In “Start the Revolution with Me,” Victoria Principal sports a new hairstyle – a frizzy permanent, one of the fashion fads of the early 1980s. The look demonstrates how Pam is always ahead of the curve, and it also gives “Dallas” a chance to show how cool Miss Ellie is. She’s the only character to […]
During the old “Dallas’s” early years, J.R. often wore vests, symbolizing how he was no one-dimensional villain: The extra layer under his suit jackets reflected his multi-layered personality. On TNT’s “Dallas,” John Ross wears vests too, but his look seems to carry a different meaning. Josh Henderson’s character is still coming into his own as an […]
In “Family Business,” TNT continues an old “Dallas” tradition: using the Ewings’ sleepwear to telegraph their vulnerabilities. The practice can be traced to “Spy in the House,” the original show’s third episode, when a sexually neglected Sue Ellen buys a negligee, hoping to arouse J.R.’s interest. Her plan doesn’t work: J.R. calls the nightie “cheap” […]
Lucy’s wedding in the fourth-season episode “End of the Road, Part 2,” gives the “Dallas” cast a chance to dress up and show off like never before. No one rises to the occasion quite like Linda Gray, who gets to wear two outfits. When the ceremony begins, Sue Ellen wears a brownish-gray satin dress with shoulders […]
Pam is the focus of “Executive Wife,” and in all her scenes, she wears purple. It starts off subtly – in Victoria Principal’s first appearance in this episode, Pam sports a purple belt with a blue pantsuit – but the color becomes more prominent as the story progresses. Perhaps the purple suggests Pam is emotionally […]
All season long, TNT’s “Dallas” has used Marta’s hair and wardrobe to telegraph her shifting moods and evolving identity. This practice continues in “Collateral Damage,”when the bipolar vixen goes off her medication – and eventually, off the deep end. When we meet Marta in TNT’s “Dallas” pilot, “Changing of the Guard,” the character pretends to […]
In the famous painting of Jock that hangs at Southfork (and later, Ewing Oil) after the character’s death, he wears his signature gold medallion. The lion’s head, which dangles on a chain around Jock’s neck, reminds the world of his role as father of the Ewing pride. When Jock was alive, sometimes his own family […]
In “The Enemy of My Enemy,” Tommy comes charging into Rebecca’s apartment, grumbling about the crowd at the coffee shop he’s just returned from. “People in Texas are way too friendly. It tries my nerves,” he says. The line reminds us that Tommy is an outsider in Dallas – and so does the hat Callard Harris […]
When “Who Done It?” begins, Sue Ellen is at the Dallas police station, where she is being arrested for J.R.’s shooting. We see her have her mug shot taken and get fingerprinted, and then Detective Frost reads her her rights. We also watch as Sue Ellen removes her jewelry – rings, earrings, bracelets, pearls – […]
On the original “Dallas,” Miss Ellie’s pearl necklace symbolized her role as wife, mother and fount of wisdom. Along with the beloved matriarch’s sack dresses, those little white beads became Ellie’s most enduring signature. On TNT’s “Dallas,” Ann’s beads serve as visual shorthand for her role as Bobby’s wife and the new woman of Southfork. The […]
