Jamie, Jack, Mandy, Wes all left right around the same time in the middle of Season 10.. Donna was also less featured.. Was the reason just saving money? The quality sure suffered and none of those characters is given a satisfying ending.. Sad that they weren't able to see that
shareI really wish that they didn't make Pam's dream. I liked Jack and JR working together, I liked Donna and Ray adopting their son, the Wrs story didn't bother me, and I liked Jamie and Cliff together. If they wanted to bring Bobby back, they could have did the story that he faked his death until they could catch Catherine and when they did put her in prison for attempted murder and bring Bobby back.
shareI don't think this mass exodus was about money. Dallas still a top 10 show at this point and the budget was still good. When Ray & Jenna leave at the end of season 11, and when Sue Ellen leaves at the end of season 12-- that was definitely about money because by then the show had slipped in the ratings and they had to cut one or two expensive stars each year.
The real reason these characters left in the middle of the tenth season was because several of them were slated to leave at the end of season 9. Jamie was supposed to die in the car explosion in the cliffhanger and Mandy was already in the process of being written out because her story with J.R. had basically run its course. But since all of that was negated with the dream, the producers had to bring them back for the beginning of the next season and put them in new short-term arcs that would effectively wrap up their stories and get them off screen.
Wes (originally named Ben) was cut because viewers would not accept him being Jock (Jim Davis was too strongly identified in the role) so he turned out to be a con artist and the story was quickly ended. There was no need for Jack, since he had originally been brought on at the end of season 8 to be a replacement for Bobby. But with Bobby back on screen, there was no real purpose for Jack anymore. They basically just used him at the beginning of season 10 to launch April, then he was history.
As for Donna, she was given an exit storyline that would break her and Ray up for good, because Susan Howard had been friends with former producer Phil Capice and she was vocal about his firing. She was no longer seen as a team player and they wanted her gone. She has decreased screen time after her character goes to Washington, and at that point, she is essentially just finishing our her contract.
A bit odd that they added Dack Rambo to the main credits in the 1oth season, when he was featured a lot more in the 9th.
share1986-87 is actually season 9.
Rambo was added to the credits because the producers wanted him to return to wrap Jack's story, and he had no contractual obligation to do so. So he negotiated for better billing to return.
Patrick Duffy got a huge raise to return to the series in 1986, pretty much doubling his previous salary. And the ratings were starting to decline at that point. So they kept on budget by going with a smaller supporting cast.