Digger's Daughter | S01E01 | Cool Channel Dallas Guide

Also remember in The Godfather after Don Corleone came home and they had Sunday Dinner, Sonny talks "Business" at first, Carlo tries to "assert" himself wanting to be more involved with The Business hoping that Sonny would give him a chance and of course he doesn't, Connie reminds Sonny that "Papa never talked Business at the Table" Carlo tells Connie to Shut Up and Sonny sternly reminds his Brother In Law not to talk to her like that while Mama Corleone tells "Santino" not to interfere. Carlo tries again and asks Sonny if he could meet Tom and him after Dinner to talk to him about some ideas he had but Sonny says "We Don't Talk Business At The Table!"

I'm falling in love with the intro

When i think of Dallas I think of my childhood n my late grandmother on my mother's side cuz she loved this show n so did I

Good ole uncle Ray.

Jim Davis, Barbara Bel Geddes & Larry Hagman were the more popular actors - when the show began --- Linda Gray, Victoria Principal, Charlene Tilton, Steve Kanaly & Patrick Duffy, were not, at the time! This show shot to stardom for the 5 people.

Let me say this daddy jock was not a good father. Telling jr he better hurry up and produce a heir before Bobby and pam. Nice dad. NOT

I think one of the reasons this miniseries caught on so quickly was actually the OPPOSITE of how the traditional miniseries operated back in that time. The miniseries was a sprawling, epic tale told in basically the same structure of most dramatic TV today in that it's serialized. DALLAS on the other hand chose to be episodic but linking plot threads together so that people can watch an episode and not be lost while at the same time getting connected to the characters. That way, when it DID become a series and went serial the built in fanbase already had a sense of who's who and their motivations.

This was an excellent opening episode as you got the lowdown on most of the main characters and while it was sometimes clunky with the dialog it wasn't as bad as SOME TV shows of the era and a little earlier where it was exposition city. (like that cringy bit of dialog from Lucy on the stairs) You really got a firm grasp of who these characters are and their motivations. Hell, JR is practically fully formed, if a bit on the crude side. Bobby is the fun loving jock who has grown up and wants to take responsibility, Lucy is a little minx and sadly that's about all she was for most of her arc on the series, Jock is a dinosaur who epitomized the roughneck, wild catting era of the oil business, Miss Ellie is hinted at being a strong head of the household/domestic side of things, Ray is the "Aw Shucks" cowboy who interestingly in my mind, is the male equivalent of how media treated female characters as they're molded by their love interest. Ray would see some growth but it would be totally shaped by his relationship with Donna later in the series and finally Pam...*sigh* I will say more about her in the next episode but I think her character suffers quite a bit in transition from miniseries to full series.

One thing talked about in the comments here is how even though the family structure is quite patriarchal with Jock dominant over the boys; once they step onto Southfork it's Miss Ellie's domain. This would be further strengthened and developed by Jim Davis' sickness and long absences before he died. Not even the introduction of Clayton Farlow would change that dynamic as his character started off being robust then quickly pushed to the background. I rather liked the Jock/Miss Ellie dynamic here early on and if Jim Davis were more healthy/lived longer I think we'd see the same themes of family and patriarchy played out but in a different vein.

I heard that Larry Hagman almost got Linda Gray Fired becuase he felt that she wasn't a Strong Enough Actress. She did bit parts including a TV Movie called Murder In Peyton Place. She came a long way though even later directing Episodes. Also in those days I think that Steve Kanaly and Ken Kercheval were supposed to be minor characters.

Digger isn't Pams biological father Hutch McKinney

I was a kid when this show aired. Was there outrage when Ray and Lucy hooking up was first aired? We all know it's wrong, but I kind of have the feeling this was more acceptable then. Why would they air it?

I hate how Lucy was sitting on that couch why did no one tell her to sit like a normal person.

JR was my Father in 1975 😁

Love Patrick and his hair helmut!

What a beautiful essay! I'm sorry but Pam was the only person who knows what she's doing. It's revealed in all three of her major scenes - she did not protest JR's challenge in the garden with a, "Oh, J.R., you've got it all wrong! I love Bobby, and I have left my family for yours and would never do anything to betray..." She only said, "Let go of my arm," with cold stare that was not without meaning. There was a positive gleam in here eye when she told her father whom she had just married, and I believe she almost smiled as she watched the effect on him. Finally, her brother tries to reel-her back into her family ideological fold, reminding her warmly of her mostly peaceful protest days, throwing flaming bottles at Ewing establishments, and how now she is betraying all that by marrying one of the enemy. But she corrects him, telling him that sometimes, marrying the enemy is the best revenge.
This was a show my parents watched, like M*A*S*H, and I never could stand. But NOW it's great! Larry Hagman was always Major Nelson to me, but this one episode of Dallas fixed that permanently.

Principal's acting gets MUCH better in the Spring of 1982, essentially overnight.

I know who shot JR. I loved this show. I had just turned eight when this show came out. My parent let me watch it, so I watched every episode, right after The Dukes of Hazard. That was a good safe Friday night for an 8-year-old in 1978. :) Oh yeah, Sue Ellen was as frightening as Pam was hot, and that's saying something. Poor Andy Gibb. He couldn't keep up with her star.

Thanks for this. I love this show. I watched it in real time and about 4 times since then, beginning to end. I was 6 when it came out.

Listen what about the early years? The very beginning? Will u do one on that one?Now Digger Barnes was a "Hell when he Well" " but stay sick all the time" i just watched it
Another thing? Who was more Richer or wealthier Jock Ewing? Blake Carrington?
That lady from Falcon Crest? Could you do video on the money?😁 Plus Ms Elle was no play un that Dallas the early days 💪🏿.. 😂😂

Victoria Principal is clearly written as the main character in the very beginning. She has stated that the first five episodes are her favorites. I love the raw, grittiness of the first episodes, including the winter scenes. There is a real authenticity going on here. Filmed entirety on location in Texas. Stand-Out scene: Ray picking up Pammie and jumping into the freezing water . Such an iconic moment. Too bad as the years went on Ray and Pamela never got any one-on-one screen time together....