Actor Larry Hagman has been recreating his role as the conniving Texas oilman JR in Dallas.
Filming is under way at locations all over the city for TNT’s new television series, which will also see the return of Patrick Duffy as JR’s brother Bobby and Linda Gray as ex-wife Sue Ellen, along with a new generation of Ewings.
And, of course, the spotlight also returns to the city itself, with its distinctive skyline rising from the prairie.
“We’re trying to give the show a real sense of place and Dallas has a real personality,” said location manager John Patterson.
“It’s a city that does things in a big way. That’s part of JR and part of what we try to give the show – a sense of the city, which is big, very well done, shiny, new and looking towards the future.”
TNT has ordered 10 episodes of the series, to be shown next summer. Filming for the series, shot entirely in Dallas, began in mid-October and is expected to wrap in late January.
The original series, shown from 1978 to 1991, enjoyed popularity around the world as viewers tuned in to watch the scheming Ewing family. As the plot twisted and turned season after season, the series contributed to some of TV’s most memorable moments.
After Bobby died when he was hit by a car in a season cliffhanger in 1985, the entire following season was revealed to have been a prolonged dream when his former wife, with whom he had been reconciled, woke up to find him alive, taking a shower.
'Who shot JR?' became part of the common vernacular
The 1986-87 season then marked Mr Duffy’s return to the cast after a year-long absence.
And, of course, there was the cliffhanger in 1980 that left the whole world in suspense.
The catchphrase “Who shot JR?” became part of the common vernacular as viewers waited to find out who had fired on JR.
When viewers tuned in for the answer on November 21, 1980, the shooter was revealed to be JR’s vengeful mistress, who was also his sister-in-law.
That episode was seen by more people than any TV programme in history until then.
“I don’t think there’s a country in this world that you could find someone who doesn’t know what that phrase is,”said Josh Henderson, who plays Sue Ellen’s son, John Ross.
Mr Hagman, who was 80 in September, announced in October that he had been diagnosed with “a very common and treatable form” of cancer and planned to continue working on the reboot of Dallas.
He underwent a liver transplant in the mid-1990s.
“As JR, I could get away with anything – bribery, blackmail and adultery. But I got caught by cancer,” he said at the time. “But as we all know, you can’t keep JR down!”
The actors rounding out the new generation are Jesse Metcalfe as Bobby’s adopted son, Christopher Ewing and Julie Gonzalo as Christopher’s fiancée, Rebecca Sutter.