Dallas Scene of the Day: ‘I’m Not Going to Bury His Memory’

No touching!

In “Homecoming,” an eighth-season “Dallas” episode, J.R. (Larry Hagman) enters the Southfork kitchen, where Bobby (Patrick Duffy) sits at the table, drinking a beer.

J.R.: Hi, Bob. When did you get in?

BOBBY: [Sighs] About an hour ago.

J.R.: [Opens the refrigerator, peers inside] How was the play?

BOBBY: It was good.

J.R.: For a man who took his fiancée to the theater, and the play was good, you don’t seem to be too happy.

BOBBY: I notice you’re padding around the house in your jammies. What’s bothering you?

J.R.: [Opens a beer, approaches the table] I just can’t believe that as of tomorrow night, Clayton Farlow is actually going to start living in this house.

BOBBY: Now just where would you expect Mama’s husband to live?

J.R.: [Sighs] I don’t know. I just hate the idea, that’s all.

BOBBY: J.R., if you’re planning on doing something funny, I’m warning you.

J.R.: No, no, Bobby. That’s all over. I’m not going to cause Mama any more grief. It’s just that I haven’t been able to change my feelings towards Clayton, that’s all. [Takes a sip]

BOBBY: Well, Clayton’s a good man. That was a wise decision on Mama’s part to marry him. And even if it weren’t, she loves him and that’s all that matters.

J.R.: Well, if everything’s so wonderful, how come you’re sitting up at 3 o’clock in the morning?

BOBBY: Because I was thinking. Things are going to be a lot different here at Southfork now. You and I have been running things ever since Daddy died. And now that’s all going to change. I like Clayton, but now we’re going to have to make some adjustments, some compromises. You and I are going to have to learn to deal with a new man here.

J.R.: Well, personally, I can’t understand how he could bring himself to live in another man’s house. You can just feel Daddy’s presence all over this place.

BOBBY: Well, maybe we should do something about that. Right now. [Gets up, sets down his beer, walks into the living room, slowly approaches Jock’s portrait and begins to take it down]

J.R.: [Standing in the living room entrance] What the hell are you doing?

BOBBY: [Pauses] J.R., it’s time for this picture to come down.

J.R.: Not on your life. It stays exactly where it is.

BOBBY: It’s going to be hard enough for Clayton to feel comfortable around here without this portrait to remind him that it was Daddy’s house and Daddy’s family.

J.R.: [Enters the room] You have no right to take down that picture just because Clayton Farlow might be a little sensitive. He knew what he was doing when he married Mama.

BOBBY: Come on, J.R. Lighten up. I want to do everything I can to make Clayton feel welcome around here, for Mama’s sake.

J.R.: Mama’s sake? Well, how do you think she’s going to react when she finds this painting gone?

BOBBY: I think she’s thoughtful enough to want Clayton to feel comfortable.

J.R.: Let her take it down or move it or do anything she wants to it. I’m not ready to start pretending that Daddy never existed. We can’t get rid of everything in this place that he was connected to, Bob. Hell, he built this house. And he built Ewing Oil. He’s the reason the two of us are here. Now I found it hard to admit that he was dead. But I’m not going to bury his memory.

BOBBY: We’ll let Mama decide.

Watch this scene in “Homecoming,” available on DVD and at Amazon and iTunes, and share your comments below.