The boys are back
“Dallas” will begin its third season on Monday, February 24, at 9 p.m., TV Guide reported today. The series will telecast eight episodes and then take a midseason break before resuming in the summer. Altogether, the season will consist of 15 hours.
“Dallas,” which will start its third season more than 10 months after its second-season finale, will be part of TNT’s aggressive push to capture more viewers during the winter months. The cable channel will pair “Dallas” with the new reality show “The Private Lives of Nashville Wives,” which will be shown Monday nights at 10, beginning February 24. TNT is also bringing back two of its top-rated summertime crime dramas, “Rizzoli & Isles” and “Perception,” for a four-week run on Tuesday nights, beginning February 25.
Wisely, TNT is saving this programming slate until after the Winter Olympics. NBC will broadcast the games from Sochi, Russia, beginning Friday, February 7. The closing ceremonies are slated for Sunday, February 23.
Of course, even though “Dallas” will get a pass from the Olympics, the show will still have its work cut out for it. Its Monday competition will include NBC’s “The Voice,” ABC’s “Dancing with the Stars,” Fox’s “The Following” and two CBS sitcoms, “Mike & Molly” and “Mom.”
“Dallas” averaged 2.7 million viewers on Monday nights during Season 2, although the audience climbed to 3.8 million when DVR users who record the show and watch it within seven days were counted. The audience included 1.6 million adults between ages 25 and 54, a demographic that TNT targets, and 1.4 million adults between 18 and 49, another group advertisers pay a premium to reach.
This will be the first time “Dallas” will start a new season without Larry Hagman, who died last year during production of Season 2 and whose famous character J.R. Ewing was laid to rest in the instant-classic “J.R.’s Masterpiece” episode. The show plans to keep J.R.’s memory alive while also continuing to focus on the Ewings’ next generation, led by cousins John Ross and Christopher (Josh Henderson, Jesse Metcalfe).
Producers are otherwise keeping a tight lid on the new season’s storylines, although a handful of clues and revealing tweets have surfaced since production began last month. TNT has also announced two new characters for Season 3: Nicolas, a billionaire played by new regular Juan Pablo Di Pace, and Southfork ranch hand Heather, who’ll be played by guest star AnnaLynne McCord in a multi-episode arc.
Other Season 3 guest stars are slated to include Cliff Barnes (Ken Kercheval) and Judith Ryland (Judith Light), as well as three fan favorites who’ll appear in a special wedding-themed episode: Ray Krebbs (Steve Kanaly), Lucy Ewing (Charlene Tilton) and Afton Cooper (Audrey Landers).
