According to Dallas Decoder's Chris B., Melinda Clarke has been cast as Tracey McKay, who was one of Bobby's girlfriends from the original series. Clarke will appear in the second half of Dallas' third season, which resumes Monday, August 18. Here's an excerpt from the article:
Tracey was introduced during the original “Dallas’s” 12th season and was played by Beth Toussaint. The character is the daughter of Ewing rival Carter McKay, played by George Kennedy, and was briefly romanced by Bobby (Patrick Duffy), but the affair ended when he tangled with Tracey’s drug-dealing brother Tommy, played by J. Eddie Peck. Tracey briefly returned to the series the following season when Tommy was killed off.
This season, TNT’s “Dallas” introduced Carter’s grandson Hunter (Fran Kranz), a childhood friend of John Ross and Christopher’s who is secretly helping Nicolas (Juan Pablo Di Pace) with his scheme against the Ewings.
Link to the full article:Melinda Clarke to Play Tracey McKay on Dallas – Dallas Decoder
My thoughts: I absolutely loved Melinda Clarke when she was on The O.C., so I'm definitely excited about the fact that she'll be appearing on Dallas. That being said, I do think it's kind of weird that they're a recasting a character that was introduced on the original series instead of just having Beth Toussaint reprise the role. Although, after looking at Toussaint's IMDb page, it looks like she retired from acting after appearing on The Young and the Restless back in 2006, so I suppose it's possible that the producers approached Toussaint about appearing on the show and she declined the offer. Honestly, I have no idea whether or not she was even approached by the producers.
That's just my theory as to why the producers decided to recast the role of Tracey McKay though. I think it's odd that the producers were willing to recast the role of Tracey when they haven't recast any of the other characters from the original series, such as Pamela, when it's public knowledge that Victoria Principal has refused to appear on the show. Maybe the producers didn't think that they could get away with it without upsetting the fans since Victoria Principal was very popular with fans of the original series and the fans had already been very vocal about wanting her to appear on the new series.
I know that fans of the original series might not be too happy about the producers' decision to bring the character Tracey McKay back for the new series, only to recast the role with a different actress. However, since I've seen very little of the original series and none of what I have seen of the original series was from the point in the series in which Beth Toussaint was on the show, it doesn't really bother me all that much that they've recast the role. Personally, I'm really excited about this news and I'm glad that the producers appear to be creating some new drama for Bobby and Ann that doesn't ultimately stem from Ann's past like they have done throughout the series at this point.
Yes, I know that Bobby has gotten upset with Ann for keeping things regarding her past a secret from him, and I do think that he has a right to be upset to a certain extant. However, it really bugged me when Bobby lashed out at Ann for shutting him out at times when he himself has done the same thing to her at times throughout the series. For example, he kept the fact that he had been diagnosed with stomach cancer for a little while when the series began and he also didn't really tell her what he was up to when he was carrying out J.R.'s master plan back in season two. Given that he briefly kept those things a secret from Ann, I think that makes Bobby a major hypocrite for getting mad at her for keeping secrets from him. However, that has created some major drama on the show, and drama is always good on a show like Dallas. That being said, it will be interesting to see what brings Tracey back into Bobby's life and how it will impact his marriage to Ann. Regardless of what happens with this plot development, I'm definitely in favor of pretty much anything that can take potential screen time away from Christopher/Jesse Metcalfe. I've always thought that Melinda Clarke was a very talented actress, so I'm sure that she'll do a great job playing the role.
