Loraine Despres has written for such beloved TV series asDynasty,CHiPs,The Love Boat, andKnots Landing.
otherwise known as the “Who shot J.R.?”
ENTERTAINMENT WEEKLY: I think in some waysYellowstonefeels really similar to whatDallaswas doing in the ’80s.
Credit: Danno Neil/Paramount Network; Everett Collection
What were your first impressions of the show?
LORAINE DESPRES:I thought the production values inYellowstonewere spectacular.
I mean, it’s like a feature film.
And of course, inDallas, they didn’t have that kind of money.
Nobody could have made a television show like that back then.
I don’t think you were even born back then.
So, would you want to hear what I think was different about them?
Or should we talk about what’s the same first?
Let’s go with first one.
First,Larry Hagman[who played J.R.] was a comedian.
And the show actually had a lot of humor in it.
For example, the ladies ofDallas, they were all members of the Daughters of the Alamo.
So the producers thought it would be hilarious because ofDOA.
WithYellowstone, there’s some comedy, but it’s very separate from the family.
Back duringDallas, we had the two ways of doing a nighttime soap opera: One way was theDyanstyway.
I mean, the pilot episode was about cattle and land rights and the oil crisis.
Water rights, timber politics [too].
Whereas withDallas, we were a Romeo and Juliet story.
It was a “What if a Capulet came home to live with the Montagues?”
What did you think of theYellowstonefinale?
She was an alcoholic.
That was J.R.’s wife.
That was the finale.
And the producers thought, “Well, what will we do?”
Again, these are very funny guys.
They just said one day, “I know, let’s shoot J.R.!
“Dallaswas on a Friday night, and people would haveDallasparties.
They would stay home to watch it.
The following Monday, the phones were ringing off the hook.
They were just shocked and delighted, of course, with the publicity because they didn’t expect it.
When they decided to shoot Larry Hagman, it was a big deal.
He looked like he may be dead.
Of course, he wasn’t dead because he’s a big star.
So you’re saying…
With Costner inYellowstone, yes.
I saw the episode a couple of nights ago.
He’s shot, and then he pulls out the cell phone.
As a viewer, didn’t you think that?
Maybe this their own twist on the classic twist.
I also wanted to ask you about the gender disparity of TV writers' rooms at the time.
What do you remember from that era?
There were a lot of the shows that were proud they didn’t have any women writers.
They were considered soft.
Like a cop show.
I remember I was at the Writers Guild for a candidate’s night.
I said, “Well, that’s, that’s fabulous.”
It turns out she was a partner with her husband.
When I came out here, I would meet women in the business.
I did know a comedy writer who had written a lot, and her husband was a producer.
He would be the producer-writer on her show.
But, here’s the thing, he didn’t write if she wasn’t there.
He just wasn’t there.
