"Dallas" Producers Preparing "Proper Farewell" to J.R. Ewing

[JamesG]

"Dallas" Producers Prepping Send-Off for Larry Hagman's J.R. Ewing
11/24/2012
by Philiana Ng


J.R. Ewing may be getting a proper farewell.

With Larry Hagman's death on Friday and "Dallas" returning early next year, producers will now begin work on a way to give his iconic character a proper send-off, sources tell The Hollywood Reporter -- a possible indication that his passing caught the writers off-guard.





Hagman filmed six episodes of the 15 ordered for the second season of the soap, and will appear when new episodes kick off Jan. 28.

The first season closed out with J.R. and his son John Ross (Josh Henderson) teaming up and with a plan to destroy Christopher (Jesse Metcalfe) and Elena (Jordana Brewster). J.R. had spent some time in a nursing home for depression.

At the moment there is no timeline on how production of "Dallas" will be affected, though Hagman's death is not expected to impact the premiere.





On Friday evening, executive producers Cynthia Cidre and Michael M. Robin in a joint statement said Hagman was "a giant, larger-than-life personality" and loved playing "this globally recognized character."

http://www.hollywoodreporter.com/new...repping-393767

[catlover79]

I wager we'll see a lot of cast members from the old show come back for JR's funeral, if they choose to kill off the character (which I think they will).

[Zoneboy]

The new series of TV drama Dallas is to be rewritten to reflect the death of actor Larry Hagman, who played scheming oil tycoon JR Ewing.

Link

Hagman, whose role as the stetson-wearing villain made him a global star in the 1980s, died on Friday aged 81.

He was on board when a new version of the show appeared earlier this year.

A statement from UK broadcaster Channel 5 said: "Dallas is midway in production on season two and this sad news will be incorporated into the storyline."

Hagman featured in a promotional video shot on the first day of filming for the new series and posted last month. The next season makes its premiere in the US on the TNT network on 28 January.

Ken Kercheval: "On-screen, we did what we did and we enjoyed doing that"

The show was resurrected in the summer, more than 20 years after the original ended, with Hagman starring alongside other original actors including Patrick Duffy and Linda Gray.

Gray was at Hagman's side when he passed away on Friday and described him as "my best friend for 35 years".

"He was the Pied Piper of life and brought joy to everyone he knew. He was creative, generous, funny, loving and talented and I will miss him enormously," she said. "He was an original and lived life to the full."

Ken Kercheval, who played Cliff Barnes, said the pair had "a great deal of fun" acting out their on-screen rivalry in the 1980s.

"That sparring back and forth, I think that's what kept the show going for as long as it did because everybody had to wait and see who was going to win and who was going to lose," he told BBC 5 live on Sunday.

"JR was not a nice man. He was terrible. He was quite the opposite of Larry. Those characters are always fun to play and he played it to the hilt. Larry was one of a kind, he really was."

Michael Preece, who directed more than 60 episodes of Dallas and was a friend of Hagman, said the actor was always a pleasure to work with.

"Well, he was perfect," he told the BBC News channel. "Between Patrick Duffy, Linda Gray... they were all like directors.

"Larry did direct a lot of episodes, and you'd stage a scene, they would just stage it for you, he was terrific. And you try to get most of his work before lunch, because he was better in the morning - but he was great to be around, it was like a family."

Another original cast member, Victoria Principal, who played Pam Ewing, said Hagman had been "bigger than life, on-screen and off".
In this 1981 file photo originally provided by CBS, Larry Hagman, is shown in character as JR Ewing from Dallas Hagman reportedly owned more than 2,000 cowboy hats

"He is unforgettable, and irreplaceable, to millions of fans around the world, and in the hearts of each of us, who was lucky enough to know and love him," she said.

During its original incarnation between 1978-91, Dallas was one of the CBS network's top-rated programmes and was watched by an estimated 300 million people in 57 countries.

Hagman's forthright biography Hello Darlin' detailed his youthful drug-taking exploits and revealed the extent of his 50-year battle with alcoholism.

Even on the hardworking set of Dallas, he consumed five bottles of champagne a day for years and was finally diagnosed with cirrhosis of the liver in 1992.

Three years later he had a liver transplant and kept a photo of the organ donor above his mirror.

Despite this, Hagman continued to drink secretly until a further life-saving operation in 2003 forced him to stop.

[catlover79]

Thanks for the update!!!

[Retro4Life]

Yeah, they almost have to kill off J.R. now. They certainly aren't going to recast the role, and to have him just...go away somewhere offscreen is kind of cruel to the fans, who all know that man who defined the character has passed on. Hagman brought J.R. into the world and he should depart with him.

I just hope they have the guts not to sugarcoat who J.R. was, i.e. having characters that had every reason to loathe him suddenly singing his praises, etc. My guess is that Hagman would not want something that would diminish the malevolence that he imbued J.R. with. Surely his sons would be grief stricken and Sue Ellen would need to feel very conflicted, and Bobby as well (loving him and hating him, often at the same times). But folks like Cliff, Ray and even Gary should not be shown mourning because that would undermine the truth of their relationships with this man.

I think after the episode it would be nice to have the cast talk about their memories of Larry, though. That would serve as a nice reminder that J.R. was NOT Larry, and vice versa.

[Mr. Television]

Originally Posted by Retro4Life

Yeah, they almost have to kill off J.R. now. They certainly aren't going to recast the role, and to have him just...go away somewhere offscreen is kind of cruel to the fans, who all know that man who defined the character has passed on. Hagman brought J.R. into the world and he should depart with him.

I just hope they have the guts not to sugarcoat who J.R. was, i.e. having characters that had every reason to loathe him suddenly singing his praises, etc. My guess is that Hagman would not want something that would diminish the malevolence that he imbued J.R. with. Surely his sons would be grief stricken and Sue Ellen would need to feel very conflicted, and Bobby as well (loving him and hating him, often at the same times). But folks like Cliff, Ray and even Gary should not be shown mourning because that would undermine the truth of their relationships with this man.

I think after the episode it would be nice to have the cast talk about their memories of Larry, though. That would serve as a nice reminder that J.R. was NOT Larry, and vice versa.

Yea I agree. There was a scene on the new Dallas where JR told Cliff that he would be there when they lowered his body in the grave and that he'd be the one dancing on the dirt overhead.” It was funny when JR said it. That was the first scene the two of them had since 1996. It doesn't seem that funny now but it does make you wonder how they will be true to the character and respect the actor. I know when Jim Davis died, Cliff never changed his attitude but he didn't really comment much on him when it first happened. Then again Cliff's feud was mainly with JR.

[Retro4Life]

Originally Posted by Stuck In The '70's

Yea I agree. There was a scene on the new Dallas where JR told Cliff that he would be there when they lowered his body in the grave and that he'd be the one dancing on the dirt overhead.” It was funny when JR said it. That was the first scene the two of them had since 1996. It doesn't seem that funny now but it does make you wonder how they will be true to the character and respect the actor. I know when Jim Davis died, Cliff never changed his attitude but he didn't really comment much on him when it first happened. Then again Cliff's feud was mainly with JR.

Wow, what an ironic quote! I hope they have Cliff appear in the episode; but you're right, they'll have to write that scene carefully.

As to Jock and Cliff, yeah, I always got the feeling that while Jock didn't like Cliff at all, he was more of an annoyance to him than anything else. J.R really hated him and delighted in being cruel to him.

[catlover79]

Originally Posted by Retro4Life

Yeah, they almost have to kill off J.R. now. They certainly aren't going to recast the role, and to have him just...go away somewhere offscreen is kind of cruel to the fans, who all know that man who defined the character has passed on. Hagman brought J.R. into the world and he should depart with him.

I just hope they have the guts not to sugarcoat who J.R. was, i.e. having characters that had every reason to loathe him suddenly singing his praises, etc. My guess is that Hagman would not want something that would diminish the malevolence that he imbued J.R. with. Surely his sons would be grief stricken and Sue Ellen would need to feel very conflicted, and Bobby as well (loving him and hating him, often at the same times). But folks like Cliff, Ray and even Gary should not be shown mourning because that would undermine the truth of their relationships with this man.

I think after the episode it would be nice to have the cast talk about their memories of Larry, though. That would serve as a nice reminder that J.R. was NOT Larry, and vice versa.

Agreed! Well said.