Casting the Ewings

It won't surprise you to know that I've been avidly following all the casting news about the new Dallas pilot that TNT has ordered. I've written before about how much I loved the 1978-1991 series.

I'm thrilled that Larry Hagman, Linda Gray, and Patrick Duffy will all be reprising their roles from the original series. I cannot imagine Dallas without J.R., and even though both Patrick Duffy and Linda Gray left the series during its run, they're certainly an integral part of what made Dallas what it was and, hopefully, what it will be.

I'm a bit more wary about some of the casting choices for the new generation, though.

I'm fairly happy with Josh Henderson as John Ross, at least based on the fact that he's roughly the right age for the part (born in 1981, whereas the character was born onscreen in 1979), quite attractive, and seems to have some soapy experience already, having done time on both Desperate Housewives and 90210. I've never actually seen him in anything, though, so I can only hope that he's got some acting talent.
Henderson also looks like he could be John Ross, by which I mean it's somewhat believable that young Omri Katz could have grown up to look like this. I cannot, however, same the same thing when it comes to the actor they hired to play Christopher Ewing.

Jesse Metcalfe is certainly an attractive man. A decade ago, back when he was on Passions (a soap that I detested), I admit that I would occasionally record the show just to see him in a state of undress as the dim-witted hunk Miguel Lopez-Fitzgerald. I've even caught a few glimpses of him on Desperate Housewives, for much the same reason.

He just doesn't seem right as Christopher, though. I can't see the kid on the original series or Chris Demetral, who played the role last in Dallas: J.R. Returns, becoming this beefcake version of Bobby and Pam's son. I'm also worried about Metcalfe not being the actor needed for the part, but that may be because I haven't seen him in much other than Passions and John Tucker Must Die. Hopefully his acting skills have improved since then? He's terrific eye candy, certainly, but I'd like Christopher to be more than that!

I was interested to see that Christopher's fiancee, the character that Julie Gonzalo is going to be playing, was named Rebecca. Could she be Pamela Rebecca Cooper, the character that Christopher was interested in when we last saw him in J.R. Returns? I'd heard no mention of Ken Kercheval returning as Cliff Barnes, but if Rebecca had been the same character that would have opened the door for him, since Rebecca turned out to be his daughter with Afton Cooper. Sadly, this character's last name appears to be Sutter.

Jordana Brewster, meanwhile, has been cast as a character named Elena who is reportedly in a love triangle with John Ross and Christopher, which I guess means that Rebecca may not be holding on to her man for long.

I'm not familiar with Julie Gonzalo, but I know Jordana's recent work from the show Chuck and I think she'll be a good addition to the cast.

I can't wait to see how all of this comes together onscreen. TNT had better pick this up as a series!

Southfork Calling

I've written before about my undying love for Dallas, the Grand Dame of 1980's prime time soaps, and about how excited I was that TNT was thinking about updating the show with a series that focused on the younger generation of Ewings: John Ross (son of J.R. and Sue Ellen) and Christopher (son of Bobby and Pamela). The best part, though, was that there was also talk of Larry Hagman, Patrick Duffy, and Linda Gray reprising their roles from the original show.

Since that time, there hadn't been a lot of news about the project. I read awhile back that TNT had decided to order a pilot, which was fantastic news since that's obviously the first step in the series becoming a reality. But overall, news was scarce and that was a bit worrisome since I'd been through the same process earlier in the decade when there was a lot of talk of a big screen adaption of the show and it ultimately came to nothing.

Just when I was starting to despair of ever hearing anything more, a new article popped up on the TV Guide website earlier this week. The show is clearly very much in the works, as original series stars Larry Hagman, Patrick Duffy and Linda Gray (J.R., Bobby and Sue Ellen) discuss the script and reveal certain details, like the fact that matriarch Miss Ellie and her husband Clayton have both passed away (as, of course, have their portrayers, Barbara Bel Geddes and Howard Keel) and Bobby has remarried.

Larry Hagman notes that he remains 'ambivalent' about the idea and is waiting for a firm offer, but Patrick Duffy sounds a much more optimistic note:

"I read the script and was extremely impressed with it," says Patrick. "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."

I'm so excited to see this show become a reality! If they manage the mix between the older and younger characters just right, throw in some real eye candy as John Ross and Christopher (and, for those who are into that sort of thing, some attractive women to play their love interests), this thing could be great!

I feel like a little kid counting down the days until Christmas, only I'm starting on December 26th and it's going to be a looong wait!

Back to Southfork?

Updating old prime time soaps with next generation casts seems to be all the rage at the moment, what with 90210 and Melrose Place, and it looks like the trend is going to be continuing. You can't possibly know how excited I was to read on the New York Times website yesterday that the latest update will be of Dallas, the Grande Dame of all such shows.

I happen to be a huge fan of the prime time soaps from the 1980's. Dallas and Knots Landing in particular were fantastic shows, and I've been buying the DVD box sets as they've been released over the past few years. I love how in the 80's they weren't afraid to make the shows straight up soap operas. Now, they'll make teen dramas, but anything with older characters that isn't a medical, legal, or police drama has to be a satire, not a soap.

A few years back there was talk of a feature film version of Dallas, which I thought was an interesting idea until I heard some of the casting ideas: John Travolta as J.R.?! J Lo as Sue Ellen?! Completely wrong.

The idea of a film seems to have fallen through, which is probably for the best. But now TNT has ordered a pilot for an updated version of the show revolving around the next generation: J.R. & Sue Ellen's son, John Ross, and Bobby and Pam's son, Christopher. Larry Hagman, Linda Gray, and Patrick Duffy are said to have been contacted for their participation in the project, though to what extent they'd be involved is still not known.

Of course, TNT may decide not to order a full series, so I'm not going to get my hopes up too high just yet. I think it's a great idea, though. When they made J.R. Returns, the first of the two Dallas reunion movies, they included both Christopher and John Ross and laid the groundwork for a potential rivalry between them that could have developed into something more. They also included Cliff Barnes and Afton Cooper's daughter, Pamela, which bolstered the idea of a whole new generation.

Sadly, the second reunion movie, War of the Ewings, was pretty terrible and dropped the younger characters completely. Now, finally, they seem to be picking up on the idea they were developing back in 1996.

Dallas remains hugely popular all over the world even though it has been off the air as a weekly series for a full 18 years. I think the popularity of a potential new show depends on how involved the original characters and their portrayers are and on how well they cast the roles of the new generations of the Ewing and Barnes families.

If you thought I was excited about a Melrose Place update, just wait until the Ewings are gathered around the dinner table at Southfork again!