Dallas Scenes of the Day – Dallas Decoder

Dallas Scene of the Day: ‘Wait a Minute Now. We’re Not Drunk.’

August 7, 2013 by Chris Baker 3 Comments

Bobby Ewing, Dallas, Patrick Duffy, Sting

Buzzed Bobby

In “The Sting,” a sixth-season “Dallas” episode, an anxious Donna (Susan Howard) is on the phone in her living room.

DONNA: Bobby isn’t there either? Uh-huh. Then you haven’t heard from either one of them? Well, do me a favor, Teresa. If Ray comes up there, would you tell him to call me at home? OK, bye.

She hears rustling outside. The patio door slides open and a tipsy Bobby and Ray (Patrick Duffy, Steve Kanaly) enter.

BOBBY: [Giggly] Hi.

DONNA: Where have you been? [Ray walks toward the kitchen, followed by Bobby.] Well, maybe I need to make some coffee.

BOBBY: Oh, wait a minute now. We’re not drunk.

DONNA: Well, you could have fooled me.

RAY: Now, hold on. [Laughs, tosses Bobby a beer] Here! Just what you need, huh? [Slaps him on the shoulder] We just had a couple of beers in celebration. [Laughs, plops on the sofa]

DONNA: Well, celebration. That’s terrific. I guess you know you’ve had me half worried to death!

RAY: Worried? Why?

DONNA: Why? [Motions toward Bobby] Ever since he called, you two have been running around like crazy. I mean, you don’t tell me why or what for! Do you know what time it is?

RAY: [Rises, approaches her] Oh, honey. I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to scare you.

DONNA: You know you could have called your wife, Ray Krebbs. Would you like to tell me what it is you’re celebrating?

RAY: Think we ought to tell her?

BOBBY: [Slurry] We rode out in the spirit of John Wayne, Donna.

RAY: Yeah, we headed J.R. off at the pass. [Guffaws]

DONNA: What are you talking about?

BOBBY: OK, in plain English?

DONNA: Please.

BOBBY: [Deadpan] J.R. … [Cracks up, along with Ray] will never sell guns to the Indians again!

Filed Under: Dallas Scenes of the Day, Dallas Scenes of the Day (Classic), Features Tagged With: Patrick Duffy, Steve Kanaly, Sting (1983), Susan Howard

Dallas Scene of the Day: ‘You are a Cocky, Snotty Little Kid’

August 5, 2013 by Chris Baker 1 Comment

Caribbean Connection, Dallas, Donna Krebbs, Mickey Trotter, Susan Howard, Timothy Patrick Murphy

Ouch, Donna

In “Caribbean Connection,” a sixth-season “Dallas” episode, Mickey (Timothy Patrick Murphy) enters the Krebbs home as Donna (Susan Howard) stands at the kitchen counter, writing on a notepad.

DONNA: Hello, Mickey.

MICKEY: Hi. Is Ray here?

DONNA: [Looks up] No.

MICKEY: Well, I guess he’ll be here any minute, huh? We’re supposed to go someplace together.

DONNA: Well, if you’re gonna wait, why don’t you make yourself a cup of coffee?

MICKEY: Yeah. [Pours himself a cup while Donna moves to the sofa, which is strewn with papers] Boy, I’ll tell you, it’s amazing. [Sips]

DONNA: [Looking at files] What’s amazing?

MICKEY: Well, that people as rich as you and Ray live in a house like this?

DONNA: [Smiles] You don’t approve of the way that we live?

MICKEY: This place? I don’t know. I guess it’s all right for a ranch hand. I tell you, I’ve seen better looking tract houses.

DONNA: [Puts down the file] You know, Mickey, Ray built this house with his own two hands.

MICKEY: [Smiles] Yeah, I built a doghouse once with my own two hands. Doesn’t mean I’d live in it. [She looks away.] Sorry. It was just a joke. I tell you one thing, though. If I came into one-tenth the kind of money you two have, I’d get me a house that showed it. Something like Southfork. [Sits on the arm of the chair near her] Now you have to admit, that’s a fine looking house.

DONNA: Yes, it’s quite a house. Full of loving and warm, tender people. [Mickey chuckles.] Money means a lot to you, doesn’t it?

MICKEY: I wouldn’t mind having a little.

DONNA: Is that why you’re so interested in Lucy?

MICKEY: No. You’re real wrong about that.

DONNA: Am I?

MICKEY: [Gets up, walks away] You know, I really want to know something. What is it that you have against me? What did I ever do to you? [Silence] Come on, really. I mean, is it because once I got in trouble in Kansas? Because Ray had to bail me out. What?

DONNA: No, no. It isn’t that. I happen to think that everybody is entitled to a few mistakes.

MICKEY: Then what? I wanna know.

DONNA: [Stands, raises her voice] All right, I’m going to tell you: because you are a cocky, snotty little kid. And Ray happens to think the world of you. He has a great big emotional investment in you and you know, I just keep thinking that one of these days, you are going to let him down with a great big thud.

MICKEY: [Softly] I won’t let Ray down. Look, yes, I screwed up in the past but I’m really trying to straighten myself out.

DONNA: Maybe you are. Maybe I’m the one who’s wrong. I hope so.

MICKEY: I wouldn’t hurt Ray. Not if I can help it.

DONNA: I hope not.

Ray (Steve Kanaly) enters. He seems rushed.

RAY: Sorry I’m late.

MICKEY: No, that’s all right. I just got here.

RAY: Well, you ready to go?

MICKEY: Yeah, sorry. [Donna takes his coffee mug. Mickey walks past Ray and exits.]

RAY: You OK, honey?

DONNA: [Smiles] I’m fine.

RAY: [Smiles, gives her an air kiss] Bye.

Filed Under: Dallas Scenes of the Day, Dallas Scenes of the Day (Classic), Features Tagged With: Caribbean Connection, Susan Howard, Timothy Patrick Murphy

Dallas Scene of the Day: ‘She Died and I Lived!’

July 31, 2013 by Chris Baker 4 Comments

Brothers and Sisters, Cliff Barnes, Dallas, Ken Kercheval, Pam Ewing, Victoria Principal

The survivors

In “Brothers and Sisters,” a sixth-season “Dallas” episode, Pam and Cliff (Victoria Principal, Ken Kercheval) are in his living room, where she sits on the sofa and tells him about a potential business deal as Cliff leans against the back of a chair, not facing her.

PAM: So we went down and took a look at it. Now it’s a small division of Graisco Industries.

CLIFF: What’s that got to do with me?

PAM: Well, Mark thinks it could be a great buy for Barnes-Wentworth.

CLIFF: What, am I supposed to be honored because he wants to sell me something?

PAM: [Angry] No, you’re supposed to get off your butt, go down there and take a look at it and make a decision!

CLIFF: Forget it.

PAM: You mean you won’t even go and look at it?

CLIFF: You got it.

PAM: Cliff, listen to me. Do you know why Mama gave you that company?

CLIFF: [Walks up the steps, begins collecting laundry hanging off the bannister] That doesn’t make any difference.

PAM: Yes, it does. She left it to you because she loved you and she believed in you.

CLIFF: [Raising his voice] Look, how could she? All the times I disappointed her while she was alive. And in the beginning when you first found each other, I was the one that didn’t accept her. And you were worried, you remember? You were worried because you were afraid that I was only after her money. Well, maybe you’re right because the first chance I got, I embezzled from the company!

PAM: She forgave you!

CLIFF: [Screaming] Oh, doesn’t anybody hear me? Doesn’t anybody understand? [Tosses the laundry] I was supposed to be on that trip! [Takes a step down] She died and I lived!

PAM: That’s right, you are alive! You can’t just shrivel up and die!

CLIFF: Yeah, but what right do I have to be alive? [Sits on the stairs] You know, I wasn’t even in the hospital when she died! You think she forgave me that?

Pam’s mouth drops as Cliff buries his head in his hands. She moves toward the steps, kneels and pulls his hands away, making him face her.

PAM: [Softly] Cliff, she didn’t blame you. All she ever did was love you.

CLIFF: Oh. She loved me?

PAM: Oh, yes. She wanted you to carry on. She wanted you to continue what the two of you started together. And she asked me to take care of you. And I’m trying, if you’ll just let me.

CLIFF: She loved me?

Pam looks at him, pulls his head onto her shoulder and strokes his hair.

Filed Under: Dallas Scenes of the Day, Dallas Scenes of the Day (Classic), Features Tagged With: Brothers and Sisters, Ken Kercheval, Victoria Principal

Dallas Scene of the Day: ‘Sue Ellen, I’m in Trouble’

July 29, 2013 by Chris Baker 1 Comment

Dallas, J.R. Ewing, Larry Hagman, Legacy, Linda Gray, Sue Ellen Ewing

Present tense

In “Legacy,” a sixth-season “Dallas” episode, Sue Ellen sits alone at the breakfast table on the Southfork patio as J.R. (Larry Hagman) paces and reads the newspaper.

J.R.: I tell you, I’ve never read such depressing news. Rebecca’s poor old husband must be spinning in his grave. He worked his butt off all his life building a fortune under the Wentworth name, and two-thirds of it now goes to some family named Barnes.

SUE ELLEN: Darlin’, get yourself some breakfast and sit down.

J.R.: [Slaps down the newspaper in front of her, points to the article] Look here, look there. The oil company Barnes-Wentworth goes to Cliff Barnes outright. I should have stayed with the funny papers.

SUE ELLEN: I don’t know why you’re so concerned about this.

J.R.: With Pamela an heiress, Barnes wielding major power? When Rebecca was alive, she could at least temper his idiocy. Now that she’s gone, he’s free to do any fool thing he wants to.

SUE ELLEN: I think Rebecca was very wise, the way she took care of her children.

J.R.: [Exasperated] Giving Barnes complete control of that company is like giving John Ross a loaded gun to play with.

SUE ELLEN: [Laughs] J.R., Rebecca’s will shouldn’t concern you at all.

J.R.: Well, Barnes is Bobby’s brother-in-law, you know? And Bobby’s not too far behind me in this little contest we’ve got going.

SUE ELLEN: Cliff’s not going to help him. He hates all the Ewings now.

J.R.: Well, who knows what that lunatic’s going to do? And look where Pam came out on this deal.

SUE ELLEN: Bobby and Pam are separated.

J.R.: Yeah, let’s just hope it stays that way.

SUE ELLEN: I don’t hope any such thing.

J.R.: Sue Ellen, I just mean until I win Ewing Oil. [Snatches back the paper, sits]

SUE ELLEN: Darlin’, you really seem to be worried about all this. Are you afraid we’re going to lose? [Gets up from her seat, sits on the arm of his chair, rubs his shoulders]

J.R.: Sue Ellen, I am in trouble. I lost my variance. Bobby made a killing on that Wellington deal. Pamela inherited a fortune. If they ever get together again, if she starts to help him, they could wield a frightening amount of clout. Really.

SUE ELLEN: I’ve never heard you talk like this before.

J.R.: Like I said Sue Ellen, I’m in trouble. I’ve just got to find a way out.

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

Dallas Scene of the Day: ‘Where Will This All End?’

July 24, 2013 by Chris Baker 3 Comments

Barbara Bel Geddes, Dallas, Miss Ellie Ewing, Requiem

She called it

In “Requiem,” a sixth-season “Dallas” episode, Miss Ellie (Barbara Bel Geddes) comes to the Southfork kitchen counter and speaks to Sue Ellen (Linda Gray), who is seated at the table.

ELLIE: Good morning, Sue Ellen.

SUE ELLEN: Good morning, Miss Ellie.

ELLIE: Poor Bobby. Rebecca’s death has been so hard on him. [Pours coffee]

SUE ELLEN: I’m sure it has.

ELLIE: He looks worn out.

SUE ELLEN: Let me tell you something, Miss Ellie. I think it’s about time that your other son got a little sympathy too.

ELLIE: What did you say?

SUE ELLEN: [Holds up a newspaper] J.R. just lost the variance, thanks to Donna Krebbs.

ELLIE: Sue Ellen, how can you compare those two things?

SUE ELLEN: Well, I feel terrible about Rebecca’s death. But still. …

ELLIE: Still nothing! I’m astonished at you.

SUE ELLEN: My husband is very important to me. But this battle that he’s fighting is costing him.

ELLIE: It’s costing all of us. And you just don’t understand how much. Think ahead, Sue Ellen. Think 25 or 30 years ahead. I won’t be here then. And the fight won’t be between J.R. and Bobby. It’ll be between John Ross and Christopher. Think carefully, Sue Ellen. Your loyalty to your husband is a wonderful thing, but you’re a mother too. And where will this all end?

Filed Under: Dallas Scenes of the Day, Dallas Scenes of the Day (Classic), Features Tagged With: Barbara Bel Geddes, Linda Gray, Requiem

Dallas Scene of the Day: ‘You’re Not the Man I Married!’

July 22, 2013 by Chris Baker 6 Comments

Crash of '83, Dallas, Pam Ewing, Victoria Principal

Sing it, sister

In “Crash of ’83,” a sixth-season “Dallas” episode, a sullen Bobby (Patrick Duffy) enters his bedroom late at night and sits in a chair while Pam (Victoria Principal) reads in bed.

PAM: [Unsympathetic] You look terrible.

BOBBY: Nothing like a celebration to really depress me.

PAM: I don’t understand.

BOBBY: You know that guy, Hicks? On Donna’s commission? J.R. had him bought and paid for. And I pulled a little number on him.

PAM: [Concerned] What do you mean?

BOBBY: I got down in the mud, honey. Just like I said I could. I forced him to change his vote on the variance.

PAM: What did you do?

BOBBY: I blackmailed him. I feel so dirty. [Rests his head in his hand]

PAM: [Puts down her book, leans forward] What do you want from me? Sympathy? Because you’re not going to get it.

BOBBY: Pam, I don’t want your sympathy.

PAM: Oh, yes you do. You want me to slap your wrist and then reassure you that you’re still the same wonderful man underneath it all. Well, I’m not going to help you out. You can stay dirty.

BOBBY: You don’t understand.

PAM: Understand? I understand that you’re not the man I married! The Bobby I love would rather be dead than blackmail Hicks or anybody else, double-cross the cartel and force his own mother into court.

BOBBY: [Exasperated] There were reasons.

PAM: [Screaming] Reasons? There’s only one reason! You would do anything to beat J.R. and get the company. Anything!

Bobby looks down.

Filed Under: Dallas Scenes of the Day, Dallas Scenes of the Day (Classic), Features Tagged With: Crash of ’83, Patrick Duffy, Victoria Principal

Dallas Scene of the Day: ‘No, J.R.’

July 17, 2013 by Chris Baker 3 Comments

A Ewing is a Ewing, Dallas, Holly Harwood, Lois Chiles

In “A Ewing is a Ewing,” a sixth-season “Dallas” episode, Holly (Lois Chiles) arrives in the darkened Ewing Oil reception area and finds J.R. (Larry Hagman) waiting for her.

J.R.: Hello, Holly.

HOLLY: Why the late-hour meeting, J.R.? I don’t understand why you couldn’t tell me what you wanted —

J.R.: There are a number of things you don’t understand, darlin’. That’s why I asked you to meet me here. Come on in my office. [Walks into his office, stands near the door] Come on, hon. [Holly comes to the door, pauses] Come on. [She enters and he closes the door behind her.] Like a drink?

HOLLY: No. Get on with it, J.R.

J.R.: [Pouring] Looks like I’m running into teetotalers all over the place. I had a meeting with a gentleman this afternoon, wouldn’t have a drink with me. [Sips from his glass]

HOLLY: J.R., I think we better talk some other time.

J.R.: You told the Air Force that I was behind your attempt to cancel their contract. [She’s silent.] Holly, we had an agreement. No one was to know I had any connection with Harwood Oil.

HOLLY: Anytime you want out of your contract —

J.R.: I don’t want out of the contract. And I don’t want any more stupid mistakes. You understand that?

HOLLY: What I understand is that I made the biggest mistake of my life when I made a deal with you.

J.R.: Not if you listen and do exactly like I tell you.

HOLLY: For how long?

J.R.: [Pauses, looks away, then back at her] As long as I need you.

HOLLY: Then what? You break Harwood? Ewing picks up the pieces?

J.R.: I don’t need to break Harwood. I already run it. And from now on, I run you too, darlin’.

HOLLY: Never!

She turns away from him. He approaches her from behind.

J.R.: Holly, you don’t have any choice, honey. [Touches her hair]

HOLLY: Take your hands off me, J.R.

J.R.: You wanted me once. [Reaches around, unbuttons her jacket]

HOLLY: You turned me down.

J.R.: Now we can start from scratch. [Pulls her jacket off her shoulders]

HOLLY: No, J.R. I don’t want this.

J.R.: I give the orders. You just follow them. That’s the way it’s going to be.

HOLLY: You won’t enjoy it.

J.R.: You better make damn sure I do.

Filed Under: Dallas Scenes of the Day, Dallas Scenes of the Day (Classic) Tagged With: Ewing is a Ewing, Larry Hagman, Lois Chiles

Dallas Scene of the Day: ‘My Pretty Little Ellie’

July 15, 2013 by Chris Baker 7 Comments

Barbara Bel Geddes, Dallas, Miss Ellie Ewing, Reckoning

Poor Mama

In “The Reckoning,” a sixth-season “Dallas” episode, Brooks (Donald Moffat) questions Miss Ellie (Barbara Bel Geddes) during her testimony at the hearing to overturn Jock’s will.

BROOKS: Mrs. Ewing, did your husband ever write you about the codicil?

ELLIE: No.

BROOKS: Nothing at all?

ELLIE: Well, he told me on the phone that he had been trying to plan ahead, but it was hard. He was tired. He said that he just wanted to lie down and go to sleep for awhile. I remember that that frightened me.

BROOKS: Had you ever heard him say anything like that before?

ELLIE: Never. Jock was as strong as a bull. It must have been the fever or whatever. I don’t know, but he just wasn’t himself down there.

BROOKS: But he did write to you about how he was feeling?

ELLIE: Yes, several times.

BROOKS: Mrs. Ewing, may I ask you to read some of what he wrote to you?

Brooks pulls a letter from an envelope and hands it to Ellie. She puts on her eyeglasses and studies the letter for a moment, then begins to read it aloud.

ELLIE: “I’ve forgotten how miserable the jungle can be. Between the heat and the fatigue, I’m about done in. I’ve been running a fever lately, but I guess I’ll get over that. If Punk can survive it, so can I. We’re getting things done. It’s not like when we were young, though, Ellie. [Voice begins to break] I’m really feeling the years down here. My concentration isn’t what it used to be, either. I find myself trying to figure something out, then just drifting off somewhere. Back to younger days. Younger times. It’s funny: I stare out, and all these jungle plants just kind of dissolve — and there’s your face instead, just waiting there for me. My pretty little girl. My pretty little Ellie. Oh, how I miss you down here.” [Removes her glasses, wipes her eyes]

BROOKS: Mrs. Ewing, I won’t ask you to read any further. May we place these letters in the hands of the judge? [Hands letter to bailiff] Mrs. Ewing, I have just one more question for you: Aside from the fever and exhaustion, are you saying that at the time your husband wrote the codicil, he lacked mental competence? [She looks at J.R. and Bobby, seated across the room.] Mrs. Ewing, please answer the question: Are you saying when your husband wrote the codicil, he was mentally incompetent?

ELLIE: I’m saying that his sense of judgment not up to his usual standards.

BROOKS: That’s not what I’m asking.

ELLIE: If that’s the legal term you need to break the will, then yes, Jock was not mentally competent. [She sobs.]

Filed Under: Dallas Scenes of the Day, Dallas Scenes of the Day (Classic), Features Tagged With: Barbara Bel Geddes, Donald Moffat, Reckoning

Dallas Scene of the Day: ‘We’re Partners, Aren’t We?’

July 10, 2013 by Chris Baker 1 Comment

Dallas, Ewing Blues, J.R. Ewing, Larry Hagman, Linda Gray, Sue Ellen Ewing

Two of a kind

In “The Ewing Blues,” a sixth-season “Dallas” episode, J.R. (Larry Hagman) stands in front of his bedroom mirror, holding an icepack to his swollen face, when a smiling Sue Ellen (Linda Gray) enters the room.

J.R.: What do you find so amusing, Sue Ellen?

SUE ELLEN: Well, I was just wondering whatever happened to your ability of handling — I mean, dealing — with people.

J.R.: Well, I just forgot that cowboy has a terrible temper. He’s lucky he didn’t have his spurs on. [Sits on the bed] Rub my back, would you?

SUE ELLEN: Of course. [She removes her robe and sits behind him as he winces in pain.] I can’t wait to see you on that TV show.

J.R.: You like that sort of thing, don’t you?

SUE ELLEN: [Glides a finger down his face] I think it’s nice to be the wife of a celebrity.

J.R.: I tell you the truth, I’m kind of nervous about, about being up there, and speaking in public.

SUE ELLEN: [Giggles] Well, you’ll think of something to say. I have all the confidence in the world in you.

J.R.: Well, I’d have a lot more confidence if I had somebody up there with me.

SUE ELLEN: [Leans back] You want me on the show with you?

J.R.: [Turns to face her] If it wouldn’t be an imposition.

SUE ELLEN: You mean that, don’t you?

J.R.: We’re partners, aren’t we?

SUE ELLEN: You really mean that commitment that you made at the lake, don’t you?

J.R.: [Strokes her face] Of course I do.

SUE ELLEN: I can’t tell you how happy that makes me feel.

She leans back further and gazes at him. He smiles.

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

Dallas Scene of the Day: ‘It’s Up to Me to Run This Family’

July 8, 2013 by Chris Baker 3 Comments

Barbara Bel Geddes, Charlene Tilton, Dallas, Lucy Ewing, Mama Dearest, Miss Ellie Ewing

Late show

In “Mama Dearest,” a sixth-season “Dallas” episode, Miss Ellie and Lucy (Barbara Bel Geddes, Charlene Tilton) sit at the Southfork kitchen table late at night.

LUCY: Was what J.R. did really so wrong?

ELLIE: It was wrong because of why he did it. Only to get the best of Bobby. And it hurt a lot of our friends at the same time.

LUCY: But it was a business deal, wasn’t it?

ELLIE: Yes, it was.

LUCY: You know how I feel about J.R. I mean, I hardly ever approve of anything he does.

ELLIE: Lucy, you’re very troubled about this. Why?

LUCY: Well, Granddaddy would have known that something like this could happen. He knew how J.R. operated. He had to take that into account when he decided that J.R. and Bobby should compete for Ewing Oil. Granddaddy was a very smart man. Especially when it came to business.

ELLIE: [Smiles] Yes, he was.

LUCY: Then how can you try and change what he wanted done?

ELLIE: It’s very difficult for me, Lucy.

LUCY: Well, then don’t do it. I’m sure it’s all turning out just the way Granddaddy expected it.

ELLIE: [Smiles] Oh, Lucy. I know how much you loved him. I did too. And I respected his judgment. I found him very wise. But even when he was alive, things didn’t always work out the way he planned. But then he was around to make the changes and straighten everything out. It’s gone wrong. And he’s not around to fix it.

LUCY: Grandma, are you sure you’re doing what’s right?

ELLIE: No. No, I’m not sure. I don’t want to go against your granddaddy’s wishes. But he’s not here anymore. And it’s up to me to run this family.

Lucy reaches across the table and touches Ellie’s arm.

Filed Under: Dallas Scenes of the Day, Dallas Scenes of the Day (Classic), Features Tagged With: Barbara Bel Geddes, Charlene Tilton, Mama Dearest