Laurie Marr
Telly Talk Well-Known Member
‘Are you afraid of me?’ JR asks of Pam in this memorable encounter. The performances are pitch perfect and the direction is lovely as we watch the predator circle and toy with its prey…..
Ray_Krebbs
Telly Talk Well-Known Member
As much clout as Hagman had as the years progressed, I am surprised her allowed J.R. to become a bozo
Snarky Oracle!
Telly Talk Supreme
Larry actually suggested at one point that JR "lose everything."
I could handle JR deteriorating to some degree as he aged, but the show itself didn't have to turn into an unfunny sitcom.
Mustard
Telly Talk TV Fanatic
Storyline credibility had gone out the window late on. They were showing up out of habit, for a bit of fun and the pay cheques. Wasn't Larry Hagman on $350,000 per episode around 1989-1991, or maybe that factors in his executive producer's job at that time as well? Something magical had been destroyed some time before.
Even the Haleyville storyline was wasted really. They could have had J.R. go through something traumatic like that, lose all confidence etc. and have him slowly rebuild, but he just came across as an over the hill buffoon instead.
CeeCee72
Telly Talk Star
Watching the Halleyville storyline and the resolution to it, I was pretty convinced that everyone working on that show - actors, writers, producers, etc - we ALL a bunch of boozed out potheads.
I seriously wanted some of whatever they were smoking and drinking.
Snarky Oracle!
Telly Talk Supreme
Long-before nuDALLAS or even the reunion movies, JR became scary again when Oliver Stone cheekily cast Larry as "Jack Jones" in NIXON -- a fictionalized composite metaphor for H L Hunt, Syd Richardson, Brown & Root/Halliburton -- at a real-life 1963 assassination eve party at the Clint Murchison mansion in north Dallas where the planned crime was discussed; Nixon was shown in the movie disapproving obliquely, but he was there. (Contrarians insist that the night of this soirée, Nixon was with Joan Crawford -- both in town for a Pepsi bottlers seminar -- and that they were attending a show by comic Robert Clary, later of HOGAN'S HEROES, at a Dallas hotel and that Clary conveniently referred to Nixon when he and Crawford came in late, joking "you either love him or you hate him!" eliciting a laugh from the future president) so he couldn't possibly have been at Murchison's party. But others, including LBJ's mistress, insist Nixon was indeed at the Murchison shindig held to celebrate J Edgar Hoover of the FBI, and even future White House correspondent, the near-legendary Helen Thomas, later signed an affidavit as to the existence of the party and who was in attendance.
Anyway, most of us have always taken for granted that Jock and JR were at least peripherally involved in the JFK assassination (and Oliver Stone obviously agreed) which is probably what sent liberal Ellie off into her jungle of denial for the rest of her life.
I just assume Joan Crawford was part of the conspiracy, too, she with her Pepsi affiliations and all-around bad karma. But I've yet to find any indication that she went to the Murchison party on the arm of Richard Nixon, yet I remain hopeful... Especially since she looked like Sue Ellen.
Poor Miss Ellie -- so much to block out.
So, yeah, JR was pretty scary then.
Anyway, most of us have always taken for granted that Jock and JR were at least peripherally involved in the JFK assassination (and Oliver Stone obviously agreed) which is probably what sent liberal Ellie off into her jungle of denial for the rest of her life.
I just assume Joan Crawford was part of the conspiracy, too, she with her Pepsi affiliations and all-around bad karma. But I've yet to find any indication that she went to the Murchison party on the arm of Richard Nixon, yet I remain hopeful... Especially since she looked like Sue Ellen.
Poor Miss Ellie -- so much to block out.
So, yeah, JR was pretty scary then.
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xab
Telly Talk Fan
Scary ... ?
He proved to be ruthless, manipulative, tough, insensitive, but I wouldn't use the scary word.
Freddy Krugger is scary, Norman Bates is too. JR remains a human being. He's no serial killer.
But I'm no Digger's daughter (I'm not Patricia Shepard's one either) and I never been involved in the oil business, so who am I to talk ?
Whatever, I strongly think becoming a father showed him the path to humanity. Sort of.
Ok, it took a little bunch of episodes.
But I do think John Ross changed his life and his schemes around JR III's custody seemed more legitimate than the many previous ones. His love for his flesh and blood became the most important thing in his life. You could root for JR at last. I'm not sure you could have before that...
And let's not forget he was shot and thought he would be paralysed for who knows how many months or years. If not the rest of his life. Even if a JR wouldn't acknowledge it loudly, it's a trauma, whoever you are.
But, on top of all that, he aged. We all do. We all change. I guess he just did...
He proved to be ruthless, manipulative, tough, insensitive, but I wouldn't use the scary word.
Freddy Krugger is scary, Norman Bates is too. JR remains a human being. He's no serial killer.
But I'm no Digger's daughter (I'm not Patricia Shepard's one either) and I never been involved in the oil business, so who am I to talk ?
Whatever, I strongly think becoming a father showed him the path to humanity. Sort of.
Ok, it took a little bunch of episodes.
But I do think John Ross changed his life and his schemes around JR III's custody seemed more legitimate than the many previous ones. His love for his flesh and blood became the most important thing in his life. You could root for JR at last. I'm not sure you could have before that...
And let's not forget he was shot and thought he would be paralysed for who knows how many months or years. If not the rest of his life. Even if a JR wouldn't acknowledge it loudly, it's a trauma, whoever you are.
But, on top of all that, he aged. We all do. We all change. I guess he just did...
Snarky Oracle!
Telly Talk Supreme
Mustard
Telly Talk TV Fanatic
I can't help but feel that there was more to Kristin's death in that pool than we were told. Did she really seem all that much different when she returned late in Season 4 DVD? Yet we are led to believe that she was just off her face on angel dust, at Southfork, and off her face enough to fall off a balcony, bang her head, lose consciousness and drown in the pool. J.R. looked rather chilled up on the balcony when Cliff jumped in. Drowning does take minutes, does it not?
Snarky Oracle!
Telly Talk Supreme
Wasn't there a polygraph done which the showed implied might be compromised?
Willie Oleson
Telly Talk Schemer
Stopped being scary as soon as Blake Carrington showed up.
Ray_Krebbs
Telly Talk Well-Known Member
I think Blake started off as a combo of J.R. and Jock, but he lost his edge worse than J.R. IMO
Mustard
Telly Talk TV Fanatic
Blake Carrington was certainly more bigoted than any Ewing, obsessing with his son Steven's attraction to other men and with his daughter Fallon's promiscuity, and also treated Krystle like a mere possession at times. Blake came across as far more old school bourgeois, and extended that mentality well into his family life and the way he treated family members. Jock Ewing, by contrast, was born a working class man and he judged character most, respecting other people who stood up for what they believed in and didn't run away from responsibility.
Snarky Oracle!
Telly Talk Supreme
Mmmm... Dunno 'bout dat.
For one thing. Blake was raised working class too, although they later muddied the water by not explaining how his father came into his money (and the nazi-treasure/shipping line revelation didn't quite do it).
I'm not sure Jock Ewing was more respectful than Blake, but Jock was probable less aware of what his family was doing.
I mean, Blake killed Ted; Jock killed Jonas Culver.
Lastkidpicked
Telly Talk Dream Maker
What made J.R. stop being scary is when he stopped enjoying his conniving ways.
I remember this scene from the original run, and that is when we first realized that J.R. absolutely relished destroying people who got in his way.
Watch, and look at how much he is enjoying himself here.
I remember this scene from the original run, and that is when we first realized that J.R. absolutely relished destroying people who got in his way.
Watch, and look at how much he is enjoying himself here.
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Luke_Krebbs_Ewing
Telly Talk Champion
Mustard
Telly Talk TV Fanatic
By those late seasons, it's hard to imagine anything other than habit, having fun and getting pay cheques having any motivation. In earlier years, there would have been other motivations on top, like the dynamics of the plots, story, characters etc., as it was something great from a creative standpoint.I don't think Larry cared as long as he said his lines and got his paycheck.
Something happened every year or so for a while. Barbara Bel Geddes had heart surgery, missed 11 episodes of Season 7 DVD, returned, only to then get released at the end of the season. Then Donna Reed comes in, and Patrick Duffy announces he's leaving. Then Barbara comes back and Patrick is gone. Then the dream revelation where Bobby comes back from the dead, that killed the series' credibility in most people's eyes. And then the year after that, Pam is gone, and the threads of Dallas no longer join up as they should.
Snarky Oracle!
Telly Talk Supreme
God, yes. Every year in the last half of the series there seemed a major gaffe of some sort -- usually an avoidable one.
Snarky Oracle!
Telly Talk Supreme
For me, there wasn't any single point; it was a gradual thing.
Early on, the viewer thought JR was capable of possibly having somebody rubbed out. Despite his assertions that he never killed anybody, "not even during the war."
As time went on, you didn't even consider murder as a possibility.
On nuDALLAS, however, you weren't entirely sure he wasn't willing to cut John Ross' throat with a razor -- or at least nick his son a bit. So that was a good return to form for JR.
Early on, the viewer thought JR was capable of possibly having somebody rubbed out. Despite his assertions that he never killed anybody, "not even during the war."
As time went on, you didn't even consider murder as a possibility.
On nuDALLAS, however, you weren't entirely sure he wasn't willing to cut John Ross' throat with a razor -- or at least nick his son a bit. So that was a good return to form for JR.