Dallas had it all. The Ewing family lived at the ostentatious Southfork ranch in Braddock County just outside Dallas. Miss Ellie, long played by veteran actress Barbara Bel Geddes, was the matriarch of the clan. J.R. (Larry Hagman) was the oldest Ewing son, married to the forever miserable Sue Ellen (Linda Gray). J.R’s younger brother Bobby (Patrick Duffy) fell in love with a girl from a rival oil family, Pamela Barnes (Victoria Principal), whom he would later marry (a couple times).
The formula for the success of Dallas was rather simple. Series creator David Jacobs took to families, the Ewing’s and the Barnes rivals in the oil business and created a world full of enough passion, power, and family dysfunction to keep fans interested for years.
I remember season eight of Dallas pretty well, because during that 1984-85 season I was in middle school and was finally old enough to watch the show and see what all the fuss was about. I had heard all the talk during the summer of 1980 about who shot J.R.? I distinctly remember standing in line at the grocery story and listening to two older ladies talking the day after the shooter was revealed: “I can’t believe Bing Crosby’s daughter shot J.R.! He would be so disappointed in her.” Even at eight years old, I knew if a television show had blurred the line between fantasy and reality that much, it had to be fun to watch.
Season eight begins with everyone wondering who shot Bobby Ewing. Of course, it is quickly revealed that the intended target was J.R. Though temporarily blinded, thankfully Bobby survived. Meanwhile, Jamie Ewing (Jenilee Harrison) the daughter of Jock Ewing’s dead brother Jason returns to Southfork looking to stake a claim to her part of the family fortune.
Bobby thought he’d found happiness with single mother Jenna Wade (Priscilla Beaulieu Presley) he realizes, he still loves Pam. Meanwhile, Pam is sent into some serious emotional upheaval looking for the missing and presumed dead Mark Graison because of J.R.’s trickery. Bobby rescued Jenna from the pokey and they planned to marry and J.R. promised his babe of the moment, Mandy Winger (Deborah Shelton) he’d find a way to get rid of Sue Ellen. In order to get rid of Sue Ellen, J.R. schemes to have her placed in a mental institution. It was this seasons cliff-hanger “Swan Song” that might have made season nine a dream. It’s your call.
The best part of Dallas: The Complete Eighth Season comes when the Academy Award winning actress turns up in the role of Miss Ellie. Barbara Bel Geddes had left the show after heart surgery and Ms. Reed filled her shoes quite sucessfully. For those accustomed to seeing Donna Reed in sweet unassuming roles such as Mary Bailey in It’s A Wonderful Life or Donna Stone on The Donna Reed Show, her glamorous, smarmy portrayal of Miss Ellie will be a surprise. I know some fans are Bel Geddes loyalists, but I thought Donna Reed brought a flashy uniqueness to the role.
Dallas is definitely one of those shows where you have to suspend reality and just go with the flow. The situations presented in the show rarely if ever reflect reality, but its fun to get caught up in the big cars, big egos and even bigger hair of it all.
Dallas: The Complete Eighth Season is presented in full screen format on 5 dual-layer DVD’s. The audio is presented in Dolby digital 2.0. The picture is a bit grainy and I’ve seen better transfers on shows more than twenty years older than this, but it isn’t terrible. The colors are fairly vibrant on all those eighties fashions.
Dallas: The Complete Eighth Season includes a new featurette on the style of Dallas, “Dallas Makeover: Travilla Style,” exploring the “new look” brought to this season’s stylish fashions by Emmy award winning designer Travilla.
Owners of the previous seven seasons will want to add Dallas: The Complete Eighth Season to their DVD collections.
