Critique: ‘Dallas’ Episode 110 — ‘Hit and Run’

June 17, 2013 by 5 Comments
Dallas, Hit and Run, J.R. Ewing, Larry Hagman

Shady

To fully appreciate how much composer Richard Lewis Warren contributes to “Hit and Run,” I challenge you to an experiment. First, turn off the volume and watch the sequence where reckless driver Carol Driscoll strikes the pedestrian. Without music, it plays like a series of disjointed shots: Here’s Carol leaving the beauty parlor, there she is getting behind the wheel of her Cadillac Seville, now she’s screaming as a body smashes her windshield. Next, watch the scene again with the volume up. Warren’s dramatic strings unite the images into a narrative, lending the scene urgency, tension and suspense. The music, more than anything else, makes this the episode’s most memorable moment.

Of course, the scheme behind Carol’s mishap is pretty compelling too. J.R. wants to blackmail her husband Walt, an ethical state government official, into doing him a favor. To gain leverage, J.R. taps dirty cop Harry McSween to orchestrate Carol’s collision, which ends with the pedestrian’s “friend” assuring Carol that the man she struck is perfectly fine and that Carol should go home — which she does, foolishly. Little does she know the two men are part of a scheme to ensnare her husband. In the episode’s closing moments, J.R. happens to be visiting the Driscolls when McSween arrives and announces Carol is in big trouble for fleeing an accident scene. J.R. offers to intervene — and Walt eagerly accepts. “J.R., if you could get my wife out of this, I’d owe you. I really would,” he says.

Ben Piazza and Martha Smith are terrific as the naïve, desperate Driscolls, but this moment, like so many others in “Hit and Run,” belongs to Larry Hagman. In the final shot, Walt and Carol stand together as J.R. faces them, grips their shoulders and gazes into their eyes. It’s the kind of sincere, everything’s-going-to-be-OK gesture that Bill Clinton used when comforting disaster victims during his presidency. “Carol, Walt, what are friends for?” J.R. says. As Hagman delivers the line, Warren brings back the dramatic strings from the accident scene and lets it play through the freeze frame of J.R.’s self-satisfied half-smile. This is a great ending.

The other subplot in “Hit and Run” has Bobby weighing whether to join the McLeish brothers in their Canadian drilling venture. Bobby’s dilemma: The deal is all-but-guaranteed to produce a big windfall, but the money might not start rolling in until after the contest for Ewing Oil ends. “I refuse to make a perfect deal just so J.R. can inherit it,” Bobby tells Pam. Scriptwriter Howard Lakin does a nice job making sure we understand the risk Bobby faces. At the end of the episode, when Bobby announces he’s going to take a chance and join the McLeish deal, it feels like a moment of high drama.

In the meantime, “Hit and Run” gives Victoria Principal some of the best scenes she’s had at this point during “Dallas’s” sixth season. I like Pam’s cute exchange with Bobby in the Southfork living room, as well as the scene where she entertains the McLeish brothers, which foreshadows the business savvy she’ll demonstrate in later seasons. Principal’s best moment, though, is Pam’s confrontation with Rebecca, who is consumed with getting Cliff to resume his fight with the Ewings. “Mother, you’ve always had strength. You proved that when you left your children to go out and start a new life. It’s a cold, calculating kind of strength. Is that what you want for Cliff?” Pam asks. Principal delivers the line sharply, and it’s nice to see the “Dallas” producers haven’t forgotten Rebecca’s sins.

Other highlights of “Hit and Run” include the first appearance of Annie, Lucy’s photographer. Fay Hauser plays the role in three guest spots, becoming one of the few African American actors to appear with anything approaching regularity on “Dallas.” The episode also gives us John Larroquette’s debut as Lucy’s lawyer, Philip Colton. It’s a small role, but Larroquette manages to give us a glimpse of the charm that would later make him one of television’s most popular actors.

But make no mistake: The only scenes stolen in “Hit and Run” have Hagman’s fingerprints on them. In addition to the sequence where J.R. comes to the rescue of the hapless Driscolls, this episode gives us J.R.’s classic first encounter with Ray’s cousin and Southfork’s newest ranch hand, Mickey Trotter. When J.R. says it’s good to know there’s “a whole wagonload of Krebbses running the ranch now,” Mickey points out that he doesn’t share Ray’s last name. “Oh, well,” J.R. responds. “I’m bound to sleep more soundly tonight knowing that.”

Grade: A

_______________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

Ben Piazza, Carol Driscoll, Dallas, Hit and Run, Martha Smith, Walt Driscoll

Suckers

‘HIT AND RUN’

Season 6, Episode 7

Airdate: November 12, 1982

Audience: 20.6 million homes, ranking 4th in the weekly ratings

Writer: Howard Lakin

Director: Michael Preece

Synopsis: J.R. secretly orchestrates a hit-and-run accident involving Driscoll’s wife, then offers to get her out of trouble with the police. Bobby joins the McLeish deal. Cliff begins his job as president of Barnes-Wentworth Oil. Pam objects to Rebecca’s vow to get revenge against the Ewings. Lucy prepares for her divorce.

Cast: Barbara Bel Geddes (Miss Ellie Ewing), James Brown (Detective Harry McSween), Paul Carr (Ted Prince), Roseanna Christiansen (Teresa), Patrick Duffy (Bobby Ewing), Fern Fitzgerald (Marilee Stone), Tom Fuccello (Senator Dave Culver), Linda Gray (Sue Ellen Ewing), Larry Hagman (J.R. Ewing), Nicholas Hammond (Bill Johnson), Fay Hauser (Annie), Susan Howard (Donna Krebbs), Steve Kanaly (Ray Krebbs), Ken Kercheval (Cliff Barnes), Kenneth Kimmins (Thornton McLeish), Audrey Landers (Afton Cooper), John Larroquette (Phillip Colton), J. Patrick McNamara (Jarrett McLeish), Timothy Patrick Murphy (Mickey Trotter), George O. Petrie (Harv Smithfield), Ben Piazza (Walt Driscoll), Priscilla Pointer (Rebecca Wentworth), Victoria Principal (Pam Ewing), Debbie Rennard (Sly), Dale Robertson (Frank Crutcher), Martha Smith (Carol Driscoll), Paul Sorensen (Andy Bradley), Don Starr (Jordan Lee), Charlene Tilton (Lucy Cooper), Deborah Tranelli (Phyllis), Ray Wise (Blair Sullivan), Morgan Woodward (Punk Anderson)

“Hit and Run” is available on DVD and at Amazon.com and iTunes. Watch the episode and share your comments below.

Filed Under: Critiques, Critiques (Classic), Opinion Tagged With: , , , , , , , ,

Critique: ‘Dallas’ Episode 109 — ‘Aftermath’

June 12, 2013 by 24 Comments
Aftermath, Dallas, J.R. Ewing, Larry Hagman

Staying afloat

“Aftermath” lets the audience into J.R.’s head in a way other “Dallas” episodes don’t. In the most revealing scene, J.R. and Sue Ellen sweep into a fancy French restaurant, where the dinnertime crowd congratulates our hero on his recent return to power at Ewing Oil. The handshakes and backslaps end when J.R. and Sue Ellen encounter Rebecca, who interrupts her meal with Clayton to remind J.R. that she still blames him for Cliff’s attempted suicide and wants revenge. “Since the only way to your heart is through your company, I intend to make that company bleed,” Rebecca says.

J.R. plays it cool, telling Rebecca she has her work cut out for her, but when he and Sue Ellen are alone at their table, we see how rattled he is. “I can take Bobby with one hand tied behind me, but I get the distinct feeling there’s an army mobilizing against me,” J.R. says. It’s a reminder that he isn’t impervious. Not that this moment of vulnerability lasts long. A few scenes later, J.R. is all smiles as he tries to persuade state government official Walt Driscoll to allow him to pump more oil than the law allows. Stop and think about what Larry Hagman does here: He plays a man who appears to be brimming with bravado, even though he’s secretly afraid his enemies are out to get him. It’s a tricky performance, but of course Hagman does it beautifully.

The scene with Driscoll is also interesting because it underscores the sexism in which “Dallas” seems to revel. J.R. meets Driscoll on Holly’s yacht, where J.R. refers to her as a “pretty little thing” and suggests she’d be willing to sleep with Driscoll. “She has a thing for men our age,” J.R. says. Driscoll demurs, telling J.R. that he’s happily married. Later, after J.R. has asked Harry McSween to dig up dirt on Driscoll, the detective reports Driscoll’s wife has been arrested a few times for reckless driving. “Boy, you follow that lady for a couple of blocks and you’ll see why,” McSween says. Watching this exchange, I can’t help but feel like the people who make “Dallas” are having a little too much fun playing up old stereotypes about women behind the wheel.

The other women in “Aftermath” don’t come off much better. After Rebecca threatens J.R. in the restaurant, she buys Wade Luce’s oil company; the suggestion is she plans to use the business as a weapon in her war with the Ewings. I like seeing Rebecca depicted as a woman who is so successful, she can buy an oil company on a whim, but her obsession with revenge makes her seem irrational. Likewise, I appreciate how the opening scenes of “Aftermath” show how J.R., Bobby and Ray are each sorting through the implications of Jock’s will with help from the women in their lives. But wouldn’t it be nice if the women had a little more to do than listen to their men? At least in J.R. and Sue Ellen’s scene, she figures out he knew what was in Jock’s will before anyone else.

Even though Pam doesn’t have much to do in her scene with Bobby besides express her worry about the contest, the couple’s exchange is still worth paying attention to. “Pam,” Bobby says, “J.R. doesn’t want that company just for himself. He wants it for John Ross. And you and I have a son too. And I’m not going to sit back and watch J.R. steal something that rightfully belongs to Christopher.”

Oh, Bobby. If you only knew how right you are.

Grade: B

_______________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

Aftermath, Dallas, Priscilla Pointer, Rebecca Wentworth

Out for revenge

‘AFTERMATH’

Season 6, Episode 6

Airdate: November 5, 1982

Audience: 20.3 million homes, ranking 3rd in the weekly ratings

Writer: David Paulsen

Director: Leonard Katzman

Synopsis: J.R. returns to Ewing Oil and pressures state regulator Walt Driscoll for permission to pump more oil than is allowed, but Driscoll turns him down. The McLeish brothers invite Bobby to join them in a Canadian oil venture, but he fears the wells won’t come in before his contest with J.R. ends. Rebecca buys Wade Luce’s oil company and asks Cliff to run it. Lucy decides to resume her modeling career.

Cast: Robert Ackerman (Wade Luce), Barbara Bel Geddes (Miss Ellie Ewing), James L. Brown (Detective Harry McSween), Danone Camden (Kendall), Lois Chiles (Holly Harwood), Patrick Duffy (Bobby Ewing), Linda Gray (Sue Ellen Ewing), Larry Hagman (J.R. Ewing), Susan Howard (Donna Krebbs), Steve Kanaly (Ray Krebbs), Howard Keel (Clayton Farlow), Ken Kercheval (Cliff Barnes), Kenneth Kimmins (Thornton McLeish), Audrey Landers (Afton Cooper), J. Patrick McNamara (Jarrett McLeish), Timothy Patrick Murphy (Mickey Trotter), Paul Napier (Harold Boyd), George O. Petrie (Harv Smithfield), Ben Piazza (Walt Driscoll), Priscilla Pointer (Rebecca Wentworth), Victoria Principal (Pam Ewing), Debbie Rennard (Sly), Charlene Tilton (Lucy Cooper), Deborah Tranelli (Phyllis), Ray Wise (Blair Sullivan), Morgan Woodward (Punk Anderson)

“Aftermath” is available on DVD and at Amazon.com and iTunes. Watch the episode and share your comments below.

Filed Under: Critiques, Critiques (Classic), Opinion Tagged With: ,

Critique: ‘Knots Landing’ Episode 59 — ‘New Beginnings’

June 11, 2013 by 8 Comments
J.R. Ewing, Knots Landing, Larry Hagman, New Beginnings

Home field advantage

“New Beginnings” is chockablock with trivia. Larry Hagman and Patrick Duffy both guest star in this “Knots Landing” episode, the only time two marquee players from “Dallas” appear in the same hour of the spinoff series. (Eric Farlow, who was little Christopher Ewing on “Dallas,” pops up too, along with Philip Levien, who had two roles on “Dallas” and appears here as a record producer.) “New Beginnings” also marked the only time “Knots Landing” followed its parent show in CBS’s Friday night lineup. Not only did this allow the spinoff to crack Nielsen’s weekly top 10 for the first time, the episode’s audience — viewers in 21.3 million homes tuned in — makes “New Beginnings” the most-watched “Knots Landing” broadcast ever.

This also happens to be one of Hagman’s most satisfying “Knots Landing” guest spots. In most of J.R.’s earlier visits to the show, the writers strained to come up with excuses to bring the Texas oil baron to the suburbs of Southern California. (The biggest eye-roller: J.R. shows up to steal the prototype for the environmentally friendly car engine that Sid Fairgate is building in his garage.) “New Beginnings” deftly avoids this dilemma by having all of J.R. and Bobby’s scenes take place in Dallas, where Gary has come for the reading of Jock’s will. This solution is so simple — instead of bringing J.R. to “Knots Landing,” take “Knots Landing” to him — you have to wonder why the producers didn’t try it sooner.

Even though J.R. and Bobby are on their home turf, scriptwriter Mann Rubin keeps the spotlight on Gary, whose storyline dominates this episode. In “Jock’s Will,” the “Dallas” segment that sets up “New Beginnings,” Gary learns his late father left him $10 million, but the inheritance comes with strings attached: For the first few years, Gary is entitled only to the interest the money earns. Gary then spends most of “New Beginnings” pouting about the terms of the will, until he finally realizes he isn’t angry at Jock; he’s sad that his dad is dead.

The scene where Gary explains this epiphany to his girlfriend Abby is quite poignant. Jock and Gary never quite figured out how to relate to each other; now they’ll never get another chance to try. Shackelford is adept at making the audience feel the rage that’s always brewing within Gary, but he also does a nice job in scenes like this, which demonstrates how much of his character’s anger is rooted in heartbreak. Later, when Gary stands up to J.R., you can tell Shackelford is enjoying the opportunity to remind the audience that his character does, in fact, have a backbone. Shackelford also has a good scene at the top of the hour, when Bobby gently reminds Gary that his inheritance, even though it comes with strings, is nothing to scoff at. (More trivia: This will be Duffy and Shackelford’s last scene together until their recent reunion on TNT’s “Dallas.”)

In addition to bringing Abby into the mix, Rubin’s script makes room Gary’s other love, estranged wife Valene. In the episode’s first scene, after director Lorraine Senna shows us a sweeping aerial shot of the Dallas skyline while the familiar “Dallas” theme music plays, we watch as Abby arrives at Gary’s hotel to surprise him. Unbeknownst to them, Val is also staying at the hotel while in town to publicize her new Ewing-inspired novel, “Capricorn Crude.” The two women have several close calls throughout the episode but never run into each other until the last scene, when they both respond to a bellhop’s page for “Mrs. Gary Ewing.” The exchange that follows is appropriately bitchy (“Success seems to agree with you” says Abby; “I might say the same about you,” replies Val), but it’s also kind of bittersweet. This is especially true when the slow, sentimental version of the “Knots Landing” theme begins playing under the dialogue.

Of course, Donna Mills and Joan Van Ark have their best moments with Hagman. When Gary leaves the hotel to visit Southfork, J.R. visits Abby, who asks him why he feels so threatened by his ne’er-do-well middle brother. J.R.’s response is revealing. “That man is full of anger and frustration. Maybe even hatred, I don’t know. If he ever channeled all that energy … well, it could make my life miserable,” he says. Later, Val is signing books in the hotel gift shop when she looks up and sees the next person in line is none other than J.R. “I bought it fair and square with the promise that you’d autograph it for me,” he says with mock innocence. Her hissed response: “You are disgusting.”

The scene really does nothing to advance the storyline in this episode, yet it’s still the most entertaining exchange during the hour. This is the last time we ever see Val clash with J.R., which might make the scene kind of sad — if it wasn’t so much fun.

Grade: A

_______________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

Gary Ewing, Knots Landing, New Beginnings, Ted Shackelford

Man of the hour

‘NEW BEGINNINGS’

“Knots Landing” Season 4, Episode 6

Airdate: October 29, 1982

Audience: 21.3 million homes, ranking 4th in the weekly ratings

Writer: Mann Rubin

Director: Lorraine Senna

Synopsis: Gary is angry about the strings attached to his inheritance from Jock but comes to accept it with help from Abby. J.R. tells Val he bought the company that published her book.

Cast: Rita Crafts (customer), Kevin Dobson (Mack MacKenzie), Patrick Duffy (Bobby Ewing), Reynaldo Duran (bellhop), Eric Farlow (Christopher Ewing), Larry Hagman (J.R. Ewing), Julie Harris (Lilimae Clements), Lisa Hartman (Ciji Dunne), James Houghton (Kenny Ward), Dudley Knight (bookstore manager), Michele Lee (Karen Fairgate), Philip Levien (Andy), Claudia Lonow (Diana Fairgate), Donna Mills (Abby Cunningham), Pat Petersen (Michael Fairgate), Michael Sabatino (Chip Roberts), Ted Shackelford (Gary Ewing), Louise Sorel (Bess Riker), Steve Shaw (Eric Fairgate), Joan Van Ark (Valene Ewing), James Winkler (desk clerk)

Share your comments about “New Beginnings” below.

Filed Under: Critiques, Critiques (Classic), Opinion Tagged With: , , , , , , , , , ,

Critique: ‘Dallas’ Episode 108 — ‘Jock’s Will’

June 10, 2013 by 16 Comments
Bobby Ewing, Dallas, Jock's Will, J.R. Ewing, Larry Hagman, Patrick Duffy

Let the games begin

At the end of “Jock’s Will,” the Ewings gather in the Southfork living room to hear Harv Smithfield read the family patriarch’s last will and testament. Everyone is present — even Gary, who has flown in from “Knots Landing” for the occasion. The scene is tense, dramatic and historic. Besides being one of the few times we see almost all of the original cast members in the same place at the same time, this also marks the beginning of “Dallas’s” greatest storyline: J.R. and Bobby’s epic battle for control of Ewing Oil.

The scene, which lasts about seven minutes, is also a showcase for Michael Preece, one of the original “Dallas’s” most skilled directors. He begins with a wide shot of the actors positioned in front of George O. Petrie, who sits at a desk that seems to have magically appeared in the living room for this scene. (I suppose the desk is like the Ewings’ television set, which only pops up when the plot calls for someone in the family to watch it.) Only four actors here have dialogue: Barbara Bel Geddes, Larry Hagman, Patrick Duffy and Petrie, who delivers almost 700 words, far more than any of the others. Even though the rest of the cast is silent, we never question what their characters are thinking, thanks to Preece’s reaction shots. When Harv announces Gary’s inheritance comes with strings attached, we see Ted Shackelford clench his jaw. Charlene Tilton’s eyes bulge when Lucy learns she’s become a multi-millionaire. Victoria Principal’s jaw drops when Pam realizes Bobby is going to have to fight J.R. for the company.

Bel Geddes gets the most dramatic response. When Ellie hears Jock’s line that Ewing Oil can only be run by “the man that wants it the most,” she furrows her brow and whispers gravely, “Oh, Jock. No.” I wonder: What are Preece and scriptwriter David Paulsen are trying to convey here? Is Ellie afraid Jock is about to return control of the company to J.R., whom she recently ousted from the president’s chair? Or does she sense — even before Harv announces it — that Jock is about to pit their sons against each other?

(In the same spirit, the announcement of the contest forces us to reconsider the end of “Where There’s a Will,” when J.R. sneaks a peek at Jock’s will. In that scene, J.R.’s reaction — “Thank you, Daddy, thank you” — leads us to believe Jock has left him the company. In “Jock’s Will,” the audience finally catches up and learns what J.R. did: that Jock wants him to compete with Bobby for control of Ewing Oil. So why does J.R. thank his daddy? Is he so confident he’ll beat Bobby that he considers the contest a mere formality? Or could it be that J.R. simply loves a good fight, and he’s thanking Jock for giving him one?)

As far as the contest itself: Some might see Jock’s decision to not choose a successor as a copout, but I believe it fits his character perfectly. Of course the old man would want his sons to duke it out to determine, once and for all, who is the better businessman. The contest also ends up producing some of the best storytelling seen on “Dallas,” as well as “Knots Landing.” (But don’t take my word for it: Hill Place, an always-interesting TV and movie blog, recently published a thorough examination of the long-range ramifications of Jock’s will on both shows.)

There’s also quite a bit of poignancy to the end of the will-reading scene. Jock’s final words are ominous: He declares that if J.R. or Bobby die before the contest is over, the remaining son will automatically take over the company. This prompts J.R. to turn to his younger brother, raise a glass of bourbon and say, “Well, Bobby, to your good health and very long life.” Three seasons later, after Duffy’s character had been killed off, J.R.’s toast seemed prescient. Now that Hagman is gone, the line feels bittersweet. I also can’t help but note the parallels between Jock’s will, which leads to the high point in their rivalry, and the letter that Bobby reads at the end of the new “Dallas’s” second season, which effectively brings their warring to an end.

The other highlight of “Jock’s Will” is the courtroom scene where the Ewing patriarch is declared dead. As the judge announces his decision (“The judgment of this court is that John Ross Ewing Sr. died in a place unknown, in the jungles of South America”), Preece gives us a tight shot of each Ewing seated in the gallery: First Pam, then Bobby, J.R., Sue Ellen and finally Ellie. Everyone looks stricken — and none more so than Mama, whose tears flow freely — but don’t overlook Bruce Broughton’s mournful background music, which also lends this scene power.

Other good scenes in “Jock’s Will” include the sequences set in Kansas, where Ray’s struggle to connect with cocky Mickey strains his relationship with Donna. I also like J.R. and Sue Ellen’s night on the town (especially the nifty overhead shot that Preece gives us of Hagman and Linda Gray on the nightclub dance floor), as well as the scene where the couple sets the date for their second wedding. Or, to be more precise: J.R. sets the date by presenting Sue Ellen with an invitation to their first wedding, with the original date (February 15, 1970) scratched out and the new one (December 3, 1982) penciled in.

I can’t help but think there’s plenty of room on that invitation for a third wedding date. How sad that we never got to see it.

Grade: A

_______________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

Barbara Bel Geddes, Bobby Ewing, Charlene Tilton, Dallas, Donna Krebbs, Gary Ewing, George O. Petrie, Harv Smithfield, J.R. Ewing, Linda Gray, Larry Hagman, Lucy Cooper, Miss Ellie Ewing, Patrick Duffy, Ray Krebbs, Steve Kanaly, Sue Ellen Ewing, Susan Howard, Ted Shackelfod

Gang’s all here

‘JOCK’S WILL’

Season 6, Episode 5

Airdate: October 29, 1982

Audience: 23.6 million homes, ranking 1st in the weekly ratings

Writer: David Paulsen

Director: Michael Preece

Synopsis: The Ewings have Jock declared legally dead and learn his will sets up a yearlong contest between J.R. and Bobby for control of Ewing Oil. J.R. and Sue Ellen set a wedding date. Ray and Donna bring Mickey home with them to Southfork. Pam urges Lucy to snap out of her depression.

Cast: Robert Ackerman (Wade Luce), Tyler Banks (John Ross Ewing), Barbara Bel Geddes (Miss Ellie Ewing), Roseanna Christiansen (Teresa), George Cooper (Lee Evans), Patrick Duffy (Bobby Ewing), Phyllis Flax (Mrs. Chambers), Linda Gray (Sue Ellen Ewing), Larry Hagman (J.R. Ewing), Alice Hirson (Mavis Anderson), Peter Hobbs (Judge Karns), Susan Howard (Donna Krebbs), Steve Kanaly (Ray Krebbs), Ken Kercheval (Cliff Barnes), Kenneth Kimmins (Thornton McLeish), Audrey Landers (Afton Cooper), Timothy Patrick Murphy (Mickey Trotter), George O. Petrie (Harv Smithfield), Priscilla Pointer (Rebecca Wentworth), Victoria Principal (Pam Ewing), Kate Reid (Lil Trotter), Dale Robertson (Frank Crutcher), Ted Shackelford (Gary Ewing), Don Starr (Jordan Lee), Charlene Tilton (Lucy Cooper), Morgan Woodward (Punk Anderson)

“Jock’s Will” is available on DVD and at Amazon.com and iTunes. Watch the episode and share your comments below.

Filed Under: Critiques, Critiques (Classic), Opinion Tagged With: , , , , , , , , , , , ,

Critique: ‘Dallas’ Episode 107 — ‘The Big Ball’

June 5, 2013 by 22 Comments
Barbara Bel Geddes, Bobby Ewing, Big Ball, Dallas, J.R. Ewing, Larry Hagman, Miss Ellie Ewing, Patrick Duffy

Mama’s family

No matter how often I see it, the next-to-last scene in “The Big Ball” always gives me goose bumps. Punk Anderson stands before a packed ballroom of tuxedo-clad oilmen and their gussied up wives and announces the establishment of the Jock Ewing memorial scholarship. “I don’t know what old Jock would have said about this, but … maybe Miss Ellie could speak for him,” Punk says. The camera cuts to the Ewing matriarch, who is weeping at a table with her family. Silence. Slowly, Bobby rises and begins clapping, followed — one by one — by J.R., Pam and Sue Ellen. Finally, the entire room erupts as Ellie’s sons escort her to the stage.

The speech that follows proves worthy of the dramatic setup. “Jock Ewing was a great man, measured in the only true value of a man. Not in money or power, but in friends,” Ellie says. This is my favorite line in Leonard Katzman’s script. I don’t remember watching “The Big Ball” on the night it debuted in 1982, but I remember reading that statement a few years later in Laura von Wormer’s “Dallas” book. I’ve never forgotten it. I also love how Barbara Bel Geddes delivers the line and the rest of the speech. This is one of those moments when Bel Geddes makes me forget I’m watching an actress playing a TV character. In that moment, she is a Texas widow eulogizing her husband in front of their family and friends. It’s a beautiful, moving performance.

“The Big Ball” is the first “Dallas” episode set at the Oil Baron’s Ball, which became one of the show’s best-loved traditions. In later years, the ball is the setting for big, dramatic showdowns and even a food fight or two, but the affair depicted here is rather subdued. Not that I’m complaining. The real appeal of the Oil Baron’s Ball episodes has always come from seeing the entire “Dallas” universe in one room. From this perspective, “The Big Ball” doesn’t disappoint. In addition to Ellie and her sons and their significant others, this ball brings together Cliff, Rebecca, Clayton, Jordan, Marilee, Holly and an interesting newcomer: Frank Crutcher, played by the old western actor Dale Robertson, who had recently concluded a brief-but-memorable run on rival soap “Dynasty.”

The ballroom sequences contrast nicely with the scenes set in Emporia, Kansas, where Ray and Donna attend the funeral of Amos Krebbs. I don’t know where these scenes were shot — my guess is they were filmed somewhere in North Texas — but it looks and feels like a sleepy town in the Midwest. When Ray and Donna arrive at Aunt Lil’s house, notice the neighbors sitting on the front porch across the street. The guest stars lend an air of authenticity too: Kate Reid is utterly believable in her second appearance as humble, homespun Lil, while Timothy Patrick Murphy is terrific in his “Dallas” debut as cocky, restless Mickey.

I also can’t help but feel touched by Steve Kanaly’s heartfelt performance in the scene where Amos is buried. Ray, who doesn’t want his Kansas relatives to know that he was really Jock Ewing’s son, kneels at his mother Margaret’s tombstone. “Probably better that it happened this way, Mama,” Ray says. “Nobody knows the truth. Chances are old Amos is probably headed in the opposite direction than you anyhow.” Besides serving as this episode’s other great speech, Ray’s monologue puts a nice punctuation mark on the saga of Jock, Amos and Margaret, which was revealed in the fourth-season classic “The Fourth Son.” The funeral might be for Amos, but Margaret is the one we end up mourning in this scene.

“The Big Ball” also features Jared Martin’s first appearance on “Dallas” since Dusty bid Sue Ellen farewell in the fifth-season episode “Starting Over.” I’ve always loved Martin’s chemistry with Linda Gray, but frankly their characters annoy me a little here. Dusty rides out to a Southern Cross pasture to find Sue Ellen, they have a heart-to-heart talk and then they return together to the house where — surprise! — he introduces her to his new wife. It makes for a dramatic moment, but couldn’t Dusty have found a kinder way to let Sue Ellen know he has married another woman? The disappointment ends up sending Sue Ellen back to Southfork, and not a moment too soon. After all, she does have a child to raise, doesn’t she?

Grade: A

_______________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

Big Ball, Dallas, Kate Reid, Lil Trotter, Ray Krebbs, Steve Kanaly

No place like home

‘THE BIG BALL’

Season 6, Episode 4

Airdate: October 22, 1982

Audience: 20.7 million homes, ranking 3rd in the weekly ratings

Writer and Director: Leonard Katzman

Synopsis: Sue Ellen leaves the Southern Cross after Dusty visits with his new wife. Ray and Donna go to Kansas for Amos’s funeral, where they meet Mickey Trotter, Ray’s angry young cousin. At the Oil Baron’s Ball, Miss Ellie meets Frank Crutcher and Pam discovers her mother is dating Clayton. After the ball, Ellie decides to have Jock declared legally dead.

Cast: Melody Anderson (Linda Farlow), Barbara Bel Geddes (Miss Ellie Ewing), Lois Chiles (Holly Harwood), Roseanna Christiansen (Teresa), Patrick Duffy (Bobby Ewing), Fern Fitzgerald (Marilee Stone), Linda Gray (Sue Ellen Ewing), Larry Hagman (J.R. Ewing), Alice Hirson (Mavis Anderson), Susan Howard (Donna Krebbs), Steve Kanaly (Ray Krebbs), Howard Keel (Clayton Farlow), Ken Kercheval (Cliff Barnes), Audrey Landers (Afton Cooper), Jared Martin (Dusty Farlow), Timothy Patrick Murphy (Mickey Trotter), Priscilla Pointer (Rebecca Wentworth), Victoria Principal (Pam Ewing), Kate Reid (Lil Trotter), Dale Robertson (Frank Crutcher), Don Starr (Jordan Lee), Charlene Tilton (Lucy Cooper), Morgan Woodward (Punk Anderson)

“The Big Ball” is available on DVD and at Amazon.com and iTunes. Watch the episode and share your comments below.

Filed Under: Critiques, Critiques (Classic), Opinion Tagged With: , , , , , , ,

Critique: ‘Dallas’ Episode 106 — ‘Billion Dollar Question’

June 3, 2013 by 16 Comments
Billion Dollas Question, Charlene Tilton, Dallas, Lucy Cooper, Pam Ewing, Victoria Principal

Sob sisters

“Billion Dollar Question” is dominated by the Ewings’ squabbling over whether to have Jock declared legally dead, but I find the subplot about Lucy’s abortion much more interesting. “Dallas” handles her situation with a good deal of sensitivity and care, making this one of those times when the show seems to want to make its audience think, not just entertain them. It’s nicely done.

In the preceding episodes, Lucy learns she’s pregnant after being raped by her stalker, Roger Larson, and tells Pam she’s decided to have an abortion. At the beginning of “Billion Dollar Question,” Lucy’s doctor warns her some women have “tremendous psychological problems” after having the procedure, but Lucy is adamant that she wants to terminate the pregnancy. “I was raped. How could I be a good mother if every time I looked at the baby, it reminded me of that?” she asks. Lucy also rejects the idea of putting the child up for adoption, telling the doctor: “If I don’t get this over and behind me, I think I may just go out of my mind.”

Later in “Billion Dollar Question,” Pam visits Lucy at Dallas Memorial Hospital, where Lucy is anxiously waiting to have the procedure done. When Lucy asks Pam what she would do if she were in a similar situation, Pam recalls her own struggle to have children, adding that she isn’t sure how she would respond if she became pregnant after a rape. “Pam, don’t hate me for this,” Lucy says. Pam’s response: “Hate you? I could never hate you, no matter what. I love you.” The next time we see the two women, the abortion is over and Lucy is crying in her hospital bed as Pam strokes her hair. “I don’t know if I did the right thing or not,” Lucy says.

Arthur Bernard Lewis’s script doesn’t really take a side on the abortion debate, allowing the audience to decide for itself if Lucy made the best decision. It’s worth noting that Pam, “Dallas’s” original moral compass, shows compassion toward Lucy, even if she doesn’t necessarily agree with her decision. Pam also respects Lucy’s privacy — to a point. She breaks her niece’s confidence when she tells Bobby that Lucy had an abortion, but when Bobby suggests Miss Ellie should know too, Pam responds: “I don’t think we should be the ones to tell her. That’s something Lucy’s got to work out for herself.”

Charlene Tilton and Victoria Principal both deliver nice performances throughout this episode, although not everything about the storyline holds up. At times, Lewis’s script gets bogged down in the sexism that pervades this era of “Dallas.” When Pam asks the doctor if Lucy is emotionally prepared for an abortion, he responds, “I’ve always felt it’s very difficult for a man to make a proper judgment in a case like this. Very difficult.” Later, as Lucy is getting ready to leave the hospital, she tells Pam the doctor has assured her she’ll be able to have a baby one day. “And I will want one, when I find the right man,” Lucy says. Other lines sounds like they come straight from a medical encyclopedia: There are numerous references to the procedure being a “therapeutic abortion,” for example.

Of course, this attention to detail isn’t an altogether bad thing. When I recently watched “Billion Dollar Question” for the first time in years, I found it odd that Lucy had the abortion at Dallas Memorial and not a clinic — until I did some research and discovered some hospitals do, in fact, perform the procedure. Lucy refers to this when she tells Pam, “I should have just gone to a clinic. Everything takes so long here. … I’ve heard of women going in, a few hours later they go home. It’s over.”

I know a lot of  fans watch “Dallas” for escapism, but the producers deserve credit for their willingness to tackle a topic that, in some respects, remains taboo on television. Bea Arthur’s character famously had TV’s first abortion in a 1972 episode of “Maude,” but there aren’t many other examples from ’70s and ’80s television. Yet when histories of abortion in prime time are written, Lucy’s is almost always omitted. Did her procedure generate less controversy because it was the result of a rape? Does she get overlooked because “Dallas” is a soap opera?

Besides Lucy’s storyline, “Billion Dollar Question” is also distinguished by J.R. and Holly’s scenes aboard her yacht, which showcase the playful chemistry between Larry Hagman and Lois Chiles, as well as a nifty bird’s eye shot of J.R. tooling along the highway in his Mercedes. I also like Barbara Bel Geddes’ scene with Hagman, when Miss Ellie tells J.R. that his father never played dirty when he was president of Ewing Oil. J.R.’s response: “Mama, you don’t know the half of what Daddy did when he was running that company.” For once, I get the feeling he isn’t exaggerating.

Grade: B

_______________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

Billion Dollas Question, Dallas, Holly Harwood, J.R. Ewing, Larry Hagman, Lois Chiles

Das boots

‘BILLION DOLLAR QUESTION’

Season 6, Episode 3

Airdate: October 15, 1982

Audience: 17.2 million homes, ranking 12th in the weekly ratings

Writer: Arthur Bernard Lewis

Director: Michael Preece

Synopsis: J.R. pressures Miss Ellie to have Jock declared legally dead but she tells him she needs more time. Holly rejects J.R.’s offer to mix business with pleasure and questions his advice to buy a refinery. Lucy has an abortion. Cliff accepts Marilee’s job offer. Ray learns Amos has died. Clayton tells Sue Ellen that Dusty is planning a visit to the Southern Cross.

Cast: Tyler Banks (John Ross Ewing), Barbara Bel Geddes (Miss Ellie Ewing), Lois Chiles (Holly Harwood), Roseanna Christiansen (Teresa), Patrick Duffy (Bobby Ewing), Fern Fitzgerald (Marilee Stone), Linda Gray (Sue Ellen Ewing), Larry Hagman (J.R. Ewing), Alice Hirson (Mavis Anderson), Susan Howard (Donna Krebbs), Steve Kanaly (Ray Krebbs), Howard Keel (Clayton Farlow), Ken Kercheval (Cliff Barnes), Audrey Landers (Afton Cooper), Dennis Lipscomb (Nelson Harding), Frank Marth (Dr. Grovner), George O. Petrie (Harv Smithfield), Priscilla Pointer (Rebecca Wentworth), Victoria Principal (Pam Ewing), Kate Reid (Lil Trotter), Charlene Tilton (Lucy Cooper)

“Billion Dollar Question” is available on DVD and at Amazon.com and iTunes. Watch the episode and share your comments below.

Filed Under: Critiques, Critiques (Classic), Opinion Tagged With: , , , , , ,

Critique: ‘Dallas’ Episode 105 — ‘Where There’s a Will’

May 29, 2013 by 12 Comments
Dallas, John Baxter, J.R. Ewing, Larry Hagman, Robin Strand, Where There's a Will

Let us prey

Larry Hagman has no scenes with his main co-stars in “Where There’s a Will,” but this is still a terrific hour of “Dallas.” The fun comes from watching J.R. scheme to sneak a peek at Jock’s will before the document is unsealed for the rest of the family. Usually when J.R. hatches a plot like this, it takes a few episodes to execute it. Here, J.R. puts his plan in motion in the first scene and completes his mission right before the closing credits roll. The efficient storytelling reminds me of “Dallas’s” earliest episodes, before the show became serialized.

J.R. has two foils in “Where There’s a Will.” The first is Harv Smithfield, the Ewings’ ethical consigliere, who refuses J.R.’s demands to see Jock’s will. In one of George O. Petrie’s many great scenes during his long run on “Dallas,” Harv removes his pince-nez spectacles, looks his bull-headed client in the eye and tells him: “I was your daddy’s attorney before you were born, J.R. My allegiance is to his memory. I will follow his instructions to the letter. No one will see that will until such time as it is read to the entire family.”

J.R. pretends to respect Harv’s decision (“I admire your loyalty to my daddy. Believe me. I’ll never mention that will again.”), but the glint in Hagman’s eye lets us know J.R. isn’t going to give up that easily. Enter Foil No. 2: John Baxter, Harv’s new son-in-law and the latest addition to the Smithfield & Bennett law firm. After Harv turns J.R. down, we see J.R. call John and invite him to lunch at 1 o’clock. Seconds later, J.R. places a call to someone else — we don’t see who it is — and instructs the person on the other line to meet him at the same restaurant at 1:05. “You know what to wear,” J.R. says.

Once we see J.R.’s favorite call girl Serena show up at the restaurant and pretend to be an old Ewing family friend, we have a pretty good idea of what J.R.’s up to. Sure enough, J.R. is conveniently called away from the restaurant, leaving John and Serena alone. The next time we see them, they’re at the Ewing condo, where J.R. walks in on them in bed together. Leonard Katzman, who wrote and directed “Where There’s a Will,” gives this scene enough humor to amuse the audience without letting things devolve into slapstick. “I’m a firm believer in the sanctity of marriage — and I’m damned disappointed in you,” J.R. says before the shirtless John scoops up his clothes and dashes out of the room.

In the final act, J.R. summons John to the restaurant where this scheme began. (These scenes appear to have been filmed in a real-life white-tablecloth eatery with impressive views of downtown Dallas.) J.R. tells John he’ll keep his fling with Serena secret — if John shows him Jock’s will. Guest star Robin Strand is terrific in this scene. The boyishly handsome, fair-haired actor loosens his necktie as his character begins to feel the weight of J.R.’s pressure. When John tells J.R. that showing him the will would be “betraying a trust,” Hagman licks his lips and waits a beat before delivering J.R.’s next line: “Now, what do you call cheating on your wife? Or more to the point, what would Harv call that?”

Other highlights of “Where There’s a Will” include the scene where Ray tells Donna he’s decided to send money to his Aunt Lil, who is caring for his ill “father” Amos. Steve Kanaly does a nice job conveying Ray’s conflicted feelings, but I also love what Susan Howard does with Donna’s line, “You’re not going to call her and talk to her?” If another actress delivered this dialogue, it might make Donna seem like a nag, but Howard never makes her character seem like anything less than a wise, caring spouse. Patrick Duffy also does a nice job in the scene where Bobby politely brushes off Carl Daggett, the harmlessly sleazy chap looking to drum up business for his escort service.

This episode’s other highlight is the final sequence, when John brings Jock’s will to the darkened Ewing Oil office after hours so J.R. can finally see it. We don’t discover what the document says in this scene, but after we see J.R. smile, cast his eyes upwards and thank Jock, we know whatever’s in the will makes our hero happy. And by golly, hasn’t he earned it?

Grade: A

_______________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

Dallas, Donna Krebbs, Ray Krebbs, Steve Kanaly, Susan Howard, Where There's a Will

The good wife

‘WHERE THERE’S A WILL’

Season 6, Episode 2

Airdate: October 8, 1982

Audience: 19.2 million homes, ranking 3rd in the weekly ratings

Writer and Director: Leonard Katzman

Synopsis: J.R. blackmails Harv’s son-in-law into showing him Jock’s will before the document is unsealed for the rest of the family. Lucy tells Pam she’s pregnant and that she’s decided to have an abortion. Sue Ellen visits the Southern Cross. Marilee offers Cliff a job. Ray learns Amos has fallen ill in Kansas.

Cast: Barbara Bel Geddes (Miss Ellie Ewing), Stephanie Blackmore (Serena), Patrick Duffy (Bobby Ewing), Fern Fitzgerald (Marilee Stone), Linda Gray (Sue Ellen Ewing), Larry Hagman (J.R. Ewing), Alice Hirson (Mavis Anderson), Susan Howard (Donna Krebbs), Steve Kanaly (Ray Krebbs), Howard Keel (Clayton Farlow), Ken Kercheval (Cliff Barnes), Audrey Landers (Afton Cooper), Joseph Miller (bartender), Charles Napier (Carl Daggett), George O. Petrie (Harv Smithfield), Priscilla Pointer (Rebecca Wentworth), Victoria Principal (Pam Ewing), Debbie Rennard (Sly), Danone Simpson (Kendall), Robin Strand (John Baxter), Charlene Tilton (Lucy Cooper), Deborah Tranelli (Phyllis), Aarika Wells (Millie Laverne), Morgan Woodward (Punk Anderson)

“Where There’s a Will” is available on DVD and at Amazon.com and iTunes. Watch the episode and share your comments below.

Filed Under: Critiques, Critiques (Classic), Opinion Tagged With: , , , , , , ,

Critique: ‘Knots Landing’ Episode 55 — ‘Daniel’

May 28, 2013 by 11 Comments
Daniel, Knots Landing, J.R. Ewing, Larry Hagman

Surprise

J.R. Ewing is sitting across from Abby Cunningham in his hotel room, where he’s invited her to join him for a seafood lunch. Of course, J.R. wants more from Abby than her company. She promised to sneak him a copy of Val’s soon-to-be-published novel about the Ewings, but Abby sent only a handful of chapters. When J.R. tells her he wants to see the whole manuscript, Abby says she can arrange it — if J.R. lets her know what Gary’s going to inherit in Jock’s will. J.R. tries to charm his way out of giving up this information, but Abby won’t hear it. She fixes a steely gaze upon J.R., picks up a crab leg and — crunch! — cracks it in two. Our hero has met his match.

This is one of several terrific scenes in the “Knots Landing” episode “Daniel,” although my favorite moment comes later, when Abby returns to J.R.’s hotel room with the missing chapters from Val’s book. J.R. keeps up his end of the bargain too, telling her that Gary will soon come into “big money” courtesy of Jock’s will. J.R. then launches into a story about how a teenaged Gary spent one summer working at Southfork to earn the motorcycle he desperately wanted. That September, Jock took him to the showroom, where Gary picked out his bike, revved it up — and drove it through the dealership’s plate-glass window. The purpose of J.R.’s tale: He wants Abby to keep Gary out of his showroom. “Your showroom?” she asks. “Keep him out of Dallas,” J.R. responds.

The metaphor isn’t all that elegant, but no matter. I love watching Larry Hagman in this scene. He delivers every word of J.R.’s speech with a downhome, folksy charm. In J.R. speak, the word “motorcycle” becomes “motor-sickle.” Next to the parable about the blind horse that J.R. shares with John Ross during an early episode of TNT’s “Dallas,” this might be Hagman’s most memorable monologue. It makes me wish he had taken this act to the stage. Imagine: a one-man show where Larry Hagman tells stories, in character as J.R., about growing up on Southfork. It could’ve been this generation’s “Mark Twain Tonight.”

Donna Mills doesn’t have much to do in this scene, but she holds her own against Hagman nonetheless. In J.R.’s previous visits to “Knots Landing,” when Abby was still a new character, the writers tried to elevate her to his level by having him fawn over her (J.R. to Abby in “A Family Matter,” a second-season “Knots Landing” episode: “You know, you are the most delicious conniver it’s been my pleasure to encounter.”). In “Daniel,” with Abby’s bona fides established, we see her and J.R. try to outmaneuver each other, which proves much more entertaining. I especially like when J.R. tells Abby she wants to be “queen” of the Ewing family. “No. I’ll settle for princess,” she purrs. J.R.’s response: “You’ve got it. You get the ermine and the jewels. But the crown stays in Dallas. Because the crown is mine.”

“Daniel” also includes a terrific scene where J.R. shows up unexpectedly on Val’s doorstep. Hagman and Joan Van Ark are always electric, especially when J.R. is pretending to be nice to Val. His “compliment” on her recent redecorating (“I just love what y’all have done with this room. It’s … it’s really you.”) is sublime. As an added bonus, this scene also features a brief encounter between J.R. and Lilimae, which reunited Hagman with Julie Harris, his co-star in the 1959 Broadway production of “The Warm Peninsula.” The best exchange, though, comes when J.R. is introduced to Val’s book editor Joe Cooper, played by Stephen Macht:

J.R.: Her editor? Oh, well it is true, then. You know, there’s been rumors flying all around Dallas about a book called “Corn Crude” or “Crude Porn” or “Corn Pone.”

Joe: “Capricorn Crude.”

J.R.: Yeah, that’s it!

“Daniel” was written by John Pleshette, the great actor who played Richard Avery on “Knots Landing.” Besides J.R.’s appearance, the episode is probably best remembered as the segment where Richard wrecks his car while driving pregnant wife Laura to the hospital, forcing him to deliver their child in the backseat. I watched it with my mom on the night it first aired, but the only thing I remembered were the credits rolling over a shot of Laura holding the child, whom she and Richard name “Daniel.” Seeing the episode again recently (it isn’t available on DVD, but you can find recordings online), I was gripped by the childbirth sequence. The baby isn’t breathing when he’s born, so Richard must force air into his lungs. It’s a touching performance and a reminder that on “Knots Landing,” even jerks like Richard can occasionally be heroes.

Grade: A

_______________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

Constance McCashin, Daniel, Knots Landing

Special delivery

‘DANIEL’

“Knots Landing” Season 4, Episode 2

Airdate: October 7, 1982

Audience: 14 million homes, ranking 28th in the weekly ratings

Writer: John Pleshette

Director: Joseph B. Wallenstein

Synopsis: J.R. visits Knots Landing and wishes Val success on her novel, then secretly buys the company that published the book. After J.R. tips Abby off to Gary’s inheritance, she sneaks him an advance copy of Val’s manuscript.

Cast: Tonya Crowe (Olivia Cunningham), Kevin Dobson (Mack MacKenzie), Hank Garrett (Frank), Larry Hagman (J.R. Ewing), Julie Harris (Lilimae Clements), Lisa Hartman (Ciji Dunne), James Houghton (Kenny Ward), Robert Jayne (Brian Cunningham), Kim Lankford (Ginger Ward), Michele Lee (Karen Fairgate), Claudia Lonow (Diana Fairgate), Stephen Macht (Joe Cooper), Constance McCashin (Laura Avery), Richard McMurray (Glen Needham), Donna Mills (Abby Cunningham), Harry Northrup (Wayne Harkness), Pat Petersen (Michael Fairgate), John Pleshette (Richard Avery), Danny Ponce (Jason Avery), Marcia Solomon (Masha), Ted Shackelford (Gary Ewing), Joan Van Ark (Valene Ewing), Lesley Woods (Martha Needham)

Share your comments about “Daniel” below.

Filed Under: Critiques, Critiques (Classic), Opinion Tagged With: , , , , , , , , ,

Critique: ‘Dallas’ Episode 104 — ‘Changing of the Guard’

May 27, 2013 by 19 Comments
Changing of the Guard, Dallas, J.R. Ewing, Larry Hagman

He’s back

“Dallas” shakes things up in its sixth-season opener, “Changing of the Guard.” Miss Ellie ousts J.R. as president of Ewing Oil and installs Bobby in his place, the company’s executive suite gets a much-needed makeover and Sue Ellen suddenly begins sporting shorter hair. This episode also introduces an intriguing newcomer: Holly Harwood, played by Lois Chiles, whose debut is the highlight of this episode.

We meet Holly when she drops by the Cattleman’s Club, where Bobby is celebrating his new job along with Jordan Lee and Marilee Stone. Jordan introduces Bobby to Holly and explains she recently inherited her company, Harwood Oil, from her late father. After she departs, Bobby observes how Holly is “mighty young” to run an oil company. “I give it maybe a year or two alive with her in charge,” Jordan responds. You have to wonder: Would these two be having this conversation if Holly were a young man?

Of course, Holly seems destined to get the last laugh. Chiles makes her second appearance in “Changing of the Guard’s” final scene, which takes place in another darkened cocktail lounge. We see Holly at a table, seated across from someone who is off-camera. “What do you say? Do we have a deal?” she asks. The other person leans into the shot. It’s J.R. “Well, it’s a very tempting offer. Especially coming from such a lovely young lady,” he says. As the conversation continues, we learn Holly wants J.R. to help her run Harwood Oil. He agrees to take the job — in exchange for a 25 percent ownership stake in the company. “You don’t come cheap, do you J.R.?” Holly purrs. His response: “You wouldn’t want me if I did, would you?”

This dialogue is delicious, but I also like how director Michael Preece reveals Holly and J.R. are in cahoots by waiting a beat to bring him into the frame. It reminds me of the kind of surprises we get on TNT’s “Dallas” revival. Coincidentally, “Changing of the Guard” is the title of the new show’s first episode, which ends with the revelation that J.R. is secretly plotting with another young beauty, Marta del Sol. Both sequences also feature J.R. and the schemer toasting their underhanded alliance, and both end with Larry Hagman flashing his famous grin. (Another parallel between the new and old “Dallas”: Seeing Afton slink around Cliff’s hospital bedside in this episode presages her behavior in “Guilt and Innocence,” a recent edition of the TNT series.)

I also like how the 1982 “Changing of the Guard” doesn’t leave J.R. down after Ellie kicks him out of Ewing Oil. In this episode’s most dramatic shot, Preece shows us the top of the Ewing Oil building at night, then sweeps down to reveal a forlorn-looking J.R. gazing at it from the street. I always appreciate seeing J.R.’s vulnerable side in moments like this, but more than anything I want to see him riding high, which is why I’m glad this episode wastes no time getting him back in the saddle.

“Changing of the Guard” also resolves two of the plots left dangling at the end of the previous season. Cliff recovers from his coma after his suicide attempt — no surprise there — while Lucy learns she is indeed pregnant with Roger’s baby, which does feel like an unexpected twist. In addition, this episode offers two notable casting milestones: Danone Simpson (now known as Danone Camden) makes her first appearance as Kendall, the receptionist at Ewing Oil, while Roseanna Christiansen assumes the role of Teresa, the Southfork maid played by multiple extras during the show’s first five years. William Bassett also makes his third and final appearance as Cliff’s physician Dr. Hollister, a role Bassett originated in 1979.

Finally, a word about Sue Ellen’s new hairdo: When the fifth-season finale “Goodbye, Cliff Barnes” ended, Sue Ellen had long, luscious locks. “Changing of the Guard” picks up moments later, yet suddenly her hair is shorter and styled much differently. She has what might now be called a mullet, although I can remember how chic everyone thought Linda Gray looked in 1982. In a newspaper interview later that year, Gray joked about the continuity error, suggesting Sue Ellen was so distraught over Cliff’s coma, she ducked out of the hospital for a quick makeover. It’s hard for me to imagine that look ever coming back into vogue again, but what do I know? I never expected to see the return of the three-piece suit, which has become one of Josh Henderson’s signatures on the new “Dallas.” Might one of his leading ladies someday sport a Sue Ellen-style mullet?

Never say never, darlin’.

Grade: B

_______________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

Changing of the Guard, Dallas, Linda Gray, Sue Ellen Ewing

Snipped

‘CHANGING OF THE GUARD’

Season 6, Episode 1

Airdate: October 1, 1982

Audience: 18.7 million homes, ranking 5th in the weekly ratings

Writer: Arthur Bernard Lewis

Director: Michael Preece

Synopsis: Cliff emerges from his coma, but Sue Ellen isn’t sure she wants to marry J.R. When the Ewings vote to oust J.R. as president of Ewing Oil, he agrees to become a silent partner to Holly Harwood, who recently inherited her father’s oil company. Lucy learns she’s pregnant.

Cast: Tyler Banks (John Ross Ewing), William H. Bassett (Dr. Hollister), Barbara Bel Geddes (Miss Ellie Ewing), Lois Chiles (Holly Harwood), Roseanna Christiansen (Teresa), Karlene Crockett (Muriel), Patrick Duffy (Bobby Ewing), Eric Farlow (Christopher Ewing), Fern Fitzgerald (Marilee Stone), Phyllis Flax (Mrs. Chambers), Linda Gray (Sue Ellen Ewing), Larry Hagman (J.R. Ewing), Susan Howard (Donna Krebbs), Steve Kanaly (Ray Krebbs), Howard Keel (Clayton Farlow), Ken Kercheval (Cliff Barnes), Audrey Landers (Afton Cooper), Priscilla Pointer (Rebecca Wentworth), Victoria Principal (Pam Ewing), Debbie Rennard (Sly), Danone Simpson (Kendall), Don Starr (Jordan Lee), Charlene Tilton (Lucy Cooper), Deborah Tranelli (Phyllis)

“Changing of the Guard” is available on DVD and at Amazon.com and iTunes. Watch the episode and share your comments below.

Filed Under: Critiques, Critiques (Classic), Opinion Tagged With: , , , , , , , , , , , ,

Critique: ‘Dallas’ Episode 103 – ‘Goodbye, Cliff Barnes’

January 23, 2013 by 8 Comments
Cliffhanger

Cliffhanger

“Goodbye, Cliff Barnes” leaves the title character’s fate up in the air after he tries to kill himself, making this the most literal of all “Dallas” cliffhangers. For a long time, I also considered it one of the show’s least satisfying season finales. Was there ever any doubt Cliff would survive?

I now realize that’s not the real question here. Cliff is merely a supporting player in the bigger story of “Dallas’s” fifth season: J.R.’s fight to reclaim Sue Ellen and John Ross. As the year draws to a close, everything is going his way – until Cliff, depressed over being beaten by J.R. yet again, overdoses on tranquilizers. Suddenly, J.R.’s grand plan to reunite his family looks like it’s going to collapse.

The final scene is telling. J.R. and a guilt-ridden Sue Ellen hover at the hospital bedside of the comatose Cliff. “If Cliff dies, I don’t think I’ll ever be able to marry you,” she says. Larry Hagman inhales, and as the frame freezes and the executive producer credit flashes, the image we’re left with isn’t Cliff with that tube coming out of his mouth; it’s a shot of an anxious – and possibly conscience-stricken – J.R.

You have to admit: This is a pretty nifty trick by the people who made the show. Cliff is the character who might be dying, but J.R. is the one we’re worried about. This cliffhanger is also the act of confident storytellers. Although “Dallas’s” ratings dropped during the 1981-82 season from the “Who Shot J.R.?”-inflated highs of the previous year, it was still the most popular show on television. The producers knew they didn’t need a gimmicky finale to keep the audience hooked.

Of course, even though “Goodbye, Cliff Barnes” keeps the focus on Hagman, don’t overlook Ken Kerchval. He delivers his most moving performance since Cliff’s reunion with Rebecca at the end of the previous season. Kercheval is especially heartbreaking in the scene where Cliff begs Sue Ellen to take him back. “I know I can start over. I know I can build a new life if you’ll just believe in me and love me,” he says through sobs. This is why I love Kercheval: He’s never afraid to show us Cliff at his most pathetic. Kercheval is probably “Dallas’s” bravest actor.

Linda Gray does a beautiful job in this scene too. Tears streak her face when Sue Ellen rejects Cliff’s plea and tells him she has accepted J.R.’s marriage proposal. “Cliff, I don’t want to see you again. Please go,” she says. Bruce Broughton’s background music, which includes those exquisite strings, adds to this scene’s tragic spirit. (I also love Gray’s breathy delivery in the episode’s final moments. “If Cliff dies, I don’t think I’ll ever be able to marry you” is one of those bits of “Dallas” dialogue I like to go around quoting, not because it’s such a great line but because it’s so much fun to imitate Gray’s performance. Try it yourself sometime.)

Two other scenes in “Goodbye, Cliff Barnes” mine “Dallas’s” rich history. In the first, Cliff gets drunk in a dive bar, evoking memories of Digger’s debut in “Dallas’s” first episode. Later, Rebecca storms into Southfork, confronts Miss Ellie and points out how the Barnes men always seem to end up carrying torches for Ewing women. It’s a great moment not just because Barbara Bel Geddes and Priscilla Pointer are such fun to watch, but also because it’s nice to see their characters finally acknowledge the complicated history they share.

Other highlights: The glamorous shot of J.R. and Sue Ellen kissing after a night at the symphony. The fun scenes of Bobby and Pam chasing down clues about Christopher’s paternity in Los Angeles (even if Pam forgives Bobby a little too easily for initially lying about the child’s identity). Howard Keel’s nice performance in the scene where Clayton scuttles his plan to propose to Sue Ellen.

None of this makes “Goodbye, Cliff Barnes” the show’s best cliffhanger, but it’s certainly much better than I remembered. Then again, that’s turned out to be true for much of the fifth season. These episodes are three decades old, but they still manage to surprise me. It’s another reason “Dallas” is such a durable show.

Grade: B

_______________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

Dark of the moon

Dark of the moon

‘GOODBYE, CLIFF BARNES’

Season 5, Episode 26

Airdate: April 9, 1982

Audience: 27.9 million homes, ranking 1st in the weekly ratings

Writer: Arthur Bernard Lewis

Director: Irving J. Moore

Synopsis: Sue Ellen accepts J.R.’s marriage proposal and breaks the news to Cliff, who tries to kill himself by overdosing on tranquilizers. After Rebecca vows revenge, Miss Ellie promises to oust J.R. as Ewing Oil’s president. Bobby and Pam learn Farraday, not J.R., fathered Christopher. Lucy tells Muriel that Roger raped her.

Cast: Tyler Banks (John Ross Ewing), Barbara Bel Geddes (Miss Ellie Ewing), Karlene Crockett (Muriel Gillis), Patrick Duffy (Bobby Ewing), Phyllis Flax (Mrs. Chambers), Fern Fitzgerald (Marilee Stone), Linda Gray (Sue Ellen Ewing), Larry Hagman (J.R. Ewing), Susan Howard (Donna Krebbs), Bob Hoy (Detective Howard), Steve Kanaly (Ray Krebbs), Howard Keel (Clayton Farlow), Ken Kercheval (Cliff Barnes), Audrey Landers (Afton Cooper), Priscilla Pointer (Rebecca Wentworth), Victoria Principal (Pam Ewing), Charlene Tilton (Lucy Cooper)

“Goodbye, Cliff Barnes” is available on DVD and at Amazon.com and iTunes. Watch the episode and share your comments below.

Filed Under: Critiques, Critiques (Classic), Opinion Tagged With: , , , , , , ,
«Previous Page
Next Page»