Smallscreen News

Patrick Duffy Never Expected ‘Dallas’ To Return

By Ian Cullen Jul 27, 2011, 15:09 GMT

04/12/2010 - Patrick Duffy - 2nd Annual Streamy Awards - Arrivals - The Orpheum Theatre - Los Angeles, CA, USA © Keadrick D. Washington / PR Photos

Patrick Duffy, who was a mainstay of the original run of the hit soap opera ‘Dallas’ and even appeared in the TV revival movies in the 1990s, has admitted that he never expected the series to return to television.

As readers here will know, TNT is bringing a new series remake of the hit drama in 2012, which will see both Larry Hagman and Patrick Dufffy return as the ideologically opposed Ewing Brothers, but in the new series both Hagman and Duffy will be more on the perephery while their respective sons run the business.

Bobby’s son Christopher is much like his father in that he is looking to do business in an honest way and he is more interested in renewable energy as the future solution to the worlds energy supply.

Whereas JR's Son John Ross is more like his father insofar as he will do just about anything to win, regardless of the consequences.

In a recent interview Duffy told TV Series Finale: "I actually did not think I would be playing Bobby Ewing again. And over the years, more and more, I thought I'd never do it again. Over the years, scripts were presented and people would say, 'Aw, we should do this again'. A script would be written and we would look at it and it would be atrocious."

Yet despite his surprise he added that bringing him and other surviving cast members back from the original run of Dallas is an essential ingredient for a revival of the show.

"[The producers are] smart enough to realise that what made Dallas successful, among many other things, was the fact that it's a family drama," he explained. "You don't need a ton of outside characters all the time. You don't need... the weekly villain or the weekly good guy, or the love interest. It's all about family."

Duffy also revealed that the show pretty much picks up from where it left off 20 years ago with him as the patriarch of the family.

"He's matured 20 years since we saw him," said the actor. "And that's the reality. We've all matured 20 years since last you saw us, and we just take up the family drama 20 years later."

The new series of Dallas will also see Linda Gray, Charlene Tilton and Steve Kanaly reprise their roles from the original run of the series. 

Dallas Trivia: Steve Kanaly was originally cast as Bobby Ewing, but wound up playing Bobby’s illegitimate Brother Ray Krebbs when Patrick Duffy won the role.

Dallas will premiere on TNT in the summer of 2012.