Jack Ewing/Dack Rambo

[Chase Gioberti]

By that reasoning, almost all posts in this thread are off-topic.

Perhaps how much someone hates an actor, while a valid opinion, is a slightly restrictive starting point for free-flowing discussion. Even more so if any slight divergence is considered hijacking. It could be viewed as a good thing that the conversation is evolving and broadening.

Not those, the majority of the posts, that address the onscreen portrayal of Jack Ewing. I could care less about his personal life.

I think that what matters most is the way Mr. Rambo felt through his tenure in the show, and undoubtedly he was feeling very uncomfortable by Larry´s reaction to his "open bisexuality". Larry was friends all his life with people like Joel Grey who, despite he only came out of the closet a few years ago, was almost as gay as Liberace. Besides, I think what probably might have bothered Larry is seeing Dack smooching other men at the Southfork set (only thinking about it I get... you know). Of course, it´s only my guess, but I wouldn´t call Larry a conservative person at all.

Something that´s not mentioned here is that Larry guest-starred in a failed Dack show prior to "Dallas" called "Sword of Justice". I tend to think that some things will never be known to us fans. Who knows if something "happened" at the filming of that episode, and Larry held a grudge against Dack (or in reverse). Again, it´s all guessing and the most important thing is how great both actors played their characters on "Dallas".

View attachment 37928

"Well well, Dackie, I thought you brought me to the wet T-shirts night for girls
and not to the Bette Midler impersonators night in your fav gay club!"​

This matters more than his portrayal of Jack Ewing?

 

[Mel O'Drama]

Not those, the majority of the posts, that address the onscreen portrayal of Jack Ewing.

It seems to me that most posts in this thread don't have the specificity you seem to be talking about. And it would probably not go very far if they did.

For example, two minutes after making your response in quotes above, you liked a post in this very thread discussing opening credits and billing, so I'm struggling to see how a conversation organically moving in one direction is acceptable while another direction isn't. It seems logical that Dack's treatment behind-the-scenes and his relationship with the cast could affect what we saw on screen, so why not discuss that if discussion is what's wanted?

The point I'm making is that discussion doesn't happen in a vacuum, and this one has opened up a little. If someone wants to bring the thread back to a certain topic then it seems to me the best way to do that would be to make on-topic posts themselves rather than quoting and responding exclusively to ones they feel are off-topic.

 

[Snarky Oracle!]

I never understood why Dack Rambo was included in the opening credits. What I always liked about Dallas was that not everyone made it there (final two seasons excluded), so they must have had big plans for him. Or was he just added because there was a spot left and he fitted well as Dack Rambo because the opening credits were in alphabetical order. I always felt that some of the supporting cast (Morgan Brittany, John Beck, Mary Crosby) weren't included in the opening credits because it put them ahead of the real stars.

I suspect that Dack was included in the S10 opening credits as a contract concession thing to get him to come back at the end of the season when the script needed him to wrap up Cliff's inheritance-from-Jamie plot.

 

[Toni]

I suspect that Dack was included in the S10 opening credits as a contract concession thing to get him to come back at the end of the season when the script needed him to wrap up Cliff's inheritance-from-Jamie plot.

I agree, at least that´s what I read at the time in the US press. Dack insisted in appearing in the credits though he was told that only "the family" could achieve that (as if Jack wasn´t family!).

This matters more than his portrayal of Jack Ewing?

This matters more than his portrayal of Jack Ewing?

Didn´t you read this?
"The most important thing is how great both actors played their characters on "Dallas"."

 

[Billy Wall]

I never understood why (Morgan Brittany, John Beck, Mary Crosby) weren't included in the opening credits because it put them ahead of the real stars.

Like Lucy? Even Jeremy Windell never appeared in the opening credits.

 

[Snarky Oracle!]

I agree, at least that´s what I read at the time in the US press. Dack insisted in appearing in the credits though he was told that only "the family" could achieve that (as if Jack wasn´t family!).

You read that in the press??

 

[Toni]

You read that in the press??

Yes, but didn´t keep it! Then I didn´t know the actor nor the character yet, but what he said seemed reasonable to me. Besides, if they were going to axe Rambo, the only logics behind the opening inclusion was that they were forced to do that.

 

[Monzo]

I agree, at least that´s what I read at the time in the US press. Dack insisted in appearing in the credits though he was told that only "the family" could achieve that (as if Jack wasn´t family!).

Stephanie Beacham had to do Dynasty and Ana-Alicia had to return to Falcon Crest in a different role due to their contracts, while Dack Rambo, who was on Dallas for just one season can force to be added in the opening credits? If Dack Rambo did not sign the usual five-year contract anyway, it seems hard to imagine that after just one season he had such star power to get a place in the opening credits.

 

[Luke_Krebbs_Ewing]

I suspect that Dack was included in the S10 opening credits as a contract concession thing to get him to come back at the end of the season when the script needed him to wrap up Cliff's inheritance-from-Jamie plot.

He would've been a great long term addition to the show if it wasn't for the return of Patrick Duffy in that infamous shower scene.

 

[Taylor Bennett Jr.]

going back to the original post, I'm wondering what it would have been like if Clooney himself had been Jack. He was only 23-25 during Jack's run, a bit younger than Jenilee Harrison, so let's say a slightly older version of George.

(George seen above with the feisty Rita Briggs, who evidently hit the husband lottery after JR sent her on a bus to California just days before she could provide Sue Ellen an unexpected Ewing heir in early-season classic Black Market Baby - he would have been 30-ish at this point, probably old enough to play Jack)

(maybe Caruso could have been Jeff Farraday or Roger the creepy photographer or someone like that?)

 

[Bobby Southworth]

I think Dack would have been a fine addition even with the return of Duffy. I enjoyed his limited episodes season 10, and think they could have done more with him. It would have been better to keep some of Jason's family around for the later years.

 

[Luke_Krebbs_Ewing]

I think Dack would have been a fine addition even with the return of Duffy. I enjoyed his limited episodes season 10, and think they could have done more with him. It would have been better to keep some of Jason's family around for the later years.

Yeah imagine if the writers had actually gone with making Wes Parmalee Jason Ewing rather than Jock!

Jack could've teamed up with him.