Soapy scrappers and schemers return to South Fork

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Jesse Metcalfe (left) and Josh Henderson. (TRIBUNE MEDIA MCT)

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Bravo Patrick Duffy as Bobby Ewing and Larry Hagman as J.R. Ewing. (POSTMEDIA)

It's been long enough since one of TV's iconic prime-time soaps, Dallas, ended its 13-season run that most viewers would be less inclined to wonder, "Who shot J.R.?" than to ask, "Who is J.R.?"

And what that means, basically, is that the producers of the new made-for-cable version of Dallas have been given a clean slate for the opulent, oil-soaked, sudsy stories they'll tell as they try to relaunch the franchise for a 21st-century audience.

"Just for clarity's sake, this Dallas is not a remake," says Michael Wright, the head of programming for the new series' U.S.-cable home, TNT. "And it's not a reboot. This is the best way to look at it -- it's a continuation of the story of the Ewings. Imagine that the cameras left South Fork about 21 years ago, but the Ewings went on with their lives. Now the cameras have returned, and even though the Ewings have evolved, just as all of us have, they're still battling over the soul of South Fork, fighting and loving each other with a passion and a style unmatched by pretty much any other iconic TV family."

The original Dallas, which aired from 1978 to '91, set the template for prime-time serials in the '80s; its continuing storylines, excessive wealth, squeaky-clean heroes, dastardly villains and over-the-top fussing and fighting were copied with great success by the producers of such other long-running soaps as Dynasty, Knots Landing and Falcon Crest.

The central figures in Dallas were feuding brothers Bobby (Patrick Duffy) and J.R. (Larry Hagman) Ewing, who were locked in an eternal good (Bobby) vs. evil (J.R.) struggle for control of the family's Texas oil empire.

In keeping with the new show's intention to continue the saga of the Ewings, Duffy and Hagman -- along with Linda Gray, who played J.R.'s beleaguered wife, Sue Ellen -- are part of this Dallas's central cast, providing guidance (both good and evil) and advice (both noble and nefarious) to the next generation.

In the series pilot, which airs Wednesday at 8 p.m. on Bravo!, J.R.'s son, John Ross (Josh Henderson), is staying true to his scheming roots by secretly drilling for oil on South Fork property, which is something do-gooder Uncle Bobby promised his saintly mother, Miss Ellie, would never happen.

Meanwhile, Bobby's angelic adopted son, Christopher (Jesse Metcalfe), has just returned from the Far East, where he's been studying alternative energy sources in the hopes of taking the Ewing empire in a more eco-friendly direction, and is engaged to be married to Rebecca Sutter (Julie Gonzalo), a beautiful, brainy woman he met abroad.

This doesn't sit well with Christopher's former fiancée, Elena Ramos (Jordana Brewster), who has taken up with John Ross since being dumped by email by Christopher. In true Dallas fashion, however, there might be more to the story of their unhappy parting, and perhaps still some heat left in their relationship.

As Bobby struggles with a health crisis and J.R. struggles to snap out of a depression so deep that it has left him institutionalized and medicated, it's clear that it's up to the younger generation to keep the sibling feud simmering.

In an interview during TNT's portion of the U.S. networks' semi-annual press tour in Los Angeles, Duffy explained that he and his original castmates only agreed to take part in this new version when it was certain that they'd be fully contributing members of the ensemble.

"That's why we wanted to do the show, because we're trying to tow the load as much as everybody else," he says. "The younger people have more stamina and, obviously, they have a function in the show, but we're here, and we're in every episode, and we're performing the functions we did in the original Dallas."

When asked if he agreed with Duffy's assessment, Hagman offered a slightly simpler reason for taking this job.

"Working at 80," he said. "How many people do you know working at 80? And doing a job that they love, with people that they love? I'm a very lucky man."

When pressed further, the man who was once the most loathed villain in TV history -- and, at Dallas's peak, television's highest-paid actor -- said the timing seemed right when the new Dallas script came along.

"I think you've got to realize that when Dallas was really hot, when it got going, we were in a major recession," he recalled. "People couldn't get a babysitter and go out and have dinner and go to a movie; they couldn't afford it. So they had to stay in on Friday nights and watch something.

"And we were it. And here we are again."

brad.oswald@freepress.mb.ca

Republished from the Winnipeg Free Press print edition June 7, 2012 E5