At last week’s red carpet Dallas first episode premiere in Houston, stars Josh Henderson and Dallas royalty Linda Gray answered questions from the audience after the screening. No, I did not ask them any embarrassing questions like “what color is your underwear” or “will you sign my bra?” But my friend and I did joke a little about asking Josh if he wanted to grab a drink after his interview. Just to be hospitable to a guest in our city of course ;-)

This season J.R. Ewing (Larry Hagman) is back but John Ross (Josh Henderson) is ready to give his Daddy a run for his money and Sue Ellen (Linda Gray) has changed a lot since you last saw her. Will she be her son’s enemy or ally?

Here are 5 things I learned about Dallas on TNT from Josh Henderson and Linda Gray

Photo courtesy of TNT

1. Josh is actually from Dallas, TX and is long time friends with his co-star Jesse Metcalfe. They enjoy playing basketball and golf together and have a friendly competitive relationship both on and off the set. Both Josh and Jesse had roles in the television drama Desperate Housewives. While of course I remembered Jesse as the infamous gardener that had an affair with Gabrielle Solis, I didn’t remember Josh and was surprised to learn he appeared in 15 episodes.
2. Josh was offered the opportunity to read for both the role of John Ross Ewing or Christopher Ewing but chose to read for John Ross because he really wanted to play J.R. Ewing’s son. At only 31 Josh didn’t watch the original series but said it was his MeeMaw’s favorite program and she would hush him whenever the program was on. Throughout his chat he was so genuine and humble and described working with Larry Hagman and Linda Gray as both surreal and an honor. Josh kept reminding us, “please don’t hate me” I’m not really a bad boy and if you keep watching I think you’ll see another side of me. (Ladies, speaking of sides there will be shirtless scenes with Josh!)
3. When TNT producers approached Gray, Hagman and Duffy almost 2 years ago about the new Dallas series, they were initially concerned but after reading the script they were excited. Well, Hagman didn’t actually read the script, Linda Gray called him and said let’s do this! Gray says none of the three stars would have signed on without the others. They’ve all become close friends and this time around they’re living in condos in Dallas and immersing themselves in the local area.
4. TNT brought in people to teach Gray, Hagman and Duffy how to use Facebook and Twitter. Linda does her own tweeting for her personal account but says she doesn’t use it very often because no one wants to read that she’s at Starbucks. You can find Linda on Twitter @Linda_Gray and Josh is @JoshHenderson. Linda says she’s still learning how to use Twitter and gets a lot of help from Josh. Larry and Patrick both have people that Tweet for them. You can find all of the Twitter handles for J.R., Bobby, Sue Ellen, John Ross, etc. on the Dallas TNT site.
5. While the original Dallas series was primarily filmed on sound stages in Los Angeles the Dallas TNT series is 100% filmed at Southfork in Dallas! This brought cheers and major applause from everyone in the audience. For those of you that don’t live in Houston or Dallas, you may not know these two cities see themselves as rivals of sorts and so it’s a big deal for Houstonians to applaud Dallas. I’m not a Houston native so I don’t completely understand the rivalry. But one thing’s for sure Texans support Texas and so its exciting to learn that the series will be filmed on Texas soil! Linda Gray said she felt filming at Southfork added to the charm of the series and also some authenticity.

If you live in Dallas, well then keep your eyes open you just may run into one of the stars from Dallas in your favorite restaurant, bar or store. And if you don’t live in Dallas, then be sure and tune in tonight and on Wednesday nights for all of the backstabbing at Southfork on TNT. The 2 hour Dallas season premiere airs tonight at 9/8PM CST on TNT.

Thank you to TNT for allowing me the opportunity to attend this interview.