Between the Lines and Behind the Scenes of "Dallas"
On “Dallas,” Miss Ellie was a strong woman who married two strong men: Jock Ewing, her first husband, and Clayton Farlow, her second. Each man brought unique qualities to his relationship with Ellie, but which one suited her best?
Your #DallasChat Daily question: Who was a better husband to Miss Ellie — Jock or Clayton?
Share your thoughts in the comments section below. Have a great discussion!
Don’t just stand there. Tweet!
If “Dallas” fans want the TNT drama to stick around for a while, TV ratings expert Marc Berman has some advice for them: Start tweeting.
The amount of buzz a show generates on Facebook, Twitter and similar sites is increasingly important to its chances of survival, says Berman, editor in chief of TV Media Insights, a top industry news site. For example, the ABC Family series “Pretty Little Liars” doesn’t generate huge ratings, “but when you look at what that show does on social media, the numbers are through the roof,” Berman says.
“Pretty Little Liars” generated 391,000 tweets that were seen by 3.9 million users last week, according to media research giant Nielsen, which now measures Twitter chatter about TV shows. The show ranked second only to AMC’s “The Walking Dead,” which generated 484,000 tweets that were seen by 4.9 million users.
“Dallas” has a strong social media presence too. The show’s official Facebook page has received 1.4 million “likes,” and its Twitter feed has 78,000 followers. Berman says fans can support the series this season by talking about it on social media and sharing “Dallas”-related tweets and Facebook posts.
The “Dallas” stars are also getting in on the action. Yesterday, Linda Gray told the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette that she’s even received pointers from TNT — and co-star Josh Henderson — on the ins and outs of social media.
(This season, your Dallas Decoder is doing his part too. I’ll live-tweet each new episode on Monday nights — and to keep the conversations going after the show, my weekly #DallasChat Twitter discussions will move to Tuesday nights.)
Of course, traditional ratings matter too, Berman says. Last year, “Dallas” averaged 2.7 million viewers on Monday nights, but the audience grew to 3.8 million when you include people who record the show on DVRs and watch it later in the week. “The show must hold onto those numbers. If you see it lose 10 percent or 20 percent of its audience, that won’t be good,” he says.
And yes, DVR numbers matter. “Nobody looks at one set of numbers anymore. With ‘Dallas,’ you’re adding another million viewers [through DVR playback]. That’s important,” he says.
Berman also thinks it’s a good sign that TNT will give the show a midseason break. The cable channel plans to show the season’s first eight episodes in the winter and spring, and then put the series on hiatus until the summer, when the final seven hours will be telecast.
Summers are less competitive, and when “Dallas’s” first season was shown in the summer of 2012, the series averaged 4.2 million viewers. “By breaking up [the third season], you’re going to give ‘Dallas’ a better shot at staying on the air,” Berman says.
So what does Berman, a longtime “Dallas” fan, think of the new season? He’s seen the first two episodes and is impressed with the way the writers have made J.R.’s legacy part of the storyline. “It’s honoring Larry Hagman’s memory the way the original series honored Jim Davis’s memory after he died. They’ve done it really, really well,” he says.
We’re Pumped
Fill ‘er up
The real-life Ewing Energies gas station will open today at 466 10th Avenue in New York City.
Henderson, in his guise as John Ross, announced the news in a video posted this morning to “Dallas’s” Facebook page. “The price of gasoline — it’s out of your control. But not mine,” John Ross says.
The gas will sell for just $1.98 a gallon — but for today only. As John Ross explains, “Unlike our competitors, who want to rob you blind, I just want to make us both rich.”
If you can’t make it to the station today, you can visit the “Dallas” Facebook page to enter a sweepstakes to win “Black Gold” gift cards.
Look Who Else is Tweeting (and Talking)
Speaking of tweeting: If you’re looking for Julie Gonzalo after 3 p.m. Eastern today, check Twitter. The “Dallas” star says she’ll live-tweet the afternoon portion of TNT’s 26-hour “Dallas” marathon, which kicked off last night and will culminate tonight at 9 with the debut of the third-season premiere, “The Return.”
Meanwhile, Gonzalo’s co-stars are hitting the talk-show circuit to promote Season 3.
Henderson will appear on “Live with Kelly and Michael” today and “The Wendy Williams Show” on Friday, February 28. Both shows are syndicated, so check your local listings.
According to Gray’s Facebook page, she’ll also appear on “Live with Kelly and Michael” soon. Gray’s post also indicates she’ll guest on “Today,” “Piers Morgan Tonight,” “Watch What Happens Live” and “Katie.” Precise airdates haven’t been announced.
Finally, Patrick Duffy is scheduled to drop by “Live with Kelly and Michael” on Friday, March 7.
Boy, Kelly Ripa and Michael Strahan must love discussing “Dallas” as much as we do!
We’ve Got It Covered
Your Dallas Decoder is going to work harder than ever to deliver exceptional coverage of “Dallas” this season. In case you missed it, here’s an overview of our plans.
“Drill Bits,” a roundup of news about TNT’s “Dallas,” is published regularly. Share your comments below.
The deaths of Jock and J.R. Ewing produced some of the saddest moments in “Dallas” history. From a creative standpoint, the two deaths also stand as high watermarks for the franchise, although I’m sure everyone involved — the people behind the scenes, the performers in front of the camera, the fans watching at home — wish neither storyline had been necessary.
The original “Dallas” wrote Jock out of the show when Jim Davis died of cancer in 1981; TNT’s sequel show killed off J.R. when Larry Hagman, also a cancer victim, died in 2012. Wisely, neither series considered recasting the roles, choosing instead to honor Davis and Hagman by incorporating their deaths into the storylines.
The old show laid the groundwork for Jock’s departure by having the government recruit him off-screen for a trade mission to “South America” to help an unidentified country develop its oil industry. (Foreign locales on the 1980s “Dallas” are almost always vague.) For several episodes, the Ewings are shown talking to Jock on the phone or receiving letters from him — until the 1982 Southfork barbecue, when Miss Ellie receives the fateful call informing her that Jock’s helicopter has crashed in the jungle. J.R., Bobby and Ray go to the crash site hoping to find Jock, but the only thing they bring home is his lion’s head medallion, which Bobby discovers at the bottom of the lake where the chopper went down.
After Hagman’s death, TNT’s “Dallas” sent J.R. to Abu Dhabi, where he was said to be negotiating oil leases for Ewing Energies, the family’s newest business. The producers then recycled recent footage and dialogue from Hagman to create a scene in which J.R. makes a final phone call to John Ross. After expressing his pride in the younger man and telling him that he’s his son “from tip to tail,” J.R. looks stunned as two gunshots ring out. The next time we see John Ross, he’s with Bobby, Sue Ellen and Christopher aboard a Ewing helicopter as it flies to Nuevo Laredo, Mexico, where the police say they’ve found J.R.’s dead body in a faded hotel room. The Ewings refuse to believe the evidence until they go to the morgue and confirm the sad truth: J.R. is gone.
The parallels are clear: Jock and J.R. both die away from home, and both of their families race to foreign terrain, hoping against hope that the men are still alive. The way the Ewings handle the deaths are also similar: When Jock dies, J.R. slips into a depression, leaving Bobby to play the role of the supportive younger sibling; it’s not unlike John Ross’s funk at J.R.’s memorial service and funeral, where Christopher offers his older cousin much-needed moral support. Meanwhile, Sue Ellen’s tearful eulogy at J.R.’s gravesite evokes memories of Miss Ellie’s moving tribute to Jock at the first Oil Baron’s Ball held after his death.
There are also similarities between Jock’s will and the scheme that J.R leaves his family to execute after his death. Both are essentially war plans: Jock’s will pits J.R. and Bobby against each other in a battle to determine which man is best suited to run Ewing Oil, while J.R.’s “masterpiece” is a blueprint to defend the family’s empire from Cliff Barnes’s latest attack. Despite the differences, both storylines end with a similar twist: It turns out the war plans are really peace plans.
In the classic episode “Check and Mate,” as the contest for Ewing Oil concludes, Jock’s friend Punk Anderson reads a letter in which the Ewing patriarch reveals the contest wasn’t really about determining which brother is a superior businessman; the goal was to show the men that they need each other. “If you just took the same energy you use to fight each other and went to work side by side, there’d be no limit to what you’d be able to accomplish in the future,” Jock wrote.
Thirty years later, in the TNT episode “Legacies,” Bobby reads J.R.’s last letter, which reveals the true purpose of his masterpiece was to end the Ewings’ long-running battle with the Barneses — a fight J.R. helped perpetuate. “The feud Digger Barnes started with our family caused more heartbreak than either of us has time to recount. Well, I guess you do have the time. Use it. Put an end to this feud, once and for all,” J.R. wrote.
There’s something poignant about the idea that J.R., “Dallas’s” ultimate warrior, died while trying to bring peace to his family. And what lengths he went to! It turned out he was dying of cancer and arranged for his loyal private eye Bum to shoot him so his “murder” could be pinned on Cliff. Some “Dallas” fans have questioned J.R.’s tactics — will framing Cliff really end the Barnes-Ewing feud? — but is it any less logical than Jock’s attempt to make his sons get along by pitting them against each other? “Dallas” purists also see J.R.’s sacrifice as an example of TNT’s historical revisionism — he lived like a villain but died a hero — but I like the idea that Hagman’s character “grew” in old age and became more willing to put his family’s needs above his own.
Besides, not all revisionism is a bad thing. Remember the painting of J.R. that Bobby, Sue Ellen and John Ross hung in the Ewing Energies office at the end of the second season? The portrait, which is seen above, seemed destined to become TNT’s version of the old show’s painting of Jock, except many “Dallas” fans instantly despised the impressionistic style that production designer Richard Berg used to render J.R. Well, good news: For Season 3, Berg has produced a better, more realistic version — one that’s much more befitting a hero.
‘Look at Each Other as Family’
Daddy’s decree
In “Check and Mate,” a seventh-season “Dallas” episode, Punk (Morgan Woodward) reads aloud Jock’s letter as J.R. (Larry Hagman), Bobby (Patrick Duffy) and Harv (George O. Petrie) listen.
PUNK: “Bobby, J.R.: By the time you hear these words, a year will have passed since I died. Now I know you two never had been able to work together, but in throwing you against each other as I decided to do, I will have been able to prove a point. I’m convinced that the fight for Ewing Oil will bring out the best in both of you and that when you add up your two halves of the company, you’ll find that together, you’ll have taken Ewing Oil to the heights of success and profitability. Boys, if nothing else, this battle should teach you to respect one another as businessmen and as adversaries. I don’t care which of you ends up with the higher profit number. I truly don’t. My deepest wish is that, at the end of this year, you two will have learned that you’re far better off together than apart and if you just took the same energy you use to fight each other and went to work side by side, there’d be no limit to what you’d be able to accomplish in the future. Sons, that was the purpose of your contest. Not to make one of you a winner and the other a loser. It was to make you look at each other as family. I know that’s what your mom would want, and that’s what I want too. J.R., Bobby, do it without me. For your mama’s sake and mine, put your arms around each other and work that company like brothers.”
‘Put an End to this Feud’
Brother’s behest
In “Legacies,” a second-season “Dallas” episode, Bobby (Patrick Duffy) reads aloud J.R.’s letter as John Ross (Josh Henderson), Christopher (Jesse Metcalfe) and Bum (Kevin Page) listen.
BOBBY: “Bobby, Doctors say I’ve only got a few days left. Damn cancer. I should have told you earlier, but you know how I detest pity. The feud Digger Barnes started with our family caused more heartbreak than either of us has time to recount. Well, I guess you do have the time. Use it. Put an end to this feud, once and for all. I had Bum steal Cliff’s gun. That malignant little troll Barnes comes to Mexico every year for a Marlin fishing competition. I’m going to damn well stay alive long enough to be here when he arrives. Carlos del Sol will smooth out the rough edges in Mexico for you. And talk to Bum. He’s the final and most important piece of the puzzle. And the best friend I didn’t deserve to have. So remember the time that you got grounded for ‘borrowing’ Daddy’s favorite shotgun? You swore up and down it wasn’t you but Daddy said there was no point in lying because he found those extra shells in your room. Well, we both know it was me who planted those shells. Now it’s time to play that card again. I can …. [Bobby breaks down, and Christopher finishes reading the letter.]
CHRISTOPHER: “I can never make up for all the terrible, hurtful things I did to you, Bobby. And I have no excuses either one of us will believe. But I hope in the quiet place in your heart, where the truth lives, that my jealousy, as powerful as it was, was nothing compared to my love for you. Goodbye, baby brother. I guess I’ll be duck hunting with Daddy. I’ll tell him I was the one who borrowed his gun.”
How do you feel about Jock and J.R.’s peace plans? Share your comments below and read more “Dallas Parallels.”
Ain’t over yet
It’s never too late to start watching “Dallas.” If you missed the original show and the first two seasons of TNT’s sequel series, fear not: This post will tell you everything you need to know before Season 3 begins on Monday, February 24. (*OK, this isn’t really everything that’s happened on “Dallas.” For that, you’ll have to keep reading Dallas Decoder every day.)
The Original Series (1978 to 1991)
In the beginning
Bobby Ewing (Patrick Duffy), the youngest son of a rich oil and cattle clan, marries Pam Barnes (Victoria Principal) and brings her home to Southfork, the Ewing ranch. This upsets everyone, especially Pam’s daddy Digger (David Wayne), who blames Bobby’s daddy Jock (Jim Davis) for stealing his sweetheart, Miss Ellie (Barbara Bel Geddes), and cheating him out of half of Ewing Oil. While Bobby’s devious brother J.R. (Larry Hagman) is building the family empire and catting around, J.R.’s neglected wife Sue Ellen (Linda Gray) becomes an alcoholic and has an affair with Cliff (Ken Kercheval), Pam’s vengeful brother. Later, J.R. and Sue Ellen have a son, John Ross, while Bobby and Pam adopt Christopher, the orphaned child of Sue Ellen’s sister Kristin Shepard (Mary Crosby) and sleazy Jeff Faraday (Art Hindle). Elsewhere, Ray Krebbs, Southfork’s foreman, discovers Jock is his daddy and marries savvy politico Donna Culver (Susan Howard), while Lucy (Charlene Tilton), the daughter of J.R. and Bobby’s middle brother Gary (Ted Shackelford) and his wife Valene (Joan Van Ark), gets engaged to everyone.
End of an era
More drama: Digger dies and so does Jock, leaving Ellie to hold the family together with help from second hubby Clayton Farlow (Howard Keel). Southfork burns down, but the Ewings rebuild it. Cliff hooks up with Afton Cooper (Audrey Landers), who gives birth to their daughter Pamela Rebecca, but Afton refuses to let Cliff near the child because of his fixation with destroying the Ewings. Cliff and Pam’s half-sister Katherine Wentworth (Morgan Brittany) arrives, becomes obsessed with Bobby and tries to kill him, then vanishes under a big hat. Sue Ellen beats the bottle and divorces J.R., while Pam has a bad dream, gets burned in a car crash and runs away. Bobby has an on-again, off-again romance with first love Jenna Wade (Priscilla Beaulieu Presley), who gives birth to their son Lucas and then marries newly divorced Ray. James (Sasha Mitchell), J.R.’s illegitimate son, shows up for a while and emulates the old man. Bobby marries April (Sheree J. Wilson), but she dies. J.R. marries Cally (Cathy Podewell), but she leaves. In the end, Cliff finally takes over Ewing Oil, leaving J.R. alone and suicidal.
Hurts so good
Best Episode: “Swan Song.” The eighth-season finale finds J.R. and Sue Ellen’s marriage on the rocks, unlike the vodka she’s secretly swilling in her bedroom. Meanwhile, Bobby chooses Pam over Jenna, but crazy Katherine runs him over with her car. The episode ends with the Ewings bidding farewell to Bobby in a deathbed scene that’s so beautifully written and acted, you almost wish it wasn’t part of Pam’s dream. Almost.
Shot in the dark
J.R.’s Greatest Moment: Who shot J.R.? Sure, taking a couple of slugs to the gut is no fun for our hero, but at least he makes billions of dollars in a risky offshore oil deal before he’s gunned down. Oh, and in case you didn’t hear, J.R.’s assailant turns out to be Kristin, his sister-in-law/ex-secretary/ex-mistress, who’s revealed as the shooter in one of the most-watched broadcasts in television history. (Props to Sue Ellen, who figures it all out.)
TNT Season 1 (2012)
When cousins clash
J.R. emerges from a nursing home and tricks Bobby into selling him Southfork so he can tap the ocean of oil flowing beneath it. Like their fathers, John Ross and Christopher (Josh Henderson, Jesse Metcalfe) butt heads, except their rivalry has an added twist: John Ross has fallen for Elena Ramos (Jordana Brewster), who was Christopher’s childhood sweetheart. Christopher marries Rebecca Sutter (Julie Gonzalo), unaware that she’s the daughter of Cliff, who is now the gazillionaire owner of Barnes Global and still hell-bent on destroying the Ewings. Rebecca kills her lover Tommy Sutter (Callard Harris) in self-defense and has Cliff’s henchman Frank Ashkani (Faran Tahir) dispose of the body. Meanwhile, Sue Ellen runs for governor; Bobby’s new wife Ann (Brenda Strong) feels threatened by ex-husband Harris Ryland (Mitch Pileggi), who knows she’s harboring a dark secret; and John Ross, Christopher and Elena form a company, Ewing Energies, but the partnership is threatened when Elena breaks her engagement to John Ross and reunites with Christopher, who dumps the pregnant Rebecca.
Bad does good
Best Episode: “Family Business.” In one of Hagman’s most poignant performances, J.R. learns Bobby is secretly battling cancer and returns Southfork to him, ending the season-long war for the ranch. Later, in a chill-inducing musical montage (set to Johnny Cash’s “The Man Comes Around”), poor Bobby suffers a seizure and Rebecca shoots Tommy, splattering blood over her unborn twins’ stuffed animals. Hmmm. Foreshadow, much?
Pass the torch
J.R.’s Greatest Moment: Who loves J.R.? His son John Ross, who ends the season by gazing at the Dallas skyline with dear old dad and asking him to teach him “every dirty trick” he knows so he can push Christopher and Elena out of Ewing Energies. J.R. beams with pride and tells John Ross that he’s his son “from tip to tail.” Hey, J.R. may have given up the fight for Southfork, but he wasn’t giving up his devious ways — thank goodness.
TNT Season 2 (2013)
All about evil
Rebecca reveals she’s Pamela Rebecca Barnes and hooks up with John Ross. Ann shoots Harris after learning he kidnapped their daughter Emma when she was a baby and sent her to be raised by his control-freak mother, Judith (Judith Light). Ann gets probation, Harris recovers and Judith falls down the stairs. Frank takes the blame for Tommy’s death and kills himself at the request of Cliff, who causes Pamela’s miscarriage. When J.R. is murdered in Mexico, it appears Cliff is the killer, so Bobby, Christopher and newlyweds John Ross and Pamela plant evidence on Cliff to make sure he’s arrested. Oh, and Christopher also discovers Cliff covered up his mom’s death. Elsewhere, John Ross somehow inherits half of Southfork; Sue Ellen loses the election but continues to tangle with Governor McConaughey (Steven Weber); Emma (Emma Bell) sleeps with Elena’s ne’er-do-well brother Drew (Kuno Becker), becomes John Ross’s mistress and turns Harris in to the cops for drug trafficking; and when Christopher dumps Elena, jailbird Cliff asks her to become his proxy at Barnes Global, which the Ewings now control.
Mourning glory
Best Episode: “J.R.’s Masterpiece.” Our hero is laid to rest in an instant-classic hour that brings back several stars from the original series. The highlight: On the night before J.R.’s burial, Sue Ellen takes a heartbreaking tumble off the wagon, then delivers a mesmerizing eulogy for the man she calls “the love of my life.” Can someone please explain how Linda Gray didn’t win an Emmy for this performance?
Only you
J.R.’s Greatest Moment: Who killed J.R.? J.R. did, of course. It turns out he was dying of cancer and arranged his own death so Cliff could be framed for the crime, thus ending the Barnes-Ewing feud … for about 2 minutes, at least. Only a handful of people know the truth, including Bobby, J.R.’s loyal private eye Bum (Kevin Page), Christopher and John Ross, who gets it right when he says, “The only person who could take down J.R. … was J.R.”
What are your favorite “Dallas” memories? Share them below and read more features from Dallas Decoder.
Bull run
In “Past Imperfect’s” best scene, Clayton Farlow storms off the elevator at Ewing Oil, barges into J.R.’s office and shoves him onto the sofa. Clayton, who is newly engaged to Miss Ellie, has just discovered J.R. has been poking into his past — and he’s none too pleased about it. “When are you going to get it through that thick skull of yours that I love your mother and all I want is a chance to make her happy?” he says. J.R. looks a little rattled as Clayton stomps away, but a big grin soon breaks across his face. He turns to a shaken Sly and says, “A man who gets that angry over a little snooping must have something interesting to hide. I wonder what that is?”
Larry Hagman steals this scene with his smile, but the sequence also demonstrates why Howard Keel was an ideal successor to Jim Davis. This requires a somewhat lengthy explanation, so hang with me. First, consider the dilemma “Dallas” faced when Davis died at the end of the fourth season. The producers could have gone in several directions, including recasting Jock with another actor. Wisely, they decided instead to kill off the character and give the audience time to adjust to life without the show’s beloved patriarch. Then, in Season 6, “Dallas” began testing possible love interests for Ellie, including Dale Robertson’s Frank Crutcher, who was just as crusty as Jock but not nearly as intimidating. I also get the impression the show toyed with the idea of turning Donald Moffatt’s character, regal lawyer Brooks Oliver, into a beau for Ellie, which would have represented a total departure from Davis.
Finally, the producers turned Clayton into Ellie’s new mate. Perhaps they realized Keel offered the best of all options: He’s a big, commanding presence like Davis, but he’s also gentlemanly enough to ensure Clayton will never be accused of being a clone of the crotchety Jock. Since joining the show a few years earlier, Keel — a onetime star of MGM musicals — had become one of “Dallas’s” most reliable utility players, dutifully fulfilling whatever role the writers assigned to Clayton: Sue Ellen’s father figure/suitor, J.R.’s business adversary, Rebecca Wentworth’s gentleman caller. Clayton eventually became Ellie’s friend, which offered the first hint of the warm rapport that Keel and Barbara Bel Geddes would perfect as their on-screen relationship progressed.
Clayton also became a strong character in his own right, as we see in the wonderful scene in “Past Imperfect” where he summons J.R., Bobby and Ray to the Oil Baron’s Club — not to get their permission to wed Ellie, but to give them an opportunity to air any grievances they may have with him before the nuptials take place. Keel’s exchange with Steve Kanaly in this scene, when Clayton confidently assuring Ray that his opinion matters too, is especially good. But never forget: No matter how well Clayton got along with Ellie, Ray or anyone else, “Dallas” was J.R.’s show, and so Keel’s chemistry with Hagman mattered most of all. And since J.R. was destined to despise any man who courts his mama, the producers needed to fill this role with an actor who could play off Hagman. In Keel, they found their man.
This is why J.R. and Clayton’s confrontation in “Past Imperfect” is so crucial: It establishes that Clayton is no pushover. In the scene, Keel is fire and Hagman is ice; it’s not unlike the dynamic that exists between Hagman and Victoria Principal when Pam gets riled up. Perhaps not coincidentally, Clayton, like Pam, is an outsider who isn’t afraid to stand up to J.R., which earns Clayton instant respect from the audience — and perhaps from J.R. himself. Keel’s physical stature doesn’t hurt (the actor stood well over 6 feet, so he can look Hagman in the eye), but his booming baritone matters even more. In “Past Imperfect,” when Clayton tells J.R., “You are a liar!” the line sounds like it should be accompanied by a lightning bolt. Can you imagine Frank Crutcher or Brooks Oliver pulling off a scene like this?
J.R. and Clayton’s confrontation is a technical achievement too. Hagman, who directed “Past Imperfect,” films Keel coming off the elevator and marching into J.R.’s office in a single, continuous shot. This kind of camerawork requires a lot of coordination: Keel must deliver his lines while in motion — when Sly tells Clayton he can’t enter J.R.’s office, Clayton exclaims, “The hell I can’t!” — and the dialogue must be timed so Keel and Deborah Rennard complete their lines before Keel rounds the corner and begins his exchange with Hagman. We don’t see a lot of complicated shots like this on the original “Dallas,” but when they pop up, they’re often in episodes helmed by Hagman or Patrick Duffy. Why do actors make such inventive directors?
There are also quite a few comedic scenes in “Past Imperfect,” a reflection, perhaps, of Hagman’s sitcom roots. The best of these moments occurs when Clayton sweeps into the Southfork living room during cocktail hour to present Ellie with an engagement ring. He faces her and J.R. stands between them, with Jock’s portrait looming over J.R.’s shoulder — a harbinger of the two obstacles Ellie and Clayton will have to overcome on their way to the altar. The funny part comes when Keel takes the drink out of Bel Geddes’ hand and hands it to Hagman; Ellie and Clayton never take their eyes off each other, and the sneer on J.R.’s face makes it clear he doesn’t appreciate Clayton treating him like a servant.
Hagman also showcases Ken Kercheval’s comedic timing throughout “Past Imperfect.” In one scene, Cliff is talking about offshore oil leases at dinner with Pam and Mark when Afton asks him when he’s going to take a break and taste his meal. Cliff ignores her and keeps talking, so she gracefully sticks a forkful of food into his mouth. The blabbing continues, but after a few moments, Cliff finally realizes what happened. “Oh, this is good. Afton, it’s terrific,” he says. In another scene, Cliff interrupts a romantic moment between Pam and Mark with another monologue about the offshore oil deal he’s pitching to them. They ignore him and walk away. “Well, I thought I was talking to somebody,” he says.
I like how Hagman frames the latter scene, with Pam and Mark facing each other and Cliff in the middle, looking at both of them. (It echoes the earlier cocktail scene with Ellie, Clayton and J.R.) Hagman delivers several other nifty shots in “Past Imperfect,” including one where Sue Ellen drops off John Ross on his first day of school and watches workers raising the Texas flag in front of the building. Hagman opens with a tight, stationary close-up of the flag; as the flag rises out of the frame, it reveals Peter Richards leaning against his jeep in the distance, waiting for Sue Ellen. It’s a cool effect, although it also illustrates how stalkerish Peter is becoming.
Speaking of John Ross’s first day of school: “Past Imperfect” seems to confirm what I suspected — that the beginning of “Dallas’s” seventh season takes place in the summertime. This makes sense, since John Ross attends a day camp in these episodes, and that’s the kind of thing kids do in the summer. But if we assume John Ross’s school year begins on the first Tuesday of September, how do we explain the scenes in this episode that take place one day earlier, when J.R., Bobby and their secretaries are shown going about their business during a typical day at the office? You don’t suppose J.R. was heartless enough to make everyone work on Labor Day, do you?
Grade: A
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Four’s a crowd
‘PAST IMPERFECT’
Season 7, Episode 13
Airdate: December 23, 1983
Audience: 20.1 million homes, ranking 1st in the weekly ratings
Writer: David Paulsen
Director: Larry Hagman
Synopsis: Clayton tells the Ewing brothers he wants to make Miss Ellie happy, but he becomes angry when he finds out J.R. has been snooping into his past. Cliff, believing J.R. wants to bid on offshore oil leases, approaches Mark about bidding too, but Mark is skittish. After Sue Ellen breaks up with Peter, Lucy learns he’s dropped out of school. Bobby buys a boutique for Jenna to run. In Rome, Katherine searches for Naldo Marchetta, Jenna’s ex-husband.
Cast: Christopher Atkins (Peter Richards), John Beck (Mark Graison), Barbara Bel Geddes (Miss Ellie Ewing), Morgan Brittany (Katherine Wentworth), James L. Brown (Detective Harry McSween), Roseanna Christiansen (Teresa), Pat Colbért (Dora Mae), Patrick Duffy (Bobby Ewing), Eric Farlow (Christopher Ewing), Linda Gray (Sue Ellen Ewing), Michael Griswold (Thomas Hall), Larry Hagman (J.R. Ewing), Susan Howard (Donna Krebbs), Steve Kanaly (Ray Krebbs), Omri Katz (John Ross Ewing), Howard Keel (Clayton Farlow), Ken Kercheval (Cliff Barnes), Audrey Landers (Afton Cooper), Alberto Morin (Armando Sidoni) Priscilla Beaulieu Presley (Jenna Wade), Victoria Principal (Pam Ewing), Debbie Rennard (Sly), Danone Simpson (Kendall), Paul Sorensen (Andy Bradley), Don Starr (Jordan Lee), Charlene Tilton (Lucy Ewing), Deborah Tranelli (Phyllis)
“Past Imperfect” is available on DVD and at Amazon.com and iTunes. Watch the episode and share your comments below.
The return
Mama’s back! In “Barbecue Four,” Barbara Bel Geddes returns to “Dallas” after being absent from the previous 11 episodes. In real life, the actress was recovering from heart surgery, so the producers temporarily wrote her out of the show by having Clayton whisk Miss Ellie away so she could distance herself from J.R. and Bobby’s bitter battle for Ewing Oil. I’m glad “Dallas” gave Bel Geddes time off, but I wish the writers had come up with a better excuse for her character’s absence. Ellie is so emotionally fragile, she had to run away? That’s not the mama I know.
Regardless, it’s good to have Bel Geddes back. She is the original “Dallas’s” best actress, bringing warmth and grace to a show that could always use a little more of both. Bel Geddes makes Ellie feel like the kind of person you might know in real life, which can’t be said about a lot of other “Dallas” characters, no matter how much we love them. I didn’t realize how much I missed her until she pops up again in “Barbecue Four.” (On the other hand, Bel Geddes’ time away did offer a bright spot: It allowed Sue Ellen to finally fulfill her dream of becoming the lady of the manor. It’s fun to see her take charge of planning the annual Ewing Barbecue in this episode and the previous one, and I like how the writers use Sue Ellen to fill the void left by Southfork’s original nurturer-in-chief. In “The Quality of Mercy,” for example, we see Sue Ellen give Lucy advice on coping with Mickey’s paralysis. If Bel Geddes had been around, I suspect Ellie would have been the one dispensing wisdom to Lucy.)
I also appreciate how “Barbecue Four” scriptwriter Arthur Bernard Lewis and director Leonard Katzman give Bel Geddes a dramatic entrance. It begins with the Ewings gathered in the Southfork dining room, where J.R. is lobbing one sly insult after another at his relatives. (My favorite: “That’s right, Ray. You sit where Gary used to. You two have so much in common.”) When J.R. raises his glass in tribute to “Ewing traditions,” we hear a woman’s familiar voice off-screen: “May we join you in that toast?” The camera cuts to Bel Geddes and Howard Keel standing in the doorway as Katzman zooms in on Ellie; soon all the Ewings are on their feet, hugging and kissing their beaming mama. It’s another reminder of why Bel Geddes is so essential to “Dallas.” When she’s around, these characters feel like a family.
Of course, the cozy atmosphere doesn’t last long. After the Ewings have welcomed Ellie home, she sits at the table and invites Clayton to join the family for dinner. He silently takes a place across from her, sliding into the seat Jock once occupied. Ellie smiles nonchalantly, but Bobby and Ray appear unnerved and J.R. looks positively stricken. What I like best about this moment is how it plays on the audience’s familiarity with “Dallas’s” customs. No mention of Jock is made, but none is needed. Katzman and Lewis trust the viewer to recognize what a momentous occasion it is to see another man sitting in Jock’s seat. I feel sorry for Clayton — the poor chap doesn’t know what he’s getting into, does he? — but no matter how you feel about Keel’s character, the fact that “Dallas” is able to create a dramatic moment out of someone sitting down is impressive.
“Barbecue Four” also includes a lot of other fun scenes, including the sequence where J.R. drops by Pam’s house to invite her, Cliff and their significant others to the Ewings’ annual barbecue. The only thing that amuses me more than seeing J.R. pretend to be nice to the Barneses is seeing how Cliff and Pam seem to buy his Mr. Nice Guy act. Then again, Larry Hagman almost convinces me that J.R. is being sincere. The barbecue scenes are also a kick. These events always yield a dramatic moment or two, and this one is no exception: Bobby has a tense confrontation with Mark, Sue Ellen sneaks off to the barn to see Peter and Pam runs into Charlie Wade, who doesn’t seem to hold a grudge against Pam for swiping her doll during the second season.
Lewis’s script seems to contain a couple of inside jokes too. In one scene, Peter and Lucy exit a movie theater after seeing a sci-fi flick. He bemoans the plot and declares, “It’ll drive me right back to TV.” Is this a nod to Christopher Atkins’ own film career? (A few weeks before “Barbecue Four” debuted, the actor’s latest film, “A Night in Heaven,” was released. He played an exotic dancer who fell for an older woman.) Later, Afton watches Cliff stuffing himself with food at the barbecue and compares him to a squirrel getting ready for winter. His response: “Baby, this is going to be the best winter ever. It’s going to be Christmas every day.” Is it a coincidence that Cliff refers to the holiday in this episode, which debuted nine days before Christmas 1983?
Finally, some casting trivia. “Barbecue Four” introduces Pat Colbért as Dora Mae, the hostess at the Oil Baron’s Club, while Peyton E. Park once again plays Larry, the Ewings’ caterer, who also appeared in the two previous barbecue-themed episodes. Most notably, Mitch Pileggi makes his “Dallas” debut in “Barbecue Four.” The actor, who now stars on TNT’s “Dallas” as Harris Ryland, had a few small roles on the original series, beginning with a part in this episode as a rowdy cowboy who harasses Jenna while she’s waiting tables. In the scene, Bobby tries to rescue Jenna, but she sends him away and says she can take care of herself as Pileggi flashes his wicked grin at Patrick Duffy. Who knew these two were just getting warmed up?
Grade: B
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Changing of the guard
‘BARBECUE FOUR’
Season 7, Episode 12
Airdate: December 16, 1983
Audience: 22 million homes, ranking 3rd in the weekly ratings
Writer: Arthur Bernard Lewis
Director: Leonard Katzman
Synopsis: Miss Ellie returns home and announces her engagement to Clayton. With J.R.’s blessing, Sly feeds Cliff information about a lucrative deal, which Cliff steals. Ray and Donna entertain her friend Edgar Randolph, a federal government official who is overseeing the auction of offshore oil leases. Peter accepts Lucy’s invitation to the Ewing Barbecue, where he sneaks off with Sue Ellen and professes his love for her. Katherine travels to Italy and obtains a copy of Charlie’s birth certificate, which lists Bobby as the father.
Cast: Christopher Albee (Travis Boyd), Christopher Atkins (Peter Richards), John Beck (Mark Graison), Barbara Bel Geddes (Miss Ellie Ewing), Morgan Brittany (Katherine Wentworth), Martin E. Brooks (Edgar Randolph), Roseanna Christiansen (Teresa), Pat Colbért (Dora Mae), 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), Howard Keel (Clayton Farlow), Ken Kercheval (Cliff Barnes), Audrey Landers (Afton Cooper), Anne Lucas (Cassie), Shalane McCall (Charlie Wade), Alberto Morin (Armando Sidoni), Peyton E. Park (Larry), Mitch Pileggi (bar patron), Priscilla Beaulieu Presley (Jenna Wade), Victoria Principal (Pam Ewing), Peter Renaday (Rigsby), Debbie Rennard (Sly), Charlene Tilton (Lucy Ewing), Deborah Tranelli (Phyllis)
“Barbecue Four” is available on DVD and at Amazon.com and iTunes. Watch the episode and share your comments below.
Jock and Miss Ellie have the most stable marriage on the original “Dallas,” often serving as role models for the younger couples at Southfork. Bobby and Ann continue this tradition on the new series, although they’ve also inherited Jock and Ellie’s penchant for keeping secrets from each other.
During the old show’s third season, after Jock suffers a near-death experience on a hunting trip, he decides to reveal something to Ellie that he’s hidden from her for 40 years: He was previously married to a woman named Amanda. In “Mastectomy, Part 1,” Jock finally tells Ellie about the marriage, explaining how he divorced Amanda after she suffered a mental breakdown and was committed to a sanitarium.
In true “Dallas” style, Jock’s timing is lousy. He comes clean to Ellie on the night she was planning to tell him she might have breast cancer. When Ellie hears Jock’s admission, she’s too upset to share her news. “You walked out on a sick woman. If I get sick, are you going to walk out on me?” she asks.
Flash forward to “Battle Lines,” the new “Dallas’s” second-season opener, when Ann comes home and tells Bobby something she has hidden from him: During her first marriage to Harris, Ann and Harris had a daughter named Emma, who was kidnapped and presumed dead. Unlike Ellie, who ends up rushing out of the room after learning Jock’s news, Bobby remains calm when he hears Ann’s revelation. When she tells him Harris claims to have found Emma and that a DNA sample from Ann could confirm the young woman’s identity, Bobby simply says, “Well, OK, then. Let’s get your DNA checked, Annie.”
This difference aside, the staging of the scenes is almost identical: Jock and Ann both sit on Southfork sofas when they confess their secrets to their spouses, who are seated to next to them. The two confessions also trigger repercussions: Ellie remains angry at Jock for awhile, finally forgiving him after her cancer surgery. Likewise, Bobby harbors lingering resentment toward Ann until the night before J.R.’s funeral, when he finally blows up at her. (“I am pissed!”)
By the end of the season, like Jock and Ellie before them, Bobby and Ann have patched things up — until the next secret comes out, no doubt.
‘Her Name Was … Amanda’
Unwrapped wife
In “Mastectomy, Part 1,” a third-season “Dallas” episode, Miss Ellie (Barbara Bel Geddes) sits on a sofa in the Southfork den while Jock (Jim Davis) stands at the bar.
ELLIE: Jock, I think you’ve stirred that drink long enough.
JOCK: Yeah, I guess you’re right. [Carries two drinks to the sofa, hands one to her] Miss Ellie, when you’ve been married as long as we have, you kind of sense when something’s wrong.
ELLIE: Yes, I guess we’re beyond keeping things from each other.
JOCK: [Sits next to her] I could see it in your face.
ELLIE: I wanted to talk, Jock.
JOCK: I guess you picked it up from me.
ELLIE: The other way around. [Smiles]
JOCK: Well, I never really knew how to tell you, but I must have been on the verge of it a hundred times.
ELLIE: Tell me what?
JOCK: About Amanda.
ELLIE: Amanda?
JOCK: Here I wait 40 years to tell you, and wouldn’t you know, it all comes out backwards?
ELLIE: [Sets down her drink] Jock, I don’t understand what you’re saying.
JOCK: Ellie, I’m trying to tell you about my first wife.
ELLIE: Your first wife?
JOCK: Yes. I was married and divorced before I met you. Her name was, is Amanda.
ELLIE: What are you talking about?
JOCK: [Rises] Well, when I went hunting with the boys a few weeks ago and got shot, I didn’t know whether I was going to make it or not. I realized I had an obligation to her.
ELLIE: [Shouting] Obligation?
JOCK: Miss Ellie, she’s not a well woman. She had a complete mental breakdown, shortly after we were married. The doctor finally advised divorce. I paid all of her sanitarium bills. I figured that if anything happened to me, there ought to be some sort of trust fund to continue those payments. [Sits down again] But I had to talk to you first.
ELLIE: You divorced a woman because she was sick?
JOCK: No, Miss Ellie. It was on doctors’ advice.
ELLIE: And you kept this from me? All this time?
JOCK: I wanted to tell you, Miss Ellie, believe me. I didn’t want to lose you to Digger. I wasn’t so sure of myself in those days.
ELLIE: What else haven’t you told me, Jock? What else?
JOCK: Nothing. It was a long time ago, over 40 years, Ellie.
ELLIE: “A long time ago.” You walked out on a sick woman. If I get sick, are you going to walk out on me?
Jock looks down as Ellie gets up and rushes out of the room.
‘Her Name Was Emma’
Undisclosed daughter
In “Battle Lines,” a second-season “Dallas” episode, Bobby (Patrick Duffy) is standing at the Southfork kitchen counter when Ann (Brenda Strong) enters, holding an envelope.
BOBBY: Hey, honey. [Notices she seems upset, walks toward her as she approaches the sofa] Annie? Honey, what’s wrong? [Sits with her, holds her hand] Honey? Hey.
ANN: You told me to come to you when I was ready. Well, I have something to tell you. Twenty-two years ago, I had a daughter. Her name was Emma. When Emma was 18 months old, I was at the state fair. I turned away from her stroller to get a soda, just for a moment. [Begins sobbing] And when I turned back, she was gone. Someone had taken her. Everyone searched. But Emma was never found. [Sniffles] I saw Harris this afternoon. He told me he’d found Emma. But before he’ll tell me where she is, I have to give him a tape I made of him admitting to laundering money. [Bobby pulls his hand away.] I’m sorry I never told you.
BOBBY: How do you know what Ryland told you is true? What if he’s making all of this up, just to get back this … tape that you’ve made?
ANN: [Pulls a paper and photograph out of the envelope, hands it to Bobby, who examines it] Harris says he had his DNA checked against this young woman … and that I should do the same.
BOBBY: Well, OK, then. Let’s get your DNA checked, Annie.
What do you think of spousal secrets that rock the marriages of Jock and Miss Ellie and Bobby and Ann? Share your comments below and read more “Dallas Parallels.”
Show him some love, Emmy
Will Larry Hagman receive some much-deserved Emmy recognition when this year’s prime-time nominees are announced on July 18?
The “Dallas” star, who died last fall, is a contender in the dramatic supporting actor race. The editors at awards website Gold Derby rank Hagman 15th on the list of likely nominees in that category, putting his odds at 100 to 1.
In other words: Hagman’s chances are pretty slim.
On the other hand: Never bet against ol’ J.R.
“You don’t know how sentimental the voters might be,” says Chris Beachum, Gold Derby’s senior editor. “Mr. Hagman played one of the most iconic characters of all time … anything can happen.”
The dramatic supporting actor race is always competitive, often with seven or eight strong contenders competing for six slots, Beachum says. This year’s likely nominees include Aaron Paul (“Breaking Bad”) and Mandy Patinkin (“Homeland”), but surprises are possible. Last year, the experts were caught off guard when Jim Carter and Brendan Coyle scored supporting actor nominations for their roles on “Downton Abbey.”
The latest Emmy competition covers programs televised from June 2012 through May 2013, so the first two seasons of TNT’s “Dallas” revival are eligible. Hagman died in November after completing the first half of the second season, which TNT telecast in the winter and spring.
Hagman never won an Emmy. He was twice nominated for best actor during the original “Dallas’s” heyday, losing to Ed Asner (“Lou Grant”) in 1980 and Daniel J. Travanti (“Hill Street Blues”) in 1981. If Hagman is nominated this year, he’ll follow in the boot steps of TV daddy Jim Davis, who received a posthumous nomination in 1981.
Barbara Bel Geddes is the only actor to win an Emmy for “Dallas,” receiving the award for best actress in 1980.
None of the other actors from TNT’s “Dallas” revival are considered likely contenders for nominations this year, Beachum says, although the show could be nominated in technical categories such as costuming and cinematography.
If Emmy overlooks Hagman, his next best shot for recognition from the Academy of Television Arts and Sciences will be an induction into its Hall of Fame. Beachum lists Hagman among several possible inductees this year, along with David Letterman, Tyne Daly and the late Don Knotts.
Deep-sixed
Hold on, darlins
The good news: Entertainment Weekly included “Dallas” on its recent list of television’s 100 all-time greatest shows. The outrageous news: The series ranked only 61st.
To this, we say: Hold on, darlins! When “Dallas” debuted 35 years ago, it dared to build a dramatic series around J.R., TV’s original anti-hero. “Dallas” also pioneered serialized storylines in prime time and the season-ending cliffhanger.
Without “Dallas,” EW wouldn’t have shows like “The Sopranos” (No. 5 on the magazine’s list), “Mad Men” (No. 9) and “Breaking Bad” (No. 18) to fawn over.
Moreover, does anyone honestly believe “Gilmore Girls” (No. 45), “The Rifleman” (No. 46) and “Freaks and Geeks” (No. 59) deserve to rank higher than “Dallas”?
Hagman’s Hat Man
Ever wonder who made the hats that Hagman sported on TNT’s “Dallas”? Check out Cowboys & Indians’ recent profile of hatmaker Butch Dorer.
“Drill Bits,” a roundup of news about TNT’s “Dallas,” is published regularly. Share your comments below.
Ewings divide!
Few moments on “Dallas” stir as many emotions for me as Miss Ellie’s testimony at the end of “The Reckoning.” Ellie, who is trying to overturn Jock’s will because it’s dividing her family, reads aloud one of the last letters he sent her before his death in South America. The words are sad and sentimental, written at a time when Jock was ill and missing his wife. When she’s finished, Ellie’s lawyer Brooks Oliver asks if she believes the letter shows Jock lacked mental competence at the end of his life. The Ewing matriarch tries to avoid answering the question, but Brooks persists. Ellie swallows hard. “If that’s the legal term you need to break the will,” she says, “then yes, Jock was not mentally competent.”
Does Ellie genuinely believe this? Scriptwriter Will Lorin keeps things ambiguous, which helps lend this scene its power. On the one hand, we learn from Jock’s letter that he was under the weather when he wrote the codicil that established the divisive contest for Ewing Oil. On the other hand, sick or not, pitting J.R. and Bobby against each other feels very much like something Jock would do. Is Ellie deluding herself when she declares otherwise? This wouldn’t be the first time she’s put on blinders where her late husband is concerned. Or could it be that Ellie is so desperate to end her sons’ rivalry that she’s willing to publicly question Jock’s mental competence, even though she knows deep down that he wasn’t delusional? Either way, I feel sorry for Mama at this moment.
Regardless of Ellie’s motivation, Barbara Bel Geddes does a nice job conveying her character’s torment. The actress uses her trademark halting delivery during the testimony, which works well because it suggests Ellie isn’t sure if she’s doing the right thing. Bel Geddes also allows her tears to flow freely, demonstrating again that she’s one of “Dallas’s” best criers. The testimony is also poignant because the letter that Ellie reads makes Jock seem more human than we usually think of him. He writes about getting older, using an expression — “I’m really feeling the years” — that sounds like something a man from Jock’s generation would say. You have to go back to “Dallas’s” ninth episode, “Bypass,” to see the character acknowledge his own mortality with such candor.
More than anything, this scene seems to offer a tribute to the courage that Jim Davis brought to his final days in the spring of 1981. Jock’s letter conjures images of him soldiering on through the jungle, just as Davis persevered when he continued to film scenes for “Dallas” despite the terrible toll cancer was taking on his body. Back then, the producers didn’t write Davis’s illness into the script because they wanted to give the dying actor hope that he would recover and be able to continue playing his character. Now, seeing Ellie read Jock’s letter in “The Reckoning,” it’s almost as if Bel Geddes is finally giving voice to her late co-star’s grit and determination. It’s quite touching.
This episode also shows us how Bobby is becoming more like J.R. as their battle for Ewing Oil rages. After learning that Gary and Ray would lose most of their inheritance if Jock’s will is overturned, Bobby tries to use the information to manipulate Pam into persuading Ellie to drop her legal challenge. Pam thinks Bobby’s suggestion is ridiculous and lets him know it. “Oh, Bobby, you know your mother. Never in a million years would she hurt Gary or Ray,” Pam says. Bobby can only sigh in exasperation.
“The Reckoning” also shows us a different side of Sue Ellen. She’s played the role of J.R.’s supportive spouse throughout his fight with Bobby, but twice in this episode she demonstrates some independence. In the first instance, while J.R. and Sue Ellen are alone in their bedroom, he muses how it would be good for him if Pam had a fling with Mark Graison, thus creating a distraction for Bobby. Sue Ellen is mortified. “J.R., I don’t want anything bad happening to Bobby and Pam’s marriage,” she declares. (Foreshadowing alert: Sue Ellen then adds, “Can you imagine if somebody did that to you and I?”) Later, during the courthouse sequence, J.R. stands in the hallway with Bobby and Sue Ellen and points out Pam and Miss Ellie, standing a few feet away. “Well, I see your little wife over there, giving aid and comfort to the opposition,” J.R. huffs. Sue Ellen’s response: “Opposition? J.R., that’s your mother.”
A final thought: “The Reckoning” is the first of two “Dallas” episodes helmed by Bill Duke, who would go on to become one of television’s most prolific directors. (Duke, a great character actor, also plays the sharecropper whom Jock befriends in “Dallas: The Early Years.”) “The Reckoning” is one of Duke’s first directing gigs, and his gifts are evident. Besides eliciting wonderful performances from Bel Geddes and the rest of the cast, Duke does two things during the courtroom scenes that I love. First, as each character testifies, we see the bailiff cross off that person’s name from the witness list. Duke also shows us periodic close-ups of the court reporter’s fingers as she rhythmically punches the keys of her typewriter. These are small touches, but they add so much to my enjoyment of these scenes.
I also like how Duke ends this episode with a shot of Ellie emerging from the courtroom after the judge rules against her. The other Ewings follow her lead, evoking memories of the freeze frame from “Bypass,” when everyone coalesced around the wheelchair-bound Jock as he departed the hospital. One difference: In the earlier shot, all the Ewings face forward. Now they’re all headed in different directions, a family together but no longer united.
Grade: A
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The ‘D’ list
‘THE RECKONING’
Season 6, Episode 15
Airdate: January 14, 1983
Audience: 22.1 million homes, ranking 4th in the weekly ratings
Writer: Will Lorin
Director: Bill Duke
Synopsis: A judge rejects Miss Ellie’s attempt to overturn Jock’s will. J.R. tells Mark that Pam is interested in him. Rebecca urges Cliff to lay off the Ewings for awhile. Donna fails again to persuade her fellow commissioners to rescind J.R.’s variance. The cartel weighs whether to uncap the Wellington property or buy out Bobby’s share.
Cast: John Beck (Mark Graison), Barbara Bel Geddes (Miss Ellie Ewing), Fred Carney (Judge Howard Mantee), Roseanna Christiansen (Teresa), Patrick Duffy (Bobby Ewing), Fern Fitzgerald (Marilee Stone), Tom Fuccello (Senator Dave Culver), Linda Gray (Sue Ellen Ewing), Laurence Haddon (Franklin Horner), Larry Hagman (J.R. Ewing), Susan Howard (Donna Krebbs), Steve Kanaly (Ray Krebbs), James Karen (Elton Lawrence), Howard Keel (Clayton Farlow), Ken Kercheval (Cliff Barnes), Audrey Landers (Afton Cooper), Julio Medina (Henry Figueroa), Donald Moffat (Brooks Oliver), George O. Petrie (Harv Smithfield), Priscilla Pointer (Rebecca Wentworth), Victoria Principal (Pam Ewing), Arlen Dean Snyder (George Hicks), Paul Sorensen (Andy Bradley), Don Starr (Jordan Lee), Charlene Tilton (Lucy Ewing), Morgan Woodward (Punk Anderson)
“The Reckoning” is available on DVD and at Amazon.com and iTunes. Watch the episode and share your comments below.
What is she thinking?
“The Wedding” is a strong episode with a silly ending. In the final scene, J.R. and Sue Ellen stand under a big tent in the Southfork driveway, where a minister is conducting their second marriage ceremony. He asks “if there be any man” who can say why the couple shouldn’t be remarried. Cliff, who is seated in the audience, suddenly springs to his feet. The camera zooms in on Ken Kercheval, the music swells and Philip Capice’s closing credit flashes onto the screen. That’s it.
This is less of a cliffhanger than a pause. Since there was no doubt in 1982 that J.R. and Sue Ellen were indeed going to be remarried, I wonder: What about this scene was supposed to be suspenseful? How big of a jackass Cliff would make of himself when the story resumed the following week? Indeed, most of what everyone remembers about J.R. and Sue Ellen’s second trip to the altar — her dance with Cliff, J.R. and Cliff’s fistfight, the scene where half the actors wind up in the Southfork swimming pool — happens in the follow-up segment, “Post Nuptial.” Couldn’t the “Dallas” producers have put some of that good stuff in “The Wedding”?
Of course, even if the final scene is underwhelming, you have to appreciate the lavishness of J.R. and Sue Ellen’s ceremony. At this point during “Dallas’s” run, Southfork had hosted only one other wedding: Lucy and Mitch’s, which was shot on the show’s Hollywood soundstage. J.R. and Sue Ellen’s nuptials were filmed at the “real” ranch. This makes their event look and feel like an honest-to-goodness outdoor affair, with real blue skies and actual wind blowing through the actors’ hair. When it comes to Southfork, there’s no substitution for the real thing.
“The Wedding” also reminds us how much TV weddings have changed over the years. Director Leonard Katzman shows us every step of Sue Ellen’s walk down the aisle and allows us to hear all the vows recited by the minister (who, by the way, is played by Parley Baer, the veteran character actor who portrayed the hard-of-hearing man J.R. encounters in the “Knots Landing” episode “A Family Matter”). Three decades later, when Christopher and Pamela Rebecca were married in the first episode of TNT’s “Dallas,” their ceremony was depicted in a musical montage set to an Adele song. There was no need to hear the wedding march or the vows because at this point, TV audiences have been “trained” to understand how weddings work.
Besides the ending, my only other gripe with “The Wedding” is the lack of attention paid to Sue Ellen. Here’s a woman who is about to remarry a man who has caused her tremendous pain, yet we never see her question if she’s doing the right thing or reflect on what she learned during the season-and-a-half she spent away from him. Don’t get me wrong: “Dallas” makes a smart decision by reuniting these characters, who are always more entertaining together than they are apart. I just wish Will Lorin’s script had given us a clearer understanding of what’s going on inside Sue Ellen’s head. Then again, maybe she isn’t sure either.
Besides, Miss Ellie and Clayton are the real star attraction of “The Wedding.” He comes to Southfork to escort Sue Ellen down the aisle but winds up spending most of his time with Ellie. Their scenes together showcase the warm rapport between Barbara Bel Geddes and Howard Keel and make it clear to the audience how well-suited their characters are for each other: Clayton laments never having a large family, while Ellie confides her fear that J.R. and Bobby’s contest will tear the Ewings apart. The only moment that rings false occurs when Ellie tells Clayton how much he reminds her of Jock. If you ask me, Keel was an ideal replacement for Jim Davis because their characters were so different. Whereas Jock was rough around the edges, Clayton was a refined gentleman. And yet isn’t it impressive how easily Clayton slides into Jock’s place? By the end of the hour, Clayton is stepping between J.R. and Bobby to keep them from scuffling during a rowdy Southfork cocktail hour and standing at Ellie’s side as she greets the wedding guests. These are things Jock once did, but Clayton handles them well.
Other highlights of “The Wedding” include Lucy’s encounter in the Southfork kitchen with Mickey, where the ranch’s resident rebels take an instant dislike to each other. (Except not really. Like Ellie and Clayton, it’s pretty clear Lucy and Mickey are destined for romance.) I also like J.R.’s visit to Holly, where he recommends she sell one of her company’s divisions to Petro State. Notice that Lorin doesn’t feel obligated to remind us what Petro State is; the “Dallas” producers trust the audience to remember J.R. set up this dummy corporation a few episodes ago. And even though Cliff’s big move at the end of “The Wedding” isn’t all that dramatic, I can’t help but enjoy the scene where J.R. invites his nemesis to the ceremony. Yes, it’s a cruel thing for J.R. to do, but how can you not love seeing the delicious smile Larry Hagman flashes when he encourages Cliff to come watch him marry the woman who dumped him?
The other actor to watch in “The Wedding:” the bearded extra who pops up throughout this episode. He first appears as a patron in the restaurant where Punk summons J.R. for a drink. Later, when Bobby, Pam, Ray and Donna head to the nightclub, we see the bearded man boogeying on the dance floor. Finally, he plays one of the guests at J.R. and Sue Ellen’s wedding. (In the image above, you can see the man’s face behind Sue Ellen’s right shoulder.) Forget whether or not Cliff is going to disrupt the wedding; the real cliffhanger is: Who is this bearded man, and why is he stalking the Ewings?
Grade: A
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Golden couple
‘THE WEDDING’
Season 6, Episode 10
Airdate: December 3, 1982
Audience: 23.6 million homes, ranking 1st in the weekly ratings
Writer: Will Lorin
Director: Leonard Katzman
Synopsis: Clayton visits Southfork and spends time with Miss Ellie, which hurts Rebecca. At J.R.’s behest, Holly prepares to sell part of her company, unaware the buyer is J.R.’s dummy corporation. Dave persuades Donna to join the new Texas Energy Commission. Lucy and Mickey meet and instantly dislike each other. At J.R. and Sue Ellen’s wedding, when the minister asks for objections, Cliff rises.
Cast: Parley Baer (minister), Tyler Banks (John Ross Ewing), Barbara Bel Geddes (Miss Ellie Ewing), Lois Chiles (Holly Harwood), Patrick Duffy (Bobby Ewing), Tom Fuccello (Senator Dave Culver), 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), Doug McGrath (Gentry), Timothy Patrick Murphy (Mickey Trotter), Priscilla Pointer (Rebecca Wentworth), Victoria Principal (Pam Ewing), Danone Simpson (Kendall), Don Starr (Jordan Lee), Charlene Tilton (Lucy Ewing), Deborah Tranelli (Phyllis), Ray Wise (Blair Sullivan), Morgan Woodward (Punk Anderson)
“The Wedding” is available on DVD and at Amazon.com and iTunes. Watch the episode and share your comments below.
Dallas Decoder 