That's a very good question. Unfortunetly the little people can't afford to hire good lawyers.
Who Cheated J.R.: Citi Must Pay Larry Hagman $11M
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That's a very good question. Unfortunetly the little people can't afford to hire good lawyers.
My great uncle Andre (who went by the name E.J. Andre) played the recurring role of oilman Eugene Bullock on four seasons of Dallas until he died, amongst many other roles.
That has nothing to do with the topic, I just wanted to mention that my great uncle had a role on Dallas that no one here probably even remembers.
That has nothing to do with the topic, I just wanted to mention that my great uncle had a role on Dallas that no one here probably even remembers.
doubleohfive
Fleet Admiral
I remember Bullock! ROCK ON, Locutus!
Best I have is that I worked on the Sony lot for about three months back in 2007 and it wasn't until long, long after that I realized I'd been working on the same soundstage where most of the DALLAS sets had been.
Best I have is that I worked on the Sony lot for about three months back in 2007 and it wasn't until long, long after that I realized I'd been working on the same soundstage where most of the DALLAS sets had been.
Happy days, watching other people suffer gloriously... everything I needed to know about life, I learnt from JR Ewing.
My God, you are so British.
That has nothing to do with the topic, I just wanted to mention that my great uncle had a role on Dallas that no one here probably even remembers.
Pretty cool, Locutus, pretty cool.
Happy days, watching other people suffer gloriously... everything I needed to know about life, I learnt from JR Ewing.
My God, you are so British.
I never felt closer to a Texan, than when I watched JR.
A few memorable quotes:
"Sue Ellen, you're not a wife, you're not a mother, and you sure as hell are not a Ewing!"
"Contracts were made to be broken, honey, but a handshake is the law of God."
"Revenge is the single most satisfying feeling in the world"
The only soap character to come close to JR was Greg Sumner from Knot's Landing, and that's mostly because William Devane is inherently awesome.
doubleohfive
Fleet Admiral
Some of my favorite JR-isms:
(to Pam's sister Katherine): "I have a very special feeling about your sister. Ya see, I hate her."
"What the hell are you doing here Sue Ellen? You lose your way to Neiman Marcus?"
(to Michelle, who J.R. already dislikes, at dinner): You can sit over there, in Pam's old seat. Couldn't stand her either."
"I wouldn't give you the dust off my car!"
"I came here looking for the A-Team, and instead I got F-Troop!"
JR: Well, last night we went to the Oil Baron's and we ran into that termite brother of yours!
Pam: Are you talking to me?
JR: Anyone else in here gotta termite for a brother ?
(to Pam's sister Katherine): "I have a very special feeling about your sister. Ya see, I hate her."
"What the hell are you doing here Sue Ellen? You lose your way to Neiman Marcus?"
(to Michelle, who J.R. already dislikes, at dinner): You can sit over there, in Pam's old seat. Couldn't stand her either."
"I wouldn't give you the dust off my car!"
"I came here looking for the A-Team, and instead I got F-Troop!"
JR: Well, last night we went to the Oil Baron's and we ran into that termite brother of yours!
Pam: Are you talking to me?
JR: Anyone else in here gotta termite for a brother ?
I'd completely forgotten that one. Where was that from?!
There was a follow-up line from Pam too: "Only Bobby!"
More JR-isms, because they never get old:
Once you give up integrity, the rest is a piece of cake
Ray never was comfortable eating with the family; we use knives and forks.
(on the difference between being involved and being committed to Ewing Oil): "You take ham and eggs: the chicken that lays the egg is involved, the pig the meat comes from is committed"
I'm JR Ewing. I don't get ulcers; I give them!
doubleohfive
Fleet Admiral
It's from the beginning of the final season, when J.R. convinces Mitch Pileggi to help him break out of the mental institution. For some reason, I never forgot that one!
There was a follow-up line from Pam too: "Only Bobby!"
There's a great one from season 11 or 12 where JR laments Cliff Barnes working with them at Ewing Oil, and Hagman just sunk his teeth in to delivering the line ... something along the lines of "I'm not going to watch that Barnes idiot just drivel it all away!" or something like that ... hilarious!
Some more goodies:
There's just something menacingly charming and devious about how he would sometimes refer to himself in the third person ... most characters would seem crazy; JR just came across as legendary.
^^ You guys amaze me. I always thought of this show as complete garbage. 
doubleohfive
Fleet Admiral
Well, to be fair, it mostly was.
But it was fun garbage!
But it was fun garbage!
^ Exactly. A reminder of the days when TV drama didn't take itself too seriously, and just wanted to entertain us with escapist knockabout storylines.
This thread led me to scour for more great JR lines that I'd forgotten:
Barnes just broke the cardinal rule in politics: never get caught in bed with a dead woman or a live man.
A marriage is like a salad: the man has to know how to keep his tomatoes on the top.
Shouldn't you be getting off to bed now Sue Ellen? You know how haggard you look in the morning without your eight hours.
This thread led me to scour for more great JR lines that I'd forgotten:
Barnes just broke the cardinal rule in politics: never get caught in bed with a dead woman or a live man.
A marriage is like a salad: the man has to know how to keep his tomatoes on the top.
Shouldn't you be getting off to bed now Sue Ellen? You know how haggard you look in the morning without your eight hours.
Well, there's nothing wrong with that.
doubleohfive
Fleet Admiral
One of my favorite scenes was from (I think) the end of season 10, wherein the head of West Star Oil, Jeremy Wendell (William Smithers) had finally outsmarted (ok, outswindled) JR and Bobby and bought up Ewing Oil from them via a Department of Justice investigation and scandal. JR and John Ross are in the Ewing offices watching as the furniture is being removed from the office building, which Wendell himself is only too proud to admit he owns now too. Relishing in his victory against JR, Wendell reaches for the portrait of Ewing patriarch Jock which had been hanging in the office for years...
As evil and horrible as JR was always presented, the one redeeming quality he always had was his love for his son. It would have been easy for the writers to pigeon-hole JR as some kind of irredeemable Shylock, with no positive attributes ... but they gave him this one thing, his devotion to his son and the future he hoped for them both, which motivated many of JR's shenanigans and reminded us that even he could be a good guy when he wanted to be... even if those times were (very) few and (very) far between!
As evil and horrible as JR was always presented, the one redeeming quality he always had was his love for his son. It would have been easy for the writers to pigeon-hole JR as some kind of irredeemable Shylock, with no positive attributes ... but they gave him this one thing, his devotion to his son and the future he hoped for them both, which motivated many of JR's shenanigans and reminded us that even he could be a good guy when he wanted to be... even if those times were (very) few and (very) far between!
Well, he was always devoted to family. Immediate family, anyway. Jock, Miss Ellie and Bobby were always mitigating factors on his behavior. He didn't care too much for uncles and cousins, though.
In hindsight and thinking about the series now as an adult, JR had some really serious daddy issues. You could probably ascribe a good chunk of his actions to feeling that he could never quite measure up to Jock Ewing's legacy, and his (probably failed) desire for John Ross to never feel that way about him as a father figure.
His extreme competitiveness with Jock and Bobby, his dismissive behaviour towards Gary and Ray, his general perception of people as dumb instruments and his virgin/whore attitude towards women are all consistent with a theme of male inadequacy and arrested development due to his overbearing yet unloving father.
This is also probably what lets his character connect so brilliantly with the audience, esp. men in this audience. By transposing the Jock Ewing father figure onto a patriachal/hierarchical society, we enjoy watching JR do all the things we as individuals with a more rounded personalities could never do. He's a classic anti-hero in that sense, collecting power and influence as a substitute for inner peace.
That's pretty good writing for an 80s supersoap.
doubleohfive
Fleet Admiral
...and that's probably the most eloquent and brilliant psychoanalysis of JR I've ever read. Well done!
doubleohfive
Fleet Admiral
^
I just read it... very insightful, not just in terms of psychiatry/psychology (sorry-- I can never remember which is which) but also in respect toward writing believable and entertaining characters.
I just read it... very insightful, not just in terms of psychiatry/psychology (sorry-- I can never remember which is which) but also in respect toward writing believable and entertaining characters.