If you are hooked up to Cable or Satellite TV then from 15th June, on UK Gold, you can indulge yourself in a fest of the full 356 episodes of Dallas. So settle back with a chilled glass of Sue Ellen Vodka and revel in the seemingly endless story of oil, power, money and shoulder pads; guess again at the bedroom permutations of JR, Sue Ellen, Bobby, Pammie and Cliff Barnes; hiss and boo at The Poison Dwarf, Lucy; long to slap the ineffectual and wimpy Gary round the head; and bake scones to the authentic Miss Ellie recipe.
Who'd have thought that a five-part mini-series originally aired in 1978 would not only run for 13 years, spawn 3 films - the 'Early Years' and two 'Reunions' - but would grip the world to such an extent that when JR was shot it attracted 24 million UK viewers and even made the 'News At Ten'. All this from a series that Variety magazine embarrassingly described at the time as 'a limited series with a limited future'.
Dallas is the everyday story of country folk in oil-rich Texas, the Ewings. Jock Ewing heads the family that owns one of the richest oil empires in Texas. They have autonomy in the business world but are the most disfunctional family since the Munsters. Jock conducts business in the 'old, honest and true' traditions of his forefathers but this is at odds with the ideals of eldest son JR who wants to get what he wants at any cost. The cost is most dearly paid by his long suffering dipsomaniac wife, Sue Ellen. Second son, Bobby, is straight out of the Jock mould and plays by the book. He's married to Pammie (Victoria Principal pre-Dana snip), daughter of Jock's arch rival, Digger Barnes, also father of Cliff. Are you following this?
While JR, Jock and Bobby outwardly played happy families they were tearing each other's throats out behind closed doors. No-one was more happy about this than Cliff Barnes, attorney turned oilman when his father got ill. It was Cliff's role in life to needle the Ewings and try and expose their treachery - he was also Sue Ellen's long-time lover. I caught up with Ken Kercheval on his way to a TV appearance and asked him whether he realised that Dallas had a huge gay following, 'No, I didn't know that. That's the first time I've heard that.'
Sitting in limousine being shuttled across London Ken looks no different from his days on Southfork. Relaxed and dapper he looks well and carries no sign of the early career struggles when he was selling encyclopedias and working as a sewer-line dynamiter to subsidise his acting career. Remarkably he is 67 and taller and sleeker than he appears on screen, Ken looks younger than the Cliff Barnes we all know and love for his downtrodden-ness. Success obviously agrees with Ken Kercheval; asked why he thought the show had such appeal he replied 'It's all that fornicating and drinking. Real southern Baptist behaviour.'
When the original 13 year series ended two TV Movies were produced. Cliff Barnes was in the first but not the second. Some sources suggested that Ken was fuming over his exclusion. 'I was annoyed because in the paper the other day someone had quoted me as saying that I was miffed because I wasn't in it [the second TV Movie] and that was absolutely not true. I was surprised that I wasn't in it. Initially I think my feelings were hurt a little bit. But I just wasn't in it. I watched it and the storyline was about the three brothers so it didn't really involve Cliff. So, it's no big deal and I certainly wasn't angry or miffed about it. It's the powers-that-be that say how scripts go. I don't write the scripts. I don't have control over that and they felt that they wanted to do a story about the brothers and that's fine. Our lives go on.'
With the news that a third TV Movie is on the cards I asked him how he wanted to return to Dallas. 'In the second Reunion Show Cliff got out of the oil business, he was through with the oil business and he was going off to be with Afton and his new-found daughter and star a new life over. He was tired of the oil business and one thing and another. Do you know what it requires for Cliff to come back? It just requires JR saying "Guess who's back in town?". It's that simple. They don't have to go dig me up or anything. Or thaw me out from suspended animation in outer space or even finding me in a shower alive, with anybody.'
The conversation turned to the seriousness (or otherwise) of the series, 'You know, someone mentioned to me, there is this disease Neuro Fibron Atosis (NFA) which is hereditary within the Barnes family. It's not a very well known disease and it is one of the good things that happened in the show because so many people that were involved with NFA wrote in being so grateful that we had brought that to the attention of the public. So there was a question that Cliff had been sleeping with Sue Ellen and then all of a sudden she gets pregnant and it turns out to be JR's baby. The storyline went that he just popped her one night and Cliff had been popping her all the time. The baby turned out to be his. I didn't think that was right. I always thought that the baby should have been mine, that they got back together [JR & Sue Ellen] and I got to go to Southfork every weekend to pick up our son. Which would have really fried JR's brains.'
I'd heard that Ken originally wanted the part of cowboy Ray Krebbs. Would he have made a good wrangler? 'No, that wasn't the part I originally got called to rad for. I always got called in to read for doctors and lawyers. I said to my Agent, dammit, I'm a country boy from Indiana and I always get to play the white collar guys, I wanna play a cowboy. So I went over and read for Cliff and then they said thank you very much, in an exclusive kinda way,and I said excuse me I was told I could read for Ray Krebbs. So they kinda looked at each other and said well, OK, turn to page 40. They were kinda placating me. I read the pants off that scene. I mean, I really gave it the real cowboy thing. I hadn't been a cowboy since I was six years old. I left feeling pretty confident and then I got a call a couple of days later and my agent says OK you've got the part. I said great. But they want you to play the lawyer. I said, well, OK. I had to pay the rent. As it turned out I'm really glad that they'd had a better insight into casting than I did. I enjoyed playing Cliff a lot.
What about Ken Kerchavel, Director? After all, Larry Hagman and Patrick Duffy directed episodes of Dallas. 'Yes, I directed the next from last episode. I had been offered the opportunity many years before but I didn't take advantage of it. So, the year before we quit I directed one. The bottom line is that I am not a director, I'm an actor, but I thought what other opportunity am I going to have to direct a prime time show? Nobody's going to knock on my door to do that so I might as well do it for the experience. So I did it. I enjoyed it. But I have to say that Patrick [Duffy] and Larry [Hagman] are very good directors. They have a keen eye, they're head and shoulders above my ability to direct. As a matter of fact Larry, after the show was over, he used to go down and direct some of 'In The Heat Of The Night' and he called me up and I went down and did one for him.
Just because Dallas is, in effect, no longer in production doesn't mean Ken is idle. 'I have a format for a series now, which is in the works. I don't know if I want to be involved in it [acting]. I would really like to go back and do more stage work. I worked in Canada last year for two and a half months on stage and I would really like to do more. I was in New York a couple of months ago talking to Hal Prince about taking over the role of Captain Andy in Showboat. I've worked with Hal before in Fiddler on the Roof and Cabaret on Broadway. I got a note from him that the next time the role is available we'll have you for it. I'd love to do it.
In the early years, before success in Dallas stabilised his life, Ken had an acknowledged alcohol problem. Does it still shadow his life? 'No. Absolutely not. Alcohol has no part in my life. It is a very selfish disease. It is just hiding from your problems. It crosses all barriers, whether you are a plumber or lawyer, rich or poor makes no difference. If you want it you will find a way to get it.'
Dallas returned to our screens on June 15th at 11am and 2pm every weekday on UK Gold.
First published in Thud
© Paul Towers 9/1997
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