HATS OFF: Larry Hagman passed away in November, but he will be appearing in the “Dallas” episodes he filmed before his death. (
)
This time, the question will be “Who killed J.R.?”
Conniving Texas oil baron J.R. Ewing, played by the late Larry Hagman, will be murdered in an upcoming episode of TNT’s “Dallas” — harkening back to the show’s “Who Shot J.R.?” 1980s heyday.
Hagman completed five episodes of the upcoming season before his death on Nov. 23 forced “Dallas” writers to re-tool the series to reflect his passing.
“We all felt having J.R. die of natural causes would have been completely inappropriate, not only to the character, but also to Larry Hagman,” series executive producer Cynthia Cidre tells TV Guide Magazine, which has details of the upcoming second season (premiering Monday, Jan. 28) in its new issue.
Cidre and the show’s writers also took the unusual step of having J.R.’s murder approved by longtime pal and co-star Patrick Duffy (Bobby Ewing), and even Hagman’s son, Preston.
Back in 1980, the original “Dallas” ended its third season on CBS with one of TV’s all-time-great cliffhangers — when the scheming J.R. was shot twice, and “Who Shot J.R.?” became a national catchphrase as “Dallas” fans awaited their anti-hero’s fate, which wasn’t revealed for several months.
J.R. survived the shooting, and the episode revealing his attacker — his sister-in-law/mistress, Kristin Shepard (Mary Crosby) — aired to huge ratings.
TNT’s “Who Killed J.R.?” storyline will air over several episodes — and Cidre says there will be “one major revelation” in J.R’s will.
“I’m sure a lot’s going to surface that J.R.’s done that none of us ever knew about,” Duffy tells the magazine. “And that will always bring back the image of Larry Hagman.”
“Dallas” premiered last June on TNT after a 21-year gap and averaged a solid 4.5 million viewers its first season.
In addition to Hagman and Duffy, the “Dallas” reboot features original cast member Linda Gray (Sue Ellen Ewing) — and recurring turns from original stars Ken Kerchival (Cliff Barnes), Charlene Tilton (Lucy Ewing) and Steve Kanaly (Ray Krebbs).
Gray told “Entertainment Tonight” that she visited Hagman in the hospital shortly before he died from leukemia — and that he told her he only had two weeks to live and wouldn’t survive to see Christmas.