DVD Review: Dallas: The Complete Ninth Season

Writer: Various
Director: Various
Cast: Larry Hagman, Howard Keel, Barbara Bel Geddes, Priscilla Presley, Victoria Principal, Linda Gray, Charlene Tilton, Susan Howard, Patrick Duffy, Steve Kanaly, Ken Kercheval
Rating: Not Rated
Studio: Warner Bros
Release Date:July 15, 2008

When I did the review for the last season of Dallas I mentioned how the Eighth Season was kind of like the beginning of the end. Things were unraveling and as they were, the ninth season was one of the firmest nails put in the coffin of this series. In the war between Dallas and Dynasty, the latter always won, but it was not because Dallas wasn’t good. It was because Dallas spent too much time trying to mimic the other series. The things that made this series good were the strong performances and the manly appeal to it. It was a rugged, hard-edged show at one point. Then things began sinking into an abyss that never seemed to keep Dallas afloat. I firmly believe that this was the season that was attempting to draw itself out of that abyss. Unfortunately, the methods used were not the right ones and it really led the show down it’s final road toward the end.

In the last season, people despised the fact that Miss Ellie had changed from Barbara Bel Geddes to Donna Reed, so when Bel Geddes was able to come back they tossed Reed like a sack of bricks. Of course, that didn’t really please people too much either. They were just starting to get used to a change and then a change happened again. I am not even getting into the Bobby Ewing thing. I loved Patrick Duffy as much as the next guy and naked in the shower scenes were always fun in the mid-80s, when things like that weren’t normal, but the whole it was a dream thing was just a gross disappointment to see on a show of this caliber. This was the full submergence of this sinking ship and while I was sad to see it go, I remain shocked that it lasted as many seasons as it did, beyond this point.

Release Information:
This season will likely forever be known as the “Dream Season”. When it was being filmed no one had any idea of the true purpose of this season, but now, people either loved or hated what happened. Personally, I feel there was an up and a down side to the whole thing. It was probably the worst idea in theory to ever air on television. Bringing someone back from the dead because it was all a dream is just bad form. Period. There is no way around it. Some will argue that Patrick Duffy was an integral part to the show and even though the method of return was stupid, things were better off with him than without him.

Dallas – The Complete Ninth Season was released on DVD by Warner Home Entertainment on July 15, 2008. This set includes all 31 episodes on four discs, using A and B sides of every disc. Due to the popularity of the series you shouldn’t have any problem finding this at offline and online retailers. If you are looking for this online, you can find it at Amazon for $29.99 with free shipping.

The Dallas: The Complete Ninth Season Plot
The thing that makes the dream season so hard to swallow is that no matter what happens, nothing is going to matter. By making the entire season a dream the creators of this show had the ability to break normal standards and go back to what happened before the ninth season (and part of the eighth) in the following season. If you were a fan of Knots Landing this was even worse, because the two related shows were not that related anymore, considering the ninth season events of the South Fork Ewings disappeared, but they still existed for those on Knots. The shows didn’t flow anymore and that was a pretty annoying thing.

There were some interesting moments this season. Still, in the scheme of things, everything felt pointless, because they really had no significance other than to attempt to gather ratings. It’s the season without a point. Some might say it was all just a dream, but others consider it a nightmare. I guess in all fairness it falls somewhere in between. It would have been nice to see some of the things that happened, stick, but naturally, going with the dream ruled out anything purposeful in this entire season of 31 episodes that spanned (airtime wise) from 1986-87.

The episodes included in this season are:

Disc One – Side A:
- The Family Ewing
- Rock Bottom
- Those Eyes
- Resurrection

Disc One – Side B:
- Saving Grace
- Mothers
- The Wind Of Change
- Quandary

Disc Two – Side A:
- Close Encounters
- Suffer The Little Children
- The Prize
- En Passant

Disc Two – Side B:
- Goodbye, Farewell And Amen
- Curiosity Killed The Cat
- The Missing Link
- Twenty-Four Hours

Disc Three – Side A:
- The Deadly Game
- Blame It On Bogota
- Shadow Games
- Missing

Disc Three – Side B:
- Dire Straits
- Overture
- Sitting Ducks
- Masquerade

Disc Four – Side A:
- Just Desserts
- Nothing’s Ever Perfect
- J.R. Rising
- Serendipity

Disc Four – Side B:
- Thrice In A Lifetime
- Hello, Goodbye, Hello
- Blast From The Past

This season may begin with a death and a funeral, but so much more happens here. Family members appear from nowhere and go back where they came from just as quickly. Sue Ellen ends up in a sanitarium, JR plots to destroy various people, Mark Graison returns and Cliff plans to steal Ewing Oil (again). An adoption takes place, as does a wedding. There are some explosions, attempted murder, and a “commercial” that is so much more than it appears to be.

It’s certainly not the best season and it’s utterly annoying to know that nothing here sticks, save for those that happen during the final moments of the season. That being said, the worst for Dallas is yet to come. Still, many diehard Dallas fans will still enjoy this season despite the incredibly obvious flaws. This is the only thing that makes this box set worthwhile.

Storyline/Plot:
Replayability:
Acting:
Directing:

Audio/Visual:
The visual quality for season nine of Dallas is nothing to write home about. There are some good moments and some bad ones. This was a season that aired in 1985, so it’s been quite awhile since it aired on television. However, for as big as the series was it is sad to see that many of the episodes carry compression artifacts, noise, grain, and other problems. The best ones end up looking like the 1.33:1 ratio, television quality that they really are. Unfortunately, this is just a mixed bag. There aren’t enough bad moments to really ruin your viewing pleasure, but they are plentiful enough to be quite noticeable.

The audio is presented as English Dolby Digital Mono with English Subtitles available for those that need them. The audio isn’t the best that I’ve ever heard, but it passes. For a show of this time and the offering that is available, it works. This is a show that isn’t going to need a hugely intensive audio track so there aren’t problems there. It just ends up sounding flat and painfully average.

Visual:
Audio:

Bonus Features:
It is a surprise to see that Dallas was given such a shoddy bonus section. Considering this was such a popular series that people not only still love, but still talk about, it’s shocking to see so little care given to this area. There is only one special feature included on this disc and that’s “Seasons of Change”. This featurette is a series of defenses to the questionable decisions that were made this season. While those that helped to develop the show make a lot of excuses, this featurette doesn’t really serve a main purpose when it is taken out of its self-serving capacity. If you like the show you can easily do without this, though some better, more appropriate features would have been nice.

Bonus Features:

Bottom Line:
This season has some strong and weak points, but this is about as good as it gets until the series finally ends. For many an individual, this was the season that signified saying goodbye to Dallas and not looking back. This decision was made partly, if not completely because of the Bobby Ewing, it’s a dream debacle. I recommend renting this first before you buy it. If you’re new to the series, do not start here. Go from the beginning because the seasons weren’t all like this. Many of them were much better.

Overall Rating:

Technorati Tags: Movie, DVD Review, Dream Season, Dallas, Knots Landing, Barbara Bel Geddes, JR Ewing, Ewing Oil, Sue Ellen, Bobby, Shower Scene, TV on DVD, Ninth Season, Drama, Primetime

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Written by Ashtyn - Visit Website
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Ashtyn Evans is a writer, advocate, free thinker, and all around cynical person. Always quick to find the negative in anything pop culture, she loves being a part of that which she despises. Ashtyn and Dominick own numerous blogs together, as well as a full-time writing business. In her spare time she is a full-time college student studying History and Psychology. She plans to one day give up her freelance career and be a full-time blogger, novelist, and domestic goddess. She can be contacted for writing projects, fan mail, or just to say hi. She really is friendlier than we make her look.