You may remember him as Major Tony Nelson in
I Dream of Jeannie, where he is a good guy in love with a blond genie; but he is better known for a much darker role he played in a famous series of the eighties,
Dallas. Larry Hgaman was J.R. Ewing, the oldest son of a wealthy family in the oil and cattle-ranching business. As such J.R. saw every member of his family as a pawn in a chess game where pretty much everyone else was his opponent. J.R. was the perfect portrayal of the manipulating, merciless, scheming multimillionaire who was hungry for more. There was only one word to define him: evil. Still this character had such a mysterious charm that perhaps the phrase "the villain everyone loves to hate" was created for him. This is so true that Hagman appeared in the entire run of the series (357 episodes), also appearing in two subsequent movies made in 1996 and 1998 respectively. His character is not a cliche because every other character of similar characterisitcs became an imitation of J.R.: he was the model; and he has been imitated, always unsuccessfully, quite often. Now they are talking about a revival of
Dallas (not a remake) announced for June, 2012. The actors who played J.R.'s wife and brother are coming back and of course, so is Hagman. But this is a different world with different rules now. Will an aging J.R. appoint a successor to his empire (and his evil deeds)? Is his only son worthy enough or better said equally heartless?
You may remember him as Major Tony Nelson in I Dream of Jeannie, where he is a good guy in love with a blond genie; but he is better known for a much darker role he played in a famous series of the eighties, Dallas. Larry Hgaman was J.R. Ewing, the oldest son of a wealthy family in the oil and cattle-ranching business. As such J.R. saw every member of his family as a pawn in a chess game where pretty much everyone else was his opponent. J.R. was the perfect portrayal of the manipulating, merciless, scheming multimillionaire who was hungry for more. There was only one word to define him: evil. Still this character had such a mysterious charm that perhaps the phrase "the villain everyone loves to hate" was created for him. This is so true that Hagman appeared in the entire run of the series (357 episodes), also appearing in two subsequent movies made in 1996 and 1998 respectively. His character is not a cliche because every other character of similar characterisitcs became an imitation of J.R.: he was the model; and he has been imitated, always unsuccessfully, quite often. Now they are talking about a revival of Dallas (not a remake) announced for June, 2012. The actors who played J.R.'s wife and brother are coming back and of course, so is Hagman. But this is a different world with different rules now. Will an aging J.R. appoint a successor to his empire (and his evil deeds)? Is his only son worthy enough or better said equally heartless?
Comments