# What role is Larry Hagman best known for? **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Tags:** tv-shows-scripted\ **Created:** [April 7, 2025, 5:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-role-is-larry-hagman-best-known-for/1016749 "2025-04-07T17:15:52Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 8
**Author:** ![LSLGuy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lslguy/32/5813_2.png) [@LSLGuy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LSLGuy)\ **Post date:** [April 11, 2025, 2:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-role-is-larry-hagman-best-known-for/1016749/141 "2025-04-11T02:31:42Z")
Oooh, oooh! I like the cut of your jib, Mister! That is a great alternate reality. It’d have been a very different show and run up hard against the limitations of 1960s network TV. But I’d have watched the shit out of it. A modern remake using 2025 sensibilities might be a real hit. But yeah, Hagman had to have felt cornered by his Maj Nelson role as it really was, and would have hated himself doing your version of his role. ---
**Author:** ![The\_Other\_Waldo\_Pepper](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/the_other_waldo_pepper/32/12370_2.png) [@The\_Other\_Waldo\_Pepper](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Other_Waldo_Pepper)\ **Post date:** [April 11, 2025, 2:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-role-is-larry-hagman-best-known-for/1016749/142 "2025-04-11T02:36:49Z")
> [@LSLGuy](#): > > Which raises the question in my mind of what other actors might have done a different or better Major Nelson than Hagman? And how might the IDoJ overall plot and other players have been different? My first — and kind of lazy — thought is that Robert Culp could’ve done pretty much the same ‘Major Nelson’ schtick that Hagman did, but also could’ve added some end-of-episode warmth and wryness. Like, the _opposite_ of JR Ewing. ---
**Author:** ![Coriolanus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/coriolanus/32/18769_2.png) [@Coriolanus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Coriolanus)\ **Post date:** [April 15, 2025, 4:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-role-is-larry-hagman-best-known-for/1016749/143 "2025-04-15T16:12:59Z")
I loved IDoJ as a kid on reruns. It wasn’t as noticeable as recycled Bewitched episodes (there was a recent thread on that) yet I knew that there were only so many plots and of course as the show was off prime time then that it had a finite number of episodes - maybe just about the right number. I watched Dallas in it’s original run _because of Larry Hagman_ yet beyond him and Victoria Priincipal (his wife? Bobby’s wife?) there wasn’t much there there. To paraphrase Homer Simpson talking to a producer about the show-in-show “Poochie”: > Whenever J.R.'s not on screen, all the other characters should be asking, "where’s J.R.? So lost interest and decided I’d keep on not watching the show if they killed off JR (ISTR that was also a question - dunno if TV contracts leaked out in those days). Yet I really loved the IDoJ episode where Major Nelson would clearly tell Jeanie not to do something, yet she’d do it or something like it anyway. Hilarity would ensue - Dr. Bellows would almost find out (and often report it to the higher ups and look ever more foolish) but it was all good at the end. ---
**Author:** ![terentii](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/terentii/32/212_2.png) [@terentii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/terentii)\ **Post date:** [April 15, 2025, 6:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-role-is-larry-hagman-best-known-for/1016749/144 "2025-04-15T18:20:14Z")
> [@Coriolanus](#): > > > I watched Dallas in it’s original run _because of Larry Hagman_ yet beyond him and Victoria Priincipal (his wife? Bobby’s wife?) there wasn’t much there there. > > > Yet I really loved the IDoJ episode where Major Nelson would clearly tell Jeanie not to do something, yet she’d do it or something like it anyway. Hilarity would ensue - Dr. Bellows would almost find out (and often report it to the higher ups and look ever more foolish) but it was all good at the end. > Victoria was Pamela, Bobby’s wife. JR wanted her gone because she was the daughter of “Digger” Barnes and the sister of Cliff Barnes, two of the Ewings’ arch enemies. > You realize, of course, there’s no reason to watch _ **Jeannie** _ at all after this synopsis of virtually every episode ever aired? 🤨 ---
**Author:** ![LSLGuy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lslguy/32/5813_2.png) [@LSLGuy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LSLGuy)\ **Post date:** [April 15, 2025, 6:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-role-is-larry-hagman-best-known-for/1016749/145 "2025-04-15T18:48:30Z")
> [@terentii](#): > > You realize, of course, there’s no reason to watch _ **Jeannie** _ at all after this synopsis of virtually every episode ever aired? Barbara Eden. Cough cough. ---
**Author:** ![Coriolanus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/coriolanus/32/18769_2.png) [@Coriolanus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Coriolanus)\ **Post date:** [April 15, 2025, 7:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-role-is-larry-hagman-best-known-for/1016749/146 "2025-04-15T19:02:44Z")
**Dallas** **Special Guest Barbara Eden** The Lost Episode Filmed on Nitrate stock yet I know it happened. ---
**Author:** ![Kent\_Clark](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kent_clark/32/105_2.png) [@Kent\_Clark](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kent_Clark)\ **Post date:** [April 15, 2025, 9:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-role-is-larry-hagman-best-known-for/1016749/147 "2025-04-15T21:17:54Z")
> [@Coriolanus](#): > > Filmed on Nitrate stock yet I know it happened. As Le Ann De La Vega in [five episodes during Season 14](https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0001174/?ref_=nv_sr_srsg_0_tt_5_nm_3_in_0_q_barbara%2520eden)! ---
**Author:** ![Coriolanus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/coriolanus/32/18769_2.png) [@Coriolanus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Coriolanus)\ **Post date:** [April 15, 2025, 10:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-role-is-larry-hagman-best-known-for/1016749/148 "2025-04-15T22:27:36Z")
> [@Kent\_Clark](#): > > Le Ann De La Vega I was gone by the “Who shot JR” cliffhanger which cleverly made the show #1 in ratings for a while. Yet I was hoping for some kind of crossover with IDoJ yet if Sherwood Shwartz were still alive he’d want a piece of that action. Nitrate stock (film) would have gone on fire by now and I don’t think it was still in use past the 1930’s and almost certainly never in color (unless three (color) lenses were used). Most “lost episodes” were because the prouction companies themselves taped over some old TV show (what is a “rerun” and why should I pay money for a new videotape now?) and the recovered shows were often someone (at home? Somewhere?) who did record it. ---
**Author:** ![Kent\_Clark](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kent_clark/32/105_2.png) [@Kent\_Clark](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kent_Clark)\ **Post date:** [April 16, 2025, 12:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-role-is-larry-hagman-best-known-for/1016749/149 "2025-04-16T00:27:09Z")
> [@Coriolanus](#): > > I was gone by the “Who shot JR” cliffhanger which cleverly made the show #1 in ratings for a while. Pedantic nitpick. Dallas was already the #1 show before JR was shot. ---
**Author:** ![kenobi\_65](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kenobi_65/32/13178_2.png) [@kenobi\_65](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kenobi_65)\ **Post date:** [April 16, 2025, 12:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-role-is-larry-hagman-best-known-for/1016749/150 "2025-04-16T00:33:14Z")
> [@Kent\_Clark](#): > > Pedantic nitpick. Dallas was already the #1 show before JR was shot. True. However, the cliffhanger (which came in the season 3 finale, in March of 1980) led to an enormous amount of coverage and speculation in the media, and culture, over the next eight months. When the killer was finally revealed, eight months later, in the fourth episode of the next season, that episode became the highest-rated single TV episode (excluding Super Bowls) until that date; it’s still ranked #2, behind the final episode of _MASH_. ---
**Author:** ![Tzigone](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/839c29/32.png) [@Tzigone](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tzigone)\ **Post date:** [April 16, 2025, 1:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-role-is-larry-hagman-best-known-for/1016749/151 "2025-04-16T01:52:45Z")
> [@Elmer\_J.Fudd](#): > > Yeah. She was the groovy counterpart to the kinda square Samantha. That’s what I remembered, but I only recall two episodes with her (one where Tabitha was born and one where a guy she’d been flirting (I think) with at a party thought Samantha was her). The misunderstanding/misidentification caused problems, but Serena herself had no ill intent. I don’t think - it’s been a really long time, okay. Jeannie II was a baddie, though. But it’s entirely possible Serena was different in different episodes that I don’t recall or didn’t see. ---
**Author:** ![LSLGuy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lslguy/32/5813_2.png) [@LSLGuy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LSLGuy)\ **Post date:** [April 16, 2025, 3:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-role-is-larry-hagman-best-known-for/1016749/152 "2025-04-16T15:11:51Z")
> [@kenobi\_65](#): > > s amount of coverage and speculation in the media, and culture, over the next eight months. When the killer was finally revealed, eight months later, in the fourth episode of the next season, that episode became the highest-rated single TV episode (excluding Super Bowls) until that date; it’s still ranked #2, behind the final episode of _MASH_. Given the direction video entertainment has gone since, with massive proliferation of content and no real schedule, it’s a decent bet those two episodes will hold those spots in the record for however long we’re still keeping track of records. ---
**Author:** ![What\_Exit](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/what_exit/32/10652_2.png) [@What\_Exit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/What_Exit)\ **Post date:** [April 16, 2025, 3:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-role-is-larry-hagman-best-known-for/1016749/153 "2025-04-16T15:19:13Z")
Very much accurate as no scripted show in over 25 years has come close. > **[List of most watched television broadcasts in the United States | Excluding Super Bowls](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_most_watched_television_broadcasts_in_the_United_States#Excluding_Super_Bowls)** > > The highest-rated broadcast of all time is the final episode of M\*A\*S\*H in 1983, with 60.2% of all households with television sets in the United States at that time watching the episode. Aside from Super Bowls, the most recent broadcast to receive a rating above 40 was the Seinfeld finale in 1998, with a 41.3. > Nielsen only began recording a list of ratings for individual broadcasts starting in July 1960, therefore ratings before that time are not included in their official count. | Rank | Broadcast | Average viewers | Date | Network | | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | | | | (millions) | | | | 1 | **MASH** (Goodbye, Farewell and Amen) | 106.0[11] | 28-Feb-83 | CBS | | 2 | Gulf War coverage | 85.6[7] | 16-Jan-91 | Multiple | | 3 | First Clinton–Trump presidential debate | 84.0[12] | 26-Sep-16 | Multiple | | 4 | **Dallas** (Who Done It) | 83.6[11] | 21-Nov-80 | CBS | | 5 | Carter–Reagan presidential debate | 80.6[12] | 28-Oct-80 | Multiple | | 6 | **Cheers** (One for the Road) | 80.5[11] | 20-May-93 | NBC | | 7 | 1994 Winter Olympics – Ladies’ singles figure skating | 78.8[13] | 23-Feb-94 | CBS | | 8 | **The Day After** | 77.4[11] | 20-Nov-83 | ABC | | 9 | **Roots** (Part VIII) | 76.7[11] | 30-Jan-77 | ABC | | 10 | **Seinfeld** (The Finale) | 76.3[11] | 14-May-98 | NBC | I bolded the scripted TV-Shows ---
**Author:** ![Kent\_Clark](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kent_clark/32/105_2.png) [@Kent\_Clark](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kent_Clark)\ **Post date:** [April 16, 2025, 3:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-role-is-larry-hagman-best-known-for/1016749/154 "2025-04-16T15:30:21Z")
> [@Tzigone](#): > > But it’s entirely possible Serena was different in different episodes that I don’t recall or didn’t see. ISTR an episode where Serena disguised herself as Samantha to trick Darren. But it was a prank Darren saw through immediately, not some evil scheme. The Dick Van Dyke Show pulled essentially the same stunt, with Rob pretending to be a mysterious Italian stranger who flirts with Laura over the phone. Of course Laura knows it’s Rob and flirts right back to teach him a lesson. And that’s the closest sitcoms from the 1960s ever came to the issue of cheating on one’s spouse. ---
**Author:** ![Coriolanus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/coriolanus/32/18769_2.png) [@Coriolanus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Coriolanus)\ **Post date:** [April 16, 2025, 4:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-role-is-larry-hagman-best-known-for/1016749/155 "2025-04-16T16:16:23Z")
> [@Kent\_Clark](#): > > Pedantic nitpick. Dallas was already the #1 show before JR was shot. My cite for Dallas in 6th place in 1978 was wiki, which says the show was ranked 42, 40 (those would be cancellation-likely rankings now) and 6th respectively for the first three seasons that ended with JR being shot in March. Followed by 5 seasons no lower than 1st or 2nd, then in in 85-86 was back in 6th and a falling knife in ratings till cancelled (at 61st place!) in 1991. Before then, Laverne & Shirley had consecutive #1’s. Incidentally, only CBS and ABC had any shows in the latter 1970’s in the top 10. NBC wouldn’t break the top 10 till Family Ties in 1982 with Michael J. Fox sans Delorean. Cheers was in its first year ranked 74th (!) and somehow made it without anyone shooting Diane. NBC’s first #1 ranked show in the 1980s: The Cosby Show in 1984 ETA: cites for shows other than Dallas was Nielsen themselves ---
**Author:** ![Just\_Asking\_Questions](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/ba9def/32.png) [@Just\_Asking\_Questions](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Just_Asking_Questions)\ **Post date:** [April 16, 2025, 7:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-role-is-larry-hagman-best-known-for/1016749/156 "2025-04-16T19:38:43Z")
> [@Tzigone](#): > > But it’s entirely possible Serena was different in different episodes that I don’t recall or didn’t see. Before this thread, I would have sworn Serena was always trying to steal Derwood away, or turn him into a toad, or trap him in medieval times, or something. Fascinating how memory is. ---
**Author:** ![themapleleaf](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/themapleleaf/32/14349_2.png) [@themapleleaf](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/themapleleaf)\ **Post date:** [April 16, 2025, 7:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-role-is-larry-hagman-best-known-for/1016749/157 "2025-04-16T19:44:18Z")
I picked JR, as this seems to be the case across the board. For me, though, I associate him first and foremost with Major Nelson from _Jeannie_. ---
**Author:** ![The\_Other\_Waldo\_Pepper](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/the_other_waldo_pepper/32/12370_2.png) [@The\_Other\_Waldo\_Pepper](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Other_Waldo_Pepper)\ **Post date:** [April 16, 2025, 9:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-role-is-larry-hagman-best-known-for/1016749/158 "2025-04-16T21:08:42Z")
For me, likewise — as I’ve watched any number of JEANNIE episodes, as opposed to zero DALLAS episodes. ---
**Author:** ![burpo\_the\_wonder\_mutt](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/burpo_the_wonder_mutt/32/365_2.png) [@burpo\_the\_wonder\_mutt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/burpo_the_wonder_mutt)\ **Post date:** [April 16, 2025, 11:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-role-is-larry-hagman-best-known-for/1016749/159 "2025-04-16T23:41:56Z")
You should all thank your lucky stars they didn’t put Burl Ives in the Jeannie part like in the movie. ---
**Author:** ![What\_Exit](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/what_exit/32/10652_2.png) [@What\_Exit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/What_Exit)\ **Post date:** [April 16, 2025, 11:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-role-is-larry-hagman-best-known-for/1016749/160 "2025-04-16T23:44:29Z")
Is that the movie with Tony Randall and Barbara Eden? [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-role-is-larry-hagman-best-known-for/1016749.md?page=7) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-role-is-larry-hagman-best-known-for/1016749.md?page=9)