Between the Lines and Behind the Scenes of "Dallas"
“Dallas” debuted 35 years ago today. To commemorate its anniversary, here’s my list of the franchise’s 35 greatest moments. 35. J.R. meets his match. “Dallas’s” first episode ends with Pam turning the tables on J.R. (Larry Hagman) after he tries to make it look like she was cheating on Bobby with Ray. “Looks like I underestimated […]
“The Big Shut Down” is the first “Dallas” episode John Parker has scored since the third season, and it features many of the compositions he created during that era of the show, including Ray and Lucy’s musical signatures and Bobby and Pam’s love theme. It’s always nice to hear these classic numbers, but does the […]
“Dallas’s” third season offers lots to celebrate – and a few things to curse. Performances Larry Hagman and Linda Gray do mighty impressive work in Season 3, but even they can’t touch Jim Davis and Barbara Bel Geddes. Since I began re-watching “Dallas,” the nicest discovery has been how good Davis is as Jock, especially […]
“Dallas” was still figuring itself out during its second season, which means there was plenty to hail and heckle. Performances Although every member of the ensemble has great moments this season, no one is as consistently wonderful as Barbara Bel Geddes. Miss Ellie becomes a somewhat frustrating character as “Dallas” progresses – she too often […]
“The Dove Hunt” is a western, plain and true. It drops the Ewing men into the Louisiana wilderness, but it might as well transport them to the 18th-century frontier. The themes scriptwriters D.C. and Richard Fontana explore here – honor, justice, redemption – are timeless. Throughout “The Dove Hunt,” we don’t know why craggy-faced Tom […]
“Runaway” is one of “Dallas’s” weakest episodes. Almost everything about it – the writing, the directing, the acting, the music – is bad. The episode treats Lucy, who was so daring during “Dallas’s” first season, like just another bratty TV teenager. She spends the beginning of “Runaway” whining about how the Ewings are ignoring her. […]
“Bypass” has a little bit of everything – a health crisis, family squabbling, corporate intrigue. There’s not much romance, but there is a cattle drive. The small moments in this episode are among its best, beginning with Jock and Miss Ellie’s heart-to-heart in his hospital room. As he lies in bed, with medical tubes taped to […]
