New interview with Linda Gray

[Julia's Gun]

I came across this recent interview with Linda talking about her time on Dallas. A couple of interesting things I hadn't heard before: she says it was her idea to introduce Sue Ellen's mother to the show, in order to develop her character and why Sue-Ellen would have married someone like JR. I didn't think actors had that much input on Dallas.
Also she talks about being fired from the show before Larry stepped in and saved her. She mentions it being season 8, but I'm not sure whether she means the year Bobby 'died' or the following dream season. Was she meant to die in the office explosion, before it became part of Pam's dream? Or does she mean the previous season. It would have been a big blow if both her and Patrick had left at the same time.

Anyway, nice interivew and Sheree Wilson also appears in it:

 

[Snarky Oracle!]

I came across this recent interview with Linda talking about her time on Dallas. A couple of interesting things I hadn't heard before: she says it was her idea to introduce Sue Ellen's mother to the show, in order to develop her character and why Sue-Ellen would have married someone like JR. I didn't think actors had that much input on Dallas.
Also she talks about being fired from the show before Larry stepped in and saved her. She mentions it being season 8, but I'm not sure whether she means the year Bobby 'died' or the following dream season. Was she meant to die in the office explosion, before it became part of Pam's dream? Or does she mean the previous season. It would have been a big blow if both her and Patrick had left at the same time.

Anyway, nice interivew and Sheree Wilson also appears in it:

Early on, when the show was new, perhaps a good idea (e.g., Sue Ellen having a mother) might've been well-received.

The seasonal count for DALLAS has always been a bit of a controversy. The fans and people close to the show go by the "Mini-series thru Season 13" count (which @Barbara Fan calls "original") but the DVDs use the industry count of S1 thru S14 .... Both counting styles have existed from the very beginning (as CBS press releases and old TVGuides will show -- although even TVGuide was inconsistent between its pages and its covers).

It gets confusing, admittedly. Linda meant the Dream Seasons when she said "Season 8" (which the DVDs consider Season 9).

 

[Toni]

In Barbara Curran´s book it´s clear that she was fired at the end of Season 7, and they were "convinced" by Larry to re-hire her and agree to her request to direct once in a while. They told her that she would have to fall off the wagon again, but for the last time since she would rock the bottom (and indeed she did!). So the Dream Season would be when she "returned" (kind of). I don´t think they really considered killing her in that Ewing Oil explosion: maybe a little disfigured here and there, and also blind, as the legend goes... because if she would´ve died, who would go to live at Southfork, that Winger tramp? Come on!!

 

[alexpaige]

The seasonal count for DALLAS has always been a bit of a controversy. The fans and people close to the show go by the "Mini-series thru Season 13" count (which @Barbara Fan calls "original") but the DVDs use the industry count of S1 thru S14 .... Both counting styles have existed from the very beginning (as CBS press releases and old TVGuides will show -- although even TVGuide was inconsistent between its pages and its covers).

It's interesting that some call it "original".
Back in 1990 I phoned up Worldvision Enterprises, which was the distributor for Dallas outside of the US, to ask for a list of episode titles for season 11 which at that point hadn't aired in Australia.
They said "Which season numbering are you using?"
I asked them to elaborate and they said, "We call the first five episodes the miniseries, and after that we start the numbering from season 1 onwards. But CBS call the first five episodes season 1 and then they start from season 2 after that."

 

[Snarky Oracle!]

It's interesting that some call it "original".
Back in 1990 I phoned up Worldvision Enterprises, which was the distributor for Dallas outside of the US, to ask for a list of episode titles for season 11 which at that point hadn't aired in Australia.
They said "Which season numbering are you using?"
I asked them to elaborate and they said, "We call the first five episodes the miniseries, and after that we start the numbering from season 1 onwards. But CBS call the first five episodes season 1 and then they start from season 2 after that."

^^
Yes, exactly all of that.

Industry standards dictate that the April 1978 mini-series is considered "Season 1" (and always has been) because it's part of the 1977/78 TV season and as separate from the 13 subsequent full seasons as they are from each other --- although DALLAS fans and folks from the show tend to use the "mini-series thru 13" count and never knew there was ever another way to count them, insisting that when Warners started releasing the DVDs on 2004 that their "1 thru 14" count was a change, and new, and different and wrong.

When you explain to them that both counts have existed from the very beginning, and that that's checkable, they don't want to hear it and, if anything, double down on whatever their assertion or preferred count is, arguing that it's the original (and only) true count.

I mean, it can get confusing, admittedly.

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I wish somebody could find my old "The Lout and Miss Shepard" poem, part of the original Sue Ellen vs. Jesus thread from posts of yore.. It was my greatest accomplishment -- other than the "Nonsensical Insults" thread. Now also lost to time...

 

[Snarky Oracle!]

Have we posted the Two Bitches interview with Linda yet?

 

[Monzo]

Linda Gray was visited at home by Bunte magazine, a German publication similar to People. Here is the online report, though the magazine article itself contains additional details:

„Dallas”-Star Linda Gray verstreute Asche ihres Sohnes auf dem Jakobsweg

„Dallas”-Schauspielerin Linda Gray erzählt im BUNTE-Interview vom Tod ihres Sohnes Jeff, der im Jahr 2020 mit 56 Jahren starb.

www.bunte.de

Here is the translation of the online article:

Bunte visited actress Linda Gray (85, Dallas) at her new home in Palm Desert and spoke with her about, among other things, the profound losses she has suffered in her life. She was particularly devastated by the death of her son Jeff in 2020 at the age of 56. "Losing a child, as I experienced it, is an unfathomable tragedy," she says. She scattered his ashes along the Camino de Santiago.

"In a way, we were on that journey together." As for her personal happiness? "For me, happiness begins with myself. I can't expect someone else to ensure my happiness. That is up to me." The actress tells Bunte that she is open to a new relationship.

The article spans six pages; here are four of them.:





The report begins by discussing the move; according to Linda, her photo albums are her most prized possessions. Her journey along the Camino de Santiago—and the sense of closeness to her son she felt during it—is another topic, and finally, she talks about being open to dating. As for Dallas, Linda reveals that at the start of the series, she specifically went to the hair salon at Neiman Marcus to eavesdrop on wealthy Dallas women and observe how they carried and conducted themselves.

There is also a poll on the topic: Do you think Linda chose a fitting place for Jeff's ashes with the Camino de Santiago? Currently, the yes answer is leading with 80 percent, while 20 percent are of the opinion that a permanent location for the ashes would have been better.