Here's a gem found surfing the 'tube: [yt]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xcsgIjONkXA[/yt] Even this kid is a more convincing John Ross than the current one...
I disagree wholeheartedly. Josh Henderson gets better with each episode this season. Jesse Metcalfe grates on my nerves whenever he starts to go into super-self-righteous mode. Patrick Duffy was at least likeable when he'd get that way on the old show; Metcalfe just gets steamed up and indignant. You don't believe he'd knock John Ross out for his troubles the way Bobby would sometimes take on J.R. when J.R. would go too far. Too, on the old show, Bobby and J.R. were usually up against one another and on their own in doing so. In the new show, John Ross has Sue Ellen. Christopher has Elena, Bobby, Ann... the stakes don't seem to matter as much if the family takes sides or if Bobby has to swoop in to solve Christopher's problems. If anyone's a pissant, it's Christopher. There was a great moment a week or two ago, when John Ross and Sue Ellen confronted Bobby and everyone with the news that they were taking over Ewing Energies. (This was in the hostage episode.) Bobby goes looking for J.R. and John Ross follows, going out of the room and into a hallway. Bobby pushes John Ross out of the way and storms off, followed by Christopher, Elena, et al. Moments later, John Ross follows, but he's not in any hurry at all. It was such a simple, powerful choice in his performance that said volumes about the character and how he (and, I'd wager, the writers and director) understand the character. Henderson has that (fledgling) twinkle in his eye that Hagman brought to J.R. and I for one can't think of a better actor to carry on the role.
It was a little soon, I won't argue that. But because of what the two characters were going through, it at least seemed natural that they would go for it. Her father had intruded onto Southfork in a desperate attempt to get her to return with him, and any other Ewing male was either too old or otherwise devoted to someone else; his father had been killed, and the women at the wake were either too old or had already pissed him off. They'd found a temporary connection in their grief. I doubt it will get much follow-up, though, except perhaps to be something for either Rebecca or Ann to use against John Ross. Hell, at this point, I wouldn't be shocked if Emma eventually ends up with Elena's brother. He seems to be the only young male at Southfork not currently getting any.... I like both her AND Emma Bell without reservation. Josh Henderson has been growing on me as of late, especially these last two episodes.
I can. How bout an actor that doesn't friggin' mumble his entire dialogue? I know he's trying to go for that quiet, sexy cool with the bedroom voice and the soul patch, but it just comes across as phony, and that grates on me until he actually manages to show a sharp negative emotion, and watching him yell and stomp around, I'm sorry, makes him look like a whiny, bratty little girl. And I never said I liked Jesse Metcalfe. I don't like either character or either actor. I simply hold them to different standards. Neither one will ever live up to the stature of their predecessors. I just think Josh Henderson has fallen farther short than Metcalfe has.
First of all, Jon Ross doesn't have a soul patch. That was Vicente, when he was known more readily as "Tony Almeida" on 24. (If you're going to make a point, try to get the nomenclature right.) Secondly, what you see as "whiny" I see as "fiery and unpredictable." He's absolutely his father's son, and it's made all the more apparent by how goody-two-shoes Christopher is portrayed. On a related note, I did find it oddly interesting that Christopher seemed to really hit it off with Annie Wersching's character at the racetrack. I almost instantly wondered if she might wind up being a future romantic interest for Christopher, who badly needs to do something a little less princely. Well to be fair, (and with due respect to Patrick Duffy) Larry Hagman left an indelible, impossible to recreate character in his wake. Of course John Ross was going to be a tough order to fill. What did you expect?
Whatever, dude. It's an overmanicured tuft of facial hair whose sole purpose is to make dumb girls swoon. I'm not impressed. Daddy did that clean-shaven. Tomayto, tomahto...I'm sticking with tomayto. No he's not. That's my overall point! He does not come across as any son of JR Ewing! His performance doesn't even match the little boy's in the clip I posted. That's an interaction between a father and son! I expect what I've been wanting from the beginning: a better portrayer. I'm not convinced that nobody could ever play JR's son convincingly, but I'm pretty damn convinced that Josh Henderson can't.
...so what you're saying is you want John Ross to be more like Omri Katz in that scene, wanting to work with J.R. and being universally adoring and devoted to his father. Did you miss the bits during season one where they explained that J.R. and John Ross had grown apart? Ultimately though, this really just boils down to our respective interpretations of Henderson's acting and the way the character of John Ross is written by the show's writers. Who knows? All these issues you seem to be having might just be part of the writer's arc for the character. Certainly I think we should be giving the show some leeway for having to alter course and accommodate for Hagman's untimely passing, but I still think you're way off. Agree to disagree, I guess.
Also: total trivia nerd moment here... For those who were a little miffed when it was made clear the reboot would not acknowledge the reunion movies: The portrait of J.R. used on the placard at his memorial wake was actually taken from, I believe, JR Returns. I know for a fact that it's the same photo of Hagman that is used on the cover of the Dallas: The Movie Collection DVD box set:
No, I want someone more like an actor that understands the basics of acting, like projecting his voice and emoting more professionally than Darla from the Little Rascals. I want someone who actually bothered to learn a Texas accent, which you'd expect to hear from someone born and raised in Texas. That would make John Ross rebellious, not an incompetent pussy, which is the route Josh and the writers seem to have taken with him. I wasn't the one that ran to one of the sons' defense, double-0. I was willing to let live ages ago.
I have to wonder if Ryland is going to hide his mother's body, or try and pin her death on Anne or the Ewings.
Of course. That was the only way to go at that point. They couldn't argue at the top of those beautiful stairs and not have somebody go down them! And Mitch Pileggi's in the opening credits. Obvious choice.