TNT’s ‘Dallas’ star Larry Hagman dies; how will this impact season 2?

There’s some sad news coming out now courtesy of multiple reports: Larry Hagman, the legendary actor best known for playing the role of J.R. Ewing on the drama series “Dallas,” passed away on Friday after a lengthy battle with cancer. He was 81 years old, and was still working regularly on the TNT continuation of the classic show.

In a statement, the network expressed their condolences by describing Hagman as “a wonderful human being and an extremely gifted actor. We will be forever thankful that a whole new generation of people got to know and appreciate Larry through his performance as J.R. Ewing. Our thoughts and prayers are with his family at this very difficult time.”

Hagman was at one point in doubt as a cast member of the new series, having gone through lengthy contract negotiations before finally agreeing to reprise his role. In addition to that, there were suspicions that his initial cancer diagnosis was going to keep him from appearing in more than just a few episodes of last season. (Instead, he ended up appearing in all of them.)

So where does the series itself go from here? Season 2 production was underway prior to the Thanksgiving holiday, and Hagman is believed to have filmed appearances in several episodes. The challenge for the writers now is going to be trying to find a fitting way to end J.R.’s time on the show. In all likelihood, they will probably kill off the character, and hopefully give some sort of fitting tribute to one of the most iconic members of their entire cast.

Our thoughts are with Hagman’s friends and family in this difficult time, and we wish nothing but the best for the “Dallas” crew as they work to formulate their attack plan now for the remainder of the series.