When news broke that Priscilla Presley was leaving Dallas, German magazines reported on how deeply this upset Shalane McCall; she feared she would also have to leave the show—something she absolutely did not want to happen. Reportedly, Larry Hagman advocated for keeping Shalane McCall on the series, prompting producers to consider making Charlie JR’s daughter. Even though this idea never came to fruition, would you have liked it if it had turned out that Charlie was JR’s daughter?
I can easily picture a scenario where a heartbroken Jenna turned to JR after splitting from Bobby; he immediately took advantage of the situation, and Charlie was conceived during a night of passion. Knowing full well that Jenna would stand no chance with Bobby if he ever learned the truth, JR and Jenna decided to keep the secret forever and never speak of it again.
Having Charlie as JR’s daughter would have had the advantage (or was it a disadvantage?) of keeping her—and perhaps Randy, too—on the show. A downside (or was it an upside?) would have been that there would have been no reason to introduce the characters James and Vanessa; instead of a sister, April would have gained a brother (perhaps played by Sasha Mitchell), leading to a love triangle between Charlie, Randy, and April’s brother... The revelation that Charlie was JR’s daughter could have opened up a wealth of interesting storyline possibilities, and Charlie could even have eventually inherited Southfork.
