Patrick Duffy Movies
During the 1970s, '80s, and '90s, Patrick Duffy quickly evolved into one of prime time's old standbys for handsome, sturdy, dependable, and reliable leading men. Two key patterns hallmarked the majority of Duffy's career choices: he culled his broadest appeal and most substantial workload on television in lieu of the big screen, and exceedingly rare were those occasions in which he played a villain. In terms of audience recognition, Duffy maintained his strongest ties with two ongoing series roles -- his famous portrayal of Southfork Ranch stalwart Bobby Ewing on the blockbuster CBS prime-time soap Dallas (1978-1991), and a subsequent tenure as Frank Lambert on the ABC "TGIF" Friday-night sitcom Step by Step (1991-1998).Born in Townsend, MT, as the second child of two saloonkeepers, Duffy grew up in dire poverty. He attended high school in Everett, WA, then attended the actor's training program at the nearby University of Washington, graduating in 1971. The actor relocated to Southern California and began receiving screen credit only a few years after college, initially with roles in telemovies such as the 1976 Last of Mrs. Lincoln and the lead in the short-lived television series Man from Atlantis (as a half-man, half-fish). Dallas, of course, brought Duffy his big break, and as its ratings shot skyward, turning it into not simply the number one program on the air but an international phenomenon, Duffy's character became intertwined with the program's legacy. The series' premise is by now iconic -- it dealt with the Ewing family, a wealthy Texas oil clan with a history rooted in scandal. Its patriarch, John Ross "Jock" Ewing Sr. (Jim Davis), had driven himself into fabulous wealth by cheating his business partner out of a fortune and his one true love, with whom he started a family and launched an entire oil dynasty. Passing on the family torch were three sons: J.R. Ewing (Larry Hagman), the megalomaniacal evil brother; Bobby Ewing (Duffy), the decent and moral brother, who had married the daughter of his father's partner; and the weak-willed Gary (Ted Shackelford), who grappled continually with emotional problems and quickly snagged his own series.
As Bobby, Duffy attained popularity second only to that of co-star Hagman -- popularity that prompted national headlines when Duffy opted to leave the program at the end of the 1984-1985 season. Series producer created and aired a scenario where he was killed by a hit-and-run driver, but the audience demand for Bobby Ewing grew so overwhelming during the following season that -- in an obvious bid to re-boost ratings and extend Dallas' longevity -- Hagman personally summoned Duffy to re-join the series. The writers then reposited the entire 1985-1986 season as the bad dream of Bobby's on-camera wife, Pam (Victoria Principal)! It may have seemed far-fetched to many, but as an attempt to bring the actor back to the program and draw a larger audience, it worked like a charm.
Not long after Dallas finally wrapped in May 1991, Duffy turned up on ABC's aforementioned Step by Step, a kind of unofficial update of The Brady Bunch; he played Frank Lambert, a divorced Wisconsin contractor with several kids who impulsively married a widowed beautician (Suzanne Somers) with several tykes of her own. Episodes dealt with the complications wrought when the two clans moved under the same roof together. As produced by William Bickley and Michael Warren, that program also connected with a large audience. It folded in 1998.
Duffy acted in several Dallas telemovies during Step by Step's run, and then ushered in guest roles on numerous additional series, including Touched by an Angel, Justice League, and Family Guy. Additional made-for-television feature credits in the late '90s and early to mid-2000s included such outings as Heart of Fire (1997), Don't Look Behind You (1998), Desolation Canyon (2006), and Falling in Love with the Girl Next Door (2006). Duffy landed another series assignment in 2006 with an ongoing role -- that of Stephen Logan Sr. -- on the CBS daytime drama The Bold and the Beautiful. ~ Nathan Southern, All Movie Guide
- 1974
In this 1974 TV movie, Meredith Baxter and Beau Bridges portray adult adoptees, desirous of meeting their natural parents. Through the auspices of a tracing agency, Baxter, Bridges and several others (including future TV luminary Patrick Duffy) locate their actual mothers and fathers, with results ranging from hosannas to heartache. The centerpiece of the film is a brief dialogue between Baxter and her real-life mother, Whitney Blake. While the film has as much to do with Bridges as with Baxter, the print ads emphasized her participation in the film over everyone else's. The Stranger Who Looks Like Me was directed by Larry Peerce, touted by those aforementioned ads for his direction of Goodbye Columbus (69). ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- 1974
The made-for-TV Hurricane was based on William C. Anderson's novel Hurricane Hunters, which, in turn, was inspired by events surrounding Hurricane Camille in 1969. The scene is Cassler, MS, where a pair of hurricane chasers, patrol-plane pilot Major Stoddard (Martin Milner) and seafarer Paul Damon (Larry Hagman) do their best to rescue the citizens of the community from a devastating storm. Other key characters include: feminist TV weatherperson Lee Jackson (Michael Learned); old-fashioned (but shrewd) meteorologist Dr. McCutcheon (Will Geer); Damon's imperiled wife, Louise (Jessica Walter); and oblivious Bert Pearson (Frank Sutton in his final movie role). Hurricane originally aired September 10, 1974, as the first installment of a brand-new ABC Movie of the Week season. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
Julie Harris stars as Mary Todd Lincoln in this look at the twilight of the former First Lady's life. After her husband's assassination, she finds herself heavily in debt and denied a pension due to her Southern ancestry, and spends the remainder of her life deeply depressed, dying impoverished and insane. ~ Jason Ankeny, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Julie Harris, Michael Cristofer, (more)
- 1977
A doctor abducted by a mad scientist is searched for on a South American island. ~ All Movie Guide
- 1977
Death Scouts is made up of two episodes from the 1977-78 TV series Man From Atlantis. Future Dallas star Patrick Duffy plays Mark Harris, the last survivor of the fabled Lost Continent. Equipped with gills and webbed extremities, Mark is able to function both on land and under the sea. He spends most of his time aiding Dr. Elizabeth Morrell (Belinda J. Montgomery) and the other members of the Foundation for Oceanic Research. Also prominently cast in Death Scouts are Alan Fudge and Kenneth Tigar. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- 1977
A contaminated space probe which may put humans into a catatonic state is retrieved by "The Man From Atlantis." ~ All Movie Guide
- 1977
In this TV pilot that spawned a brief series on NBC during 1977-78, Patrick Duffy plays the title character--an amphibian/human, equipped with gills--who washes up on shore and is taken to the hospital to recover. When the American government finds out his identity, it recruits him to help in the recovery of a secret submarine. ~ John Bush, All Movie Guide
- 1978
Dallas begins its original five-week trial run as Bobby Ewing (Patrick Duffy), youngest son of Texas oil millionaire Jock Ewing (James Davis), shows up at Southfork, his family's estate, with new bride Pamela Barnes (Victoria Principal) in tow. "Your folks are gonna throw me off the ranch" worries Pam, and not without good reason: her father is former wildcatter "Digger" Barnes (David Wayne), once the partner of Jock Ewing, but now his bitterest enemy. It seems that years ago, Jock had bamboozled Digger out of his share of the valuable strike that would serve as foundation for the Ewing Oil empire -- and worse still, Jock had married Digger's girl, Ellen Southworth (aka "Miss Ellie," played by Barbara Bel Geddes). Carrying on the family vendetta is Pam's politically ambitious brother, lawyer Cliff Barnes (Ken Kercheval), who has made it his mission in life to destroy the most ruthless and disreputable members of the Ewing clan: namely, the infamous J.R. Ewing (Larry Hagman), Jock and Miss Ellie's eldest son. Meanwhile, J.R. wheels and deals to force Lucy Ewing (Charlene Tilton), daughter of his seldom-seen brother Gary, out of Southfork, lest Gary return and claim his share of the Ewing millions. All the while, J.R.'s long-suffering wife, Sue Ellen (Linda Gray), seeks shelter from her husband's connivances and extramarital peccadillos by crawling deeper and deeper into a booze bottle. Lurking in the background like a man carrying a deep, dark secret is the Ewings' ranch foreman Ray Krebbs (Steve Kanaly), with whom Lucy has one of her many sexual flings. Quite a lot happens in those first five Dallas episodes beyond the traditional maneuvering and backstabbing, including an unexpected hostage crisis and a season-ending family barbecue that abruptly culminates in tragedy. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Larry Hagman, Patrick Duffy, (more)
Having proven itself as a viewer magnet during its five-episode trial in the spring of 1978, the multi-plotted prime-time serial Dallas launched its second season (and its first "full" one) in the fall of that same year, though it would not be until the series was moved from Saturday to Friday night that it would begin its rapid upward climb in the ratings. Already established as the series' antihero is the charming but thoroughly untrustworthy J.R. Ewing, eldest son of Texas oil millionaire Jock Ewing (Jim Davis) and his wife, Miss Ellie (Barbara Bel Geddes). Throughout the second season, J.R. carries on a two-pronged battle, not only feuding with the politically ambitious Cliff Barnes (Ken Kercheval), the son of Jock's hated rival Digger Barnes (played briefly by David Wayne before the role is taken over by Keenan Wynn), but also engaging in a fierce power struggle over control of Ewing Oil with his honest younger brother, Bobby (Patrick Duffy) -- who happens to be married to Cliff's sister, Pam (Victoria Principal). This season marks the first appearance by J.R. and Bobby's other brother, Gary, played in the first three episodes of the year by David Ackroyd, who would be replaced by Ted Shackelford when it was decided to spin Gary and his wife, Valene (Joan Van Ark), into their own series, Knots Landing.
Perceiving Gary as a threat, J.R. connives to get Gary's daughter Lucy (Charlene Tilton) to move out of the family mansion, Southfork; however, many of his schemes come a cropper, such as his plan to marry off Lucy to millionaire Kit Mainwaring (Mark Wheeler) -- who turns out to be gay. J.R. also does his best to undermine Bobby by trying to break up his marriage to Pamela. This may not be too difficult, inasmuch as Bobby is considerably put out when he discovers that Pam was married before, to Vietnam veteran Ed Haynes (Robin Clarke). Meanwhile, J.R.'s troubled wife, Sue Ellen (Linda Gray), worried that Pam will bear a child before she will, embarks upon a "conception race" with her sister-in-law. Also, the viewer is introduced to Pam's mother, Patricia (Martha Scott), and her younger sister Kristin, played in two episodes this season by Colleen Camp (the role would be taken over on a permanent basis by Mary Crosby in season three). Almost immediately upon arrival, Kristin makes a play for Bobby -- which of course delights the devious J.R. In other developments, Morgan Fairchild makes her one and only appearance as Bobby's old flame Jenna Wade, a role that would ultimately be played, as a "regular," by Priscilla Presley. Miss Ellie faces a crisis when her presumed-dead brother, Garrison (Gene Evans), shows up, insisting that he is rightful owner of Southfork; Susan Howard is introduced as the politically well-connected Donna Culver, who proceeds to cheat on her husband with Southfork's sullen and secretive manager, Ray Krebbs (Steve Kanaly); and after facing political ruin at the hands of J.R., Cliff Barnes steps up his vendetta against the "man you love to hate." As the season rushes to a close, a pregnant Sue Ellen is rushed to the hospital to bear a son, John Ross Ewing III -- but J.R., who doesn't trust his wife any farther than he can throw her (he's already tried to have her locked away in a sanitarium), is convinced that his rival Cliff is the baby's father! ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
Perceiving Gary as a threat, J.R. connives to get Gary's daughter Lucy (Charlene Tilton) to move out of the family mansion, Southfork; however, many of his schemes come a cropper, such as his plan to marry off Lucy to millionaire Kit Mainwaring (Mark Wheeler) -- who turns out to be gay. J.R. also does his best to undermine Bobby by trying to break up his marriage to Pamela. This may not be too difficult, inasmuch as Bobby is considerably put out when he discovers that Pam was married before, to Vietnam veteran Ed Haynes (Robin Clarke). Meanwhile, J.R.'s troubled wife, Sue Ellen (Linda Gray), worried that Pam will bear a child before she will, embarks upon a "conception race" with her sister-in-law. Also, the viewer is introduced to Pam's mother, Patricia (Martha Scott), and her younger sister Kristin, played in two episodes this season by Colleen Camp (the role would be taken over on a permanent basis by Mary Crosby in season three). Almost immediately upon arrival, Kristin makes a play for Bobby -- which of course delights the devious J.R. In other developments, Morgan Fairchild makes her one and only appearance as Bobby's old flame Jenna Wade, a role that would ultimately be played, as a "regular," by Priscilla Presley. Miss Ellie faces a crisis when her presumed-dead brother, Garrison (Gene Evans), shows up, insisting that he is rightful owner of Southfork; Susan Howard is introduced as the politically well-connected Donna Culver, who proceeds to cheat on her husband with Southfork's sullen and secretive manager, Ray Krebbs (Steve Kanaly); and after facing political ruin at the hands of J.R., Cliff Barnes steps up his vendetta against the "man you love to hate." As the season rushes to a close, a pregnant Sue Ellen is rushed to the hospital to bear a son, John Ross Ewing III -- but J.R., who doesn't trust his wife any farther than he can throw her (he's already tried to have her locked away in a sanitarium), is convinced that his rival Cliff is the baby's father! ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Larry Hagman, Patrick Duffy, (more)
Steadily building up its viewership during its first few seasons, Dallas certainly gives its fans their money's worth during season three, which begins as the newborn son of the delightfully demonic oil tycoon J.R. Ewing (Larry Hagman) and his wife, Sue Ellen (Victoria Principal), is kidnapped. Though this crisis is soon resolved, it is clear that the J.R.-Sue Ellen marriage is in big trouble, mainly because J.R. thinks that the baby's real father is his sworn enemy, attorney Cliff Barnes (Ken Kercheval). In other developments, Mary Crosby makes her first appearance as Sue Ellen's younger sister Kristin Shepard, with whom J.R. has an affair. While cheerfully manipulating Asian politics in order to control more overseas oil fields, J.R. still finds time to continue trying to sabotage the marriage between his younger brother Bobby (Patrick Duffy) and Bobby's wife (and Cliff Barnes' sister), Pamela (Victoria Principal). In the same spirit of bad will, lawyer Alan Beam (Randolph Powell) is hired to dig up enough dirt on J.R.'s niece Lucy (Charlene Tilton) so that she will be forced to leave the family's Southfork estate -- but Alan ends up proposing to Lucy, the better to get his mitts into the Ewing fortune. Elsewhere, Sue Ellen has a romantic fling with rodeo rider Dusty Farlow (Jared Martin), the son of a wealthy Texan. The affair between Southfork's secretive manager, Ray Krebbs (Steve Kanaly), and influential socialite Donna Culver (Susan Howard) intensifies. And J.R. and Bobby's mother, Miss Ellie (Barbara Bel Geddes), is diagnosed with breast cancer. The season concludes with one of the most famous "cliffhangers" in TV history, as the wheeling-dealing J.R., hanging around his office after working hours, is shot down and left for dead by an unseen assailant! ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Larry Hagman, Patrick Duffy, (more)
"Who shot J.R.?" Those were the words on the lips of Dallas fans throughout the world as the popular prime-time serial launched its fourth season on CBS. Speculation ran high over the identity of the person who, at the tail end of season three, had pumped several slugs in the chest of the sublimely unprincipled Texas oil tycoon J.R. Ewing (Larry Hagman). It was one of the best-kept secrets in the annals of popular entertainment; indeed, not even the cast members knew "who dun it" (to cover their bets, the producers filmed scenes of every member of the cast pulling the trigger -- including Larry Hagman). During the fifth episode of the season, which became the second highest-rated show in TV history, the culprit is exposed -- and it is giving nothing away at this late date to reveal that J.R.'s would-be assassin was his cast-off mistress Kristin (Mary Crosby), younger sister of his own wife, Sue Ellen (Linda Gary). Upon his recovery, J.R. resumes his power struggle with younger brother Bobby (Patrick Duffy), who in J.R.'s absence has assumed control of Ewing Oil. Almost immediately upon returning to his office, J.R. hires sharkish PR agent Leslie Stewart (Susan Flannery) to promote his "new" image as "The All-American Businessman" -- even as he tries to undermine his own country's foreign affairs by engineering a political coup in a faraway country in order to increase his wealth!
Meanwhile, Sue Ellen's lover, Dusty Farlow (Jared Martin), urges her to leave J.R. and take her son, John Ross (now played by Tyler Banks) with her. After numerous dead-end love affairs, J.R.'s niece Lucy (Charlene Tilton) decides to marry Mitch Cooper (Leigh McCloskey), a poor medical student who is troubled by the Ewing's affluence; J.R. doesn't think much of Mitch, but he develops a hankerin' for his sister, Afton (Audrey Landers), a professional singer. And in one of the season's most momentous developments, Southfork manager Ray Krebbs (Steve Kanaly) is revealed to be the illegitimate song of J.R. and Bobby's dad, Jock Ewing (Jim Davis) -- whereupon Ray further increases his influence in the community by wedding the politically powerful Donna Culver (Susan Howard). In an effort to whip up audience interest in the same manner as the previous season's cliffhanger, season four of Dallas closes as attorney Cliff Barnes (Ken Kercheval), sworn enemy of J.R. Ewing, finds the body of a woman floating in the Ewings' swimming pool. Even if this contrivance hadn't occurred, CBS had no fear that Dallas would lose its audience; as of the end of its fourth season, the series was America's top-rated series -- the first dramatic program to pull off this coup since Marcus Welby, M.D. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
Meanwhile, Sue Ellen's lover, Dusty Farlow (Jared Martin), urges her to leave J.R. and take her son, John Ross (now played by Tyler Banks) with her. After numerous dead-end love affairs, J.R.'s niece Lucy (Charlene Tilton) decides to marry Mitch Cooper (Leigh McCloskey), a poor medical student who is troubled by the Ewing's affluence; J.R. doesn't think much of Mitch, but he develops a hankerin' for his sister, Afton (Audrey Landers), a professional singer. And in one of the season's most momentous developments, Southfork manager Ray Krebbs (Steve Kanaly) is revealed to be the illegitimate song of J.R. and Bobby's dad, Jock Ewing (Jim Davis) -- whereupon Ray further increases his influence in the community by wedding the politically powerful Donna Culver (Susan Howard). In an effort to whip up audience interest in the same manner as the previous season's cliffhanger, season four of Dallas closes as attorney Cliff Barnes (Ken Kercheval), sworn enemy of J.R. Ewing, finds the body of a woman floating in the Ewings' swimming pool. Even if this contrivance hadn't occurred, CBS had no fear that Dallas would lose its audience; as of the end of its fourth season, the series was America's top-rated series -- the first dramatic program to pull off this coup since Marcus Welby, M.D. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Larry Hagman, Patrick Duffy, (more)
- 1980
This made-for-TV historical drama chronicles the personal and professional lives of Colonel Tibbets and the airmen who dropped the atomic bomb on Hiroshima. The story is based on a book by Gordon Thomas and Max Gordon Witts and also looks at the ways in which the aftermath of the bombing affected their lives. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide
Having closed its fourth season with the unidentified body of a young woman floating in the Ewing family swimming pool, Dallas launches its fifth season by casting suspicion of murder on both of the series' chief antagonists: the cunning, consciousless Texas oil tycoon J.R. Ewing (Larry Hagman) and J.R.'s lifelong enemy, attorney Cliff Barnes (Ken Kercheval). For a while, it appears as though J.R. is the guilty party, since he had the most motive. The dead girl turns out to be Kristin Shepard (Mary Crosby), the same person who had shot J.R. full of holes at the end of season three. Once this matter is settled, there are plenty of other crises to dwell upon. On the verge of breaking up her marriage with J.R., Sue Ellen (Linda Gray) sues for custody of her son, John Ross, at the behest of her current lover, Dusty Farlow (Jared Martin). This results in a confrontation between J.R.'s mother, Miss Ellie (Barbara Bel Geddes), and Dusty's millionaire dad, Clayton Farlow (Howard Keel) -- though this adversarial relationship will eventually dissolve in a surprising matter. Meanwhile, J.R. schemes to get even with Sue Ellen by temporarily shacking up with Serena Wald (Stephanie Blackmore)and scheming to financially ruin the Farlows; but at the end of the day, he relents and embarks upon a campaign to win Sue Ellen back (not for her sake, but so that he can wrest away custody of his son).
Elsewhere, the marriage between J.R.'s niece Lucy (Charlene Tilton) and medical student Mitch (Leigh McCloskey) comes to an end. Unable to have children of their own, J.R.'s brother Bobby (Patrick Duffy) and his wife, Pam (Victoria Principal), adopt a child named Christopher -- without revealing the fact that the child's biological parents are the late Kristin Shepard and her blackmailing paramour Jeff Farraday (Art Hindle). Cliff Barnes goes to work for his entrepreneur mother, Rebecca Barnes Wentworth (Priscilla Pointer), hoping to beat J.R. at his own game in the marketplace -- and in the process becoming almost as greedy and duplicitous as his rival! Conspicuous by his absence this season is Miss Ellie's husband, Jock Ewing. Although actor Jim Davis had died the previous season, the producers decided not to completely write out Davis' character of Jock Ewing, instead contriving a scenario whereby Jock is in South America on a mission for the government. Ultimately, Jock perishes in a helicopter crash, whereupon a grieving Miss Ellie finds solace in the arms of her former enemy, Clayton Farlow. In the series' traditional cliffhanger ending, Cliff Barnes, financially ruined and in disgrace thanks to the machinations of J.R., tries to commit suicide -- and if he dies, it will mean disaster for several of the main Dallas characters. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
Elsewhere, the marriage between J.R.'s niece Lucy (Charlene Tilton) and medical student Mitch (Leigh McCloskey) comes to an end. Unable to have children of their own, J.R.'s brother Bobby (Patrick Duffy) and his wife, Pam (Victoria Principal), adopt a child named Christopher -- without revealing the fact that the child's biological parents are the late Kristin Shepard and her blackmailing paramour Jeff Farraday (Art Hindle). Cliff Barnes goes to work for his entrepreneur mother, Rebecca Barnes Wentworth (Priscilla Pointer), hoping to beat J.R. at his own game in the marketplace -- and in the process becoming almost as greedy and duplicitous as his rival! Conspicuous by his absence this season is Miss Ellie's husband, Jock Ewing. Although actor Jim Davis had died the previous season, the producers decided not to completely write out Davis' character of Jock Ewing, instead contriving a scenario whereby Jock is in South America on a mission for the government. Ultimately, Jock perishes in a helicopter crash, whereupon a grieving Miss Ellie finds solace in the arms of her former enemy, Clayton Farlow. In the series' traditional cliffhanger ending, Cliff Barnes, financially ruined and in disgrace thanks to the machinations of J.R., tries to commit suicide -- and if he dies, it will mean disaster for several of the main Dallas characters. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Larry Hagman, Patrick Duffy, (more)
Season six of Dallas opens with the resolution of the cliffhanger that ended season five, as Cliff Barnes (Ken Kercheval), hated rival of conniving oil tycoon J.R. Ewing (Larry Hagman), recovers from his suicide attempt. Though ostensibly ruined and disgraced through J.R.'s machinations, Cliff rises from the ashes to become president of Barnes/Wentworth, the oil company owned by his mother. Rebecca Barnes Wentworth (Priscilla Pointer) -- who, incidentally, will not survive the season. More so than ever before, Cliff is determined to beat J.R. at his own game in the open marketplace. Meanwhile, back at Southfork, J.R. has reconciled with his wife, Sue Ellen (Linda Gray), and despite the impassioned intervention of Sue Ellen's lover, Dusty Farlow (Jared Martin), she remarries J.R. in early December. At this point, Dusty disappears from view, not to be seen again for several more seasons. At the same time, J.R. again tangles with younger brother Bobby (Patrick Duffy), the bone of contention being their late father's will. Also, Donna Krebbs (Susan Howard), wife of J.R.'s half brother, Ray (Steve Kanaly), tries to expose J.R.'s questionable business practices with the help of the Texas Energy Commission. In retaliation, J.R.'s deft manipulates the media, stirring up public sympathy for himself -- even as he secretly embarks upon an illegal financial deal in Cuba! Throughout all this intrigue, J.R. finds time to attempt to "conquer" attractive rival oil executive Holly Harwood (Lois Chiles). And there's more!
As the marriage between Bobby and Cliff Barnes' sister, Pam (Victoria Principal), slowly unravels, wealthy Mark Graison (John Beck) tries his best to win Pam's love. Later on, Pam divorces Bobby and has a nervous breakdown, much to the delight of the manipulative J.R. -- yet she still manages to gain custody of her adopted son, Christopher. Plus, the romance between J.R.'s widowed mother, Miss Ellie (Barbara Bel Geddes) and Dusty Farlow's millionaire father, Clayton (Howard Keel), heats up. And in another development, J.R.'s divorced niece Lucy (Charlene Tilton) takes up with Ray Krebbs' ne'er-do-well cousin Mickey Trotter (Timothy Patrick Murphy), a fling that ends violently when Mickey is paralyzed in a car accident that may or may not have been caused by an inebriated Sue Ellen. Season six ends with the traditional Dallas cliffhanger, as a fistfight between J.R. and Ray Krebbs results in a fire that threatens to consume all of the Southfork mansion, with J.R., Sue Ellen, and their son, John Ross, trapped inside! ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
As the marriage between Bobby and Cliff Barnes' sister, Pam (Victoria Principal), slowly unravels, wealthy Mark Graison (John Beck) tries his best to win Pam's love. Later on, Pam divorces Bobby and has a nervous breakdown, much to the delight of the manipulative J.R. -- yet she still manages to gain custody of her adopted son, Christopher. Plus, the romance between J.R.'s widowed mother, Miss Ellie (Barbara Bel Geddes) and Dusty Farlow's millionaire father, Clayton (Howard Keel), heats up. And in another development, J.R.'s divorced niece Lucy (Charlene Tilton) takes up with Ray Krebbs' ne'er-do-well cousin Mickey Trotter (Timothy Patrick Murphy), a fling that ends violently when Mickey is paralyzed in a car accident that may or may not have been caused by an inebriated Sue Ellen. Season six ends with the traditional Dallas cliffhanger, as a fistfight between J.R. and Ray Krebbs results in a fire that threatens to consume all of the Southfork mansion, with J.R., Sue Ellen, and their son, John Ross, trapped inside! ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Larry Hagman, Patrick Duffy, (more)
- 1982
In this mystery a psychiatrist and his wife are surprised to find that the quiet seaside town they just moved to is plagued by strange deaths that occur during mysterious storms. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide
The fire that trapped J.R. Ewing (Larry Hagman), his wife, Sue Ellen (Linda Gray), their son, John Ross (now played by Omri Katz), and J.R.'s half-brother, Ray (Steve Kanaly), in the Southfork mansion at the end of Dallas' sixth season is still raging as season seven begins. Fortunately, J.R. et al. are rescued at the last minute by his younger brother Bobby (Patrick Duffy). And speaking of Bobby, he has been divorced by his wife, Pam (Victoria Principal), who then takes up with Mark Graison (John Beck). Meanwhile, Pam's half-sister, Katherine Wentworth (Morgan Brittany), has set her sights on Bobby, making it clear that if she can't have him, no one will. But Bobby prefers the company of his old flame Jenna Wade, played by Priscilla Presley (in previous episodes, Jenna was portrayed by Morgan Fairchild and Francine Tacker). J.R. encourages Bobby to pursue a relationship with Jenna, if only to strike out at J.R.'s hated rival Cliff Barnes (Ken Kercheval) -- who of course is Pamela's brother. J.R.'s own marriage is on the rocks again, thanks to the arrival of his son John Ross' camp counselor Peter Richards (Christopher Atkins), whose schoolboy crush on Sue Ellen rapidly develops into something far more serious. As J.R. deals with this, he must also reconcile himself to the fact that his mother, Miss Ellie (Barbara Bel Geddes), is dead set on marrying millionaire Clayton Barlow (Howard Keel), the father of Sue Ellen's former (and now missing) lover Dusty Farlow. And in another branch of the Ewing family, J.R.'s half-brother, Ray (Steve Kanaly), disposes of his troublesome cousin Mickey (Timothy Patrick Murphy) -- who the previous season had been canoodling with J.R.'s niece Lucy (Charlene Tilton) -- in a dramatically direct fashion. As the season comes to an end, a double wedding is planned involved Ellie and Clayton and Bobby and Jenna -- but events conspire to keep the couples apart. And in the cliffhanger finale, yet another stalker fires another shot in the office of J.R. Ewing -- but this time it is Bobby who falls wounded to the ground! ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Larry Hagman, Patrick Duffy, (more)
This 1982 made-for-TV version of the Lewis Carroll classic Alice in Wonderland features an all-star cast. Such celebrities as Donald O'Connor, Maureen Stapleton and Eve Arden struggle to perform while buried under mounds of makeup and tons of eccentric costuming as Carroll's alternate-world loonies. Alice in Wonderland was first telecast Oct 3, 1983, on PBS' Great Performances. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
As season eight of Dallas gets under way, Bobby Ewing (Patrick Duffy) painfully convalesces from the gunshot wound that felled him at the end of season seven. The most likely suspect would seem to be Cliff Barnes (Ken Kercheval), the brother of Bobby's ex-wife, Pam (Victoria Principal), but in fact the would-be killer is Cliff and Pam's obsessive half-sister, Katherine (Morgan Brittany), who was incensed that Bobby had spurned her in favor of his fiancée, Jenna (Priscilla Presley). Had Katherine but waited a while, she could have saved a bullet; Bobby breaks up with Jenna, who ends up wedding a former lover, Renaldo Marchetta (Daniel Pilon) -- and is then accused of Marchetta's murder! In other romantic developments, despite all of the evil J.R. Ewing's (Larry Hagman) efforts, his mother, Miss Ellie (Barbara Bel Geddes), has tied the matrimonial knot with Clayton Barlow (Howard Keel), millionaire father of Dusty Barlow, the former lover of J.R.'s wife, Sue Ellen (Victoria Principal). But is it really Miss Ellie who walks down the aisle? Well, technically, it is -- but it isn't the same actress who has been playing the character since Dallas began. Citing illness and exhaustion, Barbara Bel Geddes had left Dallas at the end of its seventh season. Her replacement is Donna Reed, light years removed from the innocuous 1950s sitcom that bore her name in the title. Getting back to the Miss Ellie-Barlow nuptials, all is not peach blossoms and roses. It turns out that Clayton has a demented sister named Jessica (Alexis Smith) -- who very nearly commits wholesale murder before she's caught and institutionalized.
Newcomers to the cast this season include Joshua Harris as Christopher Ewing, Bobby and Pamela's adopted son; Jenilee Harrison as cousin Jamie Ewing, who is destined to wed Cliff Barnes after aligning with him to wrest a piece of Ewing Oil from J.R.; and Deborah Shelton as Mandy Winger, who arouses the libido of both J.R. and Cliff, but who definitely prefers one over the other. Conversely, two of Dallas' stalwart leading players make their exits this season: Charlene Tilton as Lucy Ewing (though she'd eventually return), and more spectacularly, Patrick Duffy as Bobby Ewing. Honoring Duffy's insistence that he wanted to leave the series to pursue different roles, the writers contrived to have Bobby get killed while trying to save Pamela from a deranged hit-and-run driver (Katherine Wentworth again!). Thus, the season ends with the hospitalized Bobby "flatlining" -- thereby setting the stage for the series' notorious "dream" season. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
Newcomers to the cast this season include Joshua Harris as Christopher Ewing, Bobby and Pamela's adopted son; Jenilee Harrison as cousin Jamie Ewing, who is destined to wed Cliff Barnes after aligning with him to wrest a piece of Ewing Oil from J.R.; and Deborah Shelton as Mandy Winger, who arouses the libido of both J.R. and Cliff, but who definitely prefers one over the other. Conversely, two of Dallas' stalwart leading players make their exits this season: Charlene Tilton as Lucy Ewing (though she'd eventually return), and more spectacularly, Patrick Duffy as Bobby Ewing. Honoring Duffy's insistence that he wanted to leave the series to pursue different roles, the writers contrived to have Bobby get killed while trying to save Pamela from a deranged hit-and-run driver (Katherine Wentworth again!). Thus, the season ends with the hospitalized Bobby "flatlining" -- thereby setting the stage for the series' notorious "dream" season. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Larry Hagman, Patrick Duffy, (more)
- 1984
- PG
This rather dull thriller has the look of contemporary film noir but none of its depth. As the story begins, desperate-for-cash saxophonist Harry Baranski (Patrick Duffy) decides to rob a house. There he meet its owner, Diane (Catherine Hyland) and begins a rather unusual ménage-à-trois. The story is contrived, and the mediocre direction by Frederick Keller and lackluster performances by the entire cast, makes Vamping a not-very-thrilling thriller. ~ Linda Rasmussen, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Patrick Duffy, Catherine Hyland, (more)
- 1985
Made for television, From Here to Maternity is an hour-long satire on 1980s self-involvement. The three ladies who are "with child" in the story have mixed feeling about their pregnant state. Part of the problem lies in their husbands and/or boyfriends, who aren't prepared for the responsibilities of fatherhood. Carrie Fisher, Arleen Sorkin and Lauren Hutton are the women in question. Among the clueless male characters are the ever-reliable Griffin Dunne and TV-star-to-be Paul Reiser. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
At the tail end of Dallas' ninth season, Pamela Ewing (Victoria Principal) was awakened from her troubled slumbers by the sound of a familiar voice in her bathroom. Investigating, she peeked past the shower curtains -- and was astonished to find her ex-husband, Bobby Ewing (Patrick Duffy), who had presumably been killed at the end of the series' eighth season, alive and well! How could this be? Well, the opening scene of season ten explains all. Bobby was never killed -- and the entire ninth season was all a nightmare, dreamed up by poor Pamela! Thus, the writers have blithely negated everything that has happened during the previous season, and from this point forward, not even the most loyal of the series' fans will ever be able to take Dallas entirely seriously again. Be that as it may, season ten does offer a few interesting plot developments, as well as a handful of new characters. Having been humiliated time and again by her ruthless oil-tycoon husband, J.R. Ewing (Larry Hagman), Sue Ellen (Linda Gray) gets even by setting up her own lingerie business, using J.R.'s erstwhile mistress Mandy Winger (Deborah Shelton) as his star model.
Meanwhile, Southfork is invaded by April Stevens (Sheree J. Wilson), former wife of J.R.'s cousin Jack Ewing, who like everyone else in the family is determined to carve out her own piece of the Ewing millions, by hook or by crook. (April will eventually marry J.R.'s brother Bobby, though he is blissfully unaware of this now.) Also making his first appearance is Ben Stivers (aka Wes Parmalee, played by Steve Forrest), who throws a monkey wrench into the connubial bliss of Miss Ellie Ewing (Barbara Bel Geddes) and her second husband, Clayton Barlow (Howard Keel), by posing as Miss Ellie's presumed-dead first husband, Jock. And in another development, the marriage between J.R.'s half-brother, Ray Krebbs (Steve Kanaly), and his ambitious wife, Donna (Susan Howard), totally collapses when Donna attaches herself to the influential Senator Dowling (Jim McMullan). Getting back to Pamela and Bobby, the couple decides to celebrate his "return from the grave" by getting married all over again. Alas, a happy ending is not in the cards: at the end of season ten, Pamela is seriously injured in an auto accident. Since Victoria Principal had announced her intention to leave the series, viewers braced themselves for the likelihood that Pamela has been killed -- and at the same time, they cynically awaited another likelihood, that the whole thing was yet another "Bobby in the shower" hoax! ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
Meanwhile, Southfork is invaded by April Stevens (Sheree J. Wilson), former wife of J.R.'s cousin Jack Ewing, who like everyone else in the family is determined to carve out her own piece of the Ewing millions, by hook or by crook. (April will eventually marry J.R.'s brother Bobby, though he is blissfully unaware of this now.) Also making his first appearance is Ben Stivers (aka Wes Parmalee, played by Steve Forrest), who throws a monkey wrench into the connubial bliss of Miss Ellie Ewing (Barbara Bel Geddes) and her second husband, Clayton Barlow (Howard Keel), by posing as Miss Ellie's presumed-dead first husband, Jock. And in another development, the marriage between J.R.'s half-brother, Ray Krebbs (Steve Kanaly), and his ambitious wife, Donna (Susan Howard), totally collapses when Donna attaches herself to the influential Senator Dowling (Jim McMullan). Getting back to Pamela and Bobby, the couple decides to celebrate his "return from the grave" by getting married all over again. Alas, a happy ending is not in the cards: at the end of season ten, Pamela is seriously injured in an auto accident. Since Victoria Principal had announced her intention to leave the series, viewers braced themselves for the likelihood that Pamela has been killed -- and at the same time, they cynically awaited another likelihood, that the whole thing was yet another "Bobby in the shower" hoax! ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Larry Hagman, Patrick Duffy, (more)
- 1986
This two-part, four-hour TV miniseries was adapted from the same-named 1984 novel by Arthur Hailey. Pamela Sue Martin headed the huge cast as Celia Gray, a young woman who rose from humble drug store clerk to become the head of a major pharmaceutical manufacturing firm during the 1950s and 1960s. Along the way, of course, Celia met with formidable opposition from the all-male medical establishment, and consequently, her private life was often a mess. Also on hand were two other TV stalwarts, Patrick Duffy as Dr. Andrew Jordan and Dick Van Dyke as Sam Hawthorne. Presented as part of the syndicated Operation Prime Time dramatic anthology (one of many pre-Fox efforts spearheaded by a consortium of independent TV stations to establish a "fourth network"), Strong Medicine was first made available on April 21, 1986, though most local markets did not run the property until May. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
Although Victoria Principal had left Dallas at the end of season ten, by the time the series' 11th season rolled around, Principal's character, Pamela Ewing, was still lingering about, swathed in bandages after being seriously injured in a car accident. As if to lead viewers to the conclusion that Pamela would suddenly make a complete recovery in the tradition of her husband Bobby Ewing's (Patrick Duffy) "return from the dead" at the outset of season ten, the ultimate fate of Pamela was left unresolved for several weeks -- and further complicated when the poor girl suddenly vanished from her hospital bed. Elsewhere, it appears as though ruthless oil tycoon J.R. Ewing will finally get his comeuppance when he loses control of Ewing Oil to his brother Bobby after proof of J.R.'s illegal maneuverings are made public. Setting up another oil firm, J.R. works hand and glove with Casey Denault (Andrew Stevens) to undercut Bobby and regain his power, which also involves our "hero" secretly buying up the stock of a rival firm, Westar Oil. At the same time, Casey has a brief fling with J.R.'s niece Lucy (welcome back, Charlene Tilton). In other developments, Bobby is tormented by Lisa Alden (Amy Stock), who claims to be the mother of his adopted son, Christopher. Meanwhile, Bobby's old flame Jenna Wade (Priscilla Presley) marries his half brother, Ray Krebbs (Steve Kanaly) -- a union that seems doomed from the start when Ray has a fling with a certain Connie Hall (Michelle Scarabelli). Newcomers to the cast include the aforementioned Andrew Stevens and Amy Stock, as well as Jack Scalia as banker Nicholas Pearce, who has an affair with J.R.'s estranged wife, Sue Ellen (Linda Gray), after helping her get her lingerie business off the ground -- and who turns out to have a hidden agenda that only April Stevens (Sheree J. Wilson) is fully aware of. Finally, this season marks the first appearances of recurring characters Harrison "Dandy" Dandridge (Bert Remsen) and Kay Lloyd (Karen Kopkins). In an echo of the celebrated "Who shot J.R.?" season finale of 1980, the 11th season of Dallas ends with another burst of gunfire -- and this time, it is Sue Ellen who is taking aim at J.R. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Larry Hagman, Patrick Duffy, (more)
Having avoided getting shot by his frustrated wife, Sue Ellen (Linda Gray), at the end of Dallas' 11th season, ruthless oil tycoon J.R. Ewing (Larry Hagman) decides to relax a bit as season 12 gets under way. Embarking on a hunting trip to Arkansas, serial philanderer J.R. has brief tryst with hillbilly gal Cally Harper (Cathy Podewell) -- which turns out to be a major mistake when Cally's brothers, in cahoots with a crooked sheriff, contrive to have J.R. arrested and sentenced to a work farm! In order to save himself, J.R. agrees to divorce Sue Ellen and marry Cally -- who isn't quite as vacuous and guileless as she looks. Once J.R. and Cally are hitched, the vengeful Sue Ellen purchases a movie studio for the express purpose of collaborating with screenwriter Don Lockwood (Ian McShane) on a shocking filmed exposé of J.R. and his highly questionable business practices. (This collaboration reaps unexpected benefits when Sue Ellen and Lockwood are married!) Season twelve marks the exit of two longtime Dallas regulars: Steve Kanaly and his character, J.R.'s half brother, Ray Krebbs, bid farewell early in the season; and by mid-year, Linda Gray (aka Sue Ellen) is also gone. Conversely, Audrey Landers as Afton Cooper, former sister-in-law of J.R.'s niece Lucy (Charlene Tilton), returns after an absence of several seasons. Newcomers to the cast include George Kennedy as rival oil man Carter McKay, who after purchasing Ray Krebbs' ranch takes over Westar Oil and mounts a range war (both literal and figurative) against the Ewing family, hoping not only to destroy J.R. but also to remove Bobby Ewing (Patrick Duffy) as head man of Ewing Oil. The McKay-Ewing conflict would spread far beyond the boundaries of Texas and extend into the wilds of Washington, D.C., Austria, and Russia! Along with Carter McKay, Carter's unhappy wife, Rose (Jeri Gaile), and his profoundly troubled children, Tommy (J. Eddie Peck) and Tracy (Beth Toussaint), make their first appearances this season. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Larry Hagman, Patrick Duffy, (more)
