The Dal-List: 19 Reasons to Love ‘Dallas’s’ Ninth Season

Barbara Bel Geddes, Clayton Farlow, Dallas, Howard Keel, Miss Ellie Ewing Farlow

Dream on

Dallas Decoder will soon begin critiquing the original show’s ninth season, which aired from 1985 to 1986. Here are 19 reasons to love it.

Barbara Bel Geddes, Dallas, Miss Ellie Ewing Farlow

True blue

19. Mama returns. We never needed her more.

Dallas, J.R. Ewing, Larry Hagman

Mourning in America

18. J.R. says goodbye. Does anyone do the single tear thing better than Larry Hagman?

Dallas, Linda Gray, Sue Ellen Ewing

Blitzed

17. Sue Ellen relapses. Linda Gray’s tour de force.

Dallas, Linda Gray, Sue Ellen Ewing

Blonde

16. Sue Ellen recovers. The most satisfying storyline in “Dallas” history?

Dallas, Linda Gray, Lou Diamond Phillps, Sue Ellen Ewing

Welcome to the jungle

15. La Bamba shows up. Arriba y arriba!

Bibi Besche, Dallas

Genesis of the matter

14. And so does Dr. Carol Marcus. Can she analyze or can’t she?

Dallas, Russell Johnson

Coconuts

13. The Professor’s here too. But where was he when Julie Grey needed him?

Dallas, Pam Ewing, Victoria Principal

The widow Ewing

12. Pam’s speech. Chills!

Dallas, Linda Gray, Sue Ellen Ewing

Wake up, darlin’

11. Sue Ellen’s nightmare. A dream-within-a-dream. Meta!

Dallas, Jenna Wade, Priscilla Beaulieu Presley

Post-Bobby Stress Syndrome

10. Jenna’s flashback. Hyper-meta!

Dack Rambo, Dallas

Ewing genes

9. Dack’s rambo. Talk about an Alaskan pipeline.

Dallas, Deborah Shelton, Mandy Winger

Super bowl

8. Mandy’s flush. Oh, honey. That’s not how you clean jewelry.

Dallas, Pam Ewing, Victoria Principal

Bag it, J.R.

7. “Phyllis, I’d like a cup of tea — a cup of herbal tea.” But hold the eggs and toast, please.

Cliff Barnes, John Beck, Ken Kercheval, Marc Singer, Mark Graison, Matt Cantrell, Dallas, Pam Ewing, Victoria Principal

Dorothy and friends

6. South America. Pam, Cliff, Mark and Matt search for emeralds. It’s “Dallas’s” version of “The Wizard Oz.”

Dallas, Just Desserts, Linda Gray

Direct hit

5. “Just Desserts.” Victory!

Angelica Nero, Barbara Carrera, Dallas

“L” word

4. This hat. Even Katherine wouldn’t dare.

Dallas, J.R. Ewing, Larry Hagman

Cock of the walk

3. This mask. Who feathered J.R.?

Dallas, J.R. Ewing, Larry Hagman

Next: The world!

2. Total control of Ewing Oil. Who has the heart to tell him it’s just a dream?

Bobby Ewing, Dallas, Patrick Duffy

Rub-a-dub-dub

1. Bobby’s back! His chest and arms too!

Why do you love “Dallas’s” ninth season? Share your comments below and read more “Dal-Lists.”

‘Dallas’ 2014: Remembering Those We Lost

Dallas, Denny Miller, Ed Nelson, Michael Filerman, Russell Johnson

Several people who contributed to “Dallas” died during the past 12 months. Here’s a list of those we lost, along with notable deaths that occurred among the show’s extended family. Click on each person’s name to learn more about his or her career at IMDb.com.

 

James Avery

James Avery

James Avery

December 31, 2013 (age 68)

Avery, who is best known as Uncle Phil on “The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air,” played Fowler, the judge who allowed Bobby to keep Christopher in the 11th–season episode “Malice in Dallas.”

 

 

Jerry Biggs

Jerry Biggs

Jerry Biggs

Died March 30 (age 63)

Biggs appeared in bit parts in three episodes between 1982 and 1986, including playing a customer who flirted with Lucy at the Hot Biscuit in the eighth-season episode “Family.”

 

 

Lew Brown

Lew Brown

Lew Brown

Died July 27 (age 89)

Brown played Clarence, a Ewing Oil employee, in the seventh-season episode “My Brother’s Keeper.” He returned for two 10th-season episodes as Harrigan, a newspaperman who exposed J.R.’s connection to B.D. Calhoun.

 

 

Robert Cawley

Robert Cawley

Robert Cawley

Died June 23 (age 85)

Cawley played an instructor at the ice-skating rink where Bobby and Christopher met Lisa Alden in “Tough Love,” an 11th-season episode. He also played an oil field worker in the 1998 “Dallas” reunion movie, “War of the Ewings.”

 

 

Vince Davis

Vince Davis

Vince Davis

Died May 23 (age 59)

Davis played one of Sue Ellen’s business advisors in the 10th-season episode “Once and Future King” and a waiter who served J.R. and Wilson and Kimberly Cryder in “Hustling,” an 11th-season entry.

 

 

Michael Filerman

Michael Filerman

Michael Filerman

Died January 25 (age 75)

Filerman, “Dallas’s” executive program supervisor in 1978, later served as executive producer of “Knots Landing,” “Falcon Crest,” “Flamingo Road,” “Sisters” and other prime-time serials.

 

 

Med Flory

Med Flory

Med Flory

Died March 12 (age 87)

In the third-season episode “The Lost Child,” Flory played private eye Cal McBride, who J.R. hired to follow Sue Ellen when she began secretly seeing Dr. Elby. Other credits include “Lassie” and “Daniel Boone.”

 

 

Stefan Gierasch

Stefan Gierasch

Stefan Gierasch

Died September 6 (age 88)

Gierasch played Ben Masters, the storekeeper who helped Tom Owens seek revenge against Jock in the third-season classic “The Dove Hunt.” Other credits include a 1992 episode of “Knots Landing.”

 

 

Michael A. Hoey

Michael A. Hoey

Michael A. Hoey

Died August 17 (age 79)

Hoey directed “Missing,” a ninth-season episode, along with multiple episodes of “Falcon Crest” and “Fame.” He later produced several Primetime Creative Arts Emmy broadcasts.

 

 

Russell Johnson

Russell Johnson

Russell Johnson

Died January 16 (age 89)

Johnson, the Professor on “Gilligan’s Island,” played Sheriff Wyatt Mansfield in the ninth-season episode “Twenty-Four Hours.” Other credits include “Vanished,” a 1971 TV movie with Larry Hagman, Jim Davis and Denny Miller.

 

 

Dennis Lipscomb

Dennis Lipscomb

Dennis Lipscomb

Died July 30 (age 72)

Lipscomb played Nelson Harding, an IRS agent who helped J.R. pressure the Ewings to declare Jock dead, in the sixth-season episode “Billion Dollar Question.” His later credits include episodes of “ER” and “The X-Files.”

 

 

Ann Marcus

Ann Marcus

Ann Marcus

Died December 3 (age 93)

Marcus, a writer on “Peyton Place,” helped revitalize “Knots Landing” during its next-to-last season and co-wrote “Knots Landing: Back to the Cul-de-Sac” with “Dallas” scribe Lisa Seidman.

 

 

Frank Marth

Frank Marth

Frank Marth

Died January 12 (age 91)

Marth played Dr. Sidney Grovner, Lucy’s physician, in “Billion Dollar Question.” He also played doctors on “Starsky & Hutch,” “The Six Million Dollar Man” and “Aloha Means Goodbye,” a 1974 TV movie.

 

 

Denny Miller

Denny Miller

Denny Miller

Died September 9 (age 80)

Miller, a star of “Wagon Train,” played Max Flowers, Cliff’s foreman at Gold Canyon 340, in four episodes during the seventh season. Miller and Hagman also did episodes of “The Rockford Files” and “Barnaby Jones” together.

 

 

Ed Nelson

Ed Nelson

Ed Nelson

Died August 9 (age 85)

“Peyton Place” star Nelson originated the role of Jeb Amos in the second-season classic “Bypass.” Nelson and “Dallas” producer Leonard Katzman also worked together on a 1955 film, “New Orleans Uncensored.”

 

 

Byron Weiss

Byron Weiss

Byron Weiss

Died March 14 (age 51)

Weiss performed stunts for “War of the Ewings” and two TNT episodes, “Blame Game” and “Guilt By Association.” He also worked on Jesse Metcalfe’s 2010 series, “Chase,” and the Katzman-produced “Walker, Texas Ranger.”

 

 

What do you remember about these artists? Share your memories below and read last year’s tributes.