|
She said this season she tried to use Hagman sparingly. "He was the most delightful man and a total professional," she said, "but he wasn't well and we didn't want to overtax him." Now, with his passing, "we want to give J.R., and Larry, the proper send-off." But she insisted there had been no contingency plan for how to plot J.R.'s demise in the event Hagman died in midseason. "We didn't have a Plan B, on purpose," said Cidre. "We just knew that we had Larry, so let's use him, let's enjoy him, and if something happens, we'll scramble and fix it. I had great faith in the writers' room. We knew the day might come and what we would do then: Figure it out." That day came in late November when she got a call from Duffy. "He told me,
'Larry's in the hospital and it isn't good. He's saying goodbye.' In 24 hours we had fixed one of the scripts. We had two more scripts that had to be adjusted, and then this episode we're shooting now, the Goodbye Episode." Roughly 85 percent of the season's storyline remains intact, she said, supplemented by the death of J.R. and the "Who Killed J.R.?" mystery surrounding it. "The mystery has all the machinations of a great J.R. business deal, as opposed to a whodunit," said Duffy. "Cynthia constructed a really interesting plot, of which I know Bobby's portion"
-- including whodunit -- "but I don't know other stuff." "We all know, up to a point," Gray said. "But they've got secret pages that we've not seen." "I hope that we have come up with something really wonderful and enticing," said Cidre,
"and by the time you're done watching episode 208, which I call the Funeral
Episode, I hope you're saying, 'Omigod, I didn't see that coming, and I can't wait to watch the rest of the season.'" The mystery, she said, will continue through episode 15, "with a giant, delightful, delicious climax in the season finale." To get there, shooting continues until April on the Dallas set, where, even two months after Hagman's passing, "I'm lonely because my best friend isn't there to play with," Duffy said. "I was with him from 1978 until his final hours in the hospital. But I have no regrets. Every day I think of him and smile." "I keep expecting him to walk in the door," Gray said. "He's so missed. But his presence is everywhere!" ___ Online:
[Associated
Press;
Copyright 2013 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.
News | Sports | Business | Rural Review | Teaching & Learning | Home and Family | Tourism | Obituaries
Community |
Perspectives
|
Law & Courts |
Leisure Time
|
Spiritual Life |
Health & Fitness |
Teen Scene
Calendar
|
Letters to the Editor