They might be old timers, all botoxed up and with not much energy to reach out for the gun, let alone pull the trigger, but they’re back: JR, Bobby and Sue Ellen will be a permanent fixture in thousands of living rooms once again.
The ‘Who shot JR?’ episode was like an Italy against England match – there was no one in the streets – everyone glued to the television
Fans of Dallas, the television soap opera, can once again fish out their cowboy hats and take a nostalgic trip to the 1980s.
The show is not a remake, but a continuation of the original series. The protagonists are still the same: JR – Larry Hagman, who is now 81 – will still be the evil oil mogul whom everybody loved to hate; and Bobby – Patrick Duffy, now 63 – has made his second comeback (the first being when he was ‘killed off’ but had to be ‘risen’ after an audience outcry).
New actors have obviously been recruited to prop up the ‘veteran’ goodies and baddies, but essentially the plot will be more of the same old family feuds, with an overdose of guns, drugs, alcohol, and complex paramours.
Despite the shootings, the murders and the steamy affairs and the stormy adulteries, the 1980s series had a huge following in Malta, with many newborns at the time being given names from the popular series.
“The humdrum week of most Maltese adults revolved around Dallas. They’d discuss the week’s episode at Sunday family gatherings, and in between lots of tut-tutting about the ‘loose’ lives they led, jumping from one bed into another,” said Chris Grima, 40.
Betta Camilleri, 53, remembers being totally hooked at the time, and Dallas is still the only soap she has watched all her life. “The ‘Who shot JR?’ episode was like an against match – there was no one in the streets – everyone glued to the television,” she said.
Some priests preached against it from their pulpits, but grown-ups still watched, assuaging their conscience by sending the children to bed the minute it came on.
A few managed to watch it on the sofa with their mothers, such as Faye Bartolo, 38. “I was eight when I started watching it and followed it for about three years – I definitely remember knowing what was going on and who was who,” she said, joking that watching all that bed-hopping left no scars on her whatsoever and she has been happily married for 15 years.
She is not too convinced about this Dallas ‘take two “I can’t imagine it will look anything but sad.”
The first season kicked off in the last month. TVM has no plans to air it, but diehard fans can watch it on satellite, online channels or get the complete box-set from September.
The Sunday Times film critic Paula Fleri Soler, is confident it will be well received because these soaps are “a guilty pleasure”.
“It’s all a little ridiculous, admittedly, but getting caught up in these characters’ lives and indulging in their triumphs and tragedies remains a wonderful form of escapism, and who doesn’t need a weekly dose of escapism?” she said.
She already knows of a few fans of the old show who can’t wait to see the 2012 version. “I can’t say this is something I’ve been waiting for with bated breath; however, I admit to being a tad curious and I’m sure I’ll catch an episode or two. Whether I’ll be hooked remains to be seen.”