Detroit - a Dallas Recon

[stevew]

Ok so here is a new thread I'm using some ideas from a post in: http://www.tellytalk.net/threads/if...ayed-a-back-seat-role.9424/page-3#post-296124

I'd move the location to Detroit, Michigan and use a different house, more a Midwest farm house:

Located west of Detroit in the fictional Stockbidge County.

 

[stevew]

The interiors would be modeled on an updated version of the original with some tweaks to make them fit the overall look of the house and a pool CGI added just off the back.

The original updated interior:

Entry Hall Looking into the Living Room

Living Room Looing toward the Entry Hall

Dinning Room

 

[stevew]

And Views of Detroit:

One Detroit, offices of Ewing Enterprises, Ewing Oil, etc.

Detroit Music Scene, The Movement Festival - birthplace of Techno

Ewing Chemical, Southwest Detroit

 

[stevew]

And the song would change:

Click on the above to go to the Youtube site for a music version of the song Stay by Kid Laroi and Justin Bieber - or something like this.

This sets up that this is not Dallas but it is a new version . . .

 

[stevew]

Black Screen and Music Starts.

First scene: Jock is taking the hose from a farm hand to fight a fire raging out of control, joining other, much younger men, to risk his life and save his home:

Screen says: Gerald McRaney as Jock Ewing

Followed by scenes of Detroit the city, the suburbs and the countryside of the state of Michigan.

 

[stevew]

Miss Ellie walks into an industrial farm building with sign that reads "South Fork Dairy, LLC, a Subsidiary of Ewing Enterprises. She marches up to several employees, obviously in charge, obviously no one to be messed with, and a crucifix noticeably around her neck:

Screen says Sissy Spacek as Miss Ellie Ewing

 

[stevew]

The camera flies up to the top of the One Detroit Building and in an office high above the city JR looks over some maps with some geologists, pointing his finger at the spot with a great smile over his face, abosolutly thrilled:

Screen says: Jensen Ackles as JR Ewing

 

[stevew]

The Detroit Club:

Sue Ellen inside directs the sitting of tables making it known that she's in charge:

Zoe Saldana as Sue Ellen Ewing

 

[stevew]

Speeding down the high way in a sporty convertible Bobby and Pam seem very happy with life:

Screen says: Gerard Nolan Funk as Bobby Ewing and Victoria Justice as Pamela Barnes Ewing

 

[stevew]

Then Lucy rolls around in the hay, literally with a young farm hand:

Screen says: Isabella Moner as Lucy Ewing

 

[stevew]

As the music ends, JR walks into the entry hall of South Fork fighting with his mother. "I don't want to hear it!" she yells at him. "Jock tell JR that he's not tearing up South Fork."

Jock hands JR a drink from the living room bar. "What would you want with South Fork?"

"We've got a new process for lithium extraction."

"I don't give a damn!" Miss Ellie says. "No one's touching my daddy's farm. Not for anything."

"We could clear about ten billion."

"Holy shit!" Jock exclaims.

Ellie confront him, "Lets get this clear, Jock Ewing. I don't care if it's a hundred billion. He touches one square inch and I'll tear this family apart at the seems." She walks out of the room.

Sue Ellen quietly says to Jock, "I mean even if she doesn't want the money, think of the good that would do for the community, the jobs, the causes that could use the cash."

"That's my daughter, always giving away money," Sue Ellen's mother says entering the room.

"Patricia," Jock exclaims, "How can you jet set all over this world and stay so beautiful?"

Screen says: Guest Starring Phylicia Raschad as Patricia Shepard Beaubien

Sue Ellen says, "I wasn't expecting you, mother."

"Just stopping on my way across the continent."

Then they hear the commotion of a car pulling up outside and Miss Ellie calling out, "It's Bobby. He's here with Pam."

The family walks through the house, across the kitchen and outside onto the driveway court yard. Jock saying to JR, "I can't believe he's brought that drunk's gold digger's daughter to our house."

Patricia says, "I thought he married her."

Sue Elle says, "Miss Ellie gave them a piece of land to build a house on and until then they're staying here, in Bobby's bedroom."

"Cozy," her mother smirks.

Out side the family is introduced to Pam and Pam to the family. Lucy comes walking up from somewhere far out in the yard in tight riding britches and a white shirt.

 

[stevew]

Preview scenes:

1) JR meets Jeremey Wendell at the Auto Show Preview. Jeremey asks to buy Ewing Chemical's paten for lithium extraction. JR asks for twenty percent of Westing, his car company. Jeremey laughs. He tells him he'll get it one way or another. As he walks away a woman steps up to JR and says, "Bet he doesn't know about your fluoride battery," and JR responds, "And how do you know about that?"

2) JR says to Jock in the South Fork living room, you better get her to agree. We're gonna need all the money we can get if we got any chance keeping them from our throats like they got to Cliff Barnes." Pam says, "You're a monster." JR responds, "Oh honey, the stress must be getting to you. You're brother's taking bribes. Your father's a drunk. Your momma's a whore. And now your worried your husband won't have the money you're hoping to milk out of him when he's dead." Bobby punches JR and Jock separates them yelling at Bobby, "Watch you temper!" and at JR "And you watch your mouth."

3) JR meets with Dia Lang in the offices of Ewing Enterprises. "Nice to meet you Mr. Lang. My daddy tells me we've got a lot in common." "Does he? Like what?" "Well first of all that he's your daddy too." "Well he tells me you could use some help. You've got Cliff Barnes trying to block you at the state level from digging up the lithium you need." "I took care of him. Barnes is an idiot like everyone else in Lansing. For the last fifty years they've been trying to bury this city and been burying themselves right along with it, ever decreasing relevance. If not for my daddy I'd move the offices out of this state along with everyone else. But they're the least of my problems." "Agreed. The cartel, they present an even greater threat. You're looking to up root the automobile industry and destroy big oil in one full swoop. And, then you're already lining up your next shot at the lithium market. Staying miles ahead of the competition. Smart. Dangerous too."

4) JR meets the young farm hand Lucy was in the hay with earlier. "What did you tell my niece?" he asks. "Nothing. It's just that she's really interested in the business." "Yeah but why she's asking you? Momma brought you from the farms shoveling cow shit to shoveling horse shit. You don't know nothing about my family's business." "No I don't. I'm just telling you what she said." "She does sound a bit more capable then her addle brained father." "I don't know." "You sure you don't know?" "I'm sure." JR leans in and grabs his face, kissing him full on the mouth.

5) JR gets out of bed in a hotel room and pulls on his pants. He turns to a beautiful young girl in his bed and says, "Kristin you really have a knack for saying way to much." "It's just, JR, that Sue Ellen isn't good enough for you. Her daddy's a drunk who left them that big house and not much money. Where my daddy left me so much." "Money you have no control over what so ever. Doesn't help me much, now does it? Maybe you can get me in touch with one of your father's kids from his first wife." "That's not funny JR." "Neither's a two bit tramp talking trash about my wife. You remember that darlin'." JR turns and looks out the window.

A refinery, lit up at night, explodes into the dark sky, up into a mushroom cloud of gas and fire.

JR looks horrified.

 

[stevew]

House location:

1355 Liebeck Rd Chelsea, MI 48118

 

[stevew]

Concept: the Ewing’s made some money off of oil recycling. Then got into different oil business like drilling, refining and marketing under Jock, a nice family business which made them a bit more well off, but there’s aspirations for more. JR branches into chemicals. Now he’s moving into new battery tech including lithium mining with billions in lithium under the farm. If that isn’t tension enough “they” want to bankrupt them.

see the Wall Street Journal: https://www.google.com/amp/s/www.ws...omarova-comptroller-biden-nominee-11636668294

To combated climate change “they “ want to bankrupt old oil based companies like Ewing Oil. Add to that ruthless auto companies desperate to take the lead from one and other and a piece of Tesla’s trillion dollar pie. “They” aren’t leaving the Ewing’s any real choice. Be rich enough to develop their technologies or be bankrupted or worse. Some in the family get the dire situation. Others do not. “They” aren’t the cartel the Texas Ewing’s dealt with, more a kin to the 13 the Channings had to deal with. All on top of family drama.

 

[stevew]

Out back in the early morning Bobby and Pam swim in the pool playfully when Miss Ellie steps out for breakfast. Pam says they’ve got to get ready for work but Bobby plays it off, like the playboy who doesn’t care about showing up on time. His mother smirking.

Suddenly Bobby has to get going. Jock has walked up from the barns looking like he’s put in a hard days work already. He looks disgusted at Bobby and kisses Ellie’s cheek. “Hope you sleep well.”

“Of course. Busy day to day with the inspectors.” Ellie nurses her coffee.

“Gotta keep up that organic cert. Things look really good.”

“As long as you and your son stay away from my land.”

“I retired to work this land, remember? You can give me the benefit of the doubt that I care about it too, can’t ya?”

Over her coffee she looks skeptical.

Jock picks up a piece of toast and walks in the house after Bobby. Neither look particularly happy.

Pam wrapped in a robe joins Miss Ellie. “I hope everything’s OK, Miss Ellie.”

“Always is. So you’re Digger’s daughter.”

“Yes. I’ve heard a lot about you growing up. I think my father had quite the crush on you.”

“Not really. Something he made up later in life I think. We were good friends. Our families were neighbors. Farmers. We had dairy cows. They had beef. Old families. My family came to Michigan for the fur trade, his later for lumber. We were Catholic. He was Episcopalian. We were a lot a like, Digger and I.”

“He talks about you fondly.”

“He ever talk about Rebecca? Your mother.”

“Not really. Apparently they all went to school together. Jock, my father, my mother.”

“Yes. U of M. Jock was on a football scholarship studying business. Diggers parents paid for him to study archeology. Rebecca was on an academic scholarship and was in chemistry. Her and Jock were partners once.”

“Yea my father talked a lot about Jock.”

“Yeah I bet he did.”

“I don’t know what all went on. I know what my father says and he’s bitter. I don’t know what to think about any of it.”

“He’s bitter because Jock swindled him out of his family farm land to get at the oil and gas. He he swindled your mother out of some fracking patents and their original company for oil reclamation.”

“Something like that.”

“Jock’s dad owned a bar in Detroit. He worked in an auto factory by day and ran the bar all night. Worked himself to death. Kept his head down. But then back in those days, most Jews kept a low profile. Jock was going to do what he felt he had to do. And he did. He paid your father a fair price for that land. And he bought out Rebecca for a fair price too.”

“I think he’s mostly hurt over loosing you.”

“He never had me. I was suppose to be a num. Look how that turned out. I’m sorry for what happened with him and Rebecca.”

“That’s not your fault.”

“Regardless, I am. It was a terrible marriage and they should never have had kids. But then you wouldn’t be here. I can only imagine what life was like for you when your mother walked away. But know this, she loved you very much.”

“Then how could she just walk away and have nothing to do with us? I don’t even know what she looked like. My father says Jock destroyed her.”

“No he didn’t. It’s not my place to say, and she and Jock had their falling out. But, but she was a good person. A wonderful person. Kind and beautiful and smart, and she loved her children very much.” Tears swell up in Miss Ellie’s eyes before she takes control of her self. “Hadn’t you better get ready for work yourself?”

 

[Jock Ewing Fan]

Inspired casting. Good Job!

 

[stevew]

Inspired casting. Good Job!

Thank you. My idea is far enough from Dallas to be something new, but close enough to be a serious recon. I appreciate the feedback. I’ll keep posting.

 

[stevew]

An older black woman sits across from a man in his early fifties, a pale man, with glasses, rather nerdy looking, behind a plain, bureaucratic desk with a window behind him of the city skyline. She explains that he's a hell of an investigator but everything he has is circumstantial. "You go after Jock Ewing, you'd better have more and you know it. No one in my office is as capable at making a case as you are. But, even you can't make a case out of hearsay."

"You know as well as I do, where there's smoke, there's fire."

"Look it. I know he's guilty, and that this is just the tip of the iceberg. No doubt in my mind. That doesn't mean there's enough here to convict him."

A secretary peeks her head in, "Ms. Worthington, Mrs. Ewing is here to see you."

"Oh she's early." The woman in charge of the room says while standing.

"Mrs. Ewing?"

"Sue Ellen Ewing. The Ewing Foundation is making a sizable donation to help us process all the rape kits we have. She came to me when she heard about the several thousand kits we were behind in processing."

"So you want me to back off so you can get in good with the Ewing's."

"Watch yourself Mr. Barnes. I didn't say anything of the kind about backing off. I said you need real ammunition. What you've got there are blanks and you know damn good and well."




Ms. Worthington holds out her hand, "Mrs. Ewing. So nice to finally meet you. You really didn't have to come down here yourself."

The two shake hands. "Please call me Sue Ellen. And yes I did. This is more than rape kits not getting processed. It's more than money that's the problem. This is how women are treated."

"I agree."

"I want your help to make sure that people know that here in Wayne County, women are safe. Safer here than anyplace. I want your help to scare the shit right out of any man who would harm any woman."

"That's pretty clear."

"There are places in this country where lots of groups of people don't feel safe. I want it clear, that here, in Detroit, the only people who shouldn't feel safe are the bad guys, the criminals, the perverts. Every group should feel like Detroit is a place they can be safe from the racist and the misogynist son of a bitches."

"I couldn't agree more. Oh and this is Cliff Barnes. He's my most persuasive litigator. Cliff, this is Sue Ellen Ewing. She's the President of the Ewing Family Foundation and, if I'm not mistaken, you're on the boards of several other nonprofits."

"I keep pretty busy. Nice to meet you Mr. Barnes." Sue Ellen extends her hand.

They two shake. "Cliff please. Very nice to meet you as well."

Sue Ellen smiles at him. Their handshake lasts a bit long. "I hope you'll help me. I want word to get around this country, you force yourself on a woman in Wayne County, you're gonna pay a very high price."

"In Michigan for most of these cases we're talking about at most, fifteen years and registering on the sex offender's list."

"Fifteen years for rape. That's it?"

"Unless there are other circumstances."

"That's absurd."

"Well, I might agree, that's a legislative issue."

"OK. Then I need lobbyists to ratchet that up."

"And the space to put them?"

"And castration."

Ms. Worthington and Cliff look at each other.