Dallas Scenes of the Day (Classic)

Dallas Scene of the Day: ‘I Don’t Want to Feel This Way’

October 24, 2012 by Chris Baker 1 Comment

Poor Pam

In “Dallas’s” fifth-season episode “The Sweet Smell of Revenge,” Pam (Victoria Principal) is sitting in her bed at Dallas Memorial Hospital when Dr. Conrad (Gretchen Wyler) enters the room.

CONRAD: Mrs. Ewing? I’m Dr. Conrad. [Sits on the bed but Pam doesn’t look up] Perhaps you can tell me how you’re feeling right now.

PAM: [Makes eye contact, then looks away] Like nothing matters. Empty. Worthless. Like I’m dying or already dead.

CONRAD: I see. Where do you suppose these feelings come from?

PAM: [Makes eye contact, speaks sharply] I thought you were supposed to tell me that.

CONRAD: They’re your feelings.

PAM: [Looking away] I don’t know.

CONRAD: How long have you been feeling this way?

PAM: For a long time.

CONRAD: Do you know when the feelings began?

PAM: No. Not really. I think in one way, I’ve been feeling like this all the way back to when I was a little baby and –

CONRAD: And? What?

PAM: And my mother left me. [Angrily] Why did she do that? Leave a little baby? What did I do to deserve that? [Deflated] I’m sorry. I don’t mean that. I love my mother and it wasn’t her fault.

CONRAD: There’s always a lot of anger underneath any depression.

PAM: [Looks up, then away] You think I’m angry?

CONRAD: Well, I’m sure that wanting to stop the world and get off doesn’t come from feelings of sweetness and light. The important question is, what happened recently to arouse all those old feelings of hopelessness and futility? You have a good marriage, a loving husband, good job. You were feeling fine until just recently. And suddenly it all seems empty and futile. Why?

PAM: [Voice breaking] I don’t know why. I have these feelings and I don’t know why but I don’t want to feel this way anymore.

CONRAD: I know. That’s why we better start to find out why you do feel this way.

PAM: How do we do that?

CONRAD: Well, we might begin by trying to find out what it is in yourself that you’re trying so hard to kill off.

Filed Under: Dallas Scenes of the Day, Dallas Scenes of the Day (Classic), Features Tagged With: Gretchen Wyler, Sweet Smell of Revenge, Victoria Principal

Dallas Scene of the Day: ‘I Guess It’s Going to Have to Be Me’

October 19, 2012 by Chris Baker 10 Comments

Focus, Mama!

In “Dallas’s” fifth-season episode “Little Boy Lost,” after the Southfork helicopter lands on the ranch’s lawn, Miss Ellie (Barbara Bel Geddes) exits and walks swiftly toward the house, followed by J.R. (Larry Hagman).

J.R.: Mama? Say, Mama? Mama, what you all upset about? [She stops and faces him.] You haven’t said a word since we left the Southern Cross ranch.

ELLIE: You used me, J.R. And my love for John Ross. You intended to fly down with me and try to get him away all along, didn’t you?

J.R.: You can’t blame me for that, Mama. Not for trying to get my boy back.

ELLIE: I blame you for using other people to achieve your aims.

J.R.: [Tips back his hat] Mama, I’d do anything to get him away from Sue Ellen. She’s not exactly the most perfect wife and mother, you know. I don’t know what he’s being exposed to down there. She’s living in sin with a cowboy. Hell, he can hardly even walk.

ELLIE: Then why would she prefer him to you?

J.R.: Because she’s crazy! That’s why I want to get the boy back.

ELLIE: You want him back without Sue Ellen?

J.R.: Yes, I’d prefer that.

ELLIE: And what would you bring him back to? Being raised by nursemaids and tutors? Seeing you five minutes a day, if he’s awake when you finally get home?

J.R.: Well, I figured that you and Daddy could –

ELLIE: Could do what? Raise him for you? No, I’m too old to raise another grandchild.

J.R.: You sound like you don’t want him back here.

ELLIE: [Slight smile] That’s not fair, J.R. You know I want him here. But only if his mother’s with him. He needs his mother more than he needs you or me or his grandfather.

J.R.: I love him just as much as Sue Ellen does.

ELLIE: I know you do, J.R. But he belongs with her. There’s nothing in this world that would make me happier than if you brought John Ross back to Southfork – but only if Sue Ellen is with him. [Begins walking away, then turns to face him] I saw a part of you I didn’t like very much today, J.R. In the past, I’ve put up with your games and tricks. I’ve even closed my eyes to some of them. But no more. As long as your daddy isn’t here, I guess it’s going to have to be me that has to keep an eye on you. [Turns and walks away]

Filed Under: Dallas Scenes of the Day, Dallas Scenes of the Day (Classic), Features Tagged With: Barbara Bel Geddes, Larry Hagman, Little Boy Lost

Dallas Scene of the Day: ‘It’s Not Our Fight’

October 17, 2012 by Chris Baker 3 Comments

How he met their mother

In “Dallas’s” fifth-season episode “Showdown at San Angelo,” Clayton (Howard Keel) approaches Miss Ellie (Barbara Bel Geddes), who is playing with John Ross (Tyler Banks) outside the Southern Cross ranch house.

CLAYTON: Mrs. Ewing? Clayton Farlow. [They shake hands.] Not the best of circumstances to meet under.

ELLIE: That’s unfortunately true.

CLAYTON: I can understand how you and Mr. Ewing miss the boy. Since he’s been here, he’s brought a lot of joy to me.

ELLIE: My husband feels he belongs at Southfork. He’s a Ewing.

CLAYTON: [Chuckles] That he is. But what my son wants is just as important to me as what J.R. wants is to you. And he wants Sue Ellen and John Ross here. The boy belongs with his mother.

ELLIE: My husband usually gets what he wants.

CLAYTON: He’s not in Ewing country now. And what happens is between Steven and J.R. It’s not our fight.

Filed Under: Dallas Scenes of the Day, Dallas Scenes of the Day (Classic), Features Tagged With: Barbara Bel Geddes, Howard Keel, Showdown at San Angelo, Tyler Banks

Dallas Scene of the Day: ‘She Was Kristin’

October 12, 2012 by Chris Baker 2 Comments

The survivor

In “Dallas’s” fifth-season episode “Gone But Not Forgotten,” after the Farlow limousine parks in the Southern Cross ranch’s driveway, Sue Ellen (Linda Gray) exits and walks away, followed closely by Dusty (Jared Martin).

DUSTY: Sue Ellen?

SUE ELLEN: Kristin is dead. I knew it but it didn’t hit me until right now.

DUSTY: I know darling.

SUE ELLEN: That beautiful young girl is gone. My sister. We didn’t play together very much when we were growing up. She always made fun of my boyfriends. And then when she went to high school, she was no longer “Sue Ellen’s little sister.” She was Kristin. She had an identity. She was real smart. She could have been anything that she wanted to be.

DUSTY: What happened?

SUE ELLEN: [Pauses, faces him] Mama is what happened. Mama wanted us girls to have everything that she wanted but couldn’t get by herself. We were like little dolls, created to fulfill all the things that she wanted. She wanted wealth and position and decided that we could get it for her. Maybe that’s why Kristin turned to drugs. Because she failed to live up to the goals that Mama had created for her. Maybe that’s why I had a problem with alcohol.

DUSTY: What about your father? Didn’t he have any say in how you were brought up?

SUE ELLEN: Daddy? The only thing I remember about my daddy was the smell of liquor on his breath. He left us right after Kristin was born. And I guess it was about a year later Mama got a letter saying he was dead.

DUSTY: Well, I think I had better go to that funeral with you.

SUE ELLEN: No, John Ross and I can go to Albuquerque. I don’t think I can explain you to Mama. [Smiling] Not quite yet, anyway. [They kiss.]

DUSTY: I think you had better leave John Ross here at the ranch with me.

SUE ELLEN: No, he’ll be all right. My mama hasn’t seen him since he was a little baby anyway.

DUSTY: [Touching her face] You ready to go in now?

SUE ELLEN: Yes.

She kisses his hand and they walk toward the house.

Filed Under: Dallas Scenes of the Day, Dallas Scenes of the Day (Classic), Features Tagged With: Gone But Not Forgotten, Jared Martin, Linda Gray

Dallas Scene of the Day: ‘Kristin is Dead’

October 10, 2012 by Chris Baker 5 Comments

Baby, come back

In “Missing Heir,” “Dallas’s” fifth-season opener, J.R. (Larry Hagman) visits the Southern Cross ranch, where he speaks to Sue Ellen (Linda Gray) outside.

J.R.: Sue Ellen, I have some bad news. I really don’t know how to start –

SUE ELLEN: [Angry] Just start, J.R.

J.R.: Something terrible has happened. I don’t know if you heard it on the radio or not.

SUE ELLEN: Is this another one of your tasteless tricks?

J.R.: No. [He looks away, then back at Sue Ellen.] Kristin’s dead.

SUE ELLEN: What?

J.R.: They found her on Southfork last night.

SUE ELLEN: No.

J.R.: I thought you’d want to know.

SUE ELLEN: [Increduously] I don’t believe it.

J.R.: Come on, I wouldn’t lie about a thing like this.

SUE ELLEN: You are capable of lying about almost anything.

J.R.: Kristin is dead. She was found floating in the pool last night on Southfork. The sheriff was there, the TV, the media, everything. It was awful.

SUE ELLEN: What happened?

J.R.: I don’t know.

SUE ELLEN: You. You’re the one who killed her.

J.R.: Of course I didn’t kill her.

SUE ELLEN: You and I both know that you had the perfect motive.

J.R.: I didn’t tell you this to hear a bunch of accusations.

SUE ELLEN: Her baby. What about her baby?

J.R.: All we ever had was Kristin’s word that there was a baby.

SUE ELLEN: But you paid her. You sent all those checks to California every month.

J.R.: I didn’t want a scandal. Especially the way things were with mama and daddy. I figured it was better to pay her than to call her bluff.

SUE ELLEN: I don’t know, J.R. [Voice cracking] I don’t know what to believe.

J.R.: Kristin is dead. There’s nothing we can do about that. [Moves closer] Sue Ellen, come on home. We’ll put all this behind us. Start all over again. Chances are there never was a child.

SUE ELLEN: [Begins walking away, then turns around] If you think that Kristin’s child was the only reason I left you, then you are wrong. Because you’re never going to get John Ross and I’m never going back to Southfork.

J.R.: [Angry] You really want the cowboy that bad?

SUE ELLEN: I love him.

J.R.: Well, you can have him, honey. But I swear you’re not going to keep my boy.

Filed Under: Dallas Scenes of the Day, Dallas Scenes of the Day (Classic), Features Tagged With: Larry Hagman, Linda Gray, Missing Heir

Dallas Scene of the Day: ‘Keep Out of My Way, Pamela’

October 1, 2012 by Chris Baker 2 Comments

Daddy’s boy

In “Ewing-Gate,” “Dallas’s” fourth-season finale, J.R. and his security guard Gibson (Larry Hagman, Bill Boyett) enter the Southfork foyer, where Sue Ellen (Linda Gray) holds John Ross (Tyler Banks).

J.R.: Sue Ellen. Where you going?

SUE ELLEN: I’m going for a drive.

J.R.: I called the office from the airport. Phyllis said she had talked to you. Told you I was down in Austin.

SUE ELLEN: So?

J.R.: So why are you going for a ride with John Ross at night when you thought I’d be away?

SUE ELLEN: I’m going.

J.R.: Not with my son, you’re not.

SUE ELLEN: I’m leaving you, J.R. And I’m taking him with me.

J.R.: The hell you are. [As she walks past J.R., he snatches John Ross out of her arms while Gibson restrains her.]

SUE ELLEN: How long do you think you can stop me? You’re going to have to stand trial, and I’m going to get him then.

Pam (Victoria Principal) comes to the stairs and watches.

J.R.: You’re never going to get him.

SUE ELLEN: And if you go to prison? You can’t stop me. You think a court is going to let a criminal have his son? Oh, I’m going to get him, J.R. One way or another.

J.R.: Get her out of here! Get her off Southfork and never let her back on!

GIBSON: Come on.

SUE ELLEN: You can’t have him, J.R. Because I’m going to have him!

J.R.: I’ll kill you first!

SUE ELLEN: Well, you’re going to have to. [Screaming] Because I’m going to get him! I’m going to get him!

Gibson drags her away.

J.R.: Your mama’s crazy boy, trying to get you away from me.

PAM: He’s her child, J.R. He belongs with her.

J.R.: Stay out of my affairs, Pamela.

PAM: Give her her child. She loves him.

J.R.: She doesn’t know the first thing about love.

PAM: She should have him just for putting up with you all these years. He’s the only decent thing that’s ever happened to her.

J.R.: No wonder you care so much for Sue Ellen. She’s just like your mother – another drunken slut who ran away.

PAM: You slime. You make me sick.

J.R.: Keep out my way, Pamela, or I’ll destroy you. I’ll destroy anybody that tries to take my boy away from me.

Filed Under: Dallas Scenes of the Day, Dallas Scenes of the Day (Classic), Features Tagged With: Bill Boyett, Ewing-Gate, Larry Hagman, Linda Gray, Tyler Banks, Victoria Principal

Dallas Scene of the Day: ‘Mama, You Didn’t Take Any Licorice’

September 27, 2012 by Chris Baker 9 Comments

He remembers, Mama

In “Dallas’s” fourth-season episode “Full Circle,” Cliff (Ken Kercheval), dressed in a three-piece suit, nervously straightens his apartment when there is a knock at the door. He opens it, revealing Rebecca (Priscilla Pointer).

REBECCA: Hello.

CLIFF: Hi. Come on in.

REBECCA: You look wonderful.

CLIFF: You too. Maybe I should have known who you were when you came in the office the other day but then, I don’t know. You didn’t look exactly like I expected you to.

REBECCA: Oh?

CLIFF: No. You look kind of um … poised.

REBECCA: [She smiles, then notices the spread on his coffee table] Oh, Cliff. You didn’t have to go to that trouble.

CLIFF: No, it’s no trouble. I’ve got some coffee going. I’ll check to see if it’s done. [Walks into the kitchen] Uh, it’s done. [Peering into the living room] You want some coffee? How do you take it?

REBECCA: Black, please.

He pours two cups, carries them into the living room on saucers and hands one to her.

CLIFF: We can sit down.

REBECCA: You’ve done very well for yourself, haven’t you Cliff?

They sit on the sofa.

CLIFF: Uh, I’ve done OK. I’ve bounced around a bit, from job to job.

REBECCA: But you put yourself through law school.

CLIFF: Yeah, I did that. [Not making eye contact] But that’s a long time ago. Now Pam. Now, let’s see. Now, I don’t think she told me where she found you.

REBECCA: The first time was in Houston.

CLIFF: [Looks at her, then looks away] Did you live there very long?

REBECCA: Yes, we…. We, we sound like two strangers, don’t we? I didn’t want it to be that way. [Moves toward him, but he rises and stands]

CLIFF: It wasn’t my decision. You ran out on me. I was barely 5 years old and you pretended to be dead and you left me with a baby sister and a drunken father. Why?

REBECCA: It wasn’t like…. It’s so, it’s so hard to explain.

CLIFF: I can imagine it’s hard to explain. A mother running out on her own two kids. I don’t know how in the hell a woman can do that. [Screaming] Do you have any idea what it’s like to be 5 years old and be told that your mother’s dead only to find out the truth is that she didn’t want you! That she was only thinking about herself!

REBECCA: [Grabs her pocketbook, rises and walks toward Cliff, who stands not looking at her] I, I didn’t expect you to forgive me anymore than I can forgive myself. [Voice cracking] But, oh how I prayed that you could try.

CLIFF: I have tried! [She opens the door.] Mama. [Grabs a bowl from the coffee table, holds it out for her] You didn’t take any licorice and I remembered you liked it.

He walks toward her and they embrace while sobbing.

Filed Under: Dallas Scenes of the Day, Dallas Scenes of the Day (Classic), Features Tagged With: Full Circle, Ken Kercheval, Priscilla Pointer

Dallas Scene of the Day: ‘What Happened, J.R.?’

September 26, 2012 by Chris Baker 14 Comments

The Ewing touch

In “Dallas’s” fourth-season episode “New Beginnings,” J.R. and Sue Ellen (Larry Hagman, Linda Gray) put John Ross (Tyler Banks) to sleep in his crib.

J.R.: Handsome little devil, isn’t he?

SUE ELLEN: He has eyes exactly like yours, J.R. That’s the first thing that attracted me to you.

J.R.: Is that right? I thought it was my money.

SUE ELLEN: Well, I had several suitors with a lot of money. No, it was your eyes. They always seemed to be hiding secrets. Things you knew about the world that no one else knew.

J.R.: Sue Ellen, what are you talking about?

They leave the nursery and enter the bedroom.

SUE ELLEN: You know something? My mama didn’t want me to marry you at first.

J.R.: Now don’t tell me she wanted you to marry that poor boy you were going around with. What’s his name? Clint something or other? [Removes his jacket, unties his necktie]

SUE ELLEN: No, no, not him. She had Billy Frompton picked out for me.

J.R.: [Chuckles] Billy Frompton. Billy turned into a blimp.

SUE ELLEN: I know, but his daddy was loaded. He had oil and uranium and diamonds and coal and things like that.

J.R.: And you picked me because of my eyes?

SUE ELLEN: And because of the way you speak. [Runs her fingers up his arm] You know, every time you talked to me, I got the shivers.

He walks away, tosses his jacket on the bed, sits on the sofa.

SUE ELLEN: You know, J.R., I’ve always wanted to ask you something. With all those ladies in the state of Texas after you … why me?

She sits and looks at him while he stares at the ceiling.

J.R.: Well, once upon a time, I was a judge in the Miss Texas beauty contest. And after awhile, you run all those girls through the contest, and it looks like a cattle auction in Fort Worth.

SUE ELLEN: [Smiling] I felt the same way too.

J.R.: Then we got down to the bathing suit category. And all those pretty little girls prancing around, trying to look sexy. And then there you were, Sue Ellen. Not trying to do anything. Just looking more sexy than any of them. And you had something else: You looked like a lady. The combination was … [he smiles] devastating. [She closes her eyes, then touches his shirt collar]

SUE ELLEN: You know, I was so frightened when you first brought me to Southfork to meet your parents. They were such imposing figures. I never thought they’d like me.

J.R.: Well, Mama took to you right off. And Daddy too.

SUE ELLEN: We’ve had some good times, J.R. We’ve done some good things too.

J.R.: The best thing we did was that little boy sleeping in the next room.

SUE ELLEN: What happened, J.R.? What happened? Why can’t it be like that again, like it was those first years?

She touches his lips.

J.R.: Sue Ellen –

The phone rings. She answers it.

SUE ELLEN: Hello? [Pauses] Yes. [Her posture stiffens.] It’s Kristin. Calling from California. She just gave birth to a baby boy. You have another son.

Filed Under: Dallas Scenes of the Day, Dallas Scenes of the Day (Classic) Tagged With: Larry Hagman, Linda Gray, New Beginnings (Dallas)

Dallas Scene of the Day: ‘I Love You, Jock’

September 25, 2012 by Chris Baker 6 Comments

Nothing to forgive

In “Dallas’s” fourth-season episode “Ewing vs. Ewing,” while Jock and Donna (Jim Davis, Susan Howard) watch, Ray (Steve Kanaly) hands Miss Ellie (Barbara Bel Geddes) a legal document he commissioned to relinquish his claim of the Ewing fortune.

JOCK: Ray, I made you part of that trust because it’s rightfully yours. Don’t throw away your birthright.

RAY: I’d rather give it all up, leave Southfork, go anywhere, rather than be the cause for you two splitting up. You’re paying too high a price for me to be a Ewing.

ELLIE: [Turns and slowly turns away] I can’t let you do that, Ray. [She rubs her temple.] I guess, I guess the truth has finally come home. All this time, I couldn’t let go of Gary. I couldn’t let go of the hope that he’d come back to Southfork. But Gary’s not coming back. It’s because he doesn’t want to. This time, he wasn’t driven away. He left because, because he wasn’t happy. And you were right. I did blame you for that, Ray. It was easier to blame you than looking at myself and see the truth. And because you were Ray’s father, Jock, I focused all that hurt and hate on you being part of Takapa. But it never was Takapa. I used it as an excuse. It was all inside of me. [Tosses aside the document, turns back to Ray, sobs] And Ray, you are a Ewing. [Walks toward him] I want you to stay. [She touches his face, and then he embraces her as she cries.]

JOCK: Does that include me too?

ELLIE: Oh, yes. [Jock smiles as she walks toward him.] Forgive me. I almost destroyed everything.

JOCK: Nothing to forgive. I love you, Ellie.

ELLIE: I love you, Jock.

Filed Under: Dallas Scenes of the Day, Dallas Scenes of the Day (Classic), Features Tagged With: Barbara Bel Geddes, Ewing vs. Ewing, Jim Davis, Steve Kanaly, Susan Howard

Dallas Scene of the Day: ‘Now That I Just Won’t Take!’

September 24, 2012 by Chris Baker 4 Comments

Hear her roar

In “Dallas’s” fourth-season episode “The Gathering Storm,” Lucy and Mitch (Charlene Tilton, Leigh McCloskey) argue in their living room.

MITCH: Lucy, do you realize what’s happening to us?

LUCY: No, but apparently you do.

MITCH: We’re like roommates. We pass each other either coming or going. We don’t have a marriage. We have a quick-change routine.

LUCY: And naturally, it’s my fault.

MITCH: Well, it certainly isn’t mine. I don’t have limousines calling for me at dawn every day and I don’t come dragging in at 10:30 at night.

LUCY: Oh, no. Oh, no. Now that I just won’t take! You said it, mister. You said it loud and clear. We’ll live on “our income.” [Does air quotes] Remember that?

MITCH: I didn’t say, “our income.” I said we’d live on mine.

LUCY: Oh, great. So you’re going to park cars and work at the lab for nickels and dimes. And we’re going to live happily ever after. Is that it?

MITCH: Yes, if we have to!

LUCY: I don’t believe this. What rulebook did you drag that out of? Something that was written in the Dark Ages?

MITCH: [Sighs] I don’t need a rulebook to tell me how I feel.

LUCY: Feel about what?

MITCH: Well, that damn gold chain for one thing. Don’t you know I wanna be able to give you things like that, but I can’t?

LUCY: Oh Mitch, stop it.

MITCH: Yeah, what, at nickels and dimes you’d have to wait 10 years.

LUCY: OK, I’m sorry I said that. But it’s not my money. And it’s not your money. It’s ours. What difference does it make who earns it?

MITCH: It makes all the difference in the world. Now, if you don’t see that, and if you can’t understand what’s wrong, then we’re in real trouble.

LUCY: You said it. Not me. Just remember that. [She turns and begins walking away.]

MITCH: Lucy, look.

LUCY: [Facing him, screaming] No, you look. I have had it up to here with this stupid macho act of yours. I work my butt off to bring money home so we can live decently and I’ll be damned if I’m gonna apologize for that!

MITCH: You really don’t see anything wrong then, do you?

LUCY: Not a thing!

MITCH: Well, then I guess there’s nothing left to be said. [Grabs his coat, leaves]

Filed Under: Dallas Scenes of the Day, Dallas Scenes of the Day (Classic), Features Tagged With: Charlene Tilton, Gathering Storm, Leigh McCloskey