly 20 years after the popular 1980s TV show Dallas ended, a show with a similar name premiered on TNT. The new series was termed as a reboot but it was more of a continuation since some of the original actors reprised their roles as older versions of their characters. The reboot’s plot continued to dwell on a rich family known as the Ewings, though the focus was placed on the next generation of characters.

Ultimately, the “Original Vs Reboot” argument has to pop up. Which of the two shows is superior? The original already has an unfair advantage because it had a longer run, but is it a better offering? Here are arguments for both shows, focussing on different viewpoints.

10 Original: Marvelous Cliffhangers

The screenwriters of the original Dallas series liked to play with viewers’ minds (in a good way). It’s almost as if David Baldacci secretly wrote that show and handed it over to the ghost of Alfred Hitchcock to secretly direct. Whenever you were sure how things would turn out, the show would hit you with a not-so-fast.

It’s hard to forget the scene where Pam Ewing woke up to discover that numerous key events that covered an entire season, including a plot to kill J.R, had been nothing but a dream. Pam’s eventual death in an accident was extremely shocking but that moment didn’t quite match up to this one.

9 Reboot: The Witty And Mean J.R

J.R. Ewing is an iconic character in the history of American television. The Dallas episode “Who Shot J.R?” was viewed by 75 million people. It has gone on to inspire more similarly titled episodes in other TV shows like “Who Shot Ghost?” in Power. J.R. Ewing was a backstabber and womanizer who called everyone”darling” in the ’80s show, so it wasn’t surprising when his mistress put two bullets in him. Luckily, he survived.

In the reboot, he returns aged 107. Bad people really do live long, right? At his old age, he’s wise and witter than ever, dropping golden quotes like he is Santa on top of a chimney. At one point, he says “There’s nothing like the smell of money to get the relatives out of the woodwork.” Classic J.R.

8 Original: Crazy Sue Ellen

JR’s ex-wife Sue was the kind of woman who’d make any man afraid of marriage. A male viewer’s thoughts would be: If this is what happens, then I’ll take my chances as a priest. She was often drunk and wild. She even shot her husband and threatened to blackmail him by leaking footage of his own crazy life.

Many years later in the reboot, she is back but this time, she is sane. She wants to be governor. She’s also empowering other women by helping them achieve their career dreams in the oil sector. Ummm… No thanks! Sane Sue is too weird. Crazy Sue of the ’80s was far more entertaining.

7 Reboot: More Diverse Cultures

In the Dallas reboot, there is a mixture of cultures and the inclusion of global socio-political themes. Several Hispanic people appear in the series. The Chinese also come up as oil rivals. The creators have acknowledged that the world is indeed a broader place where ideas intertwine and even distant rivalries collide.

John Ross Ewing is even being assisted by the grown child of a Mexican maid who is now a scientist. The business is pretty much about oil, cattle, and cowboys but everything is done in an accommodating manner. This makes the reboot feel superior.

6 Original: Opening Credit Sequence

The ’80s show had one of the best opening sequences ever. There was no shortage of euphoria triggered by the sweet music that you could get up and dance to, lush scenery and a camera that revolved around beautiful people, oil fields, herds of cattle and tall buildings that signified wealth.

The reboot has oil fields and cattle too in the opening sequence but those two things aren’t quite appealing in today’s social and political climate. Oil is seen as a major pollutant that causes climate change while cattle are a reminder of the often harsh and divisive meat industry.

5 Reboot: Faster Paced

While the original had the potential to drag, the events in the reboot unfold at a quicker pace. There is about as much drama per minute as there is in your favorite thrillers. For a soap opera, this is impressive. It prevents you from getting bored. Meant specifically for the modern, younger audience, the reboot tends to summarize key plot elements instead of dwelling on them too much.

Whether this is a good or bad thing is up for debate. Critics would argue that TV shows that move too much tend to have plenty of plot holes. Viewers would agree because the entertainment value tends to be higher when events unfold at a quicker rate.

4 Original: The Matriarch

The plot of the original show always revolved around the ever-feuding Ewing family. Peace was an alien concept to them but they didn’t seem to mind since they never sought after it. The family head was Miss Ellie, a benign, scheming matriarch who liked to pretend the relationship between J.R and Bobby was normal. To add to her bad, or good mommy habits (depending on who you ask), she cut J.R out of her will.

She also remarried a lot on the lawn of her Southfork ranch lawn. Weddings were her favorite thing on Earth (her own weddings). This character was also played by a couple of different actresses, but viewers never seemed to mind. So long as she is coming back and not getting killed off, all is well. The face doesn’t matter. Sadly, the reboot denied us the return of Miss Ellie because she apparently died.

3 Reboot: The Ups And Downs Of Pamela Barnes

Pamela was in the original show for a few episodes as a 4-year-old girl. In the reboot, she returns as an adult. She is the daughter of Cliff who always had a fierce rivalry with J.R. Pamela does plenty of crazy things including using a fake identity with the alias “Rebecca Sutter”, killing her ‘brother,’ marrying Christopher and teaming up with Christopher’s cousin to bring him down.

It turns out that everything she is doing is part of a grand scheme. All along, she had panned with her boyfriend Tommy to infiltrate the Ewings and punish them. However, she ends up falling in love with Christopher and abandons the plan. Tommy threatens her but she kills him. Sadly for her, Christopher discovers her crime and divorces her.

2 Original: Independent Story

The major reason why the original show is better than the show is that it was independent. It told its story and concluded it in 1991. 20 years later, the reboot premiered but it wasn’t really a reboot. It was a continuation. This was a mistake because the show struggled to properly tie into the original.

For example, Cliff Barnes, who decided against avenging father in the original Dallas, he comes back wanting to destroy the entire Ewing family in the reboot. There was no reason for doing this, since he was a man at peace, having acquired Ewing Oil in the original show’s series finale. Plenty of things just didn’t make sense in the reboot.

1 Reboot: Plenty Of Glamour

The major area where the reboot beats the original is how good everything looks. The people, the scenery and everything you can place your eyes on look spectacular. Most of the actors and actresses could easily be named the ‘Sexiest Man/Woman Alive” if they were famous enough.

Much focus is placed on the wardrobe too. Hardly anyone is wearing basic attire an even those that do are too good-looking. While the original series focused more on the quality of the story, the reboot takes the visual aspects seriously and that matters.

Link Source : https://screenrant.com/dallas-better-worse-reboot-original-series-comparison/

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