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The Season Two kickoff, really the first proper season of the show, begins with a two-part reunion of the long lost middle brother, Gary Ewing.  Oddly enough, these episodes are titled Reunion Part 1 and 2 (huh).  Gary, the estranged father of Lucy, has been located by Bobby and Pam on an oilman's junket to Vegas.  He's been working for a casino while trying to manage his alcohol and gambling addiction.  We respectfully suggest doing that anywhere but in Las Vegas.

Speaking of bad life advice, Jacque invents a new scared-straight form of family therapy involving fisticuffs and half nelsons followed by a primal scream struggle session.  Well, that's an exaggeration, but only slightly.  Jim Davis as Jacque really shines in this one, with some of the quirkiest line readings uttered thus far.  

And to round things out, we are introduced to Valene, mother of Lucy, part-time stalker at the local high school, and waitress at The Hot Biscuit.  Make of that what you will.

Please support us on Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/whyshotjrpod.  Part two of the season opener will only be for patrons and will be coming out later this week!

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Intro Music:

Dallas Theme for Mexican television

Outro Music:

She's a Bad Mama Jama by Carl Carlton

...and so ends the first season of Dallas.  Here we get the climax of the main plot of the first few episodes, which is that (gasp!) Bobby Ewing has married Pamela Barnes, offspring of sworn enemy of the Ewings Digger Barnes.  In her quest to perhaps bury the hatchet forever, Pammy has gotten pregnant with Bobby's child, and the two great feuding houses will forever be bonded by blood.  Except, no.

All of this takes place with the great annual Ewing hog roast and bolo tie-only soiree happening in the background.  Everybody gets good and drunk, Digger rekindles old animosities with Jacque (or is spelled Jock?, who's to say), Sue Ellen pretends to be Lady Godiva, JR drools menacingly over Pam and gets punched out by Bobby, and poor Pamela pushes her luck by climbing up in the hayloft.

They don't do the cliffhanger thing right here, but perhaps it's because they didn't know there would be another season.  All in all, Josh and Leanna enjoyed this one, with some of the best acting and southern gothic dialogue to date.

Please support us on Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/whyshotjrpod.  The first patrons-only episode drops Dec. 11th!

Intro Music:

Dallas Disco Theme from Dallas Dreams

Outro Music:

The Yellow Rose of Texas by Elvis Presley

RIP Brian Dennehy.  The late, great, rotund actor makes a guest appearance on this first season episode, and he's really the only good thing about it.  It's a straight up rip-off of John Huston's Key Largo, but without Bogie, Becall, and Edward G.  So, to make up for it, we play some games in honor of Mr. Dennehy, celebrating the life and career of one of our great character actors.

Please support us on our Patreon page: https://www.patreon.com/whyshotjrpod.  Our first patrons-only episode is coming out Dec. 11th!

Intro Music:

Dallas Theme for French TV written by Jean Renard

Outro music: 

People (from Funny Girl) - Barbara Streisand

Episode 3 (original title is Spy in the House) is where the show really starts to cook.  It has plot galore, bed-hopping, evil business dealings, extortion, using people to get ahead--all of the key ingredients in the Dallas cesspool we've come to know and love.  JR comes to the foreground as a kind of puppet master, making everyone dance to his tune and react to his general loathsomeness as a human being.

In short, this one's a keeper.  

Oh, and we introduce a new segment, Sally Strikes Back.

If you want to support us, we now have a Patreon page.  Starting with Season Two of Dallas, every other podcast will be for patrons only, along with all sorts of bonus podcast content.  So if you want to get all of the Dallas shows recapped, check out our patreon page: https://www.patreon.com/whyshotjrpod.  

Intro Music:

Dallas Theme for French TV written by Jean Renard

Outro Music:

Peg by Steely Dan

This week, Josh and Leanna take a deep dive into that most melodramatic genre, the teenage after school special.  In this episode, Lucy Ewing, the abandoned child being raised (sort of) by Miss Ellie and Jacque, is acting out, skipping school, and engaging in a not-so-secret relationship with the rugged ranch hand Ray.  Lucy is 16-17 years old, and Ray is a man in his 30s, so this is rape, plain and simple.  Thank goodness the Ray-Lucy statutory rape storyline is short lived.

Two episodes in, and the show feels rudderless.  JR is still lurking in the background as a supporting player, but we are getting glimpses that he's going to be the breakout persona.  It will take another season before we get there, making this first season quite a slog.  It's good for some laughs, though, along with some disco--its 1978, folks.

Oh, and Josh goes on a rant about main characters being made to dance in movies and TV shows.

Intro Music:

Dallas Theme performed by TimeCapsule123

Outro Music:

Disco Duck by Rick Dees

Josh and Leanna kick this podcast off in style, with a bottle of wine and plenty of laughs.  In this inaugural episode of Why Shot JR, we talk about the insanity of doing a podcast about a show no one talks about anymore and went off the air 30 years ago. Dallas may have come and gone, but in many ways it defined an era of time (the 1980s) and all of its excesses, obscenities,  and bad fashion choices.  Nevertheless, Dallas evokes strong sentimental feelings for Josh in particular.  Anything that reminds one of a time before COVID, before the financial crash, before 9/11, when global warming was just a gleam in a climatologist's eye, can't be all bad, right?

Although it became a ratings juggernaut, Dallas started off its run on fairly shaky footing. Its first season was produced as a 5-episode mini-series, and the lack of direction shows.  The first episode, Digger's Daughter, establishes the main characters, but not much else.  Bobby and Pamela are newlyweds, and have come home to Southfork ranch to live for good.  Why they choose to live there and embroil themselves in the Ewing miasma becomes a running joke for the podcast that never stops delivering.

So sit back, take off your spurs, loosen up your bolo tie, and listen to us rundown all 357 episodes of JR, Miss Ellie, Jacque, Sue Ellen, and the rest of the Dallas gang doing each other dirty--and, uh, just doing each other.  It's booze, broads, and booty all the way down!

Intro Music:

The Dallas Theme by the Dallas Symphony Orchestra (live at Royal Albert Hall)

Outro Music:

The Yellow Rose of Texas by Noyan and Noyan