JR's most brutal insult

[Pamela_E]

What do you think was JR's most brutal insult?

I am always shocked whenever I watch him deliver the line to Sue Ellen that "whoever it is, has got to be more interesting than the slut I'm looking at right now".

It isn't just calling her a slut, but it's the fact he says more interesting, to suggest Sue Ellen is a massive bore, both as a person and sexually.

I can imagine all the gasps when people watched it for the first time. I still have a little jolt of wow when I see it now.

 

[DallasFanForever]

I always thought one of his better insults was when he visited Edgar in the hospital after his suicide attempt and told him to make sure not to try that again cause he would destroy him if he did. That’s pretty low. At least he brought flowers though.

 

[Luke_Krebbs_Ewing]

Probably one of his most enlightening remarks to Cliff. Wasn't there one where he said "In the morning the janitor is gonna come in and sweep you out along with all the rest of the trash!"

That might have been the off shore tract deal which JR engineered Cliff into buying Gold Canyon 340 for a ridiculously high price and having the site crew on his payroll to stop the tract from striking oil.

 

[Jock-O-Lantern]

Calling his own wife a boring slut has to be tops.

JR arguing with Pam on the stairs where he tells her “she’s just like your mother. Another drunken slut who ran away.”

 

[Pamela_E]

Calling his own wife a boring slut has to be tops.

JR arguing with Pam on the stairs where he tells her “she’s just like your mother. Another drunken slut who ran away.”

Oh yes that was a great one too. He loved the term slut, the irony.

 

[MarkDallasAddict]

I think the comments to Dusty about his medical condition when they met at the stadium was pretty below the belt.

 

[James from London]

"whoever it is, has got to be more interesting than the slut I'm looking at right now"

“she’s just like your mother. Another drunken slut who ran away.”

the comments to Dusty about his medical condition when they met at the stadium was pretty below the belt.

"How long do you think she's gonna stay with a sexual washout? ... There's only one person that's man enough to keep that lady happy on the Southern Cross, and that sure as hell ain't you!"

Yes, those were all sizzling, gasp-out-loud moments!

The two examples I immediately thought of are less overt, but just as cruel in their own way. When talking to John Ross in a Season 1 episode of New DALLAS, JR makes a point of referring to Elena Ramos as “that Mexican girl”, despite having known her since she was a child and knowing how much she means to his son. Later in the same episode, he attempts to get Elena onside by poking fun at John Ross: “You’re the only one that could get him to study — I doubt if he’d have ever finished a whole book if it wasn’t for you.” “He was dyslexic, not stupid,” she replies. “Yeah,” he mutters dismissively before abruptly changing the subject. It's that "yeah" that gets me -- the way Hagman delivers it speaks volumes about JR’s contempt for both the idea of dyslexia itself and his son’s struggle with it.

 

[Jon Ewing Jr.]

Not really an insult but do you remember the time he drove over Cally's garden? That was brutal...

 

[the-lost-son]

That's a tough choice, but the insults to your own wife were breathtaking. Here is my list

1. Sue Ellen, you're a drunk, a tramp, and an unfit Mother and I honestly believe you've lost your reason.
2. more interesting than the slut I'm looking at right now..." (Sue Ellen)
3.... She is cracking up slowly but surely... Her real father is a thief... and her mother is a whore.... (Pam)
4. She is just like your mother. A drunken slut who ran away. (Pam)
5. "Well, Lucy, you sure know how to pick 'em - a pansy, a crook, and an up and coming pauper."
6..I suppose that's to be expected from the illegitimate child of a ranch foreman and the stepdaughter of the town drunk." (Pam)
7. Did you try a few Frenchman just cause you were there? (Pam)
8. "... Sexual washout (Dusty...)

 

[Jock-O-Lantern]

Not an insult but extremely insulting.

After JR finally gets rid of Peter, “I’ll expect you in my bed tonight, I’ll probably be late.”

I don’t care how much money he had, I can’t imagine any woman putting up with that.

 

[Lastkidpicked]

Some of J.R's best insults have a hidden meaning so they are fun to watch.

When J.R. was getting ready to dump the Asian oil leases on the cartel, Vaughn Leland was acting as a broker in the deal. Vaughn was behaving even slimier than usual.

J.R. knew that whoever bought those leases would lose a lot of money. Vaughn approached J.R. and told him, "I took out a large loan and I'm going to buy some of those leases."

J.R's response?

"Vaughn, there is nobody I'd rather have in on this deal than you."

HAHAHAHAHAHA! Vaughn would find out soon enough exactly how brutal an insult that would turn out to be.

 

[Pamela_E]

"How long do you think she's gonna stay with a sexual washout? ... There's only one person that's man enough to keep that lady happy on the Southern Cross, and that sure as hell ain't you!"

Yes, those were all sizzling, gasp-out-loud moments!

The two examples I immediately thought of are less overt, but just as cruel in their own way. When talking to John Ross in a Season 1 episode of New DALLAS, JR makes a point of referring to Elena Ramos as “that Mexican girl”, despite having known her since she was a child and knowing how much she means to his son. Later in the same episode, he attempts to get Elena onside by poking fun at John Ross: “You’re the only one that could get him to study — I doubt if he’d have ever finished a whole book if it wasn’t for you.” “He was dyslexic, not stupid,” she replies. “Yeah,” he mutters dismissively before abruptly changing the subject. It's that "yeah" that gets me -- the way Hagman delivers it speaks volumes about JR’s contempt at both the idea of dyslexia itself and his son’s struggle with it.

Thank you for posting about new Dallas, I completely forgot about those scenes. JR would have no time for those issues. It's nice to remember that in those earlier episodes of New Dallas they have really thought about the characters.

 

[Sarah]

It's not brutal so much as it's funny but my all time favourite is when he tells Lucy that Mitch should design her a new face 'one without a mouth'.

 

[Luke_Krebbs_Ewing]

It's not brutal so much as it's funny but my all time favourite is when he tells Lucy that Mitch should design her a new face 'one without a mouth'.

Yeah that one was hilarious, JR had some great one liners, ones that weren't necessarily insults

 

[DallasFanForever]

Another good one is when he meets Mickey for the first time. He calls him a Krebbs and Mickey corrects him that he’s a Trotter and J.R. says he’ll sleep better now knowing that. Not his best insult but it’s pretty funny.

 

[Top Jimmy]

A couple more brutal insults ...

JR to Lucy "You got a nasty mouth, just like that tramp mother of yours."

JR to Afton: "There's a million tramps like you in this town. I'm just gonna have to find myself another one."

 

[MarkDallasAddict]

Yeah that one was hilarious, JR had some great one liners, ones that weren't necessarily insults

I think this one even made its way into the funeral episode in TNT Dallas didn't it! I think Lucy reminisces about that particular insult!

 

[MarkDallasAddict]

I think there was another scene where JR said to Marilee Stone, "you're getting a little old for running around without your clothes on honey." Or words to that effect. Ouch!

 

[DallasFanForever]

A good one in the later years is when he tells Michelle she can sit in Pam’s chair cause he couldn’t stand her either.

 

[A Nightmare on Jimmy Todd Street]

J.R. insulted people he was in league with and would eventually betray, as @Lastkidpicked pointed out regarding Leland. He did this with Katherine when he came out of his office building and found her waiting for him: "Katherine! Don't tell me you have started hanging out on street corners."

A particularly cruel insult was when after Bobby died and Gary, as well as Ray, tried to offer JR comfort. J.R.'s response was, "I only had one brother and no one can take his place, least of all the two of you."
They were in mourning as well, yet J.R. was merciless.