Pam (Victoria Principal) considers a romantic overture from Ray (Steve Kanaly) in this 1978 publicity shot from “Digger’s Daughter,”“Dallas’s” first episode.
Dallas Scene of the Day: ‘… Put You Up to This, Miss Barnes?’
April 2, 2012 by 4 Comments
Not-so-grand-tour
In “Digger’s Daughter,” “Dallas’s” first episode, J.R. (Larry Hagman) shows Pam (Victoria Principal) around the Southfork grounds.
J.R.: Did your brother put you up to this, Miss Barnes?
Pam looks stunned.
J.R.: Well, I don’t think that’s an unusual question to ask, Miss Barnes.
PAM: [Angrily] Mrs. Ewing. Excuse me, please.
She begins to walk away. J.R. grabs her arm. She stops.
J.R.: Perhaps it would be more appropriate to ask what sort of settlement you’d require to annul this farce.
PAM: Let go of my arm.
J.R.: I’m willing to spend some money now to avoid any inconvenience. But if you insist upon being driven away – which you surely will be – you’re going to come out of this without anything, honey.
Bobby (Patrick Duffy) approaches.
BOBBY: Hi there. What’s going on?
J.R.: Oh, just talking a little business.
BOBBY: Mama don’t like business talk with supper on the table, J.R.
J.R.: [Chuckles] Well, you know Mama. She’s so old-fashioned.
BOBBY: [To Pam] Come on, honey. Let’s go.
J.R. smiles as he watches them walk away.
Critique: ‘Dallas’ Episode 1 – ‘Digger’s Daughter’
April 2, 2012 by 28 Comments
Just married
What a dark place “Dallas” is when we arrive!
“Digger’s Daughter,” the show’s first episode, was filmed in the real-life Dallas in early 1978, when the city was being walloped by its coldest-ever winter.
The result: The straightforward plot – boy marries girl, boy brings girl home, girl outwits boy’s scheming older brother – unfolds against a backdrop of deadened skies and stark landscapes, making it seem moodier and more metaphorical than the show’s producers probably intended.
For example, when Bobby and Pamela bounce up to the Southfork ranch to announce their elopement, Miss Ellie comes to the door wearing a heavy coat. It’s as if she’s warning Pam: This is a cold house, full of cold people. Enter at your own risk.
Later, J.R. stands on Southfork’s darkened front porch, stewing because he fears Bobby and Pam will soon give Jock his long-awaited first grandson. The camera pans above the porch to Bobby and Pam’s brightly lit bedroom window and we see how the couple is literally overshadowing J.R.
Also, when Ray tosses Pam into the freezing pond, is it not unlike the dangerous situation she has plunged into by marrying a Ewing?
Southfork lends itself to the atmospherics, too.
The ranch we know best – the one real-life Texans call the world’s second most famous white house – isn’t seen until “Dallas’s” second season. In “Digger’s Daughter” and the other inaugural episodes, another estate stands in for the Ewings’ homestead.
This Southfork is bigger and feels more mysterious. It sits in a sea of yellow grass, making it look a little lifeless, if not downright haunted.
Some of the performances in “Digger’s Daughter” are as unfamiliar as the setting. Victoria Principal is more relaxed here than in later seasons, and Larry Hagman’s initial outing as J.R. is more sinister than mischievous.
In this episode’s final scene, when J.R. declares he won’t underestimate Pam again, Hagman smiles – not with his mouth, but with his eyes.
It isn’t the J.R. grin we’re used to, but it still leaves us wanting more.
Grade: A
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Oh, brother
‘DIGGER’S DAUGHTER’
Season 1, Episode 1
Airdate: April 2, 1978
Audience: 15.7 million homes, ranking 18th in the weekly ratings
Writer: David Jacobs
Director: Robert Day
Synopsis: Bobby Ewing, son of a wealthy oil-and-cattle clan, marries Pamela Barnes, the daughter of his father’s enemy. Bobby’s brother J.R. tries to break up the marriage by recruiting her ex-boyfriend Ray Krebbs, the Ewings’ ranch foreman, to seduce her, but Pam turns the tables on Ray by threatening to expose his secret affair with Lucy, J.R. and Bobby’s teenage niece.
Cast: Barbara Bel Geddes (Miss Ellie Ewing), Donna Bullock (Connie), Jim Davis (Jock Ewing), Desmond Dhooge (Harvey), Patrick Duffy (Bobby Ewing), Linda Gray (Sue Ellen Ewing), Larry Hagman (J.R. Ewing), Steve Kanaly (Ray Krebbs), Ken Kercheval (Cliff Barnes), Tina Louise (Julie Grey), Victoria Principal (Pam Ewing), Bill Thurman (Phil Bradley), Charlene Tilton (Lucy Ewing), David Wayne (Digger Barnes)
“Digger’s Daughter” is available on DVD and at Amazon.com, iTunes and TNT.tv. Watch the episode and share your comments below.
Decoding ‘Dallas’
April 2, 2012 by 8 Comments
Between the lines
Hello, darlins!
My name is Chris and I’ve been watching “Dallas” since I was a kid. I’m starting Dallas Decoder to pay tribute to the show, explore its enduring appeal and maybe figure out why I love it as much as I do.
My goal is to critique each “Dallas” episode in the order in which they were originally broadcast and post a new review each weekday. I also plan to offer a daily transcript of a memorable “Dallas” scene, along with occasional essays about the show’s broader themes.
Other periodic posts will focus on the fashions seen on “Dallas” and the photography used to publicize the series during its original run from 1978 until 1991. There’ll also be some surprises along the way, and when TNT’s “Dallas” revival begins in June, I’ll write about the new show, too.
Please visit regularly and share your comments – and be sure to check out Dallas Decoder on Twitter, Tumblr and Facebook.
Hopefully, Dallas Decoder will become a forum for fans to gather and celebrate “Dallas,” which is as fascinating now as it was when it debuted, 34 years ago today.
Let the fun begin!
Dallas Decoder 