TNT’s ‘Dallas’ Rivalry: Evil Oil vs. Alternative Energy
Since the original “Dallas” debuted in 1978, times have changed. Texas has prospered but the liberal agenda against big oil stayed the same. TNT’s “Dallas” remake introduced the Ewing family feud with a twist, and the rest of the season is set for a showdown: Alternative energy against drilling for oil.
John Ross Ewing, son of the long-time “Dallas” villain J.R. Ewing (played by Larry Hagman), has already discovered a major find of oil on Southfork: the Ewing family’s ranch. He wants to drill it, but his uncle Bobby Ewing opposes drilling on the family land. Of course, he’s portrayed as the bad guy, ruthless, conniving and a “chip off the old block.”
Bobby supports his adopted son Christopher who wants to make Ewing Alternative Energy the next “Exxon” but is planning on turning Southfork into a conservancy. Bobby and Christopher are clearly the good guys in the drama, as J.R. Ewing says Bobby was “always the one with the conscience.”
During the premier Christopher says, “Oil is the past, John Ross, alternatives are the future.” Although he is worried about funding for his pet project: “It seems I have only two roads open to me: accept government subsidies or bending over for the venture capitalists,” he lamented.
When John Ross revealed to Christopher and Bobby that an ocean of oil lay under Southfork, Christopher yelled that the oil was so deep underground it would have to be fracked. “It [Fracking] will be the end of the ranch!” he shouted.
“The New York Times” review by Allesandra Stanley said, “In 1978 the Texas economy was booming, while the rest of the country was still struggling. Rich Texans were loud, proud, vulgar, exotic and extravagant. J. R.’s son, John Ross (Josh Henderson), is of course a fracking maniac who wants to drill all over Southfork and will scheme, lie and connive to get his way.”
The Washington Times review of the show also noted the “capitalist villains,” but called them “too dull to root against.” “J.R. and Bobby are still around, and while they remain rivals, the battle’s locus has shifted to their sons, J.R.’s scheming oilman son John Ross (Josh Henderson) and Bobby’s earnest alternative energy entrepreneur Christopher.”
The new generation of “Dallas” may be different but the Hollywood message is still the same. Oil and its supporters are the real villains.
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Comments
I watched the first hour and
Submitted by ricklail on Fri, 06/15/2012 - 4:00pm.
I watched the first hour and that was it. I can't tell you what it was I didn't like I just didn't like it.
Here we go again
Submitted by CobraMan on Fri, 06/15/2012 - 4:03pm.
So, not only are they recycling old, worn out dramas, they're recycling old, worn out arguments as well? That's typical!
By the way, I watched the beginning of first episode and, when the doctor told Bobby that he had cancer, I just couldn't help thinking that Bobby was going to wake up next season and realize the past year was just a dream. I've given up on watching the show after that.
The Citizens of each State shall be entitled to all Privileges and Immunities of Citizens in the several States. The US Constitution
Unless you're a fetus. The US Supreme Court
Or Anwar al-Awlaki.
big oil
Submitted by kinijane on Fri, 06/15/2012 - 4:09pm.
If its a way of changing public opinion for green energy over big oil,
I guess they may have struck out, like Rick the first hour was about
all I could take.
Dallas, the Next Generation
Submitted by CobraMan on Fri, 06/15/2012 - 4:19pm.
Advertizing Space, the financial frontier
These are the continuing adventures of the Family Ewing
Their mission: to exploit old, reused stereotypes
To seek out old ideas and old plot lines
To boringly go where all other soap operas have gone before.
The Citizens of each State shall be entitled to all Privileges and Immunities of Citizens in the several States. The US Constitution
Unless you're a fetus. The US Supreme Court
Or Anwar al-Awlaki.
LOL!
Submitted by Rukus on Fri, 06/15/2012 - 7:23pm.
.
Didn't watch
Submitted by texusmc on Fri, 06/15/2012 - 4:22pm.
Since I live in Dallas and know where the real "South Fork" ranch is, the new Dallas is truly going to be just that same liberal meme, Oil bad, Green good! But in Texas we know a thing or two about green energy as well. We have the Nations (possibly the worlds) largest windmill farm out in west Texas and the companies that have been putting them up have been in the wind industry for over 30 years. (I worked for one upon retiring out of the USMC for a short time) And the craziest thing is, the EPA was trying to do away with those as well! Why? Oh, because now they posed a hazard to the birds, they raised the ground temp a few degrees so it caused the insects to multiply thereby bringing in the birds who got smacked by the blades. And the craziest reason is that the emp pulses caused mad cow disease. (Locals actually spouted that one and believed it!)
So now the show Dallas wants to be both Green friendly and bash big oil wow...great...thanks ...whats next? KITT coming back? Airwolf flying around? Suprised that the flying nun is swooping down on people or Dobie Gillis's surfing grandson isn't out there saving the whales!.
I am all for leaving an area better than I found it when I camp, fish or hunt. Do it responsibly and we will have land and natural resources to pass on to our grand kids (providing they don't invest in our gov't). ok rant done. have a Happy Father's Day to all the Dad's out there
Whoop! A fellow Texan! Like
Submitted by Lauren Thompson on Fri, 06/15/2012 - 4:31pm.
Whoop! A fellow Texan! Like you, I'm sick of how our great state is portrayed by Hollywood.
Ditto and ditto
Submitted by jon_torlin on Fri, 06/15/2012 - 5:23pm.
Fellow Texan here, and there are a few others, so ditto on that.
Also ditto on the portrayal of Texas ala Hollywoodland. Some people just have the wrong idea in some of these shows. I remember travelling out of state one time and some idiot asked me how many oil wells I have in my backyard and I just shook my head and walked away.
Btw, I don't do twitter or any of that stuff, so forgive me if I won't follow on that.
-Jon
Indeed
Submitted by Unsane on Fri, 06/15/2012 - 7:39pm.
Whenever I leave the state and travel elsewhere in America, whenever I tell people I'm from Texas, I am immediately asked where my accent is. To which I have taken to telling people "If you form a collective you will know I'm from Texas." At which point I will say "How y'all doing?"
But perhaps my favorite incident happened right here in Texas. At a local bar, a woman asked if I was a Texas native, to which I was. Then she said she didn't believe me "because you talk too fast to be a Texan".
You are right. Hollywood, among others in the entertainment world, portray Texas in the most stereotypical manner possible.
"CONSUMED DEMOCRACY RETURNS A SOCIALIST REGIME" - Slayer, "Fictional Reality", from Divine Intervention (1994)
Only if...
Submitted by Kodos on Sat, 06/16/2012 - 11:38am.
- KITT turbo boosts into the foyer (since KITT is nice, we'd need KARR)
- then Airwolf levels Southfork to smoldering rubble.
Then I'll watch.
Let the 80s rest in peace.
Keystone
Submitted by NYCMiddle on Fri, 06/15/2012 - 4:30pm.
NOW.
Too late. Canada snapped it
Submitted by Lauren Thompson on Fri, 06/15/2012 - 4:32pm.
Too late. Canada snapped it up. Thanks Barry.
Keystone
Submitted by Unsane on Fri, 06/15/2012 - 7:42pm.
Keystone would have been built by a Canadian company anyway. If I were them, I would build it ALL - except for one last 100 foot stretch that happens to cross the 49th Parallel.
Fear not - the pipe they want to build to the Pacific coast to sell Albertan oil to evil China is being fought tooth and nail by quite a few people in BC.
"CONSUMED DEMOCRACY RETURNS A SOCIALIST REGIME" - Slayer, "Fictional Reality", from Divine Intervention (1994)
wrong thread
Submitted by CobraMan on Fri, 06/15/2012 - 4:32pm.
Opps, wrong thread
The Citizens of each State shall be entitled to all Privileges and Immunities of Citizens in the several States. The US Constitution
Unless you're a fetus. The US Supreme Court
Or Anwar al-Awlaki.
Ya'll should all follow me on
Submitted by Lauren Thompson on Fri, 06/15/2012 - 4:33pm.
Ya'll should all follow me on twitter. Lots of rants to be had today.
@LThompson_11
Huh?
Submitted by CobraMan on Fri, 06/15/2012 - 4:41pm.
Follw you on twitter? Why? I've already "followed" you here. Heh.
The Citizens of each State shall be entitled to all Privileges and Immunities of Citizens in the several States. The US Constitution
Unless you're a fetus. The US Supreme Court
Or Anwar al-Awlaki.
Haha, it was in reference to
Submitted by Lauren Thompson on Fri, 06/15/2012 - 4:44pm.
Haha, it was in reference to your Daily Caller rant. I was alluding to the fact that I've ranted about it on Twitter. And I do appreciate the follows, whether by tweet or NB comment!
Will do Lauren
Submitted by Radical1979 on Fri, 06/15/2012 - 4:41pm.
.
Thank you!
Submitted by Lauren Thompson on Fri, 06/15/2012 - 4:45pm.
Thank you!
Lauren....I'm a twitter newbie.
Submitted by motherbelt on Fri, 06/15/2012 - 5:43pm.
How do I find you to follow?
Update: NM....got it.
Already
Submitted by NYCMiddle on Fri, 06/15/2012 - 4:45pm.
done
Thanks! Guess we can move our
Submitted by Lauren Thompson on Fri, 06/15/2012 - 4:46pm.
Thanks! Guess we can move our classy debates to DM now :)
Got it!
Submitted by Rukus on Fri, 06/15/2012 - 7:30pm.
I knew Twitter had a good reason for some things. : ) Following... thanks Lauren : )
Thank you!
Submitted by Lauren Thompson on Sat, 06/16/2012 - 6:02pm.
Thank you!
I did not care about the storyline
Submitted by shawn. on Fri, 06/15/2012 - 6:52pm.
I was more interested about checking out Jordana Brewster :-)
Fracking Idiot
Submitted by Chris Norman on Fri, 06/15/2012 - 6:53pm.
I would hope that viewers today are a little more informed and realistic than they were back during the original version of "Dallas". The fiascos of the last few years should make "Christopher Ewing" and his earnest liberal arguments for "green energy" as fodder for unintentional comedy. Just the mention of "green energy" should cause groans and laughter. Hey, Christopher! You want to be the next Solyndra?
I gave it 1/2 hour
Submitted by billb on Fri, 06/15/2012 - 7:43pm.
Then the inevitable ecological vomit appeared. Don't these people understand anything? Do they want to recreate a once popular show or just try to impress Lock Box Gore?
I guess they missed the wee bit of the earthquake threat by AE?
Submitted by gopcongress on Fri, 06/15/2012 - 7:51pm.
I don't think that this production staff is going to get into the neo-typical thinking of "Alt energy good / Oil energy bad" mantra. For starters, note that the test that Bobby's son's alt energy crew did in China started an earthquake causing lots of death and destruction in the region. A later article criticized the operation as having huge global warming problems. If this were truly a hit piece on oil, they would have somehow worked in a more minor problem, and saved the later earthquakes for JR Jr. (well, the IIIrd) to start, most probably by fracking oil.
(The tech advisors on this show is also a bit on the whack-job side; they have no knowledge that fracking is not the same as drilling, but they are combining the two throughout the plot of the first episode. I think this "ignorance" is actually deliberate, as they needed to maintain the traditional "oil gusher" aspect of oil industry with the new buzzword for destroying the planet, "fracking." But that's just me.)
Back to the point: Barring a catastrophe, Romney will easily win the presidency, and the US Senate will most probably turn over to GOP control, and the House will become even more conservative. Oil industries will be immediately started again (barring a lot of low to mid-level court suppression orders), and will expect to be a big part of the economic recovery. So Dallas will always remain relevant in that capacity.
For the most part, though, I recognize that Dallas is, and always has been, a fictional show. While many idiots derive policy from pop culture, I believe that 2010 started a trend away from listening to such idiocy for real world problems and solutions, and 2012 will just continue the same direction.
"The news and truth are not the same thing." -Walter Lippmann (1889-1974) FOLLOW ME ON TWITTER
Will we get an episode where
Submitted by LinTaylor on Fri, 06/15/2012 - 9:14pm.
Will we get an episode where Christopher's sunshine-and-unicorn-farts eco-company goes out of business, losing millions in taxpayer money, and he orders his employees to destroy several hundred boxes of green lightbulbs to cover their failure up for President Obama?
Hey guys*
Submitted by cajun2 on Fri, 06/15/2012 - 11:08pm.
All you folks who watched "Dallas". Did you see a character in the show named Boone Pickens?
We should by now be swimming in oil
Submitted by lrgon on Fri, 06/15/2012 - 9:18pm.
but for passage of Nixon's EPA and Jimmy Carter's Department of
Energy. Both of those entities are marxist controlling mechanisms designed to thwart America's energy. Nixon new what he did when he created the EPA just as his idiotic 55MPH mandate forcing states to comply to this most ridiculous order, totally unconstitutional to boot.
You guys DO know that in the
Submitted by shannon76 on Sat, 06/16/2012 - 12:57am.
You guys DO know that in the first hour Christopher Ewing's big ticket Alternative Energy idea -- his Methane plant in China -- was proven to be a bust. Apparently it caused an earthquake in China.
I'm not saying Alternative Energy won't make a comeback later in the season; seems unrealistic given the contemporary headlines regarding Solyndra, etc. But, for now, the score is:
Free Market Entrepreneur Oil Man 1
Alternative Green Energy Boy 0
review
Submitted by sngnsgt on Sat, 06/16/2012 - 10:53am.
I liked it better when it was guts and sluts.
I liked the original
Submitted by nolefan2 on Sat, 06/16/2012 - 1:34pm.
series of "Dallas" so I tuned in to the new one. If the big oil "agenda" continues for too long, I'll tune in elsewhere. I can get enough of that crap on the news stations. I want "entertainment" not propaganda.
Big Oil "agenda?"
Submitted by CobraMan on Sat, 06/16/2012 - 4:10pm.
I agree, the producers need to stop reminding people that Ewings are oilmen, and have been for at least two generations. Their entire fortune is based upon oil, and most of their family members are involved in the oil business in one for or another, but that's merely coincidental. I mean, really, what does that got to do with the plot of a large, rich, oil family's daily interactions? Right, right? It makes about as much sense of the producers of Dark Shadows injecting vampirism into a soap opera about vampires.
If you don't want to watch a soap opera about how the family members of a family owned oil company interact, well, there's always Day of Our Lives. But I would avoid General Hospital if i were you, for they keep pushing the Heath Care agenda.
The Citizens of each State shall be entitled to all Privileges and Immunities of Citizens in the several States. The US Constitution
Unless you're a fetus. The US Supreme Court
Or Anwar al-Awlaki.
This one is more funny than serious
Submitted by StarAZ on Sun, 06/17/2012 - 11:57am.
I watched all of the original and this sort of oversimplified plot line is a DALLAS specialty. Just take it for what it is. They used to call their oil consortium the Cartel--apparently not realizing that the term was a little perjorative even before it got the drug label. This is just DALLAS. We had some other quibbles, but I won't go into those--but the "modernizing" by bringing in alt energy was just typical. Actually--to me--the first one anyhow seemed dated...trying to be sooo evil and all they were doing was vaguely plotting against each other. We know evil now--better, anyhow--9/11, etc.
Didn't watch the first Dallas
Submitted by Delsa on Sat, 06/16/2012 - 2:10pm.
and won't watch the second one.
I'm out of the loop and glad of it.