This summer, the “Dallas” fans at Dallas Decoder and Cook In/Dine Out are offering “Dallas Drinks,” a series of cocktails inspired by the characters from TNT’s new series. This week: The J.R., a shot as smooth as Larry Hagman himself.
Dallas Styles: J.R.’s Vest
June 26, 2012 by 11 Comments
‘The Wheeler Dealer’
Is there something symbolic about the vest J.R. is wearing when he gets shot at the end of “A House Divided,”“Dallas’s” famous third-season finale?
The vest, which appears to be gray flannel with a silk paisley-printed back, goes with one of J.R.’s three-piece suits, a style that had been back in vogue for awhile when this episode debuted in 1980. Three years earlier, John Travolta famously rocked a three-piece white suit in “Saturday Night Fever,” while Steve Martin adopted a similar look during many of his late ’70s standup routines.
J.R. sports several three-piece suits during “Dallas’s” third season. In “The Wheeler Dealer”and “A House Divided,” he is seen wearing a vest without the jacket, which could signify how J.R. is no one-dimensional villain. His personality, like his wardrobe, is layered. In “A House Divided,” the vest could also be seen as having an ironic effect: The garment is like an extra layer of armor, which does J.R. absolutely no good once that intruder steps out of the shadows and pumps two bullets into him.
Whatever symbolic value J.R.’s vest offers, one thing is certain: Larry Hagman has never looked better. In his 2001 autobiography “Hello Darlin’,” the actor recalls how he went on a diet on New Year’s Day 1980 and began jogging two miles daily, eventually shedding 35 pounds. By the time “A House Divided” was filmed, Hagman is noticeably thinner. The formfitting vest accentuates his newly trim frame. He looks positively dapper.
Hagman’s physique really works in his character’s favor, too. J.R. struts his way through “A House Divided,” cockier than ever. At one point, Jordan Lee, angry that J.R. has suckered him into buying worthless oil leases, bursts into his office and sneers, “You must be mighty proud J.R. You must be on top of the world!”
Jordan is right: J.R. is on top of the world – at least until the episode’s final scene, when he almost leaves it.
The Art of Dallas: ‘A House Divided’
June 26, 2012 by Leave a Comment
Vaughn (Dennis Patrick) gives J.R. one last shot at making restitution in this 1980 publicity shot from “A House Divided,” “Dallas’s” third-season finale.
Dallas Scene of the Day: ‘You’re a Drunk and an Unfit Mother’
June 26, 2012 by 6 Comments
Can’t a brother have breakfast in peace?
In “A House Divided,” “Dallas’s” third-season finale, Sue Ellen (Linda Gray) follows J.R. (Larry Hagman) into the Southfork dining room, where Jock (Jim Davis) comforts Miss Ellie (Barbara Bel Geddes), who is seated at the table.
SUE ELLEN: [To J.R.] You drove Gary away. And now Bobby. You tried to bribe Valene. You cheated your friends. You’ve done everything in your power to get what you wanted. Well, you did it. Congratulations, J.R. You are now the Ewings’ only son.
J.R.: [To Ellie] Mama, I don’t want Bobby to leave. You know that.
ELLIE: All I know is, J.R., he’s gone. [She gets up and leaves the room, followed by Jock.]
J.R.: You’ve had your last say in this house, Sue Ellen. You think you can get away talking about me in front of my mama and daddy like that? You’ve caused me enough humiliation. You’re a drunk and an unfit mother, and I honestly think you’ve lost your reason. I’m going to call Dr. Rogers. The sooner we have you put away in that sanitarium, the better off you’re going to be. [He turns and leaves.]
Critique: ‘Dallas’ Episode 54 – ‘A House Divided’
June 26, 2012 by 33 Comments
The divider
One school night in 1988, when I should’ve been asleep, I stumbled across a late-night cable showing of “A House Divided,” the third-season “Dallas” finale that famously ends with J.R. getting shot. This was probably the first time I’d seen the episode since 1980, so I was overjoyed. I recorded the rerun on the living room VCR and watched the cassette so many times in the years that followed, the tape eventually warped.
Today, I know “A House Divided” the way other people know “Star Wars.” I have memorized virtually every line from every scene, and I’ve been known to go around the house reciting them for my own amusement, if no one else’s.
It was crooked!
I’d have done the same thing, Bobby. The same thing.
You’re a drunk and an unfit mother, and I honestly think you’ve lost your reason.
My memories of “A House Divided,” together with the weight of its pop culture significance, have always made me think this is one of “Dallas’s” greatest entries. I’m pretty sure it really is among the show’s finest hours, although I’m also the first to admit it’s hard to sweep aside my nostalgia and judge it simply as a “Dallas” episode.
Whether or not it’s one of the best, “A House Divided” is certainly unique. The producers famously constructed the story in reverse: First, they came up with the idea of having J.R. get shot and then they worked backwards, establishing the suspects and their motives along the way.
The result is an episode with a furious rhythm. The action begins with the frenzied press conference in J.R.’s office at the top of the hour and never lets up, propelled not just by scriptwriter Rena Down’s narrative, but also by Bruce Broughton’s driving score.
Hagman’s Zenith
Oh, the humanity!
The actors keep things zipping along, too. Among the regular cast, no one delivers more than Larry Hagman, whose portrayal of J.R. reaches its gleefully villainous zenith in “A House Divided.”
Given all the despicable things J.R. does in this episode, I used to feel guilty cheering him on – until I realized I’m not rooting for the character as much as I am the actor who plays him. Hagman is full of zest in “A House Divided” – and he’s never looked trimmer and sexier – yet the actor never allows his performance to devolve into camp or self-awareness.
Consider the scene where J.R. enters the Southfork dining room and finds Miss Ellie in tears because Bobby, fed up with his older brother’s schemes, has finally fled the ranch. “Mama, I don’t want Bobby to leave. You know that,” he says. The sincerity in Hagman’s voice lets us know J.R. means it.
Director Irving J. Moore probably deserves credit for humanizing J.R., too. When the character is waiting for Harry McSween to bring Alan Beam to his office, we see him alone at his desk, shrouded in darkness and holding the framed picture of Sue Ellen he keeps nearby. This fleeting moment invites the audience to wonder what J.R. is thinking. Does he regret the way he’s treated her?
J.R. looks at the picture again in the final scene, right before the unseen assailant enters the office and shoots him. I don’t know if Hagman picked up the frame on his own or if Moore instructed him to do it, but it’s a clever touch. In those seconds before the gun is fired, having him look at the photograph of Sue Ellen reminds us that J.R. is a husband, a father, a man. Yes, he’s also a bastard, but he doesn’t deserve what’s about to happen to him.
Great Performances
Those eyes
Patrick Duffy is also impressive in “A House Divided,” particularly in the scene where a frustrated Bobby bids farewell to Ellie. In the episode’s DVD commentary, Duffy credits Barbara Bel Geddes with making his performance better in this sequence, and while she is indeed wonderful, he needn’t be so modest. Duffy has always brought a lot of heart to his role, and in this scene, he gives as good as he gets. As his eyes redden, her sobs intensify. Both actors play off each other really well.
“A House Divided’s” other standout is Linda Gray, who is mesmerizing during Sue Ellen’s big confrontation with J.R. in the dining room, where she calls him out for his misdeeds in front of Jock and Ellie. Notice how Sue Ellen’s expression changes during the course of the sequence, shifting from disgust at J.R.’s behavior to fear when he threatens to put her back in the sanitarium. Over the years, more than one “Dallas” observer has suggested Gray acts with her eyes. In this scene, that’s really true.
Gray has another moment I absolutely love. In the scene where Sue Ellen and J.R. fight in their bedroom, she gets swept up in her own fury and asks him “which slut” he plans to spend the night with. The instant she says this, Gray’s lips part and her angry expression melts, as if the harsh words have jolted the onetime Miss Texas into reality. How did her perfect marriage come to this?
The guest stars in “A House Divided” are terrific, too. I especially like Dennis Patrick, whose indignation is palpable in the scene where Vaughn Leland demands restitution from J.R., and Ann Nelson, who plays the little old lady Pam encounters during her visit to Corpus Christi. Down, the scriptwriter, gives Nelson some charmingly homespun dialogue (“She was pregnant. Big with it she was!”), and the actress delivers every line beautifully.
Great Scenes
Purple rage
I’ve given J.R. and Sue Ellen’s dining room encounter today’s “Scene of the Day” honors, but truthfully, almost any sequence from this episode qualifies. “A House Divided” is one great moment after another.
Every scene has a memorable line, too. Bobby declares he’s leaving Southfork by telling Pam, “I’ve put up with all the wheeling and dealing and backstabbing that I’m going to.” After Kristin vows to kill J.R., Alan tells her to “take a number. There are a few of us ahead of you.” When Sue Ellen asks J.R. which slut he plans to spend the night with, he responds, “What difference does it make? Whoever it is has got to be more interesting than the slut I’m looking at right now.”
“A House Divided” isn’t perfect, of course. The press conference that opens the episode isn’t very credible, especially since the reporter’s last question (“Did Ewing Oil invest all of its capital in those leases and does nationalization mean the end of the Ewing empire?”) really should have been the first.
Also, as good as J.R. and Sue Ellen’s dining room confrontation is, I can’t help but notice Hagman delivers J.R.’s menacing threat (“The sooner we have you put away in that sanitarium, the better off you’re going to be.”) while holding a slice of bacon.
Surprise, Surprise
Down, but not out
For me, part of the fun of watching “A House Divided” today is wondering what it must have been like to see this episode when CBS aired it for the first time in 1980. I was 6 at the time and already a “Dallas” fan, so I probably was among the millions of people who watched that broadcast, although I have no memory of it.
Modern audiences likely assume J.R.’s shooting was a surprise, but CBS actually gave away the episode’s pivotal final scene in promos leading up to the broadcast. What a shame. Imagine how shocking the cliffhanger would have been if CBS hadn’t spoiled it.
Then again, when you think about it, the shooting itself really isn’t all that important. What matters is all the great drama that comes before those bullets are fired. In the end, the most surprising thing about “A House Divided” isn’t that J.R. gets gunned down, it’s how entertaining this episode remains, even when you have the whole thing memorized.
Grade: A+
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Mr. Big Shot
‘A HOUSE DIVIDED’
Season 3, Episode 25
Airdate: March 21, 1980
Audience: 24.9 million homes, ranking 1st in the weekly ratings
Writer: Rena Down
Director: Irving J. Moore
Synopsis: The Asian oil fiasco bankrupts Vaughn Leland. Pam finds no evidence her mother is dead. J.R. shuts down Ewing 23 after learning Cliff is entitled to a share of the proceeds. Bobby and Pam, disgusted with J.R.’s tactics, leave Southfork. Sue Ellen, Cliff, Kristin, Alan and Vaughn vow to stop J.R., who is shot twice by an unseen assailant.
Cast: Barbara Bel Geddes (Miss Ellie Ewing), Kale Brown (reporter), Christopher Coffey (Professor Greg Forrester), Jeff Cooper (Dr. Simon Elby), Mary Crosby (Kristin Shepard), Jim Davis (Jock Ewing), Patrick Duffy (Bobby Ewing), Meg Gallagher (Louella), Linda Gray (Sue Ellen Ewing), Larry Hagman (J.R. Ewing), John Hart (Dr. David Rogers), Ron Hayes (Hank Johnson), Susan Keller (reporter), Ken Kercheval (Cliff Barnes), Jeanna Michaels (Connie), Ann Nelson (woman), Dennis Patrick (Vaughn Leland), Randolph Powell (Alan Beam), Victoria Principal (Pam Ewing), Don Starr (Jordan Lee), Charlene Tilton (Lucy Ewing)
“A House Divided” is available on DVD and at Amazon.com and iTunes. Watch the episode and share your comments below.
Dallas Styles: Miss Ellie’s Fur Coat
June 25, 2012 by 5 Comments
Warm, in more ways than one
In “The Wheeler Dealer,” Jock and Miss Ellie visit the Colorado sanitarium where Amanda, his first wife, has lived for many years. The scene is beautifully written and performed, but whenever I watch it, I find myself a little distracted by the dark brown fur coat Barbara Bel Geddes wears.
This is a decidedly un-Ellie-like look, after all. On “Dallas,” Ellie is the rancher’s daughter who never outgrew her affinity for simple skirts and blouses. For her, dressing up usually means conservative suits and a strand of pearls. What’s she doing bedecked in fur?
Perhaps the “Dallas” wardrobe designers wanted to draw a contrast between Ellie and Amanda, who wears a basic floral print dress and long sweater in this scene. The fur might also offer a window into Ellie’s state of mind, suggesting she’s still struggling to accept the fact she isn’t the first Mrs. Jock Ewing.
Remember, Ellie didn’t learn about Amanda until the eve of her cancer surgery in “Mastectomy, Part 1,” an earlier third-season episode. The shock came at a time when Ellie was worried about her health and feeling insecure about her femininity. Is the fur coat her way of asserting her role as the wife of a wealthy and powerful man?
As “Dallas” fans, we tend to put Ellie on a pedestal, but she was capable of experiencing doubts, as we saw during the “Mastectomy” episodes. Of course, Ellie is mostly strong and compassionate, which the sanitarium scene ultimately demonstrates. When Amanda sees Jock, she doesn’t recognize him and appears somewhat frightened, so Ellie approaches the woman, gently puts her hand on her shoulder and quietly says, “Hello Amanda. My name’s Ellie.”
It’s a touching moment, and even though it’s very brief, I consider it one of Bel Geddes’ best scenes. It’s also a lovely reminder that Ellie is “Dallas’s” warmest character, and not just because of the coat she wears.
Dallas Scene of the Day: ‘I Never Meant to Be a Burden’
June 25, 2012 by 3 Comments
Lost in time
In “The Wheeler Dealer,” a third-season “Dallas” episode, Jock (Jim Davis), accompanied by Miss Ellie (Barbara Bel Geddes) and Bobby and Pam (Patrick Duffy, Victoria Principal), visits a Colorado mental hospital to see his first wife Amanda (Lesley Woods), who doesn’t recognize him. When Amanda spots Bobby, she runs toward him with outstretched arms.
AMANDA: There you are! You said you’d come and I didn’t believe you. [She embraces him.] How long was it this time, six months? Do you like my dress? [She twirls.] I bought it special, just for you.
BOBBY: It’s lovely.
AMANDA: I know it’s your favorite color. I wanted to look so nice for you.
BOBBY: You do. You look real pretty.
AMANDA: Are you going away again?
BOBBY: Yes, I have to go away.
AMANDA: [Points to Jock] You’re going with him, aren’t you? He’s a wildcatter. Please don’t go. I wish you wouldn’t. I worry so much about you. Please.
BOBBY: I’ll be all right. You just take care of yourself, OK?
AMANDA: I’m nothing but a burden to you, Jock. And I don’t mean to be. I love you so much. [A nurse approaches and comforts her.] I never meant to be a burden. Never. Really, I didn’t. Never.
As the nurse leads her away, Jock touches her shoulder.
Critique: ‘Dallas’ Episode 53 – ‘The Wheeler Dealer’
June 25, 2012 by 6 Comments
J.R. Ewing here
With “The Wheeler Dealer,” “Dallas” continues tying up its third-season plot threads. The Ewings pay off the mortgage on Southfork, Kristin realizes she’ll never become J.R.’s wife, and Sue Ellen is back where she was a year ago: dreadfully unhappy and boozing herself into oblivion.
“The Wheeler Dealer” also offers a coda to the season’s biggest bombshell: Jock’s revelation that he was married to another woman before Miss Ellie became his wife.
The postscript begins when Ellie persuades Jock to visit the Colorado sanitarium where Amanda has lived for many years. (Trivia: The shot that concludes this scene, where Jim Davis and Barbara Bel Geddes gaze into each other’s eyes, inspired the “portrait” of Jock and Ellie seen on TNT’s “Dallas.”)
In “The Wheeler Dealer’s” most memorable sequence, Jock and Ellie, along with Bobby and Pam, visit the confused Amanda, who believes Bobby is Jock and that she’s still married to him. The saddest moment comes when 60-something Amanda girlishly twirls around to show off the “new” dress she wore to impress her husband. “I wanted to look so nice for you,” she says.
Lesley Woods is heartbreaking as Amanda, but the other actors in this scene shine, too. Jim Davis moves me when Jock gets tongue-tied as his frightened first wife recoils from him, while Patrick Duffy is wonderful as kind-hearted Bobby, who is put in the awkward position of having to pretend to be his own father. (More trivia: In 2006, Duffy played the son of Woods’ character on “The Bold and the Beautiful.”) I also love when Ellie, looking regal in her fur coat, gently puts her hand on Amanda’s shoulder and comforts her. What a terrific scene.
This episode’s other great moment: when Vaughn Leland, the banker who almost foreclosed on Southfork, tells J.R. he’s joining the deal with the cartel members who are buying Ewing Oil’s Asian wells. Leland doesn’t know the wells are about to be nationalized, so there’s something satisfying about knowing J.R. is about to stick it to the man who came close to evicting the Ewings.
I know I probably shouldn’t feel this way, but I bet I’m not alone. There’s probably a little wheeler-dealer in most “Dallas” fans.
Grade: B
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Gaze gone by
‘THE WHEELER DEALER’
Season 3, Episode 24
Airdate: March 14, 1980
Audience: 21.1 million homes, ranking 6th in the weekly ratings
Writer: Barbara Searles
Director: Alexander Singer
Synopsis: J.R. gets an inside tip his Asian wells are going to be nationalized, so he unloads most of them on the cartel. Jock, Miss Ellie, Bobby and Pam visit Amanda, Jock’s first wife. Cliff learns Digger’s heirs are entitled to half the proceeds from the Ewing 23 oilfield. Sue Ellen goes on a bender. Alan and Kristin plot revenge against J.R.
Cast: Robert Ackerman (Wade Luce), Barbara Bel Geddes (Miss Ellie Ewing), Stephanie Blackmore (Serena), Jeff Cooper (Dr. Simon Elby), Mary Crosby (Kristin Shepard), Sarah Cunningham (Maggie Monahan), Jim Davis (Jock Ewing), Patrick Duffy (Bobby Ewing), Linda Gray (Sue Ellen Ewing), Larry Hagman (J.R. Ewing), Ron Hayes (Hank Johnson), Steve Kanaly (Ray Krebbs), Ed Kenney (Seth Stone), Ken Kercheval (Cliff Barnes), Jeanna Michaels (Connie), Dennis Patrick (Vaughn Leland), Randolph Powell (Alan Beam), Victoria Principal (Pam Ewing), Geoffrey Scott (“Dusty”), Paul Sorensen (Andy Bradley), Don Starr (Jordan Lee), Charlene Tilton (Lucy Ewing), Lesley Woods (Amanda Ewing)
“The Wheeler Dealer” is available on DVD and at Amazon.com and iTunes. Watch the episode and share your comments below.
Drill Bits: Another Ratings Win for TNT’s ‘Dallas’
June 22, 2012 by Leave a Comment
Viewers came back too
The real test for new TV shows isn’t the number of people who tune in for the premiere – it’s the number who come back during the second week. If a series holds onto enough of its audience during week two, it’s a good sign viewers like what they see and will keep coming back for more.
TNT’s “Dallas” didn’t just pass its second-week test – it aced it!
The series premiered June 13 with 6.9 million viewers, including 1.9 million adults between the ages of 18 to 49, the group advertisers prize above all others.
One week later, TNT’s June 20 “Dallas” episode, “The Price You Pay,” drew 4.8 million viewers, becoming the evening’s most-watched cable show. Here’s what’s really impressive: This audience included 1.7 million viewers between 18 and 49.
In other words: Almost all the 18-to-49-year-olds who watched “Dallas” during week one came back during week two.
This doesn’t guarantee “Dallas” another season, but it’s an encouraging sign. Hopefully TNT will renew the series soon.
More Numbers
While we’re on the subject of “Dallas’s” June 13 debut, it’s now official: The two-hour premiere was cable television’s most-watched telecast last week, boosting TNT to a first-place finish among all cable channels.
And when you include the number of viewers who watched “Dallas” on DVRs within three days of the original telecast, the show’s total viewership rises from 6.9 million viewers to 7.8 million viewers.
By the way: This is the first time “Dallas” has finished first in a weekly ratings race since “Swan Song,” the 1985 episode that ended with Bobby’s “death.”
Hagman’s Advice to Henderson
Enjoy the ride
In “The Price You Pay,” J.R. dispenses a lot of wisdom to John Ross, including Jock’s famous maxim that “real power is something you take.”
In real life, what advice has Larry Hagman offered advice Josh Henderson?
“You know, the first thing he ever said to me when we were on set was, ‘Enjoy the ride.’ He literally just said, ‘Have fun,’” Henderson told me and a group of other bloggers and critics during a conference call last month.
“I think what made the original [series] so special was that Larry, Linda, Patrick – the original cast – they truly had fun and they really like each other. And I think that when that happens, you can trust your coworker or the actor that you’re with in the scene more, meaning that you can go deeper with the characters to make a better TV show.”
Line of the Week
“Bullets don’t seem to have much an effect on me, darlin’.”
J.R.’s comment to Ann in “The Price You Pay’s” storage barn scene was a winking nod to his tendency to get shot on the original “Dallas.” Everyone knows J.R.’s sister-in-law/mistress/secretary Kristin pumped lead into him in 1980, but casual fans might have forgotten he also got plugged during a hunting trip (1979’s “The Dove Hunt”), by Sue Ellen (1988’s “The Fat Lady Singeth”) and by a crazed business rival (the 1998 reunion movie “War of the Ewings”).
Speaking of plugs: Dallas Decoder will critique the 1980 “Who Shot J.R.?” episodes, beginning next week. If you need a refresher on “Dallas’s” most famous storyline, be sure to check them out.
Power Trip
Are you playing “Rise to Power,” TNT’s online “Dallas” game?
Each week, fans are asked to align themselves with the character who has what it takes to “rise to power” during TNT’s next “Dallas” episode. Players earn points based on each character’s weekly “power ranking,” but additional points can be earned by touting the show on Facebook and Twitter.
The grand prize is a trip to Southfork. Weekly prizes include autographed posters, Ewing Oil hardhats and a collection of TNT’s “Dallas Quickies” tweets in book form.
That’s One Strong Drink
A reminder to check out the “Dallas Drinks” cocktail recipes from Cook In/Dine Out. This week’s drink is inspired by Ann Ewing, played by the awesome Brenda Strong. Make sure you serve it in a tall glass!
“Drill Bits,” a roundup of news about TNT’s “Dallas,” is published regularly. Share your comments below.
TNT’s Dallas Styles: J.R.’s Sweaters
June 21, 2012 by 2 Comments
Mr. Ewing’s Neighborhood
In “The Price You Pay,”J.R. comes home to Southfork, presumably for the first time in many years. The house has changed a bit and so has J.R. – or at least that’s what he wants Bobby to think.
The older brother tricks the younger into welcoming him back to the ranch by pretending to be down and out. What Bobby doesn’t know: J.R. is secretly scheming with John Ross to seize control of Southfork and its vast oil reserves.
J.R.’s wardrobe appears to be part of his charade. At the ranch, he wears cardigan sweaters in muted colors, including when Ann finds him in the storage barn looking at an old family photo album and when he shuffles around the Southfork kitchen making breakfast for the family.
The Mister Rogers-style cardigans make Larry Hagman look soft, even a little cuddly. They also evoke memories of the sweater J.R. wore in “Conundrum,” the old show’s final episode, when the character was drunk, depressed and suicidal.
J.R.’s cardigans are a far cry from the days when he telegraphed his predatory nature by donning safari shirts. But don’t worry. The Mister Nice Guy act doesn’t last long; it remains to be seen if the sweaters do.
Dallas Decoder 