With Dusty (Jared Martin) watching, Sue Ellen (Linda Gray) attends a preliminary custody hearing for John Ross in this 1981 publicity shot from “Little Boy Lost,” a fifth-season “Dallas” episode.
The Art of Dallas: ‘Showdown at San Angelo’
October 17, 2012 by Leave a Comment
Sue Ellen (Linda Gray) puts John Ross (Tyler Banks) to bed at the Southern Cross ranch in this 1981 publicity shot from “Showdown at San Angelo,” a fifth-season “Dallas” episode.
Dallas Scene of the Day: ‘She Was Kristin’
October 12, 2012 by 2 Comments
The survivor
In “Dallas’s” fifth-season episode “Gone But Not Forgotten,” after the Farlow limousine parks in the Southern Cross ranch’s driveway, Sue Ellen (Linda Gray) exits and walks away, followed closely by Dusty (Jared Martin).
DUSTY: Sue Ellen?
SUE ELLEN: Kristin is dead. I knew it but it didn’t hit me until right now.
DUSTY: I know darling.
SUE ELLEN: That beautiful young girl is gone. My sister. We didn’t play together very much when we were growing up. She always made fun of my boyfriends. And then when she went to high school, she was no longer “Sue Ellen’s little sister.” She was Kristin. She had an identity. She was real smart. She could have been anything that she wanted to be.
DUSTY: What happened?
SUE ELLEN: [Pauses, faces him] Mama is what happened. Mama wanted us girls to have everything that she wanted but couldn’t get by herself. We were like little dolls, created to fulfill all the things that she wanted. She wanted wealth and position and decided that we could get it for her. Maybe that’s why Kristin turned to drugs. Because she failed to live up to the goals that Mama had created for her. Maybe that’s why I had a problem with alcohol.
DUSTY: What about your father? Didn’t he have any say in how you were brought up?
SUE ELLEN: Daddy? The only thing I remember about my daddy was the smell of liquor on his breath. He left us right after Kristin was born. And I guess it was about a year later Mama got a letter saying he was dead.
DUSTY: Well, I think I had better go to that funeral with you.
SUE ELLEN: No, John Ross and I can go to Albuquerque. I don’t think I can explain you to Mama. [Smiling] Not quite yet, anyway. [They kiss.]
DUSTY: I think you had better leave John Ross here at the ranch with me.
SUE ELLEN: No, he’ll be all right. My mama hasn’t seen him since he was a little baby anyway.
DUSTY: [Touching her face] You ready to go in now?
SUE ELLEN: Yes.
She kisses his hand and they walk toward the house.
Critique: ‘Dallas’ Episode 79 – ‘Gone But Not Forgotten’
October 12, 2012 by 10 Comments
Foiled again!
At the end of “Gone But Not Forgotten,” Sue Ellen and John Ross are gliding cheerfully through a Love Field airport terminal when they’re suddenly approached by two of J.R.’s goons. While one man distracts Sue Ellen, the other snatches the child. Is this the end of our heroine’s bid for happiness?
No, because seconds later, Dusty Farlow and a trio of white-hatted cowboys swarm the thug clutching John Ross. “Give us the boy,” Dusty says, and even though he’s using crutches to stand, there’s no doubt he means business. As Sue Ellen and John Ross are reunited, J.R., who’s been watching the whole thing from a mezzanine, fumes.
Larry Hagman, Linda Gray and Jared Martin are terrific here, but the real star is Bruce Broughton, whose score lets us know exactly what we should be feeling as we watch Dusty come to Sue Ellen’s rescue. I especially love how the music swells when director Leonard Katzman zooms in on J.R. the moment his scheme is foiled.
But as much as I like this sequence, the highlight of “Gone But Not Forgotten” comes at the end of the first act, when Katzman pans his camera across John Ross’s darkened Southfork nursery and stops at the doorway. The character we expect to see standing there is Pam, who has been using the boy’s absence as the means to express her dashed dreams of having children, but instead we find J.R. looking around the room in silence.
It’s impossible to watch this scene and not be reminded of the third-season episode “Paternity Suit,” when J.R. walks into the nursery and picks up John Ross for the first time. As joyous as that moment was, this one is very sad. Once again, Broughton’s music is instructive: His piano score shifts to a few bars of the “Dallas” theme when the camera reaches J.R.
For the audience, the “Gone But Not Forgotten” nursery scene is also useful. Hagman’s sad eyes let us know John Ross isn’t just a pawn in J.R.’s war with Sue Ellen. J.R. genuinely loves the boy, and it’s hard to not feel bad for a dad who misses his son – even when that father is J.R. Ewing.
Grade: A
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Her hero
‘GONE BUT NOT FORGOTTEN’
Season 5, Episode 2
Airdate: October 16, 1981
Audience: 23.1 million homes, ranking 1st in the weekly ratings
Writer: Arthur Bernard Lewis
Director: Leonard Katzman
Synopsis: J.R. is cleared in Kristin’s death and hires a new secretary: Sly. Dusty foils J.R.’s scheme to snatch John Ross from Sue Ellen. Pam’s preoccupation with having children worries Bobby. Afton breaks up with Cliff.
Cast: Tyler Banks (John Ross Ewing), Barbara Bel Geddes (Miss Ellie Ewing), Raleigh Bond (pathologist), James L. Brown (Harry McSween), Barry Corbin (Sherriff Fenton Washburn), Patrick Duffy (Senator Bobby Ewing), Fern Fitzgerald (Marilee Stone), Bruce French (Jerry Macon), Linda Gray (Sue Ellen Ewing), Larry Hagman (J.R. Ewing), Susan Howard (Donna Krebbs), Steve Kanaly (Ray Krebbs), Howard Keel (Clayton Farlow), Sherril Lynn Katzman (Jackie), Ken Kercheval (Cliff Barnes), Audrey Landers (Afton Cooper), Heather Lowe (Heather), Jared Martin (Dusty Farlow), Bill Morey (judge), Priscilla Pointer (Rebecca Wentworth), Debbie Rennard (Sly), Herbert Rudley (Howard Barker), Lane Smith (prosecutor), William Smithers (Jeremy Wendell), Victoria Principal (Pam Ewing), Charlene Tilton (Lucy Cooper), Deborah Tranelli (Phyllis), Morgan Woodward (Punk Anderson)
“Gone But Not Forgotten” is available on DVD and at Amazon.com and iTunes. Watch the episode and share your comments below.
The Dal-List: Kristin Shepard’s 13 Greatest Moments
October 11, 2012 by 11 Comments
Thanks for the memories, darlin’
Dallas Decoder kicks off its newest periodic feature, “The Dal-List,” with a look back at the 13 most memorable moments featuring “Dallas” vixen Kristin Shepard, played by the magnificent Mary Crosby.
Clothes call
13. Leaving Rudy. Feeling neglected by J.R. (Larry Hagman), Kristin turned to old flame Rudy Millington (Terry Lester) – and for a moment, it looked like she was going to allow him to make an honest woman of her. Then J.R. showed up, interrupting their post coital bliss. Before this embarrassing scene was over, Kristin had chosen J.R., leaving poor Rudy with a broken heart, no job – and possibly no pants. (“Return Engagements”)
Of vice and men
12. Scamming Judge Smith. A decade after Kristin’s death, an “angel” showed J.R. what life would have been like if he had never been born, including the revelation that Kristin became a cop. J.R. watched her bust grandfatherly Judge Smith (James T. Callahan) for solicitation – but it turned out the badge was fake: Kristin was really a con artist who preyed on powerful men. Guess she was destined to be bad. (“Conundrum”)
Daddy day scare
11. Bilking Jordan. After giving birth in California, Kristin sashays back to Dallas and makes a phone call. “The baby … looks just like you,” she coos. The audience is led to believe the person on the other end of the line is J.R. – so imagine our surprise when it turns out to be rival oilman Jordan Lee (Don Starr). It seems Kristin lied to Jordan, telling him he was her child’s father – just so she could bilk him for hush money. (“Full Circle”)
Buckle up, Bob
10. Charming Bobby. Kristin (Colleen Camp) paid her first visit to Southfork just as Bobby and Pam (Patrick Duffy, Victoria Principal) were hitting a rough patch – so J.R. naturally encouraged his wife’s little sister to seduce his baby brother. Kristin obliged, charming Bobby with her clever wit and tight sweaters. Then Bobby and Pam made up, leaving Kristin free to pursue the brother she wanted all along. (“Sue Ellen’s Sister”)
See what develops
9. Exposing Lucy. The only person Kristin despised more than Lucy (Charlene Tilton) was J.R.’s protégé Alan Beam (Randolph Powell), so when Kristin saw Lucy and Alan canoodling at a roller disco, she did what came naturally: She reached for the nearest Polaroid and started snapping pictures. Kristin hoped exposing Lucy and Alan’s secret affair would get them in trouble. It didn’t work out that way, but it still caused lots of drama. (“Power Play”)
Lap it up, Val
8. Befriending Val. After wearing out her welcome in Dallas, Kristin headed to Knots Landing, where she got busy wrecking the marriage of those nice young suburbanites, Kenny and Ginger Ward (James Houghton, Kim Lankford). Soon, Valene (Joan Van Ark) was confronting Kristin, who confessed she was pregnant and afraid for her future. It was a rare and moving glimpse into Kristin’s soul. Who knew she even had one? (“Kristin”)
Sister, sister
7. Taunting Sue Ellen. Sue Ellen (Linda Gray) was suffering major post-partum depression when Kristin started flirting with J.R. So you couldn’t blame big sis for being suspicious when Kristin popped into her bedroom one evening to see if she’d be joining the rest of the family for dinner. “Were you thinking of occupying my chair?” Sue Ellen seethed. “Somebody will if you don’t pull yourself together,” Kristin sneered. (“The Silent Killer”)
Spill life
6. Drenching Sue Ellen. Oh, look: Sue Ellen and Kristin are in a posh restaurant, toasting their renewed friendship. Nice to see them getting along, isn’t it? Whoops, klutzy Kristin just spilled her cocktail in Sue Ellen’s lap. If she’s not careful, the Ewings are going to smell the booze and begin to suspect Sue Ellen has fallen off the wagon. Wait, what’s that you say? That was Kristin’s plan all along? What a hussy! (“Divorce, Ewing Style”)
If smirks could kill
5. Seducing J.R. Once J.R. hired Kristin as his new secretary, it didn’t take her long to figure out his scheme to secretly mortgage Southfork. She threatened to spill the beans to Jock and Bobby – unless J.R. slept with her. Turns out she didn’t need to ask twice. “Kristin,” J.R. said as he took her in his arms, “with your mind and your body, it just might take me a lifetime to figure you out.” Cost him his life is more like it. (“The Kristin Affair”)
Move over, Florence Nightingale
4. Mocking J.R. While recovering in the hospital from his shooting, J.R. was surprised to receive a visit from Kristin, who was still in town after his goons failed to run her off. “Don’t you worry, Kristin. When I get out of here, you’ll get yours,” J.R. warned. “I know I will,” she smirked as she looked his paralyzed body up and down. “But not from you. That’s for sure.” J.R.’s under-his-breath response after she left the room: “Bitch.” (“Nightmare”)
Is it really that black and white?
3. Scandalizing J.R. After giving birth to the son she claimed was J.R.’s, Kristin showed up at Southfork demanding more “child support.” Next thing you know, Cliff was fishing her dead body out of the swimming pool and claiming J.R. had murdered her. Before all was said and done, J.R. was being hauled into court to prove his innocence. Even in death, Kristin was still causing him trouble. That’s our girl! (“Gone But Not Forgotten”)
She bangs
2. Shooting J.R. No one knew whodunit when J.R. was gunned down in his office. Then the weapon was discovered in his bedroom closet. The cops arrested Sue Ellen, who figured out Kristin was framing her and made little sister confess. Of course, Kristin had a get-out-of-jail card: She was pregnant with J.R.’s love child. Fed up with her drama, J.R. finally exiled Kristin to California. Too bad she didn’t stay there. (“Who Done It?”)
Wait ’til you see him grown up!
1. Birthing Christopher. OK, we never actually saw this on screen, but so what? After miscarrying J.R.’s baby, Kristin got pregnant by sleazy Jeff Farraday (Art Hindle), who sold their child, Christopher, to Bobby after Miss Shepard took her deadly dive into the Southfork swimming pool. So when you think about it, Kristin is responsible for giving us Jesse Metcalfe on TNT’s “Dallas.” If that’s not a crowning achievement, I don’t know what is.
What do you consider Kristin Shepard’s greatest moments? Share your choices below and read more “Dal-Lists.”
Dallas Scene of the Day: ‘Kristin is Dead’
October 10, 2012 by 5 Comments
Baby, come back
In “Missing Heir,” “Dallas’s” fifth-season opener, J.R. (Larry Hagman) visits the Southern Cross ranch, where he speaks to Sue Ellen (Linda Gray) outside.
J.R.: Sue Ellen, I have some bad news. I really don’t know how to start –
SUE ELLEN: [Angry] Just start, J.R.
J.R.: Something terrible has happened. I don’t know if you heard it on the radio or not.
SUE ELLEN: Is this another one of your tasteless tricks?
J.R.: No. [He looks away, then back at Sue Ellen.] Kristin’s dead.
SUE ELLEN: What?
J.R.: They found her on Southfork last night.
SUE ELLEN: No.
J.R.: I thought you’d want to know.
SUE ELLEN: [Increduously] I don’t believe it.
J.R.: Come on, I wouldn’t lie about a thing like this.
SUE ELLEN: You are capable of lying about almost anything.
J.R.: Kristin is dead. She was found floating in the pool last night on Southfork. The sheriff was there, the TV, the media, everything. It was awful.
SUE ELLEN: What happened?
J.R.: I don’t know.
SUE ELLEN: You. You’re the one who killed her.
J.R.: Of course I didn’t kill her.
SUE ELLEN: You and I both know that you had the perfect motive.
J.R.: I didn’t tell you this to hear a bunch of accusations.
SUE ELLEN: Her baby. What about her baby?
J.R.: All we ever had was Kristin’s word that there was a baby.
SUE ELLEN: But you paid her. You sent all those checks to California every month.
J.R.: I didn’t want a scandal. Especially the way things were with mama and daddy. I figured it was better to pay her than to call her bluff.
SUE ELLEN: I don’t know, J.R. [Voice cracking] I don’t know what to believe.
J.R.: Kristin is dead. There’s nothing we can do about that. [Moves closer] Sue Ellen, come on home. We’ll put all this behind us. Start all over again. Chances are there never was a child.
SUE ELLEN: [Begins walking away, then turns around] If you think that Kristin’s child was the only reason I left you, then you are wrong. Because you’re never going to get John Ross and I’m never going back to Southfork.
J.R.: [Angry] You really want the cowboy that bad?
SUE ELLEN: I love him.
J.R.: Well, you can have him, honey. But I swear you’re not going to keep my boy.
Drill Bits: TNT’s ‘Dallas’ Saddles Up for Season 2
October 9, 2012 by 10 Comments
Mark your calendars
TNT’s “Dallas” won’t return with new episodes until January 28 – that’s 113 days from today, not that I’m obsessive enough to keep track of such things – but details about the second season are beginning to emerge:
• Casting. Yesterday, TV Line reported Judith Light will join the cast as “an authoritative and controlling battle-ax who will fight to the death to protect the people she loves.” Speculation is the recurring character, whose name hasn’t been announced, will be the mother of Brenda Strong’s Ann Ewing.
It seems Ann’s wing of the family tree is growing: In the summer, TNT announced plans to elevate first-season guest star Mitch Pileggi, who plays Ann’s ex-husband/punching bag Harris Ryland, to a regular cast member in Season 2. And in a recent Ultimate Dallas chat, showrunner Cynthia Cidre confirmed another new character – Emma Brown, played by “Walking Dead” actress Emma Bell – will be Ann’s daughter.
Still no word on who’ll portray Drew Ramos, Elena’s brother, who Cidre discussed in an August TV Guide interview.
• Storylines. In a press release last week, TNT revealed what we’ll see during the show’s two-hour season premiere:
Sue Ellen’s run for governor will be threatened by the secret that she bribed a medical examiner to help get John Ross off the hook for murder. Ryland will come to Ann claiming to have news about her daughter. Christopher will head to Des Moines to find the real Becky Sutter, while the woman he married will start to show her true colors as Cliff Barnes’ daughter. And J.R. will team up with John Ross to take over Sue Ellen’s loan to Elena and, in turn, gain total control over Christopher and John Ross’ new startup company, Ewing Energies.
Back for more
Elsewhere, during a red carpet interview last month, Jesse Metcalfe said the second season will offer “some unexpected deaths” (egad!), while Patrick Duffy told TV Guide the aforementioned Becky Sutter will be “jumping into bed with people.”
Meanwhile, tweets from Texas, where production on the second season began two weeks ago, suggest Christopher and Elena (Metcalfe and Jordana Brewster) will have a Southfork swimming pool scene, while John Ross (Josh Henderson) and Christopher will be spending plenty of time at the nifty new offices of Ewing Energies.
Also: the Dallas Morning News spotted Strong and Henderson filming a scene at a Dallas art gallery, where Ann “commissioned a painting for her new offices,” as well as a sequence where one of the new characters takes a helicopter ride.
• Returning favorites. Dallas Decoder readers will recall Ken Kercheval recently told us he’ll appear in at least one second-season episode. There also have been reports Audrey Landers will reprise her role as Afton, the mother of Julie Gonzalo’s character, Pamela Rebecca Barnes. Cidre has also promised Linda Gray will be in all 15 second-season episodes.
Sue Ellen vs. Carrie
TNT will show “Dallas’s” second season on Monday nights at 9, where its competition will include the CW’s “The Carrie Diaries,” which is slated to take over “Gossip Girl’s” time slot in January. The “Sex and the City” prequel follows Carrie Bradshaw’s teenage years in the 1980s and stars hyphenate-phobic AnnaSophia Robb as the title character. In the Sue Ellen-vs.-Carrie showdown, our money is on Miss Texas.
‘Dallas’ on DVD
If you need a refresher on the first season of TNT’s “Dallas,” don’t worry: the DVD will go on sale beginning January 8 (that’s just 92 days from today – again, not that we’re keeping track).
Extras will include deleted scenes, audio commentary on the “Changing of the Guard” pilot, “Ewing Family Love Oak” and “Dressing Dallas” featurettes and a “Who Shot J.R.?” retrospective.
In addition, TNT will show episodes from “Dallas’s” first season during the weekend before Season 2 starts.
Cidre Speaks
In a new profile, Cidre tells the Hollywood Reporter the show that inspired her most when she was younger was “The Avengers,” while her guilty pleasure is “The People’s Court.”
The “Dallas” executive producer also reveals she doesn’t “love” writing. “It’s a language thing, it comes out backwards. I know exactly what I want to say, it’s just hard for me to find the words.”
Honey, we know the feeling.
“Drill Bits,” a roundup of news about TNT’s “Dallas,” is published regularly. Share your comments below.
Dallas Scene of the Day: ‘Keep Out of My Way, Pamela’
October 1, 2012 by 2 Comments
Daddy’s boy
In “Ewing-Gate,” “Dallas’s” fourth-season finale, J.R. and his security guard Gibson (Larry Hagman, Bill Boyett) enter the Southfork foyer, where Sue Ellen (Linda Gray) holds John Ross (Tyler Banks).
J.R.: Sue Ellen. Where you going?
SUE ELLEN: I’m going for a drive.
J.R.: I called the office from the airport. Phyllis said she had talked to you. Told you I was down in Austin.
SUE ELLEN: So?
J.R.: So why are you going for a ride with John Ross at night when you thought I’d be away?
SUE ELLEN: I’m going.
J.R.: Not with my son, you’re not.
SUE ELLEN: I’m leaving you, J.R. And I’m taking him with me.
J.R.: The hell you are. [As she walks past J.R., he snatches John Ross out of her arms while Gibson restrains her.]
SUE ELLEN: How long do you think you can stop me? You’re going to have to stand trial, and I’m going to get him then.
Pam (Victoria Principal) comes to the stairs and watches.
J.R.: You’re never going to get him.
SUE ELLEN: And if you go to prison? You can’t stop me. You think a court is going to let a criminal have his son? Oh, I’m going to get him, J.R. One way or another.
J.R.: Get her out of here! Get her off Southfork and never let her back on!
GIBSON: Come on.
SUE ELLEN: You can’t have him, J.R. Because I’m going to have him!
J.R.: I’ll kill you first!
SUE ELLEN: Well, you’re going to have to. [Screaming] Because I’m going to get him! I’m going to get him!
Gibson drags her away.
J.R.: Your mama’s crazy boy, trying to get you away from me.
PAM: He’s her child, J.R. He belongs with her.
J.R.: Stay out of my affairs, Pamela.
PAM: Give her her child. She loves him.
J.R.: She doesn’t know the first thing about love.
PAM: She should have him just for putting up with you all these years. He’s the only decent thing that’s ever happened to her.
J.R.: No wonder you care so much for Sue Ellen. She’s just like your mother – another drunken slut who ran away.
PAM: You slime. You make me sick.
J.R.: Keep out my way, Pamela, or I’ll destroy you. I’ll destroy anybody that tries to take my boy away from me.
Critique: ‘Dallas’ Episode 77 – ‘Ewing-Gate’
October 1, 2012 by 28 Comments
He done it?
In “Ewing-Gate,” J.R. finally beds hard-to-get Leslie Stewart, but the experience turns out to be less than he expected. “It wasn’t worth the wait,” J.R. tells her in a flash of post coitus candor. After watching this episode, I know how he feels.
Although “Dallas’s” fourth season is much better than I remembered overall, the “Ewing-Gate” finale is a letdown – and the resolution to Leslie’s storyline is one reason why. Susan Flannery’s midseason debut was smashing, but somewhere along the line, the show’s writers seemed to lose interest in her character. This is a real shame: Leslie’s combination of business smarts and unapologetic sexuality made her a television breakthrough; she deserved a better sendoff.
“Ewing-Gate” has other flaws, including the scene where J.R. is hauled before the state senate committee investigating his Asian coup. It’s not just the ridiculous notion that the Texas legislature has jurisdiction over what happens in a foreign country. Or that Bobby wouldn’t be asked to recuse himself from a hearing into his brother’s activities. Or that Cliff, Bobby’s aide, would be allowed to sit on the panel and question the witnesses.
No, it’s also the length of this scene: It clocks in at a little more than 13 minutes – consuming almost the whole third act. Perhaps audiences found this more interesting in the years after Watergate, when televised government hearings were still a novelty, but the scene plays today like “Bad C-SPAN Theatre.” (Along these lines, “Ewing-Gate’s” title probably seemed clever three decades ago, before the press wore out the practice of attaching “gate” to every scandal.)
More gripes: “Ewing-Gate” marks the first time Kristin faces J.R. since she confessed to shooting him at the beginning of the season – yet their eagerly awaited reunion is flat. Also, even though the confrontation occurs in J.R.’s office, no one bothers to note this is Kristin’s return to the scene of the crime. Not giving Mary Crosby and Linda Gray a scene together represents another missed opportunity.
My biggest “Ewing-Gate” complaint has to do with the episode’s final sequence, when Cliff discovers the dead woman’s body in the Southfork swimming pool. Although the scene is nicely produced – thanks in large measure to Richard Lewis Warren’s driving score – the cliffhanger feels like something the producers tacked on at the last minute. The contrast couldn’t be sharper with the previous season finale, “A House Divided,” which rhythmically built toward J.R.’s climactic shooting.
And is there any doubt whose body Cliff discovers? The woman’s dark hair suggests it could be one of three characters – Sue Ellen, Pam or Kristin – yet even when I saw “Ewing-Gate” as a child, I was smart enough to know two of those suspects could be ruled out. While watching the episode more recently, I also noticed the unfamiliar car in the Southfork driveway when Cliff arrives – another clue the victim floating in the pool a few feet away is a visitor to the ranch.
So even though I appreciate the nifty symmetry this episode offers – one year after “Dallas” leaves us asking who shot J.R., we’re left to ponder who J.R. might’ve killed – there’s no denying the fact “Ewing-Gate” isn’t a cliffhanger as much as it is an exercise in poetic justice.
Grade: B
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Together again
‘EWING-GATE’
Season 4, Episode 23
Airdate: May 1, 1981
Audience: 25.6 million homes, ranking 1st in the weekly ratings
Writer and Director: Leonard Katzman
Synopsis: Afton helps J.R. sneak a peek at Cliff’s evidence against him, allowing J.R. to persuade the state senate to clear him of wrongdoing in the Asian coup. J.R. also sleeps with Leslie, refuses to give into Kristin’s extortion scheme, kicks Sue Ellen off Southfork and vows revenge when Pam takes John Ross to his mother. Cliff arrives at the ranch and finds a dead woman floating in the swimming pool.
Cast: Tyler Banks (John Ross Ewing), Barbara Bel Geddes (Miss Ellie Ewing), Len Birman (Claude Brown), William Boyett (Gibson), James L. Brown (Harry McSween), Mary Crosby (Kristin Shepard), Patrick Duffy (Senator Bobby Ewing), Fern Fitzgerald (Marilee Stone), Susan Flannery (Leslie Stewart), Tom Fuccello (Senator Dave Culver), Meg Gallagher (Louella), Linda Gray (Sue Ellen Ewing), Larry Hagman (J.R. Ewing), John Hart (Senator Carson), David Healy (Senator Harbin), James Hong (Ambassador Lanh Thon), Susan Howard (Donna Krebbs), Steve Kanaly (Ray Krebbs), Sherril Lynn Katzman (Jackie), Howard Keel (Clayton Farlow), Ken Kercheval (Cliff Barnes), Audrey Landers (Afton Cooper), Jared Martin (Dusty Farlow), Leigh McCloskey (Mitch Cooper), Byron Morrow (Emmett Walsh), Victoria Principal (Pam Ewing), William Smithers (Jeremy Wendell), Don Starr (Jordan Lee), Charlene Tilton (Lucy Cooper), Deborah Tranelli (Phyllis), Jay Varela (Senator Arvilla), Joseph Warren (Senator Dickson), Morgan Woodward (Punk Anderson)
“Ewing-Gate” is available on DVD and at Amazon.com and iTunes. Watch the episode and share your comments below.
Dallas Scene of the Day: ‘What Happened, J.R.?’
September 26, 2012 by 14 Comments
The Ewing touch
In “Dallas’s” fourth-season episode “New Beginnings,” J.R. and Sue Ellen (Larry Hagman, Linda Gray) put John Ross (Tyler Banks) to sleep in his crib.
J.R.: Handsome little devil, isn’t he?
SUE ELLEN: He has eyes exactly like yours, J.R. That’s the first thing that attracted me to you.
J.R.: Is that right? I thought it was my money.
SUE ELLEN: Well, I had several suitors with a lot of money. No, it was your eyes. They always seemed to be hiding secrets. Things you knew about the world that no one else knew.
J.R.: Sue Ellen, what are you talking about?
They leave the nursery and enter the bedroom.
SUE ELLEN: You know something? My mama didn’t want me to marry you at first.
J.R.: Now don’t tell me she wanted you to marry that poor boy you were going around with. What’s his name? Clint something or other? [Removes his jacket, unties his necktie]
SUE ELLEN: No, no, not him. She had Billy Frompton picked out for me.
J.R.: [Chuckles] Billy Frompton. Billy turned into a blimp.
SUE ELLEN: I know, but his daddy was loaded. He had oil and uranium and diamonds and coal and things like that.
J.R.: And you picked me because of my eyes?
SUE ELLEN: And because of the way you speak. [Runs her fingers up his arm] You know, every time you talked to me, I got the shivers.
He walks away, tosses his jacket on the bed, sits on the sofa.
SUE ELLEN: You know, J.R., I’ve always wanted to ask you something. With all those ladies in the state of Texas after you … why me?
She sits and looks at him while he stares at the ceiling.
J.R.: Well, once upon a time, I was a judge in the Miss Texas beauty contest. And after awhile, you run all those girls through the contest, and it looks like a cattle auction in Fort Worth.
SUE ELLEN: [Smiling] I felt the same way too.
J.R.: Then we got down to the bathing suit category. And all those pretty little girls prancing around, trying to look sexy. And then there you were, Sue Ellen. Not trying to do anything. Just looking more sexy than any of them. And you had something else: You looked like a lady. The combination was … [he smiles] devastating. [She closes her eyes, then touches his shirt collar]
SUE ELLEN: You know, I was so frightened when you first brought me to Southfork to meet your parents. They were such imposing figures. I never thought they’d like me.
J.R.: Well, Mama took to you right off. And Daddy too.
SUE ELLEN: We’ve had some good times, J.R. We’ve done some good things too.
J.R.: The best thing we did was that little boy sleeping in the next room.
SUE ELLEN: What happened, J.R.? What happened? Why can’t it be like that again, like it was those first years?
She touches his lips.
J.R.: Sue Ellen –
The phone rings. She answers it.
SUE ELLEN: Hello? [Pauses] Yes. [Her posture stiffens.] It’s Kristin. Calling from California. She just gave birth to a baby boy. You have another son.
Dallas Decoder 