Who Sired J.R.?

[the-lost-son]

IThat said, I do like @Barbara Fan's suggestion to end the series on - that would have been so much better than what we got with that dreadful Conundrum.

Over the last twenty years on this forum I've read so many ideas how the last seasons could have easily been improved. There have only been a few suggested ideas which would have managed imo to worsen what we had to endure.
The idea to insinuate Digger as JR's father is on the very top of that list. It's the most horrible storyline I've ever read here and a slap in every fan's face who watched the series for many years.
@Billy Wall has summed it up quite well:

Digger being JR’s dad would have been a horrible idea. You’d change the entire dynamic of the show. Miss Ellie was seen as the respected moral compass of the show. That would be totally out the window.

To make myself clear:
I'd rather had another dream solution, another MissEllie recast or Laurel Ellis painting pictures in full episodes length like Bob Ross.

 

[DallasFanForever]

This is quite the polarizing thread, isn’t it? If Digger turns out to be J.R.’s father it pretty much blows up what we watched for 13 years to bits. Rewatches would never be the same knowing what we would now know. So many storylines would have the feeling of no longer mattering perhaps, and the dynamic between Jock and J.R. that went way beyond Jock’s death would forever be altered.

So why do I like the idea that @Barbara Fan suggested so much? I’m not sure, but I do. Perhaps it’s because it would bring some much needed drama and chaos to those later years, and especially the ending of the show. Dallas went out like a lamb in 1991, but this idea allows it to go out like a lion instead. It’s a bold storyline, and highly risky. But aren’t those the reasons we watched these shows to begin with?

 

[Luke_Krebbs_Ewing]

This is quite the polarizing thread, isn’t it? If Digger turns out to be J.R.’s father it pretty much blows up what we watched for 13 years to bits. Rewatches would never be the same knowing what we would now know. So many storylines would have the feeling of no longer mattering perhaps, and the dynamic between Jock and J.R. that went way beyond Jock’s death would forever be altered.

So why do I like the idea that @Barbara Fan suggested so much? I’m not sure, but I do. Perhaps it’s because it would bring some much needed drama and chaos to those later years, and especially the ending of the show. Dallas went out like a lamb in 1991, but this idea allows it to go out like a lion instead. It’s a bold storyline, and highly risky. But aren’t those the reasons we watched these shows to begin with?

Having JR be Digger Barnes son would completely alter the dynamic of the series to the detriment of the show.

I still think it's an awful idea and I'm only glad Katzman never thought of it.

Dallas could've been reinvigorated in season ten if the writers had not chickened out of making Wes Parmalee really be Jock.

If Jock had returned we maybe would've been spared some of the lame storylines from the shows last four seasons.

 

[Snarky Oracle!]

The idea to insinuate Digger as JR's father is on the very top of that list. It's the most horrible storyline I've ever read here and a slap in every fan's face who watched the series for many years.

No. Jesus. Having JR and the Ewings think that he is Digger's biological son for a few months -- and the resulting hysteria -- doesn't mean he has to turn out to be in the end.

I mean, Holy God.

 

[Taylor Bennett Jr.]

Rebecca Barnes as JR’s father would have been a better storyline than Haleyville

 

[pete lashmar]

You wouldn't have JR's paternity confirmed in the final episode, but very heavily questioned....and with Ellie gone (she dies in same episode) there is no one to answer the burning question. It takes the show out on a great mystery, a bit of a shock and leaves a lot of questions. I think it would have made a great ending.

 

[Snarky Oracle!]

I think JfL may have been the one to suggest the JR-paternity issue, as well as Jessica doing in the cartel (instead of Clayton's business partners) but I've been pimping them for so long myself, I can't quite remember, it's all so fuzzy by now. He also suggested Sue Ellen should have had John Ross absconded -- kidnapped -- when she left Dallas in 1989, which seems an equally-inspired idea, and very KNOTS-ian.

Everybody hates Sue Ellen's movie, but I still kind of like the concept. I just wanted it better executed. But the way they did it was a bit silly and far from convincing.

 

[the-lost-son]

No. Jesus. Having JR and the Ewings think that he is Digger's biological son for a few months -- and the resulting hysteria -- doesn't mean he has to turn out to be in the end.

I mean, Holy God.

This was no direct reply to your opening post, but to the scenario of Miss Ellie making a deathbed confession about JR's paternity - ending the series.

I've put some more thought into it.
@Jimmy Todd's storyline could work (about some villain trying to weaken JR by making him doubt his paternity.)

But the audience can't be left in the dark. Imo you can't copy the Wes Parmalee storyline in that aspect. The audience should be aware of what is going on from the very beginning(like with Katherine's forged letter.)

The only way to make it work is comparable to Cliff's canyon 430 storyline.
The audience knew from the very start that Cliff screwed JR (by forcing Sly to spy on JR). We knew that (as soon as JR found out) that Cliff was in big trouble. But the most intriguing part was how JR would execute his vengeance.

In any case Miss Ellie's integrity should not be doubted. With smart writing there could be some possibility to play some mindgame with JR only (but no other family members doubting her).

 

[Snarky Oracle!]

his was no direct reply to your opening post, but to the scenario of Miss Ellie making a deathbed confession about JR's paternity - ending the series.

You're right. The show shouldn't end on that.

But the audience can't be left in the dark. Imo you can't copy the Wes Parmalee storyline in that aspect. The audience should be aware of what is going on from the very beginning(like with Katherine's forged letter.)

But why? Why should the audience need to know the outcome in advance?

 

[the-lost-son]

You're right. The show shouldn't end on that.



But why? Why should the audience need to know the outcome in advance?

Because I don't think that the same approach the show took in regards to Wes Parmalee would work here again.
I was very invested in that storyline but mostly because I was hoping for him not to be Jock. I liked all these details like the lie detectors, X-rays and knowledge he had about the Ewings. But the most satisfying part was after the B-B-Q when JR was bragging in the living room with a constant "I told you so." This storyline did not doubt the credibility of other characters.

In the scenario that some villains are playing mindgames with JR, I think the character of MissEllie should be protected by all means. I just can't see Bobby and SueEllen questioning at breakfast table if MissEllie made Jock raise JR as his own even if there was 1% uncertainty. I consider this character as a unique selling point.

Probably the only part of that storyline in question I'd regard as intriguing TV is how JR would take revenge on the ones who wronged him.

 

[Chris2]

It destroys the character of Miss Ellie, and just gives a whole daytime soap opera vibe. Those shows are always doing retcons that undermine their credibility. Plus, if Digger had had intercourse with Ellie within 9 month of JR’s birth, he would have brought it up long ago. He was always going on about how Jock took things that were his. If he suspected that JR was among them, he would have been blabbing about it constantly.

No thanks. Save those kinds of twists for daytime. Or Falcon Crest.

 

[Snarky Oracle!]

It destroys the character of Miss Ellie, and just gives a whole daytime soap opera vibe. Those shows are always doing retcons that undermine their credibility. Plus, if Digger had had intercourse with Ellie within 9 month of JR’s birth, he would have brought it up long ago. He was always going on about how Jock took things that were his. If he suspected that JR was among them, he would have been blabbing about it constantly.

No thanks. Save those kinds of twists for daytime. Or Falcon Crest.

She would have brought it up long ago? Really??

I just don't know how a teenaged romance destroys the character of Miss Ellie, especially since it was established from the beginning of the series.

And this is not the definition -- at least, I don't believe -- of "a retcon," just as Jason Ewing isn't a retcon; it's just new information. In fact, a retcon would be pretending that Ellie and Digger had no romantic relationship at all.

Paternity issues are an old soap trope, it's true. In fact, a paternity issue is the first plotline that set fire to DALLAS' narrative and ratings (with Sue Ellen and JR fearing Cliff is the daddy of John Ross). So the suspicion years later, in the last season or so, that Digger might be JR's father provides a nice symmetrical coda to the entire series as a whole.

 

[Billy Wall]

She would have brought it up long ago? Really??

No, Digger would have brought it up.

 

[Billy Wall]

It destroys the character of Miss Ellie, and just gives a whole daytime soap opera vibe. Those shows are always doing retcons that undermine their credibility. Plus, if Digger had had intercourse with Ellie within 9 month of JR’s birth, he would have brought it up long ago. He was always going on about how Jock took things that were his. If he suspected that JR was among them, he would have been blabbing about it constantly.

No thanks. Save those kinds of twists for daytime. Or Falcon Crest.

100% correct. This kind of story is better suited for daytime soaps.

 

[Snarky Oracle!]

No, Digger would have brought it up.

So you think Miss Ellie would've told Digger that she suspected her unborn child was his just as she was planning to marry Jock?

100% correct. This kind of story is better suited for daytime soaps.

But DALLAS had already had its paternity issues -- haven't you ever even watched it?

 

[Taylor Bennett Jr.]

wasn’t just the feed bills that ol’ Hutch was ‘padding’ around Southfork back in Depression times

 

[southfork88]

It destroys the character of Miss Ellie, and just gives a whole daytime soap opera vibe. Those shows are always doing retcons that undermine their credibility. Plus, if Digger had had intercourse with Ellie within 9 month of JR’s birth, he would have brought it up long ago. He was always going on about how Jock took things that were his. If he suspected that JR was among them, he would have been blabbing about it constantly.

No thanks. Save those kinds of twists for daytime. Or Falcon Crest.

You are right. With regard to Richard Channing son of Angela, I think this was ... after all a good turn of events, even quite believable. That wouldn't have worked in Dallas and the movie 'Dallas: The Early Days' said everything you needed to know about Ellie, Willard and Jock.

 

[Billy Wall]

So you think Miss Ellie would've told Digger that she suspected her unborn child was his just as she was planning to marry Jock?

Maybe not, but you don’t think Digger wouldn’t have thrown it in Jock’s face that he could be the father of JR?

 

[Snarky Oracle!]

Maybe not, but you don’t think Digger wouldn’t have thrown it in Jock’s face that he could be the father of JR?

So could Frank Sinatra. I mean, what of it...?

 

[Jimmy Todd]

Imho, it wouldn't have ruined Miss Ellie's character, but it would have felt as if it did. That may not makes sense, but there it is.
Also, at this late stage in the series, to make JR Digger's son would feel as if it undermined a lot of the premise of the show. If this had been an issue mentioned in the early seasons, that could have worked. Possibly.a
I am speaking of if it turned out that JR was in fact Digger's son, not if the storyline was JR was being tortured with the possibility by an enemy.