My Comcast picks up SoapNet (finally)

by Michael S. Kaplan, published on 2007/02/22 03:01 -05:00, original URI: http://blogs.msdn.com/b/michkap/archive/2007/02/22/1738656.aspx

(this post has no technical content and really no point, I am just going to blather about prime time soap operas a bit) 

So it looks like Comcast where I live finally deigned to pick up SoapNet. So some time over the next six months I'll be able to see those last few episodes of Beverly Hills 90210 and Melrose Place that I missed back when they were running on FX, before SoapNet got the exclusive for them.

The timing is interesting, as the showings of Dallas on SoapNet is just days (specifically this Friday and next Monday) away from what many consider the single biggest "jump the shark" moment -- that season cliffhanger where it turned out the whole season where Bobby was dead was actually a Pamela Barnes bad Mexican food nightmare - never mind the fact the stars all had lost their old hairdos, that unrelated plot points were not all dropped, that Victoria Principal's dream would not have covered the references in Knots Landing, and so on. It was just ridiculous, and no amount of work on the parts of the Katzman's horses and men were going to make it a clean shift. Final proof that bad writing does not redeem bad writing, and that two batches of dozens of wrongs don't make a right. :-)

Though technically for me, the actual shark jump moment happened after Pamela Barnes Ewing lost her fake Texas accent. And not just because it signaled the end of her time by the pool in every episode (though this was a factor given my age at the time, sorry!), but because it was the time that the whole point of the show shifted away from the whole Pam/Bobby marriage of the son and daughter of two families with a huge feud going on. It was never really a "Romeo and Juliet" type story except in a bit of the setup, but I doubt that the people who talked about it's Romeo and Juliet qualities ever really read the play anyway.

I guess the other weirdest moment for me in the show was when Ray Krebbs suddenly turned out to be Jock Ewing's illegitimate son. This was most weird given that Ray had previously been having an affair with Jock's granddaughter. They somehow decided to not talk about the fact that this meant Ray was sleeping with his niece (kind of a consummated version of the Luke/Leia relationship from Star Wars and the Empire Strikes Back). Did no one else notice this screwed up plot twist?

Now imagine if they had decided to be brave enough to USE that plot twist -- I mean, no one knew they were related, least of all them. So it would have been interesting as a plot development dealing with the screwed up consequences in the non Jerry Springer type venue of a prime time soap opera. I think they are just too chicken to take it quite that far....

I also guessed wrong about who shot J.R. possibly as I had a crush on Mary Crosby at the time (which lasted if I am remembering things properly until her appearance in the campy Ice Pirates) and could never imagine her doing such a thing at the time.

I guess you can see what I enjoyed most about Dallas -- spotting the mistakes of the writers within episodes, between episodes, within seasons, and between seasons. Though I can't imagine trying to do it all again and keep up with mistakes so I probably won't try to watch it again, especially since I have to work for a living and all. But I'll record those two episodes on Friday/Monday, just to see the whole "You look like you just saw a ghost" thing again....

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Mihai on 22 Feb 2007 12:06 PM:

Rosyna on 22 Feb 2007 7:42 PM:

Michael S. Kaplan on 22 Feb 2007 9:02 PM:

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