Solid Details About TNT’s Dallas Finally Surface

TVGuide.com’s William Keck has spoken with members of the original cast of DALLAS about the upcoming TNT revival, which will be shooting in early February.

The article (which can be found here) reveals that the beloved Miss Ellie has died since we last saw the Ewings, as has her husband Clayton, echoing the real-life passings of Barbara Bel Geddes and Howard Keel. Bobby Ewing has remarried. J.R. is still as sneaky as ever in this new take, and Sue Ellen is described as a SOBER and powerful confidante to her son, John Ross, who is now all grown up and is expected to be one of the central characters of the new series.

Patrick Duffy has read the script and was “impressed” with it. “I’d managed to read the scripts for the feature films Fox was planning a few years ago and they were atrocious. Just awful, so I didn’t know what to expect from TNT. But this read like one of the better episodes at the height of Dallas. It’s a perfect sequel to continuing the Dallas tradition.”

“It’s carried by John Ross, Christopher [Bobby and Pam’s son] and their group, but they put us in enough to carry our old fans with us,” Duffy continues, adding that “Bobby’s married happily — and not to Pamela.”

Linda Gray has been assured by the new show’s writer, Cynthia Cidre, that Sue Ellen will remain strong. “I don’t want Sue Ellen to become a victim yet again,” she told TV Guide.

Larry Hagman is not committing to appearing in the new series as J.R. just yet, though he did like the script. “A lot of it is exposition to explain what’s happened since we went off in the ’90s. Miss Ellie’s passed on and such. But they haven’t made a firm offer yet. We’re kicking ideas around, but nothing’s been struck in gold. We’ll see how it goes; I’m still ambivalent about it,” he says.

Good reviews and attention to continuity might make TNT’s Dallas one of the more successful TV revivals. What do you think? Leave some comments…

You can read the full TV Guide article and interview here.