#DallasChat Daily: What’s Your Favorite ‘Dallas’ Ball?

Audrey Landers, Barbara Bel Geddes, Jenilee Harrison, Ken Kercheval, Larry Hagman, Linda Gray, Morgan Brittany, Patrick Duffy, Priscilla Beaulieu Presley, Steve Forrest, Steve Kanaly, Victoria Principal

Few traditions on the original “Dallas” could match the grandeur of the annual Oil Baron’s Ball. Do you have a favorite?

Was it Miss Ellie’s moving tribute to Jock at the 1982 ball? How about the 1983 affair, when the Ewing and Barnes women faced off in the powder room and Cliff won the Oilman of the Year Award and insulted Jock, triggering a knock-down, drag-out fight with J.R, Bobby and Ray? There’s also the 1985 ball, when Jamie threw a pie in Cliff’s face and Pam announced she was going to take Bobby’s place as J.R.’s partner in Ewing Oil? And who could forget the 1986 shindig, when Wes Parmalee told the world he was Jock Ewing?

Your #DallasChat Daily question: What’s your favorite “Dallas” ball?

Share your comments below and join other #DallasChat Daily discussions.

#DallasChat Daily: Which ‘Dallas’ Storylines are Underrated?

Angelica Nero, AnnaLynne McCord, Barbara Bel Geddes, Barbara Carrera, Christopher Atkins, Christopher Ewing, Dack Rambo, Dallas, Heather McCabe, Jack Ewing, Jesse Metcalfe, J.R. Ewing, Larry Hagman, Linda Gray, Miss Ellie Ewing Farlow, Pam Ewing, Peter Richards, Steve Forrest, Sue Ellen Ewing, TNT, Wes Parmalee, Victoria Principal

Do you love “Dallas” storylines that other fans hate?

Maybe you find Sue Ellen and Peter’s May/December romance provocative and love everything (or most things) about the “dream season.” Or perhaps you were intrigued by the Wes Parmalee saga. On the new show, maybe you wonder why Christopher and Heather’s romance doesn’t receive more attention from your fellow fans.

Your #DallasChat Daily question: Which “Dallas” storylines are underrated, and why do you like them?

Share your comments below and join other #DallasChat Daily discussions.

‘Dallas’ 2013: Hail and Farewell to Those We Lost

Ben Stivers, Dale Robertson, Dallas, Frank Crutcher, Franklin Horner, Joan Van Ark, Julie Harris, Knots Landing, Laurence Haddon, Lillimae Clements, Ray Krebbs, Steve Forrest, Steve Kanaly, Valene Ewing, Wes ParmaleeIn 2013, “Dallas” fans said goodbye to several people who contributed to the original series. Here’s a list of those we lost, along with a few 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.

Bruce Baron, Dallas, Linden Chiles, Martin Cassidy, Marc Breaux

Deanne Barkley

Died April 2 (age 82)

Barkley wrote “Curiosity Killed the Cat,” a ninth-season episode. She also produced several television movies.

Bruce Baron

Died April 13 (age 63)

In the eighth-season episode “Shattered Dreams,” Baron played the Texan who tried to chat with Sue Ellen and Pam during their visit to Hong Kong. He also headlined several Asian B-movies in the 1980s and ’90s.

Marc Breaux

Died November 19 (age 89)

Breaux is best known as the choreographer of “The Sound of Music” and “Mary Poppins.” He also acted, including appearing in the fourth-season episode “End of the Road, Part 1” as Mark Harrelson, Jordan Lee’s attorney.

Martin Cassidy

Died August 26 (age 75)

Cassidy played Frank Carp, the private detective J.R. hired to learn more about Mandy Winger, in the eighth-season episode “Shadows.” Cassidy also played various roles in four “Knots Landing” episodes in 1983 and 1990.

Linden Chiles

Died May 15 (age 80)

Chiles played Christopher Mainwaring Sr., father of Lucy’s closeted fiancé Kit, in the second-season episode “Royal Marriage.” His other roles include the dad on the acclaimed ’70s family drama “James at 15.” Chiles continued to work until his death; his final role will be in “Road to Paloma,” a film slated for release next year.

Charles Cooper

Died November 29 (age 87)

Cooper played Herb Reynolds in the second-season episode “The Heiress.” “The Heiress.” In “The Crucible,” a 13th-season episode, he played Curley Morrison, one of the men murdered by Jessica Montford. Cooper also did several episodes of “The Practice” and made appearances in “Star Trek V: The Final Frontier” and “Star Trek: The Next Generation.”

Ben Stivers, Dallas, Dan Gerrity, Franklin Horner, Julie Harris, Knots Landing, Laurence Haddon, Lillimae Clements, Steve Forrest, Wes Parmalee

Steve Forrest

Died May 18 (age 87)

After starring in the ’70s cop show “S.W.A.T.,” Forrest joined “Dallas” at the end of the 1985-86 “dream season” as mysterious ranch hand Ben Stivers. When Pam woke up, Forrest stayed with the show, except now his character was named Wes Parmalee, who claimed to be the presumed-dead Jock Ewing. Forrest appeared in 15 episodes altogether.

Dan Gerrity

Died November 20 (age 59)

In the 13th-season episode “Sex, Lies and Videotape,” Gerrity played Mike, the bartender who served Cliff in the scene where he meets and flirts with Rose McKay. Gerrity also played a maitre’d on “Knots Landing” and became a stage actor in Los Angeles and a public radio journalist in Santa Fe, New Mexico.

Laurence Haddon

Died May 10 (age 91)

Haddon played Franklin Horner, the Ewings’ banker, in 17 episodes from 1980 to 1986. He also played Mitch Ackerman, the doctor who delivered Val’s twins and helped arrange their kidnapping, during “Knots Landing’s” sixth season. The character was named after the production supervisor for “Dallas,” “Knots Landing” and “Falcon Crest.” Haddon was also a regular on “Mary Hartman, Mary Hartman,” playing one of television’s first non-stereotypical gay men.

Julie Harris

Died August 24 (age 87)

Harris, the most celebrated actress in Broadway history, played Lillimae Clements, Lucy Ewing’s other grandmother, on “Knots Landing” from 1980 until 1987. (The 1982 episode “Daniel” briefly reunited her with Larry Hagman, her co-star in the 1959 Broadway production of “The Warm Peninsula.”) Harris received six Tonys, an Oscar nomination and an Emmy nomination during her storied career.

Arthur Malet, Dale Robertson, Dallas, Jane Kean, Paul Mantee

Jane Kean

Died November 26 (age 90)

In the third-season episode “Mastectomy, Part 1,” Kean played Mitzi, the waitress at the diner where Sue Ellen and Dusty Farlow have a secret rendezvous. Kean is probably best known as Joyce Randolph’s replacement in “The Honeymooners” revivals of the 1960s and ’70s. She also did two guest spots on the David Jacobs-produced ’80s western “Paradise.”

Dudley Knight

Died June 27 (age 73)

Knight played the Dallas hotel shop manager where Val signed copies of “Capricorn Crude” in “New Beginnings,” the fourth-season “Knots Landing” episode that also featured appearances by Hagman, Patrick Duffy and Eric Farlow.

Arthur Malet

Died May 18 (age 85)

During the fifth season, Malet appeared twice as Forest, the Herbert Wentworth loyalist who tipped off Rebecca to Cliff’s embezzlement scheme. The actor returned during the 13th and 14th seasons as Ryan, one of the inmates who befriend J.R. during his stint in the sanitarium.

Paul Mantee

Died November 7 (age 82)

Mantee played Cochran, the Air Force general who told J.R. about Holly Harwood’s contract to supply the military with fuel, in the sixth-season episode “A Ewing is a Ewing.” He later became a regular on “Cagney & Lacey” and “Hunter.”

Shirley Mitchell

Died November 11 (age 94)

Mitchell played the woman who let Jenna into the missing Jack Ewing’s apartment in the ninth-season episode “Twenty-Four Hours.” Mitchell’s career spanned six decades and included guest spots on “I Love Lucy,” “Petticoat Junction,” “Three’s Company,” “CHiPs” and “The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air.”

Dale Robertson

Died February 27 (age 89)

During the sixth season, Robertson appeared in five episodes as Frank Crutcher, the first man to court Miss Ellie after Jock’s death. He is best known for his many western roles, including starring in the 1960s television series “Tales of Wells Fargo.” Robertson joined “Dallas” after appearing as a regular during “Dynasty’s” first season.

Mann Rubin

Died October 12 (age 85)

Rubin wrote two episodes of “Knots Landing,” including “New Beginnings,” which drew 21.3 million homes, becoming the most-watched broadcast in the show’s history. (It’s the only “Knots Landing” episode to follow an original episode of “Dallas” on CBS’s Friday night schedule.) Rubin’s TV writing credits date to the 1940s.

Bea Silvern, Dallas, Jane Sincere, Kirk Scott, Valentin de Varas

Kirk Scott

Died November 16 (age 77)

Scott played Ewing Oil’s public relations chief in the sixth-season episode “Barbecue Three” and one of the private eyes J.R. hired to find Jenna after she jilted Bobby in the eighth-season entry “Déjà Vu.” During Season 13, he made three appearances as Mr. Spangler, the lawyer who executed Atticus Ward’s estate.

Bea Silvern

Died August 23 (age 87)

In the 10th-season episode “The Ten Percent Solution,” Silvern played Senator Dowling’s maid. Two years later, she returned in “Fathers and Other Strangers” as Sarah Ewing, one of the Jews rescued by Jock Ewing during World War II. She was also a regular on “The Secrets of Midland Heights,” one of the Lorimar-produced nighttime soaps of the early ’80s.

Jean Sincere

Died April 3 (age 93)

In 14th-season episode “Heart and Soul,” Sincere played the hotel maid who discovered Johnny Danzig’s dead body. She began her career in the 1940s and continued to perform after she turned 90, including a recurring role on “Glee” as a librarian.

Valentin de Vargas

Died June 10 (age 78)

De Vargas played Patrick Wolfe, the first prosecutor in Jenna Wade’s murder trial, in two eighth-season episodes. His first role was as a Latino student in the “Blackboard Jungle” in 1955.

What do you remember about these artists? Share your memories below and read more features from Dallas Decoder.

Drill Bits: Emmy Overlooks Larry Hagman … For Now

Dallas, Family Business, J.R. Ewing, Larry Hagman, Linda Gray, Sue Ellen Ewing, TNT

Ouch, Emmy

Larry Hagman wasn’t nominated for an Emmy yesterday, but the Academy of Television Arts and Sciences has a few more opportunities to honor “Dallas’s” biggest star.

First up: the “In Memoriam” montage that will be shown during this year’s Emmy ceremony, which CBS will broadcast on September 22. Hagman deserves to be featured prominently in the tribute reel, which is also certain to include fellow icons James Gandolfini and Jean Stapleton.

(Steve Forrest and Dale Robertson, two other “Dallas” vets who died recently, deserve spots in the reel too.)

Additionally, the academy could — wait, make that should — induct Hagman into its Hall of Fame next year. Chris Beachum, senior editor of awards website Gold Derby, lists Hagman among 24 possible honorees, along with stars such as David Letterman, Tyne Daly and the late Don Knotts.

Hagman, who died last fall after bringing J.R. Ewing back to life on TNT’s “Dallas” revival, was a contender for inclusion in this year’s dramatic supporting actor Emmy race. The show received no other nominations.

Hagman was twice nominated for best actor during the original “Dallas’s” heyday but never won. He joins a list of beloved stars who were snubbed by Emmy, including Andy Griffith, Jackie Gleason and Michael Landon.

Four E’s for Big D

Although fans of TNT’s “Dallas” were mighty disappointed by this year’s snubs, keep in mind: The original series won just four awards during its 14-season run. Barbara Bel Geddes received the best actress award in 1980, composer Bruce Broughton won awards for his musical scores in 1983 and 1984 and Travilla received the Emmy for costume design in 1985.

“Drill Bits,” a roundup of news about TNT’s “Dallas,” is published regularly. Share your comments below.