Should J.R. Have Been Darker or More Lighthearted

[Ray_Krebbs]

Do you think the character of J.R. should have been darker, shader? He did a lot of awful things, but I mean do things like having people beaten up, murdered, vanished off the face of the earth? Or, should J.R. have been more like Richard Channing from Falcon Crest? He was a darker character but with a lot of love and redeeming qualities. Thoughts?

 

[CeeCee72]

Do you think the character of J.R. should have been darker, shader? He did a lot of awful things, but I mean do things like having people beaten up, murdered, vanished off the face of the earth? Or, should J.R. have been more like Richard Channing from Falcon Crest? He was a darker character but with a lot of love and redeeming qualities. Thoughts?

I think the way JR was written in the beginning was perfect. Very dark, but also having some emotional vulnerability (at SE's hospital bedside, when he picked up JR for the first time, when Jock died).

For me, it was when they started trying to make him more lighthearted that the character went off the rails.

 

[Billy Wall]

No. The JR in the 1st half of Dallas was perfect. You can’t have him too dark because you want him to be somewhat likable. But you don’t want to turn him into a joke like they did in the later seasons.

 

[Snarky Oracle!]

Why not both? JR could constantly make jokes about serial sex slayings and threaten -- with a wink his eye -- to unleash nuclear annihilation onto the world if he doesn't get his way, or even if he does!.

"Oh, Mama -- you're just so adorable, I could eat your brains with a fork and use your blood as a mixer in my bourbon every night before dinner..."

 

[Luke_Krebbs_Ewing]

No. The JR in the 1st half of Dallas was perfect. You can’t have him too dark because you want him to be somewhat likable. But you don’t want to turn him into a joke like they did in the later seasons.

Yeah in the later seasons they mellowed him and made him lose more. They should've had him be a bit dark and menacing and not lose so much. He was a much better character when he was being a conniving villain.

 

[Jimmy Todd]

JR had to have enough wit and joie de vivre so that he was as likable as a villian can be, but dark enough so there is enough urgency to his actions. The show achieved this balance through the first half of the Dream season, then they lost it.

 

[Mustard]

J.R. Ewing was perfectly portrayed for a long time.

 

[Laurie Marr]

J.R. Ewing was perfectly portrayed for a long time.

And that’s the point: Hagman’s portrayal mixed malevolence with gleeful self satisfaction in a way that was both seductive and captivating. The light and the dark were there from the start. JR was so compelling for so long because Hagman brought a lightness of touch that meant JR was more than a moustache twirling villain…….He was also, of course, more than ably assisted in his efforts by sporting the most magnificently devilish pair of forking (!) eyebrows….

 

[Rove]

The show achieved this balance through the first half of the Dream season, then they lost it.

It was this season when I had hoped the writers might have sent JR down the rabbit hole of vicious revenge against everything and everybody after the death of Bobby. If there was ever a time to test Larry's acting chops and JR's evilness...this was the time do it. Missed opportunity.

 

[Mustard]

It was this season when I had hoped the writers might have sent JR down the rabbit hole of vicious revenge against everything and everybody after the death of Bobby. If there was ever a time to test Larry's acting chops and JR's evilness...this was the time do it. Missed opportunity.

I can understand J.R. Ewing being softer at times after Bobby's sudden death. Perfectly normal.

 

[Snowcat]

Yeah in the later seasons they mellowed him and made him lose more. They should've had him be a bit dark and menacing and not lose so much. He was a much better character when he was being a conniving villain.

I don’t think they mellowed JR. He was still just as conniving. What changed was he was put in utterly humiliating situations - jail, the farm, the sanitarium. I also don’t believe the family never went looking for him in Hallyville. There were too many episodes spent on this

 

[DallasFanForever]

I think the way he was portrayed in the first 8 seasons was perfect. Dark when he had to be, but with flashes of humor and wit. The dream season is where it seems to start changing for me. I agree with the comment that he should’ve been made to be much darker in the dream season as a reaction to Bobby’s death. In the later years I would’ve made him much more bitter and cynical and made him less vulnerable. Perhaps turn up the paranoia and make him even more distrusting of others.

 

[Mustard]

J.R. should be different in the dream season. His brother Bobby died, suddenly and traumatically. I think Pam and Jack should have been more involved at Ewing Oil, butting heads with J.R.

 

[DallasFanForever]

I think Pam and Jack should have been more involved at Ewing Oil, butting heads with J.R.

I agree with this. The fact that they even went through the trouble of putting Pam over there only for nothing really significant to come out of it was very disappointing. Jack could’ve been more involved as well, perhaps constantly stepping on J.R.’s toes accidentally with J.R. having to keep reminding him that he isn’t Bobby and he doesn’t need his help running things.

 

[CeeCee72]

I agree with this. The fact that they even went through the trouble of putting Pam over there only for nothing really significant to come out of it was very disappointing. Jack could’ve been more involved as well, perhaps constantly stepping on J.R.’s toes accidentally with J.R. having to keep reminding him that he isn’t Bobby and he doesn’t need his help running things.

They really wasted Jack. The forced sorta pairing of him with Jenna was difficult to watch.

 

[DallasFanForever]

They really wasted Jack. The forced sorta pairing of him with Jenna was difficult to watch.

I though Jenna and Jack made for good friends, but the scenes where they made us think it might become more were kind of awkward.

 

[Luke_Krebbs_Ewing]

I though Jenna and Jack made for good friends, but the scenes where they made us think it might become more were kind of awkward.

Yeah, especially when they wouldn't let Dack touch or properly kiss Priscilla Presley. I'm sad for Dack's memory that the crew subjected him to homophobic abuse on the set of Dallas.

 

[Jock Ewing Fan]

Both to varying degrees. The JR pre dream season was well done. He was never quite as formidable afterwards.

The low point was Haleyville. The JR we know would have returned and would have taken revenge on those idiots

 

[Snarky Oracle!]

Both to varying degrees. The JR pre dream season was well done. He was never quite as formidable afterwards.

The low point was Haleyville. The JR we know would have returned and would have taken revenge on those idiots

Yes, even though JR let Pam off the hook uncharacteristically after she kidnapped John Ross and took him to Sue Ellen. Or perhaps he assumed she was in emotional meltdown and figured it wasn't worth the effort -- although I always want JR to have had a role in putting her on top of that building when she was about to jump.

Frankly, though, I tend to wonder if Pam, given her psychiatric profile, was a molestation victim. Maybe by Edgar Randolph.

 

[Michelle Stevens]

Both to varying degrees. The JR pre dream season was well done. He was never quite as formidable afterwards.

I agree, the JR of about 1983 was about the right balance.