Dallas Decoder

Dallas Scene of the Day: ‘No One’s Made a Ewing Back Down’

June 7, 2012 by Chris Baker 4 Comments

Barbara Bel Geddes, Charlene Tilton, Dallas, Lucy Ewing, Miss Ellie Ewing, Paternity Suit

Scene from a mall

In “Paternity Suit,” a third-season “Dallas” episode, Miss Ellie and Lucy (Barbara Bel Geddes, Charlene Tilton) are shopping for dresses when Marilee and Linda (Fern Fitzgerald, Joan Lancaster) approach.

LUCY: [Walks toward Miss Ellie with a red boa around her neck] Grandma? Grandma, what do you think?

ELLIE: Well, I think it has a rather limited usefulness.

MARILEE: Why, what a surprise.

LINDA: We didn’t expect to see you here.

LUCY: Where did you expect to see us?

MARILEE: This must be a terrible time for you, Miss Ellie.

LINDA: We’re all gonna miss Sue Ellen tomorrow night at the DOA dinner.

ELLIE: I don’t know what you mean.

LINDA: Well, with all the goings-on in the papers, I hardly think she’d be comfortable there.

ELLIE: Why, she wouldn’t miss it for the world. We’re all going, aren’t we, Lucy?

LUCY: Of course.

ELLIE: We’re buying some new clothes for the occasion.

LUCY: [Holds up the boa] Yeah, how do you like this one? For me, of course, you know.

LINDA: Well, it’s interesting.

MARILEE: We’d love to have you at our table, Miss Ellie.

ELLIE: Thank you, Marilee, but the whole family will be there. I imagine we’ll take up a whole table by ourselves. But why don’t you stop by the ranch for cocktails first. We’ve invited a few friends.

MARILEE: You’re having a party?

ELLIE: Six-thirty, tomorrow.

MARILEE: Linda?

LINDA: Well, that sounds just fine.

MARILEE: I’m sure my husband will be delighted.

ELLIE: Good. We’ll see you then. Bye.

MARILEE: Bye.

Marilee and Linda walk away.

MARILEE: [Under her breath] Who’d have thought?

LINDA: Honey, the Ewings have nerves of steel.

LUCY: Grandma, you were terrific.

ELLIE: I thought so. But I’ve faced worse scandals than this. No one’s ever made a Ewing back down yet. I doubt if they ever will.

LUCY: Are you sure you don’t like this? [Wraps the boa around her neck]

ELLIE: No. You may not wear that horrible dress.

Lucy smiles and walks away.

Filed Under: Dallas Scenes of the Day, Dallas Scenes of the Day (Classic), Features Tagged With: Barbara Bel Geddes, Charlene Tilton, Fern Fitzgerald, Joan Lancaster, Paternity Suit

Critique: ‘Dallas’ Episode 46 – ‘Paternity Suit’

June 7, 2012 by Chris Baker 22 Comments

Dallas, John Ross Ewing, J.R. Ewing, Larry Hagman, Paternity Suite, Tyler Banks

Father and son, at last

“Dallas” creator David Jacobs has called the final scene in “Paternity Suit” – when J.R. picks up his son for the first time – his favorite moment during the series. I understand why. Nothing humanizes J.R., Jacobs’ most famous creation, quite like this.

In the scene, J.R. – clad in a tuxedo because he’s on his way to one of Miss Ellie’s charity dinners – enters the Southfork nursery moments after receiving the blood-test results that prove he is, indeed, the father of newborn John Ross Ewing III. J.R. picks up the child, holds him close and kisses him. No dialogue is spoken, and none is needed. The expression on Larry Hagman’s face – pride, relief, love – says it all.

This is one of several stellar scenes in another standout episode from “Dallas’s” third season. I also love when Miss Ellie refuses to act embarrassed when she and Lucy run into phony-baloney society matrons Marilee Stone and Linda Bradley while shopping. Barbara Bel Geddes is wonderful here, but so is Joan Lancaster. Each actress gets a great line at the end of the scene. Linda whispers to Marilee (“Honey, the Ewings have nerves of steel.”), while Miss Ellie imparts a little family wisdom to Lucy (“No one’s ever made a Ewing back down yet. I doubt if they ever will.”). Perfect.

I also get a kick out of the whole Southfork cocktail party sequence, which makes me appreciate the number of semi-regular characters – Harv Smithfield, Jordan Lee, the Stones, the Bradleys – the show has introduced in just two-and-a-half seasons. “Dallas” really does feel like its own little world now, doesn’t it?

Of course, not everything in “Paternity Suit” rings true: Cliff’s withdrawal from the congressional race feels a bit rushed, and the Dallas Press’s splashy headline (“BARNES CLAIMS EWING CHILD HIS”) is typically over-the-top, but these quirks are really part of “Paternity Suit’s” charm.

Similarly, Jock spends a lot of time in this episode huffing and puffing about Cliff’s lawsuit. Some might find the Ewing patriarch’s incredulousness annoying, but to me, his behavior is rather sweet. It’s as if the old man is incapable of fathoming the idea of Sue Ellen cheating on J.R.

Jock’s faith in his daughter-in-law’s virtue is misplaced, but it exists – and in the Ewing family, that’s saying something.

Grade: A

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Facing the truth

‘PATERNITY SUIT’

Season 3, Episode 17

Airdate: January 11, 1980

Audience: 21.9 million homes, ranking 2nd in the weekly ratings

Writer: Loraine Despres

Director: Harry Harris

Synopsis: After Cliff’s financing dries up and he quits his congressional race, he realizes J.R. set him up and seeks revenge by publicly claiming he is baby John’s father. A blood test proves the father is J.R., who finally embraces the child.

Cast: Barbara Bel Geddes (Miss Ellie Ewing), Mary Crosby (Kristin Shepard), Jim Davis (Jock Ewing), Martina Deignan (Deborah Johns), Patrick Duffy (Bobby Ewing), Fern Fitzgerald (Marilee Stone), Linda Gray (Sue Ellen Ewing), Stanley Grover (Dr. Miles), Larry Hagman (J.R. Ewing), Stephen Keep (Barry Lester), Ken Kercheval (Cliff Barnes), Joan Lancaster (Linda Bradley), Jared Martin (Dusty Farlow), George O. Petrie (Harv Smithfield), Randolph Powell (Alan Beam), Victoria Principal (Pam Ewing), Paul Sorensen (Andy Bradley), Don Starr (Jordan Lee), Charlene Tilton (Lucy Ewing), Keenan Wynn (Digger Barnes)

“Paternity Suit” 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: Barbara Bel Geddes, David Jacobs, Joan Lancaster, Larry Hagman, Paternity Suit

Dallas Scene of the Day: ‘It’s Gonna Take Me Time, Jock’

June 6, 2012 by Chris Baker 2 Comments

Barbara Bel Geddes, Dallas, Jim Davis, Jock Ewing, Power Play

Pillow talk

In “Power Play,” a third-season “Dallas” episode, Jock and Miss Ellie (Jim Davis, Barbara Bel Geddes) are in bed as he rubs her back.

JOCK: You know, everything’s under control at the office now that Bobby’s there. Why don’t we go down to Ruidoso tomorrow and watch Punk Anderson work out his 2-year-olds? We just might spend the night at the lodge, the one with the river.

ELLIE: I don’t know, Jock.

JOCK: I can’t ever remember missing one of his annual barbecues. We’ve had some wonderful times, haven’t we, Ellie?

ELLIE: Yes, we have.

JOCK: Then you’ll go?

ELLIE: [Turns to face him] Jock, I, I don’t know if I’m up to a big social event yet.

JOCK: Doctor says you’re doing just fine.

ELLIE: There’ll be too many people. Too many questions. Probably well-meaning questions or maybe just inquiring glances. It’s gonna take me time, Jock. Please understand.

JOCK: Sure. [He kisses her hand and she turns away from him.] Good night.

Filed Under: Dallas Scenes of the Day, Dallas Scenes of the Day (Classic), Features Tagged With: Barbara Bel Geddes, Jim Davis, Power Play

Critique: ‘Dallas’ Episode 45 – ‘Power Play’

June 6, 2012 by Chris Baker 8 Comments

Charlene Tilton, Dallas, Lucy Ewing, Power Play

Cry, baby

There’s a surprising timelessness to many “Dallas” episodes, but “Power Play” isn’t one of them. The roller disco scenes and slangy dialogue – at one point, Jock lays down some house rules to Lucy and asks, “You dig?” – firmly root this third-season entry in the era in which it was filmed.

The dated feel makes “Power Play” the silliest “Dallas” episode since “Call Girl,” which aired during the second season. Is it a coincidence both installments were directed by “Brady Bunch” vet Leslie Martinson, who also directed “The Heiress,” another weak episode from “Dallas’s” third season?

In “Power Play,” I groan when Kristin whips out her Polaroid camera and starts snapping pictures of Alan and Lucy canoodling together at the roller rink. Later, when Kristin shows her candid shots to J.R., notice how smartly they’re framed. Why is this girl wasting her time fetching his coffee when she clearly has what it takes to become a professional shutterbug?

Ultimately, “Power Play” suffers more from poor plotting and character development than high camp. J.R.’s scheme to have Alan marry Lucy so she’ll move away is another eye-roller, and I chuckle when Donna’s attorney, Jonas Smithers, drops by her apartment and blurts out the size of her inheritance – $10 million! – despite Ray’s presence in the room. This Smithers fellow isn’t very discreet.

But “Power Play’s” biggest flaw is its depiction of Lucy. Once again, “Dallas” can’t decide if the character is a child or a woman. In one scene, Jock tells Lucy he doesn’t want her staying awake until midnight to study. A few scenes later, when J.R. forbids Lucy to continue dating Alan, Miss Ellie reminds him Lucy is “a grown woman.”

My guess is “Dallas” wants us to see Lucy as Ellie does – as an adult, albeit a young one – yet the show continues to make her seem juvenile. Lucy decides to marry Alan merely to spite J.R.? Really, “Dallas”?

No wonder Lucy spends so much time at the roller rink in this episode. She’s gotten quite good at going round in circles.

Grade: C

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See what develops

‘POWER PLAY’

Season 3, Episode 16

Airdate: January 4, 1980

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

Writer: Jeff Young

Director: Leslie Martinson

Synopsis: When Kristin tells J.R. about Alan and Lucy’s relationship, J.R. schemes to bring the couple closer, hoping Alan will marry his niece and take her to Chicago. Alan proposes to Lucy but she balks – until J.R. forbids her to see Alan and she decides to marry him. J.R. angers Kristin when he has a fling with Serena, a high-class call girl.

Cast: Barbara Bel Geddes (Miss Ellie Ewing), Stephanie Blackmore (Serena), Karlene Crockett (Muriel Gillis), Mary Crosby (Kristin Shepard), Jim Davis (Jock Ewing), Patrick Duffy (Bobby Ewing), Linda Gray (Sue Ellen Ewing), Larry Hagman (J.R. Ewing), Susan Howard (Donna Culver), Laura Johnson (Betty Lou Barker), Steve Kanaly (Ray Krebbs), Ken Kercheval (Cliff Barnes), Jeanna Michaels (Connie), Randolph Powell (Alan Beam), Michael Prince (Jonas Smithers), Victoria Principal (Pam Ewing), Charlene Tilton (Lucy Ewing), Keenan Wynn (Digger Barnes)

“Power Play” 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: Call Girl, Heiress, Leslie H. Martinson, Power Play

The Art of Knots Landing: ‘Community Spirit’

June 5, 2012 by Chris Baker Leave a Comment

Gary and J.R. (Ted Shackelford, Larry Hagman) are seen in this 1980 publicity shot from “Community Spirit,” a first-season “Knots Landing” episode.

Filed Under: Art of Dallas, Art of Dallas (Classic), Features Tagged With: Community Spirit, Knots Landing, Larry Hagman, Ted Shackelford

Knots Landing Scene of the Day: ‘I’m Not Afraid of You, J.R.’

June 5, 2012 by Chris Baker 2 Comments

Sunny with a chance of courage

In “Knots Landing’s” first-season episode “Community Spirit,” J.R. (Larry Hagman) approaches Gary and Valene (Ted Shackelford, Joan Van Ark) on the beach, moments before Gary is supposed to speak at a rally against J.R.’s offshore drilling project.

VAL: [Slaps a coin purse in J.R.’s hands] Here.

J.R.: Well, what’s that? What is that?

VAL: A couple dollars in change.

J.R.: That’s very kind of you, Valene. What’s it for?

VAL: To call Lucy with.

J.R.: I meant what I said yesterday. [To Gary, but staring at Val] Tell your little woman not to toy with me.

GARY: We know you meant it, J.R.

VAL: Go on. Call her. Call Lucy and tell her. We were gonna tell her soon anyway. But if that’s what you have to do, do it. It’ll hurt her. And it’ll do you no worldly good at all, but we’re all strong. I mean, she’s strong. We’ll all get over it. And whatever pain it causes, it’s better than letting you have your way with us now. So go on, J.R., call Lucy.

J.R.: That’s no reason to upset the little girl.

GARY: No, especially not since Mom and Dad will come down so hard on you for it.

J.R.: Well, that’s figured in my thinking. I’ll admit it. What’s in the envelope, Gary?

GARY: Oh, a few reference notes for our debate.

J.R.: I know you found something snooping around in my office yesterday. And I know I’ve been had by that pretty girl Karen, but –

GARY: First time I’ve ever seen the beauty of being named a Ewing.

J.R.: Give me the envelope.

GARY: I’m not afraid of you, J.R. Not here.

J.R.: Well, you better be afraid for your near and dear because I’m gonna use every ounce of my power to break you, Gary. I swear it.

GARY: The surveys you did and the discovery of an alternate drilling site onshore, out of the way.

J.R.: Do you realize how much money that’s gonna cost us?

GARY: So you make 15 million the first five years instead of 20.

J.R.: That’s Ewing money. It’s your mother and your father’s.

GARY: I think they can get by on 15 million. Cut a few corners.

He begins walking away. J.R. grabs his arm and faces him.

J.R.: Gary, don’t use that survey.

GARY: I’m gonna. Nothing short of a rainout is gonna stop me. And J.R., it never rains in Southern California.

Filed Under: Dallas Scenes of the Day, Dallas Scenes of the Day (Classic), Features Tagged With: Community Spirit, Joan Van Ark, Knots Landing, Larry Hagman, Ted Shackelford

Critique: ‘Knots Landing’ Episode 2 – ‘Community Spirit’

June 5, 2012 by Chris Baker 11 Comments

He lied with his boots on

Part of the fun of watching “Dallas” comes from imagining what it would be like to be a Ewing – to wear those clothes, to drive those cars, to live in that house. For those who also wonder how the Ewings would fare in our world, there’s “Community Spirit.”

“Knots Landing’s” second episode brings J.R. to the Southern California cul-de-sac to squelch the neighborhood’s protest of a major Ewing Oil offshore drilling project. The episode is a hoot, not just because it’s fun to see J.R. out of his element, but also because we get to live vicariously through the “Knots Landing” suburbanites as they use J.R.’s own tricks against him.

“Community Spirit’s” smallest moments are among its best. In one, a frazzled Valene telephones Gary from their kitchen while cool-as-a-cucumber J.R., standing over her shoulder, pulls a book off a shelf and begins leafing through it. “I just love cookbooks,” he says.

In another tiny-but-great moment, J.R. takes a bite of the white-bread sandwich Val has served him.

“Hey, that is good. What do you call this?” he asks.

“Tuna fish,” she hisses.

I also like seeing Gary one-up J.R. at the end of the episode, even if his final line (“J.R., it never rains in Southern California”) is pretty corny.

As good as Larry Hagman’s exchanges with Joan Van Ark and Ted Shackelford are, my favorite moments in “Community Spirit” are J.R.’s scenes with Karen Fairgate, “Knots Landing’s” resident doyenne. We’re used to seeing J.R. interact with Gary and Val at Southfork, so watching him trying to charm Karen reminds us we really aren’t in Dallas anymore.

I particularly love when Karen visits J.R.’s hotel room and pretends to be interested in him, only to skip out at the last minute because she has to pick up her husband Sid’s suit at the cleaners. Has anyone ever left J.R. high and dry for a reason so mundane?

I don’t necessarily buy J.R.’s attraction to Karen, but Hagman and Michele Lee look like they’re having a ball working together. For me, the real joy of watching these old pros comes in hindsight: Hagman is the only actor to appear in every “Dallas” episode, and Lee is the only actress seen in every “Knots Landing” installment during its 14-season run.

This makes “Community Spirit” a meeting of two prime-time soap opera giants. I can’t watch it without smiling.

Grade: A

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Worlds collide

‘COMMUNITY SPIRIT’

“Knots Landing” Season 1, Episode 2

Airdate: January 3, 1980

Audience: 17.8 million homes, ranking 14th in the weekly ratings

Writer: Elizabeth Pizer

Director: James Sheldon

Synopsis: Gary reluctantly helps his neighbors protest Ewing Oil’s plan to drill offshore near Knots Landing. J.R. visits and pressures Gary to back off, but Gary refuses, forcing J.R. to switch to a costlier alternative site.

Cast: Robert DoQui (Joseph Whitcomb), Danny Gellis (Jason Avery), Joseph Hacker (Chip Todson), Larry Hagman (J.R. Ewing), Michele Lee (Karen Fairgate), Claudia Lonow (Diana Fairgate), Constance McCashin (Laura Avery), Don Murray (Sid Fairgate), John Pleshette (Richard Avery), Ted Shackelford (Gary Ewing), Steve Shaw (Eric Fairgate), Joan Van Ark (Valene Ewing)

“Community Spirit” is available on DVD. Watch the episode and share your comments below.

Filed Under: Critiques, Critiques (Classic), Opinion Tagged With: Community Spirit, Joan Van Ark, Knots Landing, Larry Hagman, Michele Lee, Ted Shackelford

The Art of Knots Landing: ‘Pilot’

June 4, 2012 by Chris Baker Leave a Comment

Valene and Karen (Joan Van Ark, Michele Lee) are seen in this 1979 publicity shot from “Knots Landing’s” pilot.

Filed Under: Art of Dallas, Art of Dallas (Classic), Features Tagged With: Joan Van Ark, Knots Landing, Michele Lee

Knots Landing Scene of the Day: ‘Knots Landing’s Just a Place’

June 4, 2012 by Chris Baker Leave a Comment

Dallas, Gary Ewing, Joan Van Ark, Knots Landing, Pilot, Ted Shackelford

The day the running stopped

In “Knots Landing’s” pilot, new residents Gary and Valene (Ted Shackelford, Joan Van Ark) walk toward their house after witnessing Sid fighting with Annie.

GARY: Come on, it’s OK. We’ll talk about it while we unpack? Uh, we are gonna unpack, aren’t we? [They stop and face each other.] Val, I’ve been running all my life. I’ve gotta stop sometime.

VAL: This place is not … we can’t…. I don’t know.

GARY: Hell, Valene. Knots Landing’s just a place. Look, I can’t run anymore. This is my last chance not to run.

They walk into the house.

Filed Under: Dallas Scenes of the Day, Dallas Scenes of the Day (Classic), Features Tagged With: Joan Van Ark, Knots Landing, Ted Shackelford

Critique: ‘Knots Landing’ Episode 1 – ‘Pilot’

June 4, 2012 by Chris Baker 7 Comments

Bobby Ewing, Dallas, Joan Van Ark, Knots Landing, Patrick Duffy, Pilot, Valene Ewing

North Texas, West Coast

Gary and Valene Ewing begin a new life in “Knots Landing’s” pilot, but it’s hard for me to get excited for the couple, given all the unfinished business they leave behind in Texas.

In “Dallas’s” third-season episode “Return Engagements,” which aired one week before “Knots Landing’s” debut, Gary and Val remarry and decide to relocate to Southern California. Incredibly, they don’t bother to share this news with their daughter Lucy, who is now a college freshman.

In the “Knots Landing” pilot, Gary explains this decision to Bobby, who appears in two scenes at the top of the hour. According to Gary, he and Val don’t want Lucy to know they’ve remarried until the couple is sure their second union is for keeps. “Our marriage was short the first time around. This time, Val and I have to know it’s gonna last,” Gary says.

If Gary and Val aren’t sure their relationship will succeed, why get married at all?

Don’t get me wrong: I like Gary and Val, but I’ve never bought their tortured explanations for allowing the Ewings to raise Lucy. When you think about it, Gary and Val are kind of deadbeat parents, which makes CBS’s decision to build a show around them a bit surprising.

Oddly, the “Knots Landing” producers choose to have their pilot revolve around neighbor Sid Fairgate’s attempt to tame his rebellious daughter, Annie. The storyline seems designed to echo Gary and Val’s strained relationship with Lucy, giving the couple plenty of opportunities to moon over her. But if the producers wanted “Knots Landing’s” first episode to be about parents reconnecting with an estranged child, why invent a surrogate?

Of course, while David Jacobs’s plotting in this episode might be curious, his dialogue is first-rate, as always. I’m particularly fond of Val and Annie’s beach scene. I love when Val asks the girl, “Home come you hate your daddy so much?” and Annie responds, “Grandma’s dead. I got no one else to hate.”

Joan Van Ark and Karen Allen’s performances here are as beautiful as Jacobs’ writing, but I can’t help thinking: Why isn’t Val having this conversation with her own daughter?

Grade: B

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Meet the neighbors

‘PILOT’

“Knots Landing” Season 1, Episode 1

Airdate: December 27, 1979

Audience: 15.3 million homes, ranking 23rd in the weekly ratings

Writer: David Jacobs

Director: Peter Levin

Synopsis: Bobby helps Gary and Valene move into their new home in Knots Landing, where the couple befriends next-door neighbors Sid and Karen Fairgate. Val helps settle a dispute between Sid and Annie, his rebellious daughter from a previous marriage.

Cast: Karen Allen (Annie Fairgate), Justin Dana (Jason Avery), Patrick Duffy (Bobby Ewing), James Houghton (Kenny Ward), Kim Lankford (Ginger Ward), Michele Lee (Karen Fairgate), Claudia Lonow (Diana Fairgate), Constance McCashin (Laura Avery), Don Murray (Sid Fairgate), Pat Petersen (Michael Fairgate), John Pleshette (Richard Avery), Ted Shackelford (Gary Ewing), Steve Shaw (Eric Fairgate), Joan Van Ark (Valene Ewing)

“Knots Landing’s” pilot is available on DVD. Watch the episode and share your comments below.

Filed Under: Critiques, Critiques (Classic), Opinion Tagged With: David Jacobs, Joan Van Ark, Karen Allen, Knots Landing, Return Engagement