Compounding interest
“Dallas” got a nice ratings boost on April 15 with a season-ending double feature that revealed what happened to Pam and who killed J.R.
“Guilt by Association” the first of the evening’s two episodes, was seen by 2.82 million viewers, including 1 million adults between ages 18 and 49, an important demographic in TV ad sales.
“Legacies,” the second hour, drew 2.99 million viewers, including 1.1 million in the 18-to-49 demo. This makes “Legacies” the season’s second most-watched “Dallas” telecast after the landmark “J.R.’s Masterpiece” funeral episode, which drew 3.6 million viewers on March 11.
“Dallas” averaged 2.7 million viewers on Monday nights this year, although DVR users who record the show and watch it later in the week have boosted its weekly average to 3.4 million viewers. “Dallas” averaged 4.2 million viewers on Wednesdays last summer, when there is much less competition on other channels.
TNT has not announced whether it will order a third season, but this week the Hollywood news site Deadline suggested “Dallas” is “a slam dunk for renewal.” Although ratings fell this season, the well-known “Dallas” brand generated strong international sales for the studio that produces the show, Deadline reported.
Name that Tune!
Liars
Forget “Who Killed J.R.?” Here’s the question “Dallas” fans really want answered: What’s the name of the song that kept popping up on the show this season?
You know the song I’m talking about. It was first heard in “False Confessions” when the police arrested Frank Ashkani (Faran Tahir) for Tommy’s murder. The song played again in “Legacies” when Pamela (Julie Gonzalo) planted the gun in Cliff’s trunk.
Here’s the answer: The song is called “Liar” and it comes from a band called The Unknown, a TNT spokeswoman told us yesterday.
The bad news: This appears to be an unreleased track. I can’t find it on iTunes or anyplace else. So if you want to keep hearing it, just do what I do and watch those scenes over and over.
Speaking of “Dallas” music: The song that played at the end of “Legacies,” when John Ross (Josh Henderson) proved again he’s his daddy’s son from tip to tail, is “Come Unto Me” by the The Mavericks. Meanwhile, the terrific tune that appeared at the end of “Love and Family,” when Bobby (Patrick Duffy) took that slow-mo stroll out of Ewing Energies, is “My Time Has Come” by The Bowery Riots.
Cidre Speaks
In case you missed it: “Dallas” producer Cynthia Cidre gives TV Guide the post-mortem on the second season, including her reaction to Victoria Principal’s statement-hear-round-the-world, whether Katherine Wentworth is really dead and those cocaine shoes. Earlier this week, Cidre spoke to Yahoo! about what we might see during a third “Dallas” season, including the possibility that – gasp! – John Ross might build his own house on Southfork.
Divas II
Sue Ellen (Linda Gray) had a good week: Not only did she track down Ken (Lee Majors), turn the tables on McConaughey (Steven Weber) and announce Cliff’s arrest, she also defeated sister Kristin (Mary Crosby) in Dallas Divas Derby’s second brackets competition. Get it, girl.
Killing J.R.
Last December, not long after Larry Hagman’s death, I asked three writers and a director from the original “Dallas” how they think J.R. should die. Now that the character has been laid to rest once and for all, it’s interesting to go back and read their ideas, which aren’t far off base from what ended up happening.
“Drill Bits,” a roundup of news about TNT’s “Dallas,” is published regularly. Share your comments below.
Dallas Decoder 
Been thinking about Pam Ewing’s Death..
Anyone remember the exact dialogue given on screen when OldPam (now DeadPam I guess) said how long she had to live? I haven’t seen that in years, but I vaguely remember it was a matter of months.
Cidre’s interview says the date of death was an off the cuff thing, they didn’t put a ton of thought into it. With that in mind..
Apr 10, 1950 – Character’s Birth according to certificate
May 15, 1987 – Pam’s Crash (real life date of TV episode, but still)
Jul 14, 1989 – Date of Death according to certificate
I don’t believe there was a technical date given on screen for the date of crash, so I’ll use airdate of the episode for that. That means she survived about 22 months after the crash.
Also “Barnes Global” being retconned into the history doesn’t bother me a lot. Yeah I know its a huge continuity problem, but I still enjoy it. 🙂
The scene with Margaret Michaels as Pamela Jean aired on October 28, 1988. She said, “Could I really go back, knowing I have a few months to live?” That would make the July 14, 1989 death date plausible.
I’m not sure that the Barnes Global continuity issues are necessarily huge, but continuity issues certainly exist. Wentworth Industries was publicly traded, and Cliff, Katherine, and Pamela Jean each inherited 1/3 of Rebecca Wentworth’s shares.
Something would have had to happen to cause the family to control the whole company. Along with that, there would have had to be a name change to Barnes Global and Cliff would have had to find a way to take over at some point. If I remember correctly, Wentworth Industries wasn’t mentioned much at all after Rebecca’s death, so there’d be some wiggle room.
Cliff sold Barnes- Wentworth oil in series 12/13, then he became a partner in Ewing Oil for a period and then left the company, I am currently still watching the original series, but I assume that because Cliff had a huge personal wealth after selling Barnes-Wentoworth, he was able to start Barnes Global sometime later.
It seems as though Barnes Global is the same conglomerate as Barnes-Wentworth, based on some of the dialogue from TNT’s second season episodes.
I agree, Joe. I’m not all that bothered by the Barnes Global stuff either. Also: I like “DeadPam.”
does this mean that the Ewings got back Ewing Energies and Ewing OIL. I don’t know if anyone on here pays Rise to Power, but I thought that JR won for the finale. JR at the top and Barnes at the bottom.
Very true, Brandon. J.R. was most definitely the winner of the finale.
Love the part of Cidre’s interview where she compares Cliff to Howard Hughes….the quote Howard Hughes’ nails and hair are probably growing in Mexico…makes me laugh hard. Also..LOVE the fact that she confirms that Katherine is probably not dead for real. That is a great hint. The only thing we know for sure is that she gave Cliff the earrings and Pamela Rebecca is wearing them! YES. Maybe Ken Richards will bump into her in the Caymans!
Very glad to know tht Cliff, Ryland, and Drew are not gone for good. I am loving crazy Cliff. He can set down in that prison and cause a ton of mischief for the Ewings….imagine what they will have him looking like after a few months of prison life. I love Ken’s portrayal of Cliff this season. He is giving some great and fantastic work. We also might get some more Judith…yes! I can’t wait to see how the Rylands as a family will react….think about it….Harris knocked Judith down the stairs and had her locked up in a sanitarium….Emma turned her father into the police for his drug smuggling and apparently stole some juicy stuff about the company….that is going to be fun to see play out. Plus, we now have JohnRoss right in the mix. I like Drew alot. He really grew on me this season. I do hope we get more of him.
I am hoping and praying for a Season 3 announcement soon. There is so much potential juicy goodness waiting to happen!
BTW…still immensely satisfied that JR went out on top and with a literal bang. He took out Cliff by framing him for his own murder by using Cliff’s big ego and his family as accomplices and set up Ryland to get caught with the drug smuggling. Classic JR. Is it sad that I find his utter treachery very enjoyable?
Hel, I don’t think it’s sad at all. I used to feel a little guilty about rooting for J.R. No longer. Long live his treachery.
I would like to meet Harris’s father or learn about him
Harris’s father is dead, Brandon. During Ann’s trial, we learned he committed suicide.
Oh I missed that part. I always thought this about Sue Ellen and Miss Ellie on the first show, but does anyone else think between Harris and Bobby that Ann might be a gold digger. Well maybe Harris has a brother, he will need someone to help him while he is in jail. With Emma down and dirty with JR3 and Judith locked up somewhere, and Roy dead he will need someone to do his bidding, I mean Cliff has the Ramos family.
Good point, Brandon. I wonder how long Harris will be in jail? My guess is he’ll get out pretty quickly.
Hel, I feel the same way about Cidre’s comments regarding Katherine. Could be a big hint of things to come.
Elena is intelligent. She wont start a feud, she is a woman, and the Barnes woman never liked the barnes/ewing fued. I think the next fued may be Drew against the Ewings, but he is a criminal. I like the idea that Ann has family.
When the Ewing’s against Ewing’s return, Christopher can use the John Ross Emma affair to keep control.
Ewing Global, is the new Barnes Global, and Ewing Global consumed Ewing Energies, so I have a question. Will Bobby and Sue Ellen get their ownership back in Ewing Energies. Because right now Christopher owns a third, John Ross and Pamela own a third, and Cliff through Elena owns a third.
Judith could return in Season 3, and I still want to know a thing or to about Harris’s dad.
Does anyone know if the character and actor of Dusty Farlow is still alive. Sue Ellen needs some romance in a possible season 3
Great questions, Brandon. I wonder what role Sue Ellen and Bobby will play in Ewing Global?
Tell me if this would be a cool idea for season 3.
Pamela may have gotten away with it but she killed, Tommy, and is the reason Frank “killed” Becky. If Tommy and Becky have another sibling or that uncle Fred who had a heart attack could come after Pamela
Uncle Fred! That’s a mighty obscure reference, Brandon — and I love it.
Well if you ever do an interview with one of the producers, pass it on. Uncle Fred seeks revenge for his niece and nephew. See I am all for finding plots that involve the Ewings working together and don’t involve JR3 and Chris against each other.
Hope there is a season 3
Will do, Brandon. I can see it now: Uncle Fred’s revenge.
Great interview wit Cynthia Cidre.I think all they are doing now is waiting for the best time to announce season 3.It looks like Patrick Duffy was mis-quoted or accidentally leaked the 3rd season for Dallas on TNT. If it is going to be over a year before it begins, I think announcing it now would not do as much good for marketing the show as it would if they waited a while. I remember waiting a full year before season one started after the announcement that Dallas is going to be on TNT. I think the two seasons of Dallas on TNT are great. I am not complaining that I got to see two full seasons of NEW Dallas in less than a year. I feel confident that Summer 2014 there will be a great new season of Dallas. I am, in a way, glad the show is not too successful. I would hate to have one of the actors or someone who is a major part of the show think the show is doing well just because of them. I would hate to have the actors hold out for more money or do some sort of hard negotiations. The show, in my opinion, is great because of all the work that goes into it.
Dallas is a soap opera. The main thing to understand is the soap opera format allows for some extra creativity and imagination not found in other dramatic formats.
On a personal note – The only other soap opera I like(d) is called “Prisoner Cell Block H”
Jump, like you, I want a third season of “Dallas” and am willing to wait a year to see it. Personally, I prefer the show in the summertime.
tnt/ tvinnercircle sent out surveys after each episode of DALLAS and this last one ended with “be sure to tune in to season 3 of Dallas” so it sounds pretty definite to me… and while im not thrilled with the way the writers ended the Who Killed JR storyline, i totally loved season 2.. there are minor issues that bugged me but as a whole i think the TNT series does the original justice. Cidre obviously cares about the original series and the original fans as much as she does the new ones so regardless of some continuity issues and creative freedoms that are taken,im completely thrilled with the new series.
Glad you liked the season, Todd, even if the resolution to the “Who Killed J.R.?” mystery disappointed you.
great season closer. Could have been called, “watch out for your little girls”
Think the show is more engaging when John Ross and Christopher aren’t going against each other. That felt tired. They were little boys together too. Was really liking some real moments at JR’s grave and then disappointed that John Ross was bedding down Emma. Here we go again!
Liked him better when he showed real feeling for Pamela. Poor thing just unpacked her bags at South Fork, for the 2nd time!
It’s her fault she unpacked the first time, and had to leave.
Poor Pamela! In her second go-round as a Ewing wife, hopefully she’ll learn to keep a few bags packed.
Daphne, I agree with your point about John Ross and Christopher. I’m ready to see these two move past their animosity for each other, once and for all.
I don’t want to wait a whole year for season 3.
Brandon, I’m willing to wait a year — as long as we get a third season!
Well I will wait, but if it comes back in 2014, I would like for a year to have past in between seasons,or at least 6 months,