Dastardly duo
In “Where is Poppa?,” a seventh-season “Dallas” episode, Katherine (Morgan Brittany) sits in bed with a sheet wrapped around her while J.R. (Larry Hagman) sits at the foot, putting on his boots.
KATHERINE: I don’t like this arrangement at all, J.R.
J.R.: [Chuckles] Well, Katherine, there’s not a damn thing you can do about it. And I happen to like it a lot at the moment. Now, of course, we could go to Bobby and tell him all about us. That might solve your problem.
KATHERINE: I don’t understand why you want to go to bed with me when you know I can’t stand you.
J.R.: Well, honey, I’m a man of lusty appetites. [Gets up, walks to the dresser] And unfortunately, my wife is not going to bed with me anymore. At least not for now. [Ties his necktie] And my favorite lady of the evening is out of town. I just can’t stand going to bed with strangers. And despite what you say, you enjoy what we’re doing just as much as I do. [Sits next to her on the bed, caresses her arm] You can’t hide that from me.
KATHERINE: You’re disgusting.
J.R.: Come on. Dangerous relationships, they excite you, don’t they? They really turn you on. And if by some miracle, you happen to land Bobby, it’s not going to be long before you’re trying to find a way back into my bed. We’re a lot alike, you know. It’s just that I’m smarter than you are. [Smiles] Now, you got anything to drink around here? Some orange juice or coffee? Loving always makes me thirsty.
KATHERINE: [Rolls her eyes] It’s in the kitchen. [Folds her arms, sighs]
The telephone on the nightstand rings. The caller is Earl Johnson (Donegan Smith).
KATHERINE: Hello.
JOHNSON: Mrs. Wentworth? This is Earl Johnson.
KATHERINE: Oh, yes. [Leans forward] Do you have any news?
JOHNSON: Yes. One of my operatives has located Renaldo Marchetta in Los Angeles.
KATHERINE: [Smiles] Oh, that’s wonderful.
JOHNSON: Do you want us to do anything else?
KATHERINE: Yes. Don’t let him out of your sight until you hear from me. Goodbye. [Hangs up the phone, grabs a pillow and leans back in bed]
J.R.: [Standing in the doorway with a glass of orange juice] Good news, I hope.
KATHERINE: Maybe good enough to get you out of my bed.
Dallas Decoder 
I don’t know why J.R. would only want O.J. after love making. A shot of booze would be better. C.B., please get the food conniseur & drink maker Andrew back on getting that J. R. Ewing Bourbon out in stores! Oh & C.B., 14 days, ALL NEW DALLAS!
Good news! The J.R. bourbon will hit the streets next month.
Hmmm…I seem to recall J.R. making a similar statement to April in a later season, saying that if she ever got together with Bobby she’d eventually be coming back to J.R.
Also, I believe this is another example that would *technically* count as rape. She clearly doesn’t want to do it, and doesn’t enjoy it, and is only acquiescing out of duress.
Sometimes I hate looking at old shows through modern eyes, y’know?
J.R., I know what you mean.
I know I’m a bit late to reply to this thread… 😉 , but I didn’t discover it until today!
J.R. LeMar, I understand what you mean, but speaking for me, in Katherine’s case, I cannot consider the action between her and JR as rape. It is true that JR blackmailed her, but it was still her own free decision to pursue her obsession with Bobby, and keep her meetings with JR as a secret to him. Nobody forced her to do that. Sure, she was afraid that Bobby might not be willing to be her lover after finding out she had been in bed with JR, but then – who forced her to have approached JR in the first place? It was all her own decision, and now she got herself into this mess.
At any moment, she was free to walk out of the bedroom and tell JR, “OK, go ahead and play Bobby that tape if you have to. He may not want to be with me after listening to it, but I will keep my dignity.”
It’s a different situation if somebody blackmails you to have sex with them by saying they will kill or hurt somebody you love (and proving they are really capable of doing so). That would indeed count as rape in my book.
But Katherine was simply acting on the base of her own selfish wishes.
Chris, I understand what you mean about most of us knowing the feeling of having a crush on somebody who can’t be ours, but the thing about Katherine is, she is ready to do *anything* to achieve her goal – even going to bed with a guy she hates.
You’re trying to let J.R. off on a technicality. Blackmail is blackmail. Whether it’s blackmail with physical harm or emotional harm (which is what this is). Regardless of how the blackmailee got into the situation the blackmailer is still the one taking advantage of it. He’s blackmailing her into having sex with him. She’s only “consenting” under duress.
J.R.LeMar, thanks for replying! I see your point, and of course you are right about JR taking advantage of Katherine, but my point is, she *lets* him take advantage of her.
I think we’ll just have to agree to disagree about this one.