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<blockquote data-quote="Mel O&amp;#039;Drama" data-source="post: 296680" data-attributes="member: 23">Yes, I&#039;d agree with this.This made me think of a couple of his Knots Landing appearances and how his introductions differed in tone.The first time JR appeared in late &#039;79 there was something genuinely sinister about him that made me fully understand why Val would feel unsafe seeing him looming in the doorway, and dirty from him entering her home. He pays her another visit a few years later at the beginning of the &#039;82-&#039;83 season and this time it&#039;s far more playful. He&#039;s still a menace to Valene, but for the audience it&#039;s almost diffused by the scenes preceding it where he chuckles in the back of the limo driven by his female-chauffeur-who-looks-like-Sly-but-isn&#039;t; then he has an almost pally little exchange with Richard Avery; then as he waddles across the cul-de-sac to Val&#039;s door there&#039;s this quirky music. It&#039;s still a great scene, but it somehow seems to exist on a different level of threat because he&#039;s now JR the icon and Larry looks like he&#039;s having fun.For me, the series felt a little &quot;bigger&quot; with almost every consecutive season up to Bobby&#039;s return. The shift that felt most noticeable for me came with the beginning of the Fourth Season (or Fifth by DVD count), where lots of the episodes (especially early in the season) climaxed in big set pieces involving location shoots with helicopters, airports, iconic locations and whatnot. All scored with exciting music, and mostly with JR right in the thick of things. It felt bigger and broader, but in a good way. JR was still fun and enjoyable to watch (which is good). Just less scary (which is not so good).As I recall, the Ewings got richer at this time or shortly after and money talk got bigger. I seem to remember JR and Sue Ellen taking a break or honeymoon in some remote location that the Ewings owned but had forgotten about up to that point. That would have been a big deal a few seasons earlier, but by this time they were Keeping Up With The Carringtons.As time went on and JR lost his impact, the stetson seemed to become almost a symbol of the menace, rather like the shark&#039;s fin in the increasingly cartoony Jaws sequels. The audience had been conditioned so we only had to see it to know that it meant trouble, even though it would never have the raw impact of the original version where it truly felt like anything was possible.</blockquote>

[QUOTE="Mel O'Drama, post: 296680, member: 23"] Yes, I'd agree with this. This made me think of a couple of his [I]Knots Landing[/I] appearances and how his introductions differed in tone. The first time JR appeared in late '79 there was something genuinely sinister about him that made me fully understand why Val would feel unsafe seeing him looming in the doorway, and dirty from him entering her home. He pays her another visit a few years later at the beginning of the '82-'83 season and this time it's far more playful. He's still a menace to Valene, but for the audience it's almost diffused by the scenes preceding it where he chuckles in the back of the limo driven by his female-chauffeur-who-looks-like-Sly-but-isn't; then he has an almost pally little exchange with Richard Avery; then as he waddles across the cul-de-sac to Val's door there's this quirky music. It's still a great scene, but it somehow seems to exist on a different level of threat because he's now JR the icon and Larry looks like he's having fun. For me, the series felt a little "bigger" with almost every consecutive season up to Bobby's return. The shift that felt most noticeable for me came with the beginning of the Fourth Season (or Fifth by DVD count), where lots of the episodes (especially early in the season) climaxed in big set pieces involving location shoots with helicopters, airports, iconic locations and whatnot. All scored with exciting music, and mostly with JR right in the thick of things. It felt bigger and broader, but in a good way. JR was still fun and enjoyable to watch (which is good). Just less scary (which is not so good). As I recall, the Ewings got richer at this time or shortly after and money talk got bigger. I seem to remember JR and Sue Ellen taking a break or honeymoon in some remote location that the Ewings owned but had forgotten about up to that point. That would have been a big deal a few seasons earlier, but by this time they were Keeping Up With The Carringtons. As time went on and JR lost his impact, the stetson seemed to become almost a symbol of the menace, rather like the shark's fin in the increasingly cartoony [I]Jaws[/I] sequels. The audience had been conditioned so we only had to see it to know that it meant trouble, even though it would never have the raw impact of the original version where it truly felt like anything was possible. [/QUOTE]

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