Spinoff show premiered in 2012 to record audiences

Oct 5, 2014 09:21 GMT  ·  By

All good things must come to an end, particularly when ratings are down so much that network bosses believe they will never come back up again. TNT has pulled the plug on “Dallas,” just days after season 3 wrapped up, as viewership continued to decline steadily with each new episode.

“Dallas” was a spinoff / continuation of the original series by the same name, which held millions glued to their TV screen 2 decades ago. It started off with a bang and promises of longevity, but it did not manage to keep up with the fierce competition.

TNT bosses confirm cancelation

The golden rule in television is that no project gets to stay on the air if it doesn’t get minimum viewership, enough at least to justify the production costs. For “Dallas,” that ceased to be true with its third season, so network bosses made the call to not renew it for another season.  

“TNT has decided not to renew Dallas,” a spokesperson tells THR in a statement. “We are extremely proud of the series, which defied expectations by standing as a worthy continuation of the Ewing saga. We want to thank everyone involved with the show, from the extraordinary cast to the impeccable production team, led by the show's creative forces, [executive producers] Cynthia Cidre and Mike Robin.”

The statement continues with, “We especially want to thank the people of Dallas for their warm and generous hospitality during the production of the series.”

For a bit of perspective, on its premiere night in 2012, “Dallas” got almost 7 million people to tune in, most of them probably curious to see how TNT was continuing the Ewing saga started 2 decades back.

That’s because the network went to great lengths to stress that this wasn’t a spinoff show as previously rumored, but a continuation that would pick up the story of the family and bring viewers back into the same world, this many years later.

This helped explain the new cast but also appearances from original members of the show, like Larry Hagman, Linda Perry, and Patrick Duffy, who reprised their famous roles. Newcomers include Josh Henderson, Jesse Metcalfe, Jordana Brewster, Julie Gonzalo, Brenda Strong, Juan Pablo Di Pace, playing the new generation of oil tycoons.  

Ratings dwindled, Hagman’s death didn’t help

Ratings started to go down with the first season, but that was to be expected. TNT bosses nearly ruined the show’s chances altogether when they moved it from summer to winter programming, but they got it a new lease on life when they moved back to the summer schedule.

As THR points out, by that time, it was already a bit too late because “Dallas” was barely bringing enough viewers to stay on the air. Season 2 was hit the hardest by Larry Hagman’s death: J.R. Ewing’s death was written into the story, helping the show get its highest most watched episode of the season.

From there on, ratings went from bad to worse. Season 3 finale got under 1.7 million viewers, a figure that seems to have sealed its fate.

As it usually happens with television shows, what’s best for the network from a financial point of view is not perceived as such by fans, so chances are many are very upset that “Dallas” is over, especially in such a way that leaves a lot of loose ends and unanswered questions. Are you one of those? Let us know in the comments section below.