RIP "Motel Couple $19" Sign

If you've traveled south of Dallas on I-35E, past the Dallas Zoo, you probably noticed the "Motel Couple $19" sign.  The sign always fueled the imagination of passersby as they pondered what type of seediness transpired there and what types of ne're do wells where going about the business of trouble making within the establishment.

While there were probably no romantic tales of double-crossed private eyes or scheming femme fatales at the motel, there were, at the very least, interesting characters afoot drawn to this den of mischief by the sweet siren song of the "Motel Couple $19 Exit Here" sign.

Well, no more.  I got the sad news today that the sign is gone and replaced with a hardly noticeable stand-in:

What it lacks in character it makes up for in blandness.  In fact it's completely easy to drive right past it without any Raymond Chandler-esque thoughts of intrigue.

All we're are left with are the sign's fleeting brushes with celebrity.  It was featured in the fantastic, yet short lived Fox series "The Good Guys":

As well as the season one finale of TNT's Dallas:

Maybe the motel owners felt that "Motel Couple $19" was not the message they wanted to send anymore.  It's all about branding these days.  But when all is said and done, the highway scenery just got a little less interesting.