A Video Sneak Peek at ‘Dallas’s’ Third Season

December 4, 2013 by 8 Comments

TV Guide’s William Keck delivered another early Christmas present for “Dallas” fans today: a video that mixes snippets from the TNT show’s new season with clips from older episodes, all set to the tune of “We Wish You a Merry Christmas.”

The video begins on a warm-and-fuzzy note, with a voiceover from John Ross (Josh Henderson), who says, “Whatever battles we face from here on, we fight together.” We also hear Bobby (Patrick Duffy) declare, “The Barnes/Ewing feud is over,” and then Sue Ellen (Linda Gray) says, “We’ve all worked so well together since J.R. died. I’d like to see that truce continue.”

Of course, this is “Dallas,” so things quickly go downhill from there. The new scenes show Elena (Jordana Brewster) firing a gun at a shooting range and hitting a male-shaped target in, um, a very sensitive spot; an angry Christopher (Jesse Metcalfe) slamming his hand on a table; and Judith (Judith Light) hitting Harris (Mitch Pileggi) with a cane.

There are also new shots of John Ross and Christopher embracing in what appears to be the Southfork kitchen and workers erecting a “Ewing Global” sign in office space.

The older footage includes second-season shots of Pamela (Julie Gonzalo), Ann (Brenda Strong), Emma (Emma Bell), Drew (Kuno Becker) and Cliff (Ken Kercheval).

What do you think of “Dallas’s” holiday-themed Season 3 promo? Share your comments below and read more news from Dallas Decoder.

Filed Under: News, News Tagged With: , , , , , , , , , , ,

Dallas Parallels: The Saboteurs

December 4, 2013 by 12 Comments

Dallas, John Ross Ewing, Josh Henderson, J.R. Ewing, Larry Hagman, TNT

J.R. Ewing is a man of many talents, but he takes special delight in the fine art of sabotage. During the original “Dallas’s” seventh season, after Cliff Barnes blackmails J.R.’s secretary Sly into spying on her boss, J.R. retaliates by turning one of Cliff’s employees against him. J.R.’s ultimate goal: to ruin Cliff, once and for all.

The scheme begins when J.R. tricks Cliff into investing in some expensive offshore oil leases in the Gulf of Mexico. Once Cliff is leveraged to the hilt, J.R. bribes Max Flowers, Cliff’s foreman, to slow down the drilling so Cliff won’t strike oil before his bank loan comes due, thus bankrupting him.

This must be one of the dirty tricks J.R. teaches John Ross, because three decades later, the son pulls a similar stunt. It begins during the second season of TNT’s “Dallas,” when John Ross is secretly plotting to seize control of Ewing Energies from his partners, who include onetime love Elena Ramos. To nab her share, John Ross bribes Brian “Bubba” Davis, Elena’s foreman, to drill in the wrong direction on land where she’s trying to strike oil. By delaying Elena’s strike, John Ross hopes to prevent her from repaying a loan to his mother Sue Ellen, thus putting Elena’s piece of Ewing Oil in play.

Both storylines include scenes where the victims (Cliff, Elena) visit their drilling sites with their siblings (Pam, Drew) and talk about how proud their deceased fathers would be if they strike oil. The strongest similarities, however, are found in scenes where the saboteurs (J.R., John Ross) meet with the duplicitous foreman (Flowers, Bubba) to discuss their schemes.

In the 1984 episode “Turning Point,” J.R. ducks into a dive bar and sits in a booth across from Flowers, who worries a member of his crew will figure out what he’s up to and tip off Cliff. J.R. expresses confidence the plan will work and dismisses his enemy’s capabilities. “You’re just going to have to make sure he keeps getting the short straw. Hell, he’s used to that anyway, isn’t he?” J.R. says.

The parallel sequence is found in the 2013 episode “False Confessions.” This scene also takes place in a dive bar, where the principals sit across from each other in a darkened booth. Like Flowers, Bubba worries someone close to the victim — in this case, Elena’s fiancée Christopher — will figure out the scheme against her. Like J.R., John Ross expresses confidence the plan will succeed and takes a swipe at his rival. Referring to Christopher, John Ross says, “It’s good that he thinks he has a chance. That’ll make it hurt more when he loses.”

Originally, I ended this post by pointing out how J.R.’s plot fails, while John Ross’s plan succeeds, but as Dallas Decoder reader Stephan points out in the comments section below, neither scheme is particularly successful. In J.R.’s case, Cliff fires Flowers and replaces him with a new foreman who hits a gusher at the 11th hour, saving Cliff from bankruptcy. Meanwhile, Elena fails to strike oil on her land and loses her share of Ewing Energies, but only after Sue Ellen invokes a morals clause in her contract with Elena.

So more than anything, J.R. and John Ross’s forays into sabotage confirm what we already know: Like father, like son.

 

‘Someone Might Tip Him Off’

Dallas, Denny Miller, Max Flowers, Turning Points

Tipped?

In “Turning Point,” a seventh-season “Dallas” episode, J.R. (Larry Hagman) enters a bar and sits at a booth across from Flowers (Denny Miller).

J.R.: Hello, Flowers. I hardly recognized you.

FLOWERS: That’s okay. Want a beer?

J.R.: Yeah, sure. If that’s all they got.

FLOWERS: [To a waitress] Hon, bring us a couple beers.

J.R.: So how’s everything in the gulf? Cliff Barnes ready to strike oil?

FLOWERS: Not yet. But the whole operation’s got me worried.

J.R.: Yeah? Why’s that?

FLOWERS: Well, you’ve been paying me a lot of money to slow things down. I don’t think I’ve been able to slow them down enough.

J.R.: Well, now, you’ve been doing a good job so far.

FLOWERS: Oh, I know. I’ve been able to miss the most promising geological formations. Barnes is so dumb, he doesn’t know that. But the crew is getting suspicious, and someone might tip him off.

J.R.: Well, you’ve just got to get rid of any potential troublemakers.

FLOWERS: Oh, I’ve been trying to do that. And I’ve hired the worst crew I could find. But you know, that’s hard to do. [J.R. chuckles.] Most of those guys are pretty sharp.

J.R.: Well, you’ve just got to hold it up for another couple of weeks at the most. Barnes is just about to run out of money.

The waitress sets two beers on the table.

FLOWERS: Thanks. If he was drilling any other tract, it’d sure be easier. He’s got possibly the richest tract in the gulf.

J.R.: Yeah, I know that. If it wasn’t, he wouldn’t be pouring every dollar he can get his hands on into it.

FLOWERS: Okay. I just wanted you to know that I’m doing my best. But sooner or later, even an idiot with a long straw could suck up oil out of that tract.

J.R.: You’re just going to have to make sure he keeps getting the short straw. [Sips his beer] Hell, he’s used to that anyway, isn’t he? [Chuckles]

 

‘He’s On Your Tail’

Dallas, Brian Bubba Davis, Matthew Posey, TNT

Tailed?

In “False Confessions,” a second-season “Dallas” episode, John Ross (Josh Henderson) enters a bar and sits at a booth across from Bubba (Matthew Posey).

JOHN ROSS: [Slaps an envelope on the table] Let’s call that your severance.

BUBBA: [Peeks inside] Much obliged, John Ross. But you should know that Christopher’s after me. He thinks you put me up to it.

JOHN ROSS: Just because he’s a pussy doesn’t mean he ain’t smart.

BUBBA: [Chuckles] You’re not concerned that he’s on your tail?

JOHN ROSS: It’s good that he thinks he has a chance. That’ll make it hurt more when he loses.

What do you think of J.R. and John Ross’s schemes against Cliff and Elena? Share your comments below and read more “Dallas Parallels.”

Filed Under: Dallas Parallels, Features Tagged With: , , , , , ,

‘Dallas’ Season 3: Let’s Speculate!

December 2, 2013 by 24 Comments
Dallas, Emma Bell, Emma Ryland, TNT

Uncovered

TV Guide’s ace columnist, William Keck, delivered a must-read preview of “Dallas’s” third season earlier today. Now it’s time for fans to fill in the blanks with their own theories about what we might see when TNT begins televising the new episodes on Monday, February 24.

• One of Keck’s most intriguing tidbits: The new season will feature a pregnancy storyline. Almost any of the show’s leading ladies could become expectant mothers, but my money is on Emma (Emma Bell). Imagine the complications that would ensue if John Ross (Josh Henderson) impregnates his wild-child mistress! Pamela is also a possibility, although would the producers force Julie Gonzalo to wear a padded tummy for a second season in a row? One out-there contender: Suppose Ann (Brenda Strong) delivered a late-in-life bundle of joy to Bobby (Patrick Duffy)?

• The new season will also include a shooting, a death and a wedding, Keck reports. I have no idea which characters might get shot and/or die, but the nuptials seem easy to figure out: After John Ross and Pamela’s quickie wedding in Las Vegas at the end of Season 2, aren’t they due for a lavish Southfork ceremony?

• According to Keck, Christopher (Jesse Metcalfe), who sports a beard in the Season 3 cast portrait that accompanies the TV Guide article, will meet his new love interest Heather (AnnaLynne McCord) when he stumbles upon her fighting with her ranch hand ex-husband. Again, this is pure speculation, but a recent tweet from the set suggests Donny Boaz, who appeared last season as Bo, the ranch hand who supplied Emma will pain pills, will be back next season. Could he be Heather’s ex?

• Keck tells us we’ll finally meet Joaquin, the mystery man Elena (Jordana Brewster) met in Mexico during the second-season finale. The article doesn’t mention who has been cast in this role, but I wonder: Will Nicolas Trevino, the new character played by Juan Pablo Di Pace, turn out to be Joaquin?

Consider this: On April 23, about a week after TNT showed the finale, the Elena character tweeted, “Can’t wait to introduce you all to my uncle Joaquin. He’s quite a character. And a potentially powerful ally.” This tweet is no longer in the character’s feed. Could this mean the producers’ vision of Joaquin has evolved from someone avuncular to someone younger like Di Pace?

• Sue Ellen (Linda Gray) will continue drinking in Season 3 after discovering John Ross is cheating on Pamela. According to Keck, “Sue Ellen’s struggle will climax in a midseason cliffhanger similar to one of the original series’ memorable season enders.” What could this mean? Is Sue Ellen going to wreck her car? Shoot someone? Make another movie?

• Keck reports Bobby might cheat on Ann, either with a “familiar face from the past (Priscilla Presley’s Jenna Wade?) or a lovely newcomer.” Nothing to add here, except this: !

• It looks like “Dallas” won’t forget Larry Hagman anytime soon. Showrunner Cynthia Cidre tells Keck, “We open with Bobby at the Ewing cemetery looking at the graves of J.R., Miss Ellie and Jock, saying, ‘I guess I’m the only one left now.’” The only question raised by this revelation: How many tissues will we need to get through that scene?

What do you think of the storylines previewed by TV Guide’s William Keck? Share your comments below and read more news from Dallas Decoder.

Filed Under: News, News Tagged With: , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

Tonight on #DallasChat: ‘The Feud’

December 2, 2013 by Leave a Comment
Bobby Ewing, Cliff Barnes, Dallas, Ken Kercheval, Patrick Duffy

The end?

Our next #DallasChat on Twitter will be held Monday, December 2, from 9 to 10 p.m. Eastern time. Our theme will be the generations-old conflict between the Barneses and the Ewings, otherwise known as “The Feud.”

Here’s how #DallasChat works: I tweet a question roughly every five minutes for one hour. Each question is numbered and includes the hashtag #DallasChat, so your responses should do the same.

A sample exchange:

Q1. Now that Cliff is in jail, is it time for “Dallas” to move beyond the Barnes-Ewing feud? #DallasChat

A1. Never! It ain’t “Dallas” without Ewings and Barnes loving and/or loathing each other. #DallasChat

Two pointers:

• During the discussion, enter #DallasChat in Twitter’s search field. This will help you watch the search results so you can follow the conversation. Click “All” to see all the related tweets.

• Include the hashtag #DallasChat in each tweet you send so others can see your contributions to the conversation. Feel free to start side conversations of your own, but be sure to include #DallasChat in those tweets too.

This promises to be another interesting chat. I hope you can make it!

Filed Under: #DallasChat, #DallasChat announcements, Opinion Tagged With: , ,

Dallas Scene of the Day: ‘I Want That Little Insect to Bite’

December 2, 2013 by 1 Comment
Buck Stops Here, Dallas, J.R. Ewing, Larry Hagman

The exterminator

In “The Buck Stops Here,” a seventh-season “Dallas” episode, J.R. (Larry Hagman) is seated in his office at night when Harry (James L. Brown) knocks on the door.

HARRY: Evening, J.R.

J.R.: Come in, Harry.

HARRY: [Enters the room, closes the door behind him] What’s up?

J.R.: Two very important deals were stolen out from under me by Cliff Barnes. They were hush-hush, strictly confidential. Brokers that I’ve known and trusted for years came to me and told me I was the only one they were talking to. But Barnes beat me out. That greedy little cockroach is getting information before I can act. He has a spy working for him.

HARRY: Well, the first thing we have to do is set out a trap.

J.R.: All right. Let’s talk about the bait. I want that little insect to bite — and bite hard.

Filed Under: Dallas Scenes of the Day, Dallas Scenes of the Day (Classic), Features Tagged With: , ,

Critique: ‘Dallas’ Episode 141 — ‘The Buck Stops Here’

December 2, 2013 by 8 Comments
Bobby Ewing, Dallas, Pam Ewing, Patrick Duffy, Victoria Principal

Round and round

“The Buck Stops Here” memorably ends with Pam Ewing and Jenna Wade competing against each other in a mechanical bull-riding competition. It’s an appropriate metaphor for these characters, whose lives go up and down but rarely move forward. For example, during the course of this episode, we learn Pam is still hung up on ex-husband Bobby, even though she’s also in a relationship with Mark Graison. Meanwhile, Jenna has returned to town after a long absence and rekindled her romance with Bobby, but he upsets her when he asks if he’s the father of her daughter Charlie. If it feels like you’ve seen both of these stories before, it’s because you have.

Let’s start with Pam. She spends most of “Dallas’s” previous season trying to choose between Bobby and Mark, a storyline that makes her seem more than a little wishy-washy. Once Pam divorces Bobby, the writers begin to rehabilitate her character, even giving her a promising new career in the oil industry. It’s the return of the smart, confident Pam that Victoria Principal played exceedingly well during “Dallas’s” early years. Too bad it doesn’t last. In “The Buck Stops Here,” Principal’s character is back where she was a year earlier, torn between Bobby and Mark.

At least Arthur Bernard Lewis’s script makes Pam aware that she’s emotionally stuck. In the first act, Pam confides her conflicted feelings to Katherine, a scene that is probably meant to make Pam seem introspective but instead makes her seem whiny and not in control of her own emotions. At one point, Katherine tells her, “You know, sometimes I don’t understand you at all.” Pam’s response: “Sometimes I don’t understand myself at all.” The exchange brings to mind “Dallas’s” fifth season, when Pam was unable to explain the erratic behavior she exhibited before her mental breakdown — a storyline I’d just as soon not be reminded of.

The weak plotting leaves me feeling bad for Principal, an enormously appealing actress who deserves better material. Don’t get me wrong: I want Bobby and Pam back together as much as anyone, but if the show was going to insist on breaking them up, at least give Pam something better to do than to pine after her ex-husband. On the other hand: I’ll confess I get a kick out of seeing Pam and Jenna shoot daggers at each other throughout the charity rodeo and the mechanical bull-riding competition. There’s also the terrific scene where Jenna compliments Pam on her performance, telling she’s going to be “a tough act” to follow. “I am a tough act to follow,” Pam responds. On this show, have truer words been spoken?

“Dallas” struggles to come up with a fresh angle for Jenna too. The show introduces the character in the second-season episode “Old Acquaintance,” when Jenna — played by Morgan Fairchild — is depicted as a scheming heiress who tries to break up Bobby and Pam by insinuating Charlie is Bobby’s daughter. Eventually, Pam confronts Jenna and forces her to admit that Jenna’s ex-husband is the little girl’s father. In Season 3, Jenna — now played by Francine Tacker — returns briefly and once again tempts Bobby, except this time Charlie’s paternity isn’t part of the equation. So why is Bobby suddenly pestering Jenna about the issue in “The Buck Stops Here”? My guess is the producers figured audiences wouldn’t remember this subplot was resolved years earlier, although I have no idea why they think “who is Charlie’s father?” is such a compelling storyline in the first place.

At least Jenna comes off as a little more clear-eyed than Pam. The character has felt more down-to-earth and interesting since Priscilla Presley took over the role three episodes ago. Some of this comes from the writing — Jenna has lost her fortune and is now working as a waitress to pay the bills — but some of it also comes from Presley, who instills her character with much more backbone than I remembered. In one of “The Buck Stops Here’s” best scenes, Katherine tries to bribe Jenna into moving to Houston and leaving Bobby alone. Katherine pretends she’s acting in Pam’s interest, but Jenna is savvy enough to realize Katherine wants Bobby for herself. I also like the scene where Bobby takes Jenna to dinner at the Oil Baron’s Club (which makes its debut in this episode) and asks her if she misses being rich. “Damn right I do,” she says. Isn’t it kind of refreshing to see the working class depicted as something other than noble?

Besides recycling old storylines, “The Buck Stops Here” demonstrates the sexism that pervades this era of “Dallas.” At the beginning of the episode, when Pam and Katherine have their heart-to-heart talk, Katherine is aghast to learn Pam and Mark have never had sex. “You can’t expect a man to wait forever. This isn’t the 19th century,” she says. It also seems like every man on this show has at least two women interested in him: Mark is romancing Pam while being chased by snooty socialite Tracy Anders, while Pam, Jenna and Katherine are all in love with Bobby.

(Frankly, everyone’s interest in Patrick Duffy’s character mystifies me a little, at least in “The Buck Stops Here.” Notice how Bobby cheerfully tells Katherine all about his wonderful afternoon with Jenna, even though Katherine confessed her own unrequited romantic feelings for Bobby during the previous episode. Likewise, isn’t it kind of crass of Bobby to plant such a passionate kiss on Jenna at the end of this episode, knowing that his ex-wife is watching them? Where’s the sweet, sensitive Bobby that we all know and love?)

Amid all the complications and sexism that characterize Bobby and Pam’s love lives, Sue Ellen’s May/December romance with camp counselor Peter Richards feels like a breath of fresh air. At least this is a love triangle where one woman (Sue Ellen) is the object of affection for two men (J.R. and Peter). The previous episode ended with Sue Ellen and Peter sharing a brief kiss, but in “The Buck Stops Here,” she meets Peter for lunch — the restaurant’s name isn’t shown, but I’d recognize the inside of a 1980s Pizza Hut anywhere — and wisely tells him that their relationship can’t go any further. It’s nice to see Sue Ellen grow as a character, even as some of her “Dallas” sisters struggle to move forward.

Of course, even though I like seeing the Ewing and Barnes women take center stage for a change, I can’t help but feel bad for J.R., who doesn’t have much to do in “The Buck Stops Here” except to stand by helplessly as Cliff steals another deal from him. In fact, Larry Hagman is completely absent from the episode’s fourth act, an extreme rarity on this show. It’s no fun to watch our hero get beat, but but I’m heartened by the scene where J.R. summons Harry McSween to his office to help him set a trap for his enemy. “I want that little insect to bite — and bite hard,” J.R. says. The line leaves me rubbing my hands in glee. J.R. vowing to exterminate Cliff? Oh, this is going to be fun!

Grade: B

_______________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

Bobby Ewing, Dallas, Jenna Wade, Patrick Duffy, Priscilla Presley

Busy Bobby

‘THE BUCK STOPS HERE’

Season 7, Episode 10

Airdate: December 2, 1983

Audience: 22.3 million homes, ranking 3rd in the weekly ratings

Writer: Arthur Bernard Lewis

Director: Leonard Katzman

Synopsis: Peter tells Sue Ellen he loves her, but she insists it’s merely an infatuation. Pam sleeps with Mark after she spots Bobby kiss Jenna passionately. After J.R. loses another deal to Cliff, he realizes Ewing Oil has a mole.

Cast: Christopher Atkins (Peter Richards), Mary Armstrong (Louise), John Beck (Mark Graison), Tye Bell (Buzz), Morgan Brittany (Katherine Wentworth), James L. Brown (Detective Harry McSween), Jack Collins (Russell Slater), Joe Dorsey (Ben Kesey), Patrick Duffy (Bobby Ewing), Eric Farlow (Christopher Ewing), Linda Gray (Sue Ellen Ewing), Larry Hagman (J.R. Ewing), Susan Howard (Donna Krebbs), Steve Kanaly (Ray Krebbs), Omri Katz (John Ross Ewing), Ken Kercheval (Cliff Barnes), Audrey Landers (Afton Cooper), Roy McAdams (rodeo announcer), Andrea McCall (Tracy Anders), Shalane McCall (Charlie Wade), Priscilla Beaulieu Presley (Jenna Wade), Victoria Principal (Pam Ewing), Debbie Rennard (Sly), Danone Simpson (Kendall), Don Wood (Dan Fuller)

“The Buck Stops Here” 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: , , , , , , , , ,

Dallas Parallels: Teach Your Children Well

November 27, 2013 by 7 Comments

Battle Lines, Dallas, False Confessions, J.R. Ewing, Larry Hagman

J.R. imparts a lot of wisdom to John Ross over the years — and like all fathers, sometimes he has to repeat himself before the lessons sink in.

In “Battle Lines,” one of the original “Dallas’s” eighth-season episodes, J.R. is leaving for work when he runs into John Ross on the Southfork patio. The little boy has heard Uncle Bobby is in the hospital after being shot and wants to know if Daddy is going to take control of Ewing Oil now that Bobby is sick.

J.R. sits in a patio chair, looks John Ross in the eye and gently explains that’s not how he operates. “There’s something I want to explain to you, son,” J.R. says. “One of these days I expect to control all of Ewing Oil, and Bobby won’t work there. He’ll be doing something else. But I want you to remember that he’s my brother — and I love him very much. And it just wouldn’t be fair to take advantage of him while he’s sick. That’s just something you don’t do to the people you love.”

This is a sweet father-son moment and a nice reminder that J.R. has limits. But how much of an impression does his lesson make on John Ross?

In “False Confessions,” one of TNT’s second-season “Dallas” episodes, Bobby is once again involved in a shooting — except this time, Bobby has been accused of gunning down archenemy Harris Ryland. The shooting occurs while J.R. and John Ross are plotting to seize control of Ewing Energies, and so John Ross suggests using Bobby’s arrest to gain leverage against him in their takeover scheme.

Once again, J.R. sets his son straight — but this time, he’s not as nice about it as he was when John Ross was a child. “You still got a lot to learn, boy. When the family’s in trouble, we don’t take advantage,” J.R. says.

To be fair, J.R. doesn’t always play by this rule, as Bobby and the other Ewings would surely attest. One example: In the TNT episode “Family Business,” when J.R. resists John Ross’s plea to give Southfork back to the cancer-stricken Bobby, J.R. snaps, “You’re confusing emotion with business.”

So much for not taking advantage of family, huh? Then again, this is J.R. Ewing we’re talking about. Of course he’s going to break the rules — even his own.

‘It Just Wouldn’t Be Fair to Take Advantage’

Battle Lines, Dallas, J.R. Ewing, Larry Hagman

Play fair

In “Battle Lines,” an eighth-season “Dallas” episode, J.R. (Larry Hagman) stands over John Ross (Omri Katz), who is cleaning his bike on the Southfork patio.

JOHN ROSS: Are you going to see Uncle Bobby at the hospital?

J.R.: Well, I might drop in on him this afternoon. [Looks at his watch] I’ve got an awful lot of work to do at the office.

Sue Ellen (Linda Gray) exits the house and stands on the patio, listening.

JOHN ROSS: Maybe I can go to the office and help you.

J.R.: [Chuckles] Well, that’s a good idea. Maybe we ought to wait until you’re a little older, though, huh?

JOHN ROSS: Daddy are you going to be running Ewing Oil all by yourself?

J.R.: Well, I’m just going to run it until Bobby gets back. Why do you ask that?

JOHN ROSS: Well, you said you were going to run the company all by yourself some day and then give it to me.

J.R.: Well, I couldn’t take it away from Bobby while he’s in the hospital.

JOHN ROSS: But Mama said Bobby can’t see right now.

J.R.: [Sits in a patio chair] John Ross, there’s something I want to explain to you, son. One of these days I expect to control all of Ewing Oil, and Bobby won’t work there. He’ll be doing something else. But I want you to remember that he’s my brother — and I love him very much. And it just wouldn’t be fair to take advantage of him while he’s sick. That’s just something you don’t do to people you love. But when he’s well — and able to defend his shares in Ewing Oil — well, I’m going to fight for it. And of course I’ll win. Then I’m going to give you the whole company — and you’ll never have to share it with anybody. Now you understand that?

JOHN ROSS: I think so.

J.R.: Good. And you’ve got to remember: With family, you play fair. Because there are rules to follow. And if you do, you’ll be able to live with yourself.

‘When the Family’s in Trouble, We Don’t Take Advantage’

Dallas, False Confessions, J.R. Ewing, Larry Hagman

Fair play

In “False Confessions,” a second-season “Dallas” episode, J.R. (Larry Hagman) is standing at his bedroom window, ending a phone call, when John Ross (Josh Henderson) enters.

JOHN ROSS: What’s going on?

J.R.: Bobby got arrested for shooting Harris Ryland.

JOHN ROSS: You serious? [Steps forward] You think that will help us get him out of Ewing Energies?

J.R.: You still got a lot to learn, boy. [Slides his cell phone in his pocket] When the family’s in trouble, we don’t take advantage.

JOHN ROSS: You got a problem with me?

J.R.: You damn right I do. [Steps forward] I hear you’ve been cavorting with Pamela Barnes. What do fathers say? I’m not mad, I’m just disappointed? Well, I am both.

JOHN ROSS: Who I cavort with ain’t none of your business.

J.R.: It is when her last name is Barnes. [Sits] What do you want with Christopher’s scraps anyway?

JOHN ROSS: I’m working her.

J.R.: And apparently not learning from your mistakes. You already got in bed with one crazy woman in that Marta. Not a good idea to get in bed with another one.

JOHN ROSS: I’ve got a plan to get her shares of Ewing Energies after the divorce.

J.R.: You let that Barnes girl get a piece of our company and you’re inviting a vampire into our home. She’ll suck the life out of us. That’s why I’ve seen to it that there won’t be a divorce.

JOHN ROSS: How’s that?

J.R.: I made a deal with Cliff’s man Frank. We’ve got a plan to take Pamela out of the picture.

JOHN ROSS: You must be getting senile in your old age, Daddy, because I’m the one calling the shots here. Remember?

J.R.: You asked me to teach you every dirty trick I know so we can take Ewing Energies. I teach by example.

JOHN ROSS: What do you and Frank plan on doing to Pamela?

J.R.: You got feelings for this girl?

JOHN ROSS: No.

J.R.: Then why do you care?

What do you think of the lesson J.R. teaches John Ross? Share your comments below and read more “Dallas Parallels.”

Filed Under: Dallas Parallels, Features Tagged With: , , , , , ,

Let’s Talk Turkey Tonight on #DallasChat

November 25, 2013 by Leave a Comment
Cliff Barnes, Dallas, Ken Kercheval, TNT

Quit jiving us, Barnes

Our next #DallasChat on Twitter will be held Monday, November 25, from 9 to 10 p.m. Eastern time. Since Thanksgiving is later this week, our theme will be “Talkin’ Turkey.”

Here’s how #DallasChat works: I tweet a question roughly every five minutes for one hour. Each question is numbered and includes the hashtag #DallasChat, so your responses should do the same.

A sample exchange:

Q1. Who is “Dallas’s” biggest turkey? #DallasChat

A1. That’s easy: Cliff Barnes. He’s been jiving the Ewings for years. #DallasChat

Two pointers:

• During the discussion, enter #DallasChat in Twitter’s search field. This will help you watch the search results so you can follow the conversation. Click “All” to see all the related tweets.

• Include the hashtag #DallasChat in each tweet you send so others can see your contributions to the conversation. Feel free to start side conversations of your own, but be sure to include #DallasChat in those tweets too.

This will be a fun, festive chat. Don’t miss it!

Filed Under: #DallasChat, #DallasChat announcements, Opinion Tagged With: ,

Dallas Scene of the Day: ‘Bobby … I’m in Love With You’

November 25, 2013 by 8 Comments
Morning After, Morgan Brittany, Patrick Duffy

What’s not to love?

In “Morning After,” a seventh-season “Dallas” episode, Bobby and Katherine (Patrick Duffy, Morgan Brittany) have a picnic in a park.

BOBBY: Well, this is a first.

KATHERINE: In what way?

BOBBY: I cannot remember, ever in my life, having a picnic in the middle of a working day. [They toast.]

KATHERINE: Well, do you mind?

BOBBY: I think it’s wonderful. I’ve just never done it before. [He pops a grape into his mouth.]

KATHERINE: Bobby, there’s something I should tell you. I was very disappointed that you didn’t ask me to the Oil Baron’s Ball.

BOBBY: Ask you to be my date? Katherine, the thought never occurred to me.

KATHERINE: Don’t you think it should have?

BOBBY: You are Pam’s sister.

KATHERINE: But you’re not married to Pam anymore.

BOBBY: Well, I realize that, of course —

KATHERINE: Bobby, why did Jenna Wade come back into your life?

BOBBY: What?

KATHERINE: I’d just like to know about her.

BOBBY: All right. Jenna Wade. Jenna is probably the first girl that I ever truly loved.

KATHERINE: Yes, that’s what I’d heard. But what about now? How do you feel about her now?

BOBBY: Katherine, you forgive me if this sounds rude, but I don’t think that’s any of your business.

KATHERINE: But of course it is. Don’t you understand why?

BOBBY: No, I don’t.

KATHERINE: You don’t, do you? Bobby, don’t you realize I’m in love with you? I’ve been in love with you from the first time I ever saw you. I just never said anything because you were married to my sister.

BOBBY: Katherine, I … I don’t know what to say. I didn’t have the slightest idea.

KATHERINE: I thought it was written all over my face.

BOBBY: I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to hurt you.

KATHERINE: Hurt me?

BOBBY: I could just never see you and I being together.

KATHERINE: Am I so unattractive?

BOBBY: Oh, no. Of course not. But you’re Pam’s sister. I could never think of you in any other way.

KATHERINE: But you could think of Jenna Wade in another way.

BOBBY: Jenna and I have known each other a long time. And we’ve always had very strong feelings for one another.

KATHERINE: Well, lucky Jenna.

Filed Under: Dallas Scenes of the Day, Dallas Scenes of the Day (Classic), Features Tagged With: , ,

Critique: ‘Dallas’ Episode 140 — ‘Morning After’

November 25, 2013 by 6 Comments
Christopher Atkins, Dallas, Linda Gray, Morning After, Peter Richards, Sue Ellen Ewing

Special needs

The characters on “Dallas” usually have affairs when they fall in lust or in love, but neither scenario is true for Sue Ellen Ewing and Peter Richards. Their romance is based on their mutual neediness. Sue Ellen, having been betrayed by J.R. once too often, needs to be reminded of what life was like before it turned into one extended heartache. Peter, a bright young man who is eager for the world to take him seriously, needs to feel like a grownup. Put another way: She needs to feel younger, he needs to feel older. This doesn’t make their relationship right, but I can see why they’re drawn to each other.

In “Morning After,” Sue Ellen and Peter finally acknowledge what’s happening between them. It begins when Peter visits Southfork and overhears J.R. and Sue Ellen arguing. J.R. wants his wife to sleep with him; when she refuses, he suggests it’s because Peter is “getting” to her. Sue Ellen insists this isn’t true but wonders if J.R. is jealous. His response: “Jealous? Are you kidding? The one thing I don’t have to worry about is a schoolboy with a crush on my wife.” The next day, Peter persuades Sue Ellen to meet him at a quiet pier, where he says he doesn’t think he should continue working with John Ross because he’s developed feelings Sue Ellen. She tells Peter it’s “not so unusual” for a young man to be attracted to an older woman, comparing him to a student who develops a crush on a teacher. Sue Ellen urges him to not “give up” on John Ross, who adores Peter and would be sad to lose him as his counselor. “It’ll all work out. You’ll see,” she says.

Except this is “Dallas,” and so of course things won’t work themselves out. To begin with, Sue Ellen is also attracted to Peter, although she doesn’t want to admit it. Why? Scriptwriter David Paulsen never makes this clear, but it seems safe to assume the always ladylike Sue Ellen believes it would be wrong for a woman in her 40s to desire a college student like Peter. Regardless of the character’s motivation, Linda Gray does a nice job bringing Sue Ellen’s conflicted feelings to light. This is especially true in the scene where Sue Ellen shoots down Lucy’s suggestion that Peter has a crush on her. Gray delivers her lines with just enough defensiveness in her voice to let the audience know that Sue Ellen doesn’t believe a word of what she’s saying. Charlene Tilton’s skepticism in this scene is also pitch-perfect. When Sue Ellen insists Peter is nothing more than John Ross’s friend, Lucy snaps, “He’s John Ross’s friend? John Ross is 5 years old. Peter is in college.”

Sue Ellen’s denials bring to mind one of “Dallas’s” earlier May/December romances: Jock’s affair-of-the-heart with Julie Grey. Like Sue Ellen does with Peter, Jock initially denies anything is happening between him and Julie, although he eventually realizes their relationship is wrong and ends it. Also, like Sue Ellen and Peter’s romance, Jock and Julie’s affair is rooted in mutual neediness: He needs Julie to help reclaim his vitality after his heart attack, while she needs Jock to validate her self-worth. One difference between the two relationships: Julie fools herself into thinking it’s OK to pursue Jock, but Peter does no such thing when it comes to his feelings toward Sue Ellen. Even after Peter eavesdrops on J.R. and Sue Ellen’s spat and realizes they aren’t the happy couple they pretend to be in public, Peter tells Sue Ellen their friendship can’t continue. “You’re married. I just don’t think anything should happen between us,” he says.

Ultimately, this is why Sue Ellen is so attracted to Peter: Unlike the husband who has caused her so much pain, Peter is principled. He still has some growing up to do, though. The day after Sue Ellen’s conversation with Peter at the pier, she drops John Ross off at camp and discovers Peter hasn’t shown up for work. Sue Ellen returns to the pier, where she finds Peter sitting on the dock, looking like a sad little boy. She again reassures him that everything will work itself out, then holds his hand and walks him toward her car, where, in the episode’s final scene, he kisses her. The sentimental underscore lends this scene a “Summer of ’42” vibe, and Christopher Atkins is earnest enough to make Peter’s kiss seem gentle and sweet. But isn’t it also kind of childish? For all of Sue Ellen’s talk about how mature Peter is, he apparently isn’t grown up enough to control his impulses.

Sue Ellen and Peter’s relationship will take more twists and turns as “Dallas’s” seventh season progresses, but by the end of “Morning After,” it feels like their affair is already doomed. The qualities that attract these characters to each other are the same qualities that seem destined to tear them apart them. Sue Ellen is drawn to Peter’s youth and, having had her first taste of self-empowerment in the previous episode, she seems to enjoy being the dominant player in their relationship. Notice how she goes to the pier to retrieve him, and she takes his hand and walks him to her car. Peter’s attraction to Sue Ellen, in the meantime, is based on how she treats him like a man. As their relationship deepens and she asserts herself more, will he still feel the same way?

Peter isn’t the only character who comes clean in “Morning After.” In one of this episode’s most interesting scenes, Katherine finally tells Bobby she loves him and is surprised to see the revelation shocks him. I suspect a lot of “Dallas” fans probably share Katherine’s surprise, although Bobby’s explanation (“You’re Pam’s sister. I could never think of you in any other way.”) seems reasonable to me. Regardless, I feel sorry for Katherine. Yes, she did an awful thing by working with J.R. to orchestrate Bobby and Pam’s breakup, but Morgan Brittany imbues her character with such sad desperation that she becomes a sympathetic figure. I also have to admire how Katherine goes after what she wants, unlike so many of the other women on this show who never seem fully in control of their own lives.

Other notable moments in “Morning After” include the scene where Cliff invites Pam to join him for a business dinner with Ben Kesey, whose oil company Cliff wants to buy. Of course, smarmy Cliff arrives late because he knows Kesey will be attracted to his sister and wants them to have plenty of time alone together. This won’t be the first time Cliff will use a woman named Pam in this manner, is it? Fortunately, in “Morning After,” Victoria Principal’s Pam is smart enough to figure out what’s happening and calls Cliff on his manipulation. Too bad Donna doesn’t demonstrate the same gumption in her scene with Paul Morgan. After she thanks Morgan for defending Ray during his murder trial, Morgan flirts with Donna shamelessly, predicting she’ll “wake up one day and leave that guy.” Why doesn’t Donna slug him? On the other hand, Morgan isn’t wrong, is he?

The other great scene in “Morning After” showcases Larry Hagman’s wonderful chemistry with Tilton. It begins when J.R. arrives for breakfast on the Southfork patio, ranting about his brawl with Cliff at the Oil Baron’s Ball the previous night. When J.R. reveals Cliff bit him, Lucy snickers. Says J.R.: “It’s not a laughing matter, young lady. A human bite is a very serious thing. Don’t you worry. I’ll take care of Cliff Barnes.” Lucy’s response: “Are you going to bite him back?”

Perfect.

Grade: B

_______________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

Dallas, J.R. Ewing, Larry Hagman, Morning After

Who bit J.R.?

‘MORNING AFTER’

Season 7, Episode 9

Airdate: November 25, 1983

Audience: 21.2 million homes, ranking 3rd in the weekly ratings

Writer: David Paulsen

Director: Michael Preece

Synopsis: After Cliff is named oil baron of the year, he gets into a fistfight with the Ewings. Katherine declares her love to Bobby, who says he considers her a friend. Peter confesses his crush to Sue Ellen and kisses her. Cliff uses information from Sly to steal another deal from J.R.

Cast: Christopher Atkins (Peter Richards), John Beck (Mark Graison), Morgan Brittany (Katherine Wentworth), Glenn Corbett (Paul Morgan), Joe Dorsey (Ben Kesey), Patrick Duffy (Bobby Ewing), Linda Gray (Sue Ellen Ewing), Larry Hagman (J.R. Ewing), Susan Howard (Donna Krebbs), Steve Kanaly (Ray Krebbs), Omri Katz (John Ross Ewing), Ken Kercheval (Cliff Barnes), Audrey Landers (Afton Cooper), Shalane McCall (Charlie Wade), Priscilla Beaulieu Presley (Jenna Wade), Victoria Principal (Pam Ewing), Debbie Rennard (Sly), Charlene Tilton (Lucy Ewing), Debi Sue Voorhees (Caroline), Tom Williams (Joe Clooney), Morgan Woodward (Punk Anderson)

“Morning After” 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»