Drill Bits: Mr. Duffy Goes to Washington — and D.C. Swoons

The uniter (Allison Shelley/Getty Images)

It turns out there is something everyone in Washington can agree on: They all love Patrick Duffy.

The “Dallas” star was the toast of the town when he came to D.C. last weekend to attend the White House Correspondents’ Association Dinner — a.k.a. the “nerd prom,” an annual schmooze-fest that brings together Beltway insiders and Hollywood elite to celebrate journalism. Think of it as Washington’s version of the Oil Baron’s Ball, but without the food fights.

Throughout the weekend, social media buzzed with pics of muckety-mucks posing with Duffy, including MSNBC anchor Thomas Roberts, who ran into the actor at a pre-dinner shindig and tweeted, “This weekend is gonna rock when the first person I meet is ‘Bobby Ewing.’” Later, CNN reporter Elise Labott tweeted a selfie with Duffy, along with her observation that “[h]e’s still so handsome.”

Duffy also got a shout out during the dinner from comic headliner Joel McHale, who ended his monologue thusly: “Here’s why America is the best country in the world — a guy like me can stand before the president, the press and Patrick Duffy, and tell jokes without severe repercussions. And instead of being shipped off to a gulag, I am going to the Vanity Fair after-party.”

(McHale is probably no stranger to the Duffy dynasty: Emily Cutler, the wife of Duffy’s son Conor Duffy, once wrote for McHale’s sitcom “Community.”)

Duffy was a guest of Time and Fortune magazines at the correspondents’ dinner. He sat with recent Oscar winner Lupita Nyong’o and her “12 Years a Slave” director, Steve McQueen, as well as “Gravity” director Alfonso Cuarón and actor Armie Hammer.

The actor seemed to take it all in stride, telling USA Today he suspects the dinner is a lot like the Academy Awards, although he doesn’t know since he’s never been to the Oscars. Incredibly, Duffy said he’s never attended the Emmys either — although if there’s any justice, that’ll change when the Academy of Television Arts and Sciences finally gets around to recognizing the knockout work he’s been doing on TNT’s “Dallas” lately. (We still get chills whenever we watch the midseason cliffhanger scene where Bobby shouts at Ann. Yikes!)

Duffy came to Washington with son Padraic Duffy, a playwright whom “Dallas” fans will remember as the American kid Bobby befriended in Paris during the original show’s final season. Padraic’s wife, Emily Kosloski, has a recurring role on the TNT series as Rhonda Simmons, the mystery woman who helped the Ewings put Cliff Barnes in jail.

And in case you’re wondering: Yes, your Dallas Decoder lives in D.C. and tried his best to catch up with Duffy while he was in town, but to no avail. Maybe next time. Given his popularity among Washingtonians, he’s bound to return, right?

Et Cetera

• While Duffy was taking D.C. by storm, Josh Henderson was commanding the red carpet at the Kentucky Derby.

• Dallas Decoder readers know Kevin Page, a.k.a. Bum, the Ewings’ go-to private eye, is also an accomplished artist. Last week, he spoke to the Dallas Morning News about his latest adventures in digital artwork.

• The house used to film the interior Southfork shots in “Changing of the Guard,” the first episode of TNT’s “Dallas,” just sold for $3.5 million, Realty Today reported last week.

• Reminder: There’ll be no #DallasChat tonight. The next discussion will be Monday, May 12, at 9 p.m. Eastern. See you then!

“Drill Bits,” a roundup of news about TNT’s “Dallas,” was published regularly. Share your comments below.