Let him in
Sorry to deliver bad tidings during the holidays, but it looks like Larry Hagman won’t be inducted into the Television Academy’s Hall of Fame next year.
The academy announced its 2014 honorees before Christmas and Hagman wasn’t on the list. The inductees will be Jay Leno, Julia Louis-Drefus, producer David E. Kelley, media mogul Rupert Murdoch, programming executive Brandon Stoddard and sound engineer Ray Dolby, who’ll be honored posthumously.
Like a lot of Hagman’s fans, I’ve been hoping the late actor would finally get his spot in the Hall of Fame, which the academy’s chairman and chief executive, Bruce Rosenblum, refers to as the organization’s “highest honor” in its announcement. Hagman should have been inducted a long time ago, but including him in 2014 might have helped make amends with fans who were justifiably outraged when the academy excluded him from the special tributes during this year’s Primetime Emmys broadcast.
I’m not the only one who thought this could have been Hagman’s year. Chris Beachum, senior editor of the awards website Gold Derby, listed Hagman among 24 possible inductees for 2014, along with journalist Ed Bradley and filmmaker Ken Burns. (Louis-Dreyfus and Kelley were on Beachum’s list too.)
According to the Hall of Fame announcement, candidates are submitted by academy members to a selection committee chaired by Peter Roth, president of Warner Bros. Television Group, which includes the studio that produces TNT’s “Dallas.” Presumably, the committee reviews the nominations, weighs each individual’s contributions to television and chooses the final selections.
I suppose it’s possible no one submitted Hagman’s name this year, but that seems mighty unlikely, especially after the brouhaha that erupted over his snub during the Emmy tributes. No matter where the blame lies, isn’t it a shame Hagman is once again being overlooked by the medium he helped shape?
Vote for ‘Dallas’
TNT’s “Dallas” is one of the choices in TV.com’s race for this year’s best nighttime soap opera. The show was in the lead until a few days ago, when it slipped to second place behind FX’s “Sons of Anarchy.” (If you’re puzzled by “Sons of Anarchy’s” inclusion in the soap opera category, get in line.)
Cast your votes here. The polls close Wednesday, January 2.
OWN It, Darlin’
Encore, encore!
Did you miss Linda Gray’s recent appearance on “Oprah: Where Are They Now?” You have another opportunity to catch it: OWN is scheduled to repeat the episode Friday, January 3, at 6 p.m. (Sue Ellen Ewing is back on Friday night, at least for one week.) Also, if you missed it, be sure to check out my recent tribute to Gray, who is Dallas Decoder’s Woman of the Year for 2013.
Life on the D-List
’Tis the season for list-making, and so TV Guide has published its ranking of the 60 best series of all time. The good news: “Dallas” makes the cut. The bad news: It’s in 47th place.
Look, I love lists and understand the tough calls that go into making them, but shouldn’t “Dallas” rank a little higher? After all, the series ran 14 seasons, pioneered serialized storytelling, produced the biggest prime-time cliffhanger of all time, held the top spot in the Nielsens for three seasons and inspired a sequel that’s about to begin its third year.
If nothing else, couldn’t TV Guide have ranked “Dallas” 38th instead of “Buffy the Vampire Slayer”? Or 46th, instead of “Barney Miller”?
Elsewhere, Entertainment Weekly is out with its list of the best and worst episodes for 50 shows, including TNT’s “Dallas.” As EW sees it, the second-season finale, “Legacies,” was the show’s finest hour in 2013 while “Trial and Error” was the worst, although the magazine doesn’t seem to have many complaints about it. Neither do I.
Return Engagement?
Will “Knots Landing’s” Gary and Valene pay another visit to TNT’s “Dallas” anytime soon? Ted Shackelford and Joan Van Ark have different opinions, she tells Showbiz 411. Says Van Ark: “Ted’s not sure if we’re ever going back. But I’m convinced we are. I’d like to mix it up with Sue Ellen some more.”
You said it, honey. “Dallas” fans are spoiling for a Sue Ellen/Val rematch after this year’s showdown.
#DallasChat Returns January 6
Reminder: #DallasChat, my Monday evening Twitter discussion of all things “Dallas,” is taking a break for the holidays. The next #DallasChat will be held January 6 at 9 p.m. Eastern time. Don’t miss it.
“Drill Bits,” a roundup of news about TNT’s “Dallas,” is published regularly. Share your comments below.
Dallas Decoder 
I am so DISGUSTED that once again our beloved Larry Hagman will not be getting the love from the people who decide the awards, inductions, etc.. Larry was THE greatest tv villain of all time, imho, and it hurts me as a big Larry/JR fan that he will not be getting inducted into the TV Hall of Fame in 2014. He is a TV legend and icon and does not deserve to be snubbed!
Amen.
I am not sure if I get the OWN. I have to watch Linda Gray though. I will make sure to watch it one way or another. Julia Louise-Dreyfus in the Hall of Fame? I haveto go negative right now and say that she was lousy on SNL during a time when SNL was overall lousy. She was OK on Seinfeld. People watched Seinfeld for Jerry, George, Kramer, and Newman. The Character “Putty” was more entertaining that Elaine. The show, “Recycled Sit-Com Stories of Olde Christine”, is not bad, it is not nearly in the same league as “Dallas” or “I Dream of Jeannie”. Maybe this place does not consider great television actors who also had successful movie careers worthy of being admitted.
No arguments here, Jumpsteady. Thanks.
This isthe same set of Hollywood nutbars that in films never gave an Academy Award (TM) to Octuple Oscar (TM) Nominee Sir Peter O’Toole, except as a Lifetime Achievment Award. I mean this man played T.E. Lawrence for gosh sakes & C.B., he was glorious in it. Then they force crap stars on us like Matt Damon & Ben Affleck & give them each an Oscar (TM), notice it was for scriptwriting, not acting. Hell, Affleck has 2 since he got another IV Executive Producing “Argo.” So it should come as no surprise that the tv academy refuses to honour or respect the great Ton the Astronaut/Brother J.R. Ewing/Larry Hagman. The tv academy is about crap over substance. Why not the reverse I will never know!
The comment from “R” above was from me C.B., my computer froze I just wanted to clarify.
Thanks, R.J. Let’s hope the TV academy will induct Larry Hagman in 2015.
It’s 2019, and I see that the Hall of Fame doesn’t add people every year. The last time was 2017. But Larry Hagman STILL hasn’t made it. That’s infuriating. Great actors like him, Bill Bixby, always get the shaft. I mention Bill because Brandon Cruz, his co-star from The Courtship of Eddie’s Father, has been trying to raise money to get him a star on the Walk of Fame for years. The deadline is nearly up again, and they raised the price. If anyone deserved one, it was Bill. But It’s almost not even worth it anymore. I’m glad at least Larry has that.