Back at the Ranch

When “Dallas” fans last saw the crafty, charming, conniving J.R. Ewing on the series finale five years ago, he was literally in a devil of a mess. Only brother Bobby witnessed what really happened when the suicidal J.R. raised his pistol and a shot rang out.

Even Larry Hagman, who played the role to perfection for 13 seasons, was in the dark as to J.R.’s fate. “I didn’t know if he was dead,” Hagman says. “I didn’t know if they were going to do [a “Dallas” movie]. The way we ended it left it open.”

Well, J.R. is alive and well and up to his dirty tricks in the CBS reunion flick, “Dallas: J.R. Returns,” which airs this week in the series’ old time slot, Friday at 9 p.m.

It seems that for the past five years, J.R. has been living, and loving, in Paris. But he’s come home to reclaim Ewing Oil from his old nemesis Cliff Barnes (Ken Kercheval). Cliff is busy trying to relocate the long-lost daughter he had with former flame Afton Cooper (Audrey Landers).

Meanwhile, Bobby (Patrick Duffy) has been running Southfork and is living a quiet life on the ranch with son Christopher (Chris Demetral). J.R.’s former wife, Sue Ellen (Linda Gray), and son John Ross (Omri Katz), who have been living in London with her new husband, return to Southfork when they hear some startling news about J.R.

Reuniting for the movie, Duffy says, was “just like you seeing your family again. We obviously don’t call each other ‘J.R.’ and ‘Bobby’ when we see each other socially, but you put on those clothes and you step in front of that camera and it was like, ‘Oh, my God. This is wonderful. This is the best life ever.’ ”

“It was like we had never stopped,” Kercheval adds.

“J.R. Returns” had been in development for a few years. “Larry and I have always wanted to do something with ‘Dallas,’ ” says Duffy, who is co-executive producer of the movie with Hagman.

“We even considered at one time, and I still think it would be a great idea, to do the ‘Airplane!”’ version of ‘Dallas’ as a feature film and just go for right-off-the-wall humor.”

Production originally was set to start a year ago but was delayed when Hagman had a liver transplant. Six months after his surgery, the actor was strong enough to do the film.

“We were really cheerleaders for his health,” Gray says. “It was really a magical experience for us. We had to watch his pacing, but he was fine.”

The film is dedicated to its director and executive producer, Leonard Katzman, who died in September of a heart attack. Katzman was one of the series’ executive producers and wrote and directed countless episodes.

“He was the master of both ‘Dallas” and television,” says executive producer Rich Heller. “He was the most delightful man.”

“Leonard was probably the closest thing to a surrogate father that I had,” says Duffy, whose long-running ABC sitcom, “Step by Step,” will return to the lineup midseason.

“His name, besides Leonard, was Uncle Lenny. He was the force behind ‘Dallas.’ He was the quality control. He directed. He produced. He did everything but clean up the chairs after the cast had lunch. This is his monument.”

As with the original series, “J.R. Returns” has plenty of sex. Not only does J.R. have a one-night stand with Sue Ellen, he also has an affair with his attorney’s niece (Tracy Scoggins).

“It was hell, but somebody had to do it,” Hagman says, laughing. “Tracy’s not a bad-looking girl.”

“Well, you know, it is the ‘80s thing,” muses Duffy. “We were doing the horizontal Macarena a lot in those days.”

Reruns of “Dallas,” once the most popular show on television, are currently airing three times a day on The Nashville Network. “You can’t look at those,” Kercheval says, laughing. “Those are sad because we were so young.”

“That’s when you know when time has marched on,” Duffy adds. “You take a look and go: ‘Look at that. I only had one chin.’ ”

The cast reports that ever since “Dallas” went off the air in 1991, fans have been asking about a reunion. “They are so happy when I tell them we did a movie,” Duffy says. “You’d think I had given them a Christmas present.”

Hagman believes the series was such a phenomenon because, “It added stability to [fans’] lives. It was a pretty close family even if they didn’t get along and a lot of people have a J.R. in their family they can identify with. He did love his mother and he did love Sue Ellen in his own sick, warped way.”

But, Hagman adds, “it’s kind of old-fashioned because, let’s face it, where do you find in America three millionaires--Bobby, me, Daddy and Mama--living in the same house with their wives in one room with one bathroom!”

The “Dallas” gang are about as close-knit as the Ewings themselves. “Patrick and I go fishing and hunting a lot,” says a fully recovered Hagman, who is currently at work in New Orleans on his new midseason CBS drama series “Orleans.”

“Larry and I are both Virgos,” Gray says. “Every year we have our Virgo dinner, as we call it. I [also] have an Easter egg hunt at my house every year, so I invite everybody who has children, so Ken brought his daughter. So we do see each other, not all the time, but sporadically and always with love.”

Duffy and Hagman express reservations about doing more “Dallas” movies without the guiding hand of Katzman.

“I tend to doubt it with him gone,” Hagman says. “He was such a genius.”

“I would like to do it,” Duffy says. “I would work at the drop of the hat with Larry or Linda or Ken. But there’s nobody there that does what Leonard did. We have to know who is going to be in quality control as producer.”

“Dallas: J.R. Returns” airs Friday at 9 p.m. on CBS. Reruns of “Dallas” air at 8 a.m., 1 and 8 p.m. on The Nashville Network.