Death of an actor and the future of 'Dallas'

The death of Larry Hagman was not the first, nor will it be the last time, an actor dies during the ongoing production of a TV show or even a movie. And for the series Dallas, this is the second time it has happened. During the run of the original show, Jim Davis –who played the patriarch of the Ewing clan- died in April of 1981 while season three of the series was winding down. His death, sadly, was not a huge shock –he had been diagnosis with multiple myeloma and the subsequent chemotherapy required him to be seated and at times wearing a wig. The character was kept alive well into season four, before being killed off. His death never affected the ratings or the series ongoing arcs and it continued on for additional ten years.

When Nicholas Colasanto, who played Coach on Cheers, died in February of 1985 during the middle of that long-running series third season, the producers, faced with an emotional decision, kept the character alive through the remainder of that season by having him off doing things, and when it returned for season four, the series finally acknowledged the passing of Coach. On Hill Street Blues, actor Michael Conrad –who played Phil Esterhaus on the acclaimed series and who ended each roll call on the show with “Let’s be careful out there-" died in November of 1983. A few months later, in February 1984, the producers gave the character a memorable send-off. 

While some shows lost character actors and co-stars, a few have lost the main cast members that could affect the longevity of the series. One was the old ABC series Eight is Enough. Actress Diana Hyland played the mother of eight kids on the show and wife of Tom (Dick Van Patten). She only completed 4 episodes of the new series when she fell ill with breast cancer and died in March of 1977. The character was written out the show and when it returned for the second season, Tom was now a widower. But while her death was tragic, it happened early enough in the shows run to not affect its ratings. 

But then there are times when the death of the actor eventually doomed the series. One such was the CBS series Cover Up that starred Jennifer O’Neill and model-turned-actor Jon-Erik Hexum. On October 12, 1984, while joking between scenes, Hexum took a blank-loaded .44 Magnum and pointed it at his head and pulled the trigger. Despite being a prop gun with blanks, the wadding was fired with enough force to send skull fragments into Hexum’s brain, causing massive hemorrhaging. He was taken off life-support six days later. Australian actor Antony Hamilton was brought in to play another member of Harper’s team, stepping in while Harper was away on assignment. Hexum’s death, however, cloaked the adventure series with a pall, and show never found its footing. It was cancelled after one season. Same thing happened with Red Foxx, who returned to TV in 1991 in The Royal Family. During production on one episode, the actor collapsed on set and died of a massive heart attack. With seven episodes aired –to favorable ratings- the show eventually lost its footing despite a valiant effort and was cancelled after 15 episodes.

One the most recent deaths of a main actor on a series was John Ritter, who fell ill during the production of fourth episode of the second season of his hit show  8 Simple Rules For Dating My Daughter. Rushed to hospital, he died on September 11, 2003, as a result of an aortic dissection. Two months later, the series had his character die in a grocery store, supposedly of a heart ailment. Faced with the loss of a beloved actor, the series tried to keep going. But despite the adding of new characters, including veterans Suzanne Pleshette, James Garner and comedian David Spade, the ratings continued to slide, and eventually the show was cancelled after the third season in May, 2005.

How Hagman’s death will affect TNT’s version of Dallas is unknown. When the cable net announced the reboot back in 2011, there was no guarantee that anyone from the original series would even want to appear on this version. Sure they had hopes, but the creative teams behind this new take were also realists, and had a contingency plan for the series if Hagman (and others) did not want to appear. But after some negotiations, Hagman appeared as JR in all 10 episodes of the series’ first season.  While the second season is expected to expand to 15 episodes, at this time we don’t know how many episodes Hagman will appear in and how many he still had to film before his death. 

TNT will probably make announcement sometime next week about the fate of the show. I would guess that they’ll continue on as scheduled, though to help the production staff craft a goodbye episode (I don’t think he’ll be replaced), the season opener –scheduled for January 28^th- maybe be delayed. Still, they could begin as planned, as (sadly) Larry Hagman’s death will probably give the series a bump in ratings. Like any artist, I guess, death only makes them more popular and profitable. 

However, can and will the new Dallas survive the loss of Larry Hagman? While certainly not a main character, the success of the reboot can be pinned on his shoulders a bit because JR was one of the best bad guys everyone loved to hate ever created for TV. Will fans –both old and new- continue to watch the soap after its most famous villainous character, played by a very popular and beloved actor as well, is eventually written-out? Can the showrunners create a new super villain that does not replace JR Ewing, but make them at least likeable enough to keep the show running another season? Or will it suffer the fate of shows like 8 Simple Rules and Cover Up and slowly wither on the vine? 

That remains to be seen.