http://www.ultimatedallas.com/returntosouthfork/

DALLAS REUNION: RETURN TO SOUTHFORK will reunite original "Dallas" cast members Larry Hagman, Victoria Principal, Linda Gray, Patrick Duffy, Charlene Tilton, Ken Kercheval and Steve Kanaly at Southfork Ranch, to celebrate the long-running hit series, Sunday, Nov. 7 (9:00-11:00 PM, ET/PT) on the CBS Television Network. Mary Crosby, who played the infamous Kristin Shepard, also returns.

"Dallas," with 356 episodes broadcast during 13 seasons on the Network (April 2, 1978 to May 3, 1991), remains television's second longest-running primetime entertainment series, surpassed only by CBS's "Gunsmoke" (402) episodes. "Dallas" also holds the distinction of having one of the highest-rated episodes in television history ("Who Shot J.R.?," 11-21-80), which garnered a 53.3 rating and a 77 share and was watched by more than 300 million people worldwide.

It's been more than 25 years since the "Dallas" cast took up residence at the famous Southfork Ranch just outside of Dallas. They will meet there again for this special reunion to tour the famous grounds, talk about the series' most infamous storylines and reminisce about their time together on the show. Larry Hagman will also share his own home movies that were shot when "Dallas" was actually being filmed.

"Dallas" couples J.R. and Sue Ellen (Larry Hagman, Linda Gray) and Pam and Bobby (Victoria Principal, Patrick Duffy) will remember their years together. Charlene Tilton looks back at the time she spent playing Lucy Ewing, the granddaughter of the head of the Dallas clan, Jock Ewing (the late Jim Davis). Also reminiscing about their parts on the show are Ken Kercheval, who played Pam's lawyer brother, Cliff Barnes, and Steve Kanaly, who played Southfork's ranch foreman Ray Krebbs. Mary Crosby, who played the infamous Kristin Shepard, will talk about her part in one of the most famous scenes ever filmed on network television.

The season finale cliffhanger originated on "Dallas," and there was a cliffhanger at the end of the last show for all of its 13 seasons. Did Sue Ellen and her baby survive a car crash? Who was found floating face down in the Ewing's swimming pool? Would Cliff Barnes die of a drug overdose? What happened to Pam and the Ewing family after Bobby was killed saving her from a speeding car? And, in season two, the most famous cliffhanger of all: Who shot J.R.?

Prior to the special's broadcast, "Dallas" fans will have the opportunity to vote online for their favorite cliffhanger of all time. The voting will begin on Monday, Sept. 27 and will end on November 6. For details, log-on to CBS.com. The final results will be revealed on the special.

DALLAS REUNION: RETURN TO SOUTHFORK is being produced by Henry Winkler/Michael Levitt Productions. Henry Winkler ("So Weird") and Michael Levitt ("TV Land Awards: A Celebration of Classic TV") are the executive producers; Greg Sills ("VH1 Diva Duets") is the supervising producer; Linda Giambrone ("Hollywood Squares") is the coordinating producer; Gary Tellalian ("TV Land Awards: A Celebration of Classic TV") is the producer. Michael Dempsey ("Nicole Kidman: An American Cinematheque Tribute") will direct the special from a script by Stephen Pouliot ("CBS At 75").

Actually, it originated on Soap, before Dallas ever aired.

Rob

<small></small>.... there's an interesting initial entry at the following site: http://members.tripod.com/~Rover_Wow/clif80s.htm

Sadly, on the same day the Dallas Reunion airs, we get news of the passing of Howard Keel, who played Clayton Farlow in the latter half of the show's run.

Hopefully, CBS will have time to add a little text dedication to tonight's program in memory of Keel.

Indeed.

Dallas star Howard Keel dies at 85
By BOB THOMAS -- Associated Press

LOS ANGELES (AP) -- Howard Keel, the broad-shouldered baritone who romanced his way through a series of glittery MGM musicals such as Kiss Me Kate and Annie Get Your Gun and later revived his career with television's Dallas, died Sunday. He was 85.

Keel died Sunday morning of colon cancer, according to his son, Gunnar Keel.

Keel became a star in his first MGM film, playing Frank Butler to Betty Hutton's Annie Oakley in Annie Get Your Gun. His size and lusty voice made him an ideal leading man for such stars as Esther Williams (Pagan Love Song, Texas Carnival, Jupiter's Darling), Ann Blyth (Rose Marie, Kismet), Kathryn Grayson (Show Boat, Lovely to Look At, Kiss Me Kate) and Doris Day (Calamity Jane).

His own favourite film was the exuberant Seven Brides for Seven Brothers.

"It was a fine cast and lots of fun to make, "but they did the damn thing on the cheap," Keel remarked in 1993.

"The backdrops had holes in them, and it was shot on the worst film stock. ... As it turned out, the miracle worker was George Foley, the cinematographer. He took that junk and made it look like a Grandma Moses painting."

When film studios went into a slump, MGM's musical factory was disbanded. Keel kept busy on the road in such surefire attractions of Man of La Mancha, South Pacific, Annie Get Your Gun and Seven Brides for Seven Brothers.

Keel was 66 and presumably nearing the end of his career when he suddenly became a star in another medium.

From its start in 1978, Dallas with its combination of oil, greed, sex and duplicity had become the hottest series in television. Jim Davis, who had played the role of Jock Ewing, died in 1981, and the producers needed another strong presence to stand up to the nefarious J.R. Ewing Jr. (Larry Hagman). They chose Keel to play Clayton Farlow.

"The show was enormous," Keel reflected in 1995, "I couldn't believe it. My life changed again. From being out of it, I was suddenly a star, known to more people than ever before. Wherever I went, crowds appeared again, and I started making solo albums for the first time in my career."

R.I.P. Adam Pontapee.

I used to watch Dallas as a kid. only "soap opera" type show I could stomach

Keel was definitely an important part of that show during the many seasons that he was on it. At first his character "Clayton Farlow" was only incidental player as the father of Sue Ellen's love interest "Dusty Farlow". Then after Jim Davis passed on the writers wisely chose Keel's character to take a more permanent continuous role in the show's storylines. Keel's character provided yet another adversary for the mega-evil and greedy J.R. Ewing. I always like the way that Clayton Farlow stood up to J.R. no matter how down and dirty ol' J.R. got with him. It's very coincidental that this event came on the day of the show reunion.

So, what was the big surprise at the end of the special?

After the end credits, Patrick Duffy knocked on Victoria Principal's hotel door, telling her that they'd better leave now or they'd be late for their charity event.

She told him she just had the craziest dream about the old Dallas cast meeting at Southfork for a reunion.

I think it was the "alternative" solutions to the "Who shot J.R." mystery.


I thought the best parts of the show were the "gag reels". It was especially hilarious that the only actor who need to "bleeped" during the bloopers was the genteel and lady-like Barbara Bel Geddes.

Speaking of Bel Geddes, didn't the way they spoke of her (until Duffy read the telegram) make it should like she was dead?

As much as I generally enjoyed the special, it reminded me just how annoying a person Charlene Tilton is...

I was surprised at how much I enjoyed the special. I loved the Linda Grey - Larry Hagman recaps with them on the bed.

I guess I now know why there is that sticky thread up there:

REQUEST: Please put the date in the subject header of "ON TONIGHT" Posts

I thought she was dead until I read in the TV guide that she declined the invitation to be a part of the show but sent her best to everyone. I must be thinking of Donna Reed who replaced her for a short time.

All these years, and I still want me some Victoria Principal. Mary Crosby ain't too bad either

A little off topic, but I read over on Zap2It.com that Desperate Housewives won the 9 to 10 timeslot, beating the Dallas special (Housewifes got 15 and Dallas got 10). My question is how did they figure this out, since on the East Coast, Dallas didn't start until about 9:40 because of NFL Football earlier in the evening. Surely I wasn't the only one who watched some of Desperate Housewives before flipping over (which may be why Housewives got a better rating for the hour).

Was anyone else shocked and amazed that the #1 cliffhanger was A House Divided?? (Who shot JR?)

Also, I liked how they reshot the opening for the reunion, showing the changes Dallas has gone through. The series was being filmed during the 70s and 80s, while Dallas was in the middle of a HUGE boom, with lots of contstruction, especially downtown and US-75. It you watch old episodes, there is ALWAYS something under construction during the title scene. Well, most of it is finally finished and that was shown nicely in the reshot opening, for those of us who knew what to look for.

Also, even in the last episode there weren't many houses around Southfork, it is pretty far north. Well, in the past 10 years that area has EXPLODED, it literally grows by the day. In the reunion you could see all the houses all around, literally built right up to the fence.

I remember when Miami Vice moved from 10pm to 9pm to compete with Dallas and that triggered the downfall for Miami Vice.

damn. missed about 30 minutes of it as I taped it and didn't know to expect everything on cbs ot be behind
oh well, since it was just the cast yapping and not a new story it's not a big deal

The whole practical joke part was great. I especially liked bobby ewing in a superman outfit.

Did they explain the lame "it was all a dream" plot point and how angry it made fans?

The post-credits bit with Duffy and Principal did seem to acknowledge it was a pretty stupid plot.

I loved Duffy's description of how they filmed a fake soap commercial to mask the cliffhanger.