DALLAS: Ewing Family Drama Returns

TNT will premiere its newly resurrected soaper, Dallas, tonight beginning at 9/8c. I was curious to know why, after more than 20 years in the vault, would we even care to watch it again. Then my husband reminded me of the reasons people watched in the first place, and why they kept watching for 14 seasons.

Original "Dallas" cast from 1978

1. The beautiful women – Linda Gray, Victoria Principal, Charlene Tilton, Joan Van Ark, Priscilla Presley, Sheree J. Wilson and many more through the 14 year run.
2. Bad boys – J.R. Ewing, Cliff Barnes, Carter McKay, possibly more but with J.R. around who cares.
3. Fashion – we’re talking about a show featuring the wealthy and privileged. The women wore chic and sexy clothes and the hair and makeup were copied by us all – or at least attempted.
4. Primetime soap opera – Dallas began as a mini-series but was so popular that viewers wanted more. They got it when the show was picked up for a regular weekly series by CBS.
5. Cliffhangers – Dallas stood out season after season with its dramatic cliffhangers that left viewers gasping and speculating until the show’s return. “Who shot J.R.?”, which was the most popular, left fans hanging after season 3. A record 90 million tuned in to see the answer to this burning question in the “Who Done It?” episode.

It will be interesting to see if the same things that drew us to our TVs every Friday night for an hour, can do so again. It’s a new cast with some old faces sprinkled about. Larry Hagman returns as J.R. and Patrick Duffy as Bobby. Linda Gray also reprises her role as Sue Ellen, and others from the original series will make guest appearances.

The young new cast includes Josh Henderson as John Ross, Jesse Metcalf as Christopher Ewing, Brenda Strong, Julie Gonzalo, Marlene Forte and Callard Harris. So it looks like all the elements are there again for a successful new Dallas. Can it bring in the younger audiences and bring back the older? We’ll see, but for this Nice Girl, all I needed to see was this photo.

Sold! Nothing made me happier than when I opened my screener pack from TNT and this was one of the photos on the box. As I opened the box, the original score began to play and I decided then that I was boarding the train to Dallas with hopefully, many many more.

Will you be watching Dallas tonight? I’m thinking about tweeting through the pilot when it airs at 9 p.m. central time. Join me?