"In television you have to anticipate peaks and valleys," Victoria Principal explained. "We've ('Dallas') had five great years (1978-1982) and a steadfast audience; anyone who thinks we're filming every day looking over our shoulders at the competition (such as 'Dynasty') is wrong. That's ridiculous. This isn't a foot race. We’d just be defeating ourselves."
Lee Rich added, "I knew it would be a hit, but I didn't think it would be this big (seen in 85 countries by the 1981-82 season). I understand ratings. I try to discover trends, then try to convince the networks to do them. 'The Waltons' were right for their time (1972-1981). People were saying, 'That's my family, or I wish that was my family.' 'Dallas' was a respite for the American public, a fantasyland. We fulfilled the dreams of many people. I don't care how it does in Japan. I'd much rather have it do well in England, Germany and France."
Victoria Principal continued, "I like Linda Evans very much; Joan Collins and I have been friends since I was 19 (around 1969), living in England and dropping by the club her (then) husband owned. We used to have long chats. I wish them (Linda and Joan) and their series ('Dynasty') the best of everything. It has nothing to do with us. Our competition on 'Dallas' is 'Dallas' – to keep it soaring, surprising and valid, each of us in our respective parts.
"I am fiercely competitive, but my competitive spirit starts with myself. Am I doing well? Better? I've worked very hard at my acting these past several years, and this season (1982-83) I feel the work is beginning to pay off. It is like in tennis when you practice and practice that serve and suddenly, it's happening." At the 1983 Golden Globe Awards, Victoria Principal was nominated for Best Acting in TV drama. "I may be small, but I have a tall attitude, like Raquel Welch. She isn't a big person either, but she makes herself tall on screen and so do I."
'Dallas', Victoria Principal believed, "broke all the rules. It was a continuing show with no beginning, middle or end. It was the very first show in the US to do that. I knew it was going to work from the very beginning." On 'Dallas', Victoria played Pam, "After I read the script (in November 1977) I sat in the dark and knew it was a moment that would change my life. I was driven to play Pam because she was someone who wanted more out of life, to succeed and improve herself.
"She’s a decent woman of good character who doesn't compromise her values. I empathized with her in every way – to be recognized and acknowledged and loved as a human being within the confines of my career which had never happened before in five movies and a dozen TV films (between 1971 and 1980 including the pilot 'Fantasy Island'). I adore being loved and admired."
Born in January 1950 in Fukuoka, Japan, although it was reported in 1987 Victoria Principal was "the 39-year-old actress", Victoria pointed out, "I grew up in the Air Force, in a way of life where you dealt with things on the spot." According to the US Department of State, Office of the Historian website, "After the defeat of Japan in World War II, the United States led the Allies in the occupation and rehabilitation of the Japanese state. Between 1945 and 1952, the US occupying forces, led by General Douglas A. MacArthur, enacted widespread military, political, economic, and social reforms." Victoria also mentioned, "I was born in the (United) States, but my dad was a sergeant in the US Air Force based at Ruislip (Middlesex, England) and I stayed there until I was nine."
On the issue of women getting respect in Hollywood, Victoria made the observation, "The change is coming rapidly here and other places as women in executive positions prove themselves and earn respect. But any change culturally has to be a revolution. It's necessary; it's not comfortable but it's necessary to go to an extreme to finally come back to a median. Women are doing that now (in 1981). They don't have to act male-like in order to be strong, assertive or successful. They're learning to still be aggressive, ambitious but not lose the nicer parts of being a lady. I don't believe a woman has to be a battle-ax to have respect."
Of acting, Victoria voiced, "I love being loved. I don’t like to play evil people. For the first part of my career, I always played the other woman. When producers needed another woman, they probably said, 'Get me a Victoria Principal type.' I love playing the woman. You know what? I've had a very lucky life – to be able to keep the company I did.
"It was very glamorous, very enjoyable at the time. That was my late teens, early 20s. It was time to play, time to party. I couldn't look back and say, 'Oh, I shouldn't have done that.' Why is it that I couldn't date nine men a year? I used to lie to get older parts and get into discos. I've read I'm 39 (although she was 31 at the time). I spent time with men who had it all because I wanted to. I've always wanted success very badly."
The part of Pam on 'Dallas', Victoria acknowledged, "It's changed my life. I'm not a success unless the show's a success. They had another actress in mind and I had to change their minds. I prepared meticulously for the reading, including my wardrobe – white silk blouse, blue jeans and camel cord blazer which was so right they used the same outfit for the pilot." Victoria learnt she won the part in February 1978. Lee Rich told the press, "We felt she had experienced life and could understand the part of Pamela."
By the 1982-83 season, Victoria insisted, "The changes in Pam have to be gradual, realistic changes, just as in life, or you will jolt the audience and hurt Pam's credibility. But one of the wonderful things about 'Dallas' has always been the open communication between the cast and our writers and directors. I did sit down with them and discuss Pam. In the beginning she was very strong and feisty; I liked that in her. She was not as polished as the other Ewings. I like that too. Last year (the 1981-82 season) her ambition channeled itself into having a baby, and she mellowed out a bit – a bit too much. Now that she has her baby, her energy has to turn elsewhere."
Victoria Principal had appeared in commercials for Jhirmack hair-care products elaborated on the "fluffy bangs and layers" Pam wore in the 1980-81 season, "I thought the perm was great. It was spicy. On the show I was having marital problems with Bobby and, in real life, I was going through a divorce (to actor Christopher Skinner). He wanted a more traditional marriage. As it turned out, he just couldn't accept the way I lived. I told the producers I had to have a new hairstyle because when women have marital problems they get a new hairstyle and when men do, they get a new car."
That season, the writers decided to test the public by involving Pam with Alex Ward after splitting up Romeo and Juliet (Bobby and Pam), "You don't know how many letters I got including my mother. There's no way Pam could have had an affair and come back to Southfork. Sue Ellen can do it, because J.R. does everything. But people would stop me in the grocery store and say, 'You're not going to do it, are you?'"
By the 1982-83 season, Victoria confessed, "Right now, I am in a state of passage. I'm joyous and coming to the point where for the first time I'm free of the guilt of success. I had a generous spirit in the beginning, everything was going so well for me. I wanted to share but I also had this feeling of guilt about success. Now what I feel is a joyous celebration of life.
"I'm letting God run the world. Day-to-day life is so fascinating now, I can’t understand why it wasn't that way in my 20s. I suppose it is because I have so much more to give. This has been the most growing period of my life. From 26 to 30, the growth was concentrated; from 30 to 32, tremendous. In my 20s, I wasn't sure of my basic values, I had no cornerstone. I'm talking about basics: religion, beliefs, relationships, the way we treat people."
In 1975, "I quit (acting) because I was burning out. I was burned out because I finally ran out of emotions. I'd filled up my notebook. I was 25 when something told me to get away from the cameras to work hard at something else and not have people tell me things I couldn't believe. I thought I could do some artistic and creative things without being caught up in the illusion of the mystical magic of the movies. During the time I was an agent – and a very good one – I learned acting is a job like any other. It's a job and not my whole lifestyle."
It was noted, "All of the original contracts were for 7 years (1978-1985), but no one is considering this – the 7th year – the last year." After 7 years, Patrick Duffy took the 1985-86 season off. On screen, viewers saw Bobby being buried six feet under. The next season, to resurrect Bobby, Pam woke up to find the season-long had been written off as a dream. Larry Hagman sighed, "Three quarters of a million dollars (in residuals) out the window, just 'like that'. Who's (in syndication) going to buy that year? You know what's really funny? Over on 'Knots Landing' they're still mourning Bobby. Bobby's still dead on that show."
In January 1987, Victoria Principal made the announcement she had decided not to renew her contract when it expired at the end of the 1986-87 season. Larry Hagman remarked, "We've just come off a very successful season. 'Miami Vice' came after us and it just didn't work out. We did almost as well as we were doing five years ago (1982-83 season). Every time the ratings drop a point you worry a little about your future, but then you accept that there are some things that you just can't do anything about."
Victoria reasoned, "A lot of work has gone into keeping Victoria Principal separate from Pam Ewing. To stay on the show any longer would really seal my fate in the industry. In a series, especially when you're in an ensemble group, you must repeatedly get the writers' attention. I loved her in the beginning. She was fiery, sexy and a little coarse. But after the first two years the writers, in an overreaction, cleaned her up.
"Pam Ewing started out as a well-rounded character, but as J.R. got badder and badder, they made Pam gooder than good to contrast with him. I admired her, but she was no longer a challenge. There was no stretch, no way to go with her because she became a one-dimensional character. I loved her for the first five years, but after that I began to get very restless. There was a time when I felt my character had become too passive, passive to the point where I lost respect for her. So I went to the producers, and we worked on it. The producers aren't my enemies. They've always been willing to listen. I got her involved in the business world and, I hope, gave her more substance."
In order to write Victoria off the show so the actress could pursue other interests, the character Pam would become involved in an automobile accident. The cliffhanger episode in which Pam Ewing was seen driving her red Mercedes was the highest-rated episode of the season attracting 21.5% households ratings. Larry Hagman made known, "I think a big reason for the success of the show has been the integrity of the Ewing family and it has to be maintained. I did what I could with Momma (Barbara Bel Geddes) and Bobby (Patrick Duffy), but I don't think Victoria will be back. She's got her own career outside of the show and she's doing very well. Everything she touches turns to gold. I guess if I thought my going after her to change her mind would help, I'd give it a try, but I don't think it would work."
Victoria Principal continued, "Once the word gets out that you're in the position to produce material, you have to move … because you are so deluged with material. It's amazing. Even the postman writes. To go as far back as 1975 when I was an agent, I was fascinated by production. You know there are certain things you haven't done but would have an affinity for. I knew I would enjoy producing, especially the way my mind works. I'm known for being very, very organized and keeping ideas in my head and for dealing with new problems on an hourly basis. I'm my own manager.
"Producing is not unlike running a home. If something goes wrong, who's going to fix it? You do. I knew if I could produce and be involved from the inception of a project creatively, then that would give me wider range as an actress. I don't want this to sound like sour grapes. I don't miss being on 'Dallas' – just the people. We were like family. I was ready to leave. Like a divorce, long before you go, you're emotionally gone. I'd already mourned before I left. When you're emotionally ready to leave something, by the time you physically leave, you've often long been gone.
"We were the first show of this kind. More than just being known for our longevity. I think 'Dallas' is a show that has changed the face of television. But there was a time, particularly after the 'Who Shot J.R.?' phenomenon when the enthusiasm generated a kind of hysteria that was frightening, where you couldn't go out in public without people really pressing in on you. Once traffic actually stopped on a freeway because of it, when people found out I was in the car. They were banging on the windows saying, 'Hey, Pam, come out.' But that doesn't happen anymore. (By the 200th episode in 1985) people no longer become hysterical to the point of it being frightening."
On the issue of women getting respect in Hollywood, Victoria made the observation, "The change is coming rapidly here and other places as women in executive positions prove themselves and earn respect. But any change culturally has to be a revolution. It's necessary; it's not comfortable but it's necessary to go to an extreme to finally come back to a median. Women are doing that now (in 1981). They don't have to act male-like in order to be strong, assertive or successful. They're learning to still be aggressive, ambitious but not lose the nicer parts of being a lady. I don't believe a woman has to be a battle-ax to have respect."
Of acting, Victoria voiced, "I love being loved. I don’t like to play evil people. For the first part of my career, I always played the other woman. When producers needed another woman, they probably said, 'Get me a Victoria Principal type.' I love playing the woman. You know what? I've had a very lucky life – to be able to keep the company I did.
"It was very glamorous, very enjoyable at the time. That was my late teens, early 20s. It was time to play, time to party. I couldn't look back and say, 'Oh, I shouldn't have done that.' Why is it that I couldn't date nine men a year? I used to lie to get older parts and get into discos. I've read I'm 39 (although she was 31 at the time). I spent time with men who had it all because I wanted to. I've always wanted success very badly."
The part of Pam on 'Dallas', Victoria acknowledged, "It's changed my life. I'm not a success unless the show's a success. They had another actress in mind and I had to change their minds. I prepared meticulously for the reading, including my wardrobe – white silk blouse, blue jeans and camel cord blazer which was so right they used the same outfit for the pilot." Victoria learnt she won the part in February 1978. Lee Rich told the press, "We felt she had experienced life and could understand the part of Pamela."
By the 1982-83 season, Victoria insisted, "The changes in Pam have to be gradual, realistic changes, just as in life, or you will jolt the audience and hurt Pam's credibility. But one of the wonderful things about 'Dallas' has always been the open communication between the cast and our writers and directors. I did sit down with them and discuss Pam. In the beginning she was very strong and feisty; I liked that in her. She was not as polished as the other Ewings. I like that too. Last year (the 1981-82 season) her ambition channeled itself into having a baby, and she mellowed out a bit – a bit too much. Now that she has her baby, her energy has to turn elsewhere."
Victoria Principal had appeared in commercials for Jhirmack hair-care products elaborated on the "fluffy bangs and layers" Pam wore in the 1980-81 season, "I thought the perm was great. It was spicy. On the show I was having marital problems with Bobby and, in real life, I was going through a divorce (to actor Christopher Skinner). He wanted a more traditional marriage. As it turned out, he just couldn't accept the way I lived. I told the producers I had to have a new hairstyle because when women have marital problems they get a new hairstyle and when men do, they get a new car."
That season, the writers decided to test the public by involving Pam with Alex Ward after splitting up Romeo and Juliet (Bobby and Pam), "You don't know how many letters I got including my mother. There's no way Pam could have had an affair and come back to Southfork. Sue Ellen can do it, because J.R. does everything. But people would stop me in the grocery store and say, 'You're not going to do it, are you?'"
By the 1982-83 season, Victoria confessed, "Right now, I am in a state of passage. I'm joyous and coming to the point where for the first time I'm free of the guilt of success. I had a generous spirit in the beginning, everything was going so well for me. I wanted to share but I also had this feeling of guilt about success. Now what I feel is a joyous celebration of life.
"I'm letting God run the world. Day-to-day life is so fascinating now, I can’t understand why it wasn't that way in my 20s. I suppose it is because I have so much more to give. This has been the most growing period of my life. From 26 to 30, the growth was concentrated; from 30 to 32, tremendous. In my 20s, I wasn't sure of my basic values, I had no cornerstone. I'm talking about basics: religion, beliefs, relationships, the way we treat people."
In 1975, "I quit (acting) because I was burning out. I was burned out because I finally ran out of emotions. I'd filled up my notebook. I was 25 when something told me to get away from the cameras to work hard at something else and not have people tell me things I couldn't believe. I thought I could do some artistic and creative things without being caught up in the illusion of the mystical magic of the movies. During the time I was an agent – and a very good one – I learned acting is a job like any other. It's a job and not my whole lifestyle."
It was noted, "All of the original contracts were for 7 years (1978-1985), but no one is considering this – the 7th year – the last year." After 7 years, Patrick Duffy took the 1985-86 season off. On screen, viewers saw Bobby being buried six feet under. The next season, to resurrect Bobby, Pam woke up to find the season-long had been written off as a dream. Larry Hagman sighed, "Three quarters of a million dollars (in residuals) out the window, just 'like that'. Who's (in syndication) going to buy that year? You know what's really funny? Over on 'Knots Landing' they're still mourning Bobby. Bobby's still dead on that show."
In January 1987, Victoria Principal made the announcement she had decided not to renew her contract when it expired at the end of the 1986-87 season. Larry Hagman remarked, "We've just come off a very successful season. 'Miami Vice' came after us and it just didn't work out. We did almost as well as we were doing five years ago (1982-83 season). Every time the ratings drop a point you worry a little about your future, but then you accept that there are some things that you just can't do anything about."
Victoria reasoned, "A lot of work has gone into keeping Victoria Principal separate from Pam Ewing. To stay on the show any longer would really seal my fate in the industry. In a series, especially when you're in an ensemble group, you must repeatedly get the writers' attention. I loved her in the beginning. She was fiery, sexy and a little coarse. But after the first two years the writers, in an overreaction, cleaned her up.
"Pam Ewing started out as a well-rounded character, but as J.R. got badder and badder, they made Pam gooder than good to contrast with him. I admired her, but she was no longer a challenge. There was no stretch, no way to go with her because she became a one-dimensional character. I loved her for the first five years, but after that I began to get very restless. There was a time when I felt my character had become too passive, passive to the point where I lost respect for her. So I went to the producers, and we worked on it. The producers aren't my enemies. They've always been willing to listen. I got her involved in the business world and, I hope, gave her more substance."
In order to write Victoria off the show so the actress could pursue other interests, the character Pam would become involved in an automobile accident. The cliffhanger episode in which Pam Ewing was seen driving her red Mercedes was the highest-rated episode of the season attracting 21.5% households ratings. Larry Hagman made known, "I think a big reason for the success of the show has been the integrity of the Ewing family and it has to be maintained. I did what I could with Momma (Barbara Bel Geddes) and Bobby (Patrick Duffy), but I don't think Victoria will be back. She's got her own career outside of the show and she's doing very well. Everything she touches turns to gold. I guess if I thought my going after her to change her mind would help, I'd give it a try, but I don't think it would work."
Victoria Principal continued, "Once the word gets out that you're in the position to produce material, you have to move … because you are so deluged with material. It's amazing. Even the postman writes. To go as far back as 1975 when I was an agent, I was fascinated by production. You know there are certain things you haven't done but would have an affinity for. I knew I would enjoy producing, especially the way my mind works. I'm known for being very, very organized and keeping ideas in my head and for dealing with new problems on an hourly basis. I'm my own manager.
"Producing is not unlike running a home. If something goes wrong, who's going to fix it? You do. I knew if I could produce and be involved from the inception of a project creatively, then that would give me wider range as an actress. I don't want this to sound like sour grapes. I don't miss being on 'Dallas' – just the people. We were like family. I was ready to leave. Like a divorce, long before you go, you're emotionally gone. I'd already mourned before I left. When you're emotionally ready to leave something, by the time you physically leave, you've often long been gone.
"We were the first show of this kind. More than just being known for our longevity. I think 'Dallas' is a show that has changed the face of television. But there was a time, particularly after the 'Who Shot J.R.?' phenomenon when the enthusiasm generated a kind of hysteria that was frightening, where you couldn't go out in public without people really pressing in on you. Once traffic actually stopped on a freeway because of it, when people found out I was in the car. They were banging on the windows saying, 'Hey, Pam, come out.' But that doesn't happen anymore. (By the 200th episode in 1985) people no longer become hysterical to the point of it being frightening."
