• Network: TNT
  • Series Premiere Date: Jun 13, 2012
  • Season #: 1 , 2
Metascore
62 out of 100

Generally favorable reviews - based on 30 Critics

Critic score distribution:
  1. Positive: 19 out of 30
  2. Negative: 3 out of 30
  1. Reviewed by: Tom Gliatto
    Jun 7, 2012
    88
    It's both old and new, a comfy piece of nostalgia that doubles as a fresh guilty pleasure. [18 Jun 2012, p.39]
  2. Reviewed by: Mark A. Perigard
    Jun 13, 2012
    83
    Cynthia Cidre's smart take on the prime-time soap (1978-1991) pays homage to the past while moving the battle to the next generation.
  3. Reviewed by: Verne Gay
    Jun 12, 2012
    83
    More of a continuation than a "remake," this one looks to be a winner.
  4. Reviewed by: Ed Bark
    Jun 12, 2012
    83
    TNT's brighter, shinier Dallas makes an impressively staged re-entrance Wednesday night.
  5. Reviewed by: Ken Tucker
    Jun 8, 2012
    83
    Overall, Dallas is a solidly constructed soap opera with strong dialogue and oily plot twists. [15 Jun 2012, p.72]
  6. Reviewed by: Brian Lowry
    Jun 8, 2012
    80
    TNT's take on the classic primetime serial is exactly as it should be: Texas-sized, frothy and unwilling to settle for a double-cross when a triple can be executed.
  7. Reviewed by: Dorothy Rabinowitz
    Jun 7, 2012
    80
    As the premiere episode nears its end, the plot begins thickening agreeably with so many secrets, dark revelations, shocks and betrayals it all begins to seem familiarly and comfortably absorbing.
  8. Reviewed by: Linda Stasi
    Jun 13, 2012
    75
    The new Dallas is more ridiculous, campier, more preposterous and so totally over the top that it's skirting insanity. And those are only a few of the reasons to love this show.
  9. Dallas is teeming with the soapy plots, delectable eye candy and bad blood we crave in our TV guilty pleasures. It also maintains the general tone of the original without devolving into camp.
  10. Reviewed by: Rick Porter
    Jun 15, 2012
    70
    The new Dallas isn't a game-changer, but it's a solidly built, easy-to-take soap that does right by its predecessor.
  11. Reviewed by: Troy Patterson
    Jun 13, 2012
    70
    Dallas may not always compel your attention, but it does a good job of telling you what you missed.
  12. Reviewed by: James Poniewozik
    Jun 13, 2012
    70
    Despite some flat performances, the show does a better job than I might have expected bringing a 20th-century broadcast-TV icon down to 21st-century cable size.
  13. Reviewed by: Matt Roush
    Jun 13, 2012
    70
    The show's predictably melodramatic rhythms and telegraphed twists will be like nectar to those still pining for this old-school style of skullduggery.
  14. Reviewed by: Robert Lloyd
    Jun 13, 2012
    70
    As redeveloped by Cynthia Cidre (the 2007 CBS prime-time soap "Cane"), it is very much its [the original "Dallas"] heir, in spirit and execution.
  15. All things considered, though, this is a show that is pretty firmly fixed on what it does best--serving up soapy, Texas-sized shenanigans and trying to mix in a little seasoning of real emotion along the way.
  16. Reviewed by: Hank Stuever
    Jun 7, 2012
    70
    Henderson gives a lunky, forgettable performance, coming nowhere near anyone's idea of a stronger, meaner version of J.R. Thanks to the rest of its ensemble, however, the new Dallas gains some traction and kicks up a little dust.
  17. Reviewed by: Daniel Goldberg
    Jun 18, 2012
    63
    The newer additions to the cast don't have much of a presence beyond their plot roles, yet somehow manage to occupy a majority of the screen time. As a result, the new Dallas acquires the brashness of an impostor laying claim to a vast family fortune.
  18. Reviewed by: Curt Wagner
    Jun 13, 2012
    63
    Some of the dialogue is groan-worthy, some plot turns totally predictable and some of the soapy silliness is just, well, silly. But J.R.'s Dallas is still a hoot.
  19. Reviewed by: Lori Rackl
    Jun 13, 2012
    63
    Dallas is full of implausibilities. So are a lot of soaps. But this one offers something the others don't: a nostalgic romp in a dysfunctional ranch that was a Friday night fixture on many a TV set.
  20. Reviewed by: David Hinckley
    Jun 13, 2012
    60
    Between old fans who will enjoy a revisit and young folks who never even heard of Miss Ellie, TNT is placing a sound bet.
  21. Reviewed by: Sarah Rodman
    Jun 12, 2012
    60
    The J.R. one-liners tend to satisfy, but everything else is boilerplate, which hampers the younger cast.
  22. Reviewed by: Alan Sepinwall
    Jun 12, 2012
    58
    Hagman--and to a lesser extent fellow returning stars Patrick Duffy and Linda Gray--are so much more fun to watch than their four new, young co-stars that the new Dallas plays less like a passing of the torch than a suggestion that torches were better back in the '80s.
  23. Reviewed by: Ellen Gray
    Jun 14, 2012
    50
    [Larry Hagman's eyebrows] are the most contemporary thing about the "new" Dallas, which otherwise looks and feels like a chunk of the '80s trapped in amber.
  24. Reviewed by: David Wiegand
    Jun 12, 2012
    50
    Except for Hagman, the performances are adequate without ever standing out, which may be one of the reasons it does take so long to care much about the younger Ewings.
  25. 40
    Thankfully, both Hagman and Duffy are still around and alert, and their presence holds this new, mostly disappointing Dallas together.
  26. Reviewed by: Glenn Garvin
    Jun 12, 2012
    40
    Like its ancestor, the new Dallas is self-consciously a trashfest, an endless cycle of betrayals, confrontations, reconciliations and re-betrayals.
  27. Reviewed by: Alessandra Stanley
    Jun 12, 2012
    40
    This version is palely faithful to the original without any of its seditious zest.
  28. Reviewed by: Robert Bianco
    Jun 12, 2012
    37
    You can find mummies who look fresher than this mold-encrusted relic, and who have newer ideas in their empty, embalmed heads.
  29. Reviewed by: Willa Paskin
    Jun 13, 2012
    30
    It's a straight down the line uninspired, dull, humorless soap opera that mimics the original without taking any of the interesting things from it.
  30. Reviewed by: Tim Goodman
    Jun 12, 2012
    10
    Dallas is terrible....The writing is brutal and obvious, the acting is comical, and none of it is bettered by the directing.
User Score

Generally favorable reviews- based on 60 Ratings

User score distribution:
  1. Positive: 15 out of 22
  2. Negative: 5 out of 22
  1. Based on the June 13 Dallas pilot, this is looking to be an excellent continuation of the series. Excellent balance of old and new cast. Look forward to Wednesday nights joining the Ewing family! Full Review »
  2. 9
    Just watched the two first episodes and so far so good!! It is very well acted, the plot is great too. I am hooked for now. Will see what the next episodes reserve us. Full Review »
  3. Basedupon the first 2 episodes it seems to be a pretty well done show. It had a lot of twists and turns I had come to expect from the original and can't wait to see the rest of the episodes this season. Full Review »