Will Dallas Ever Air On TV Again?

I'm glad you brought this up, because it reminded me of being here several years ago when Soapnet did replay Dallas afternoons from 2003 through 2008.

Many of you remember it, and this board was HOPPING back then.

People would watch Dallas, and then come on here to talk about the day's episode, and this place was jumping.

There was a member from North Carolina who would do a daily recap and kick off the conversation by saying, "In today's episode, Jock had a heart attack and we need to talk about it."

Hell yes, we need to talk about it!

Good times. . .

 

I doubt whether to cost to the broadcast rights would be the problem as it would be much cheaper than producing a new drama or than getting the rights to many other more recent series. The issue would be whether or not Dallas would get a large enough audience to justify the financial outlay. It's 40 year old series that has been screened many times and is available on DVD so I can see TV executives thinking it wouldn't get the audience that a repeat of a show like Scandal or Suits might achieve and passing on Dallas.

 

I partially disagree. When Warner Bros. decided to release Dallas on DVD here in Australia I was really excited because I had not seen the series since it's final episode aired all those years ago. I don't believe any commercial network in Australia has ever repeated the series. But then Warner Bros. stopped the release, ironically at "Swan Song." I say ironic because after this Dallas really went to garbage but I would have liked to complete the series if only because here on Soapchat I feel partially left out of conversations.

I've always been critical of those last years of Dallas but I'd still like to one day watch the entire series run. I am aware I could purchase the series online but I've read far too many negative reviews where the quality of the discs was questioned.

 

I think some of the satellite stations in the UK occasionally do Dallas re-runs (CBS channels), but haven't seen anything advertised recently.

Swami

 

I think Season 9 DVD is much superior to Season 8 DVD.

My ratings for each season:

Season 1 DVD (1978): 8/10
Season 2 DVD (1978-1979): 8/10
Season 3 DVD (1979-1980): 9/10
Season 4 DVD (1980-1981): 7/10
Season 5 DVD (1981-1982): 10/10
Season 6 DVD (1982-1983): 10/10
Season 7 DVD (1983-1984): 8/10
Season 8 DVD (1984-1985): 6/10
Season 9 DVD (1985-1986): 9/10
Season 10 DVD (1986-1987): 5/10
Season 11 DVD (1987-1988): 4/10
Season 12 DVD (1988-1989): 3/10
Season 13 DVD (1989-1990): 2/10
Season 14 DVD (1990-1991): 1/10

J.R. Returns (1996): 3/10
War of the Ewings (1998): 1/10

 

If Warner Bros. Australia continued to release Dallas on DVD there wouldn't have been any problems, as I would have quite happily continued purchasing the seasons with the knowledge they were coming from a legitimate source. The problem I have in purchasing stock online - and I am aware sites like Amazon have it - I'm just not confident enough to go ahead and outlay money on something I don't know if it's officially licensed by Warner Bros. As far as I know someone could easily have bootlegged the originals.

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If you buy from Amazon and even eBay you are protected against things like that. I haven't seen bootlegs of any shows on Amazon or eBay. I have on ioffer but that's different and the are clearly bootlegs.
If you already have all of the show up until Swan Song just buy the European versions of the final seasons. You can get a region free DVD player for like £12 here, so I assume they are really cheap everywhere?

 

I was a little surprised when POP showed DYNASTY a few years back--and that it is on CBS DRAMA in the UK now. These are very old shows, and unless the networks get them dirt cheap, they are not likely to bring in enough viewers to justify the expenses. And they are available on DVD for the die-hard fans as you mentioned. I think unless they do something like a DALLAS film (the characters, not the actors) and it is a hit, we won't see a renewed interest. I believe the last time interest spiked was when TNT DALLAS was around.

 

Them airing on tv again is pointless, these shows need to be added to the streaming services. The only one available for free is Dynasty with an Amazon Prime subscription. Dallas and the first four seasons of Falcon Crest are only available if you buy each season. I think it’s a shame none of the streaming services have added the various 80s soaps despite showing so many older tv shows.

 

@Rove I think I've said it before but I have the region 2 discs (UK) and they play perfectly fine on a region 4 player. If you buy from a reputable seller like Amazon themselves (not necessarily a private seller on Amazon) then you shouldn't have a problem. As others have said too, sites like Amazon don't generally allow bootlegs and even if you were unfortunate to receive one then you file a dispute with the site and they refund the money to your credit card and don't usually require a return of product.

 

I've also questioned why the streaming services have not added TV Series like Dallas, Dynasty, Falcon Crest, Knots Landing and others to their libraries. Not everyone is going to invest a few hundred dollars on purchasing the complete Box set and have it as part of their personal collection - only diehards will do this. If Netflix for example had the previous mentioned soaps on their service I would watch...and possibly I'd say millions around the world would to. I never stayed the distance with Dynasty or Falcon Crest and would like the opportunity to watch them from start to finish. Knots Landing I don't recall ever watching but given a chance I might enjoy it given its relationship with Dallas.

I believe there is a huge untapped market for it. Why is Warner Bros. being so arrogant about controlling ownership of Dallas? Are they requesting too much money for screening rights therefore denying everyone to revisit the series? Just seems pointless to me.

 

When TNT Dallas was axed I remember Patrick saying something along the lines of no one will pick it up because the rights are complicated & buyers have to buy it in bulk - or something to that effect. So I assume from that anyone wishing to screen Dallas - old or new - they have to buy the entire run, which isn't great if they don't know what the ratings will be. If only a few thousand watch it they have bought 14 years worth of shows for nothing.

Also, us die hard fans have the DVDs...would we rewatch with ad breaks etc or just watch our DVDs?

As for the streaming sites, I think Netflix etc, should they ever buy some of these older, classic shows, their members would absolutely increase. And not just soaps either, there are so many brilliant shows of yesteryear that would increase viewers.

Warners seem to want to keep Dallas all for themselves, they don't seem to be interested in what fans think or want which is mind numbing.

 

Warner is coming up with an own streaming service next year, maybe they will show Dallas and Knots.

 

But will it be available to a international market or just the good ole' U.S.A.? Warner Bros. would be doing themselves a disservice if that was the case. But if they did make available to an international audience I'd probably subscribe just to watch Dallas from beginning to end.