I do not like Soap Operas and I liked Dallas. The Good: Character development was great. The mean, get it done boy father Jock Ewing gave a real old school Oilman feel. Jock was the only character to keep J R in line. Hagman's gave the J R character a slick, dirty, aggressive I the antagonist who plays the game better and harder then anyone else. Bobby J R 's brother was good, fair tough was J R's counter balance for the show. The mom, Ray, Lucy etc were side character which played minor roles and had side stories, which balance the script out. Sue Ellen and Cliff Barns were the punching bag characters for J R! J R stood out and was most of the show. The hat, wicked smile, laugh, and sarcasm made for a juicy script. J R would have an affair, underhand dealing with company, and fight a feud with Cliff and or Sue Ellen. sometimes both at a time.
The bad: When Jock died J R's counter balanced died, and made the show too much about J R. After six years Dallas ran out of good ideas. Dallas became formulated. Who's having sex with who? What miss understanding/getting burnt deal is going happen now. After the who shot J R series Dallas slowly faded away. The ugly: When Bobby died and came back in the shower it was all a dream episode many people stopped watching Dallas. Cast was leaving and or being replaced with new actors for the same characters. Stories got more and more over the top. The final 3 years of the series became just ugly. Still a T V icon show. J R is a T V character icon. Even if the series went way too long, Dallas is the gold standard of T V soaps. High budget, and prime time. 7 or 8 out of 10 stars.
