Cancer Won’t Stop Larry Hagman

Larry Hagman will be undergoing treatment for a form of cancer that is “highly treatable” but he does not expect it to interfere with his plans to return as the inimitable J.R. Ewining on TNT’s upcoming Dallas reboot.

“As J.R. I could get away with anything — bribery, blackmail and adultery,” Hagman said in a statement. “But I got caught by cancer. I do want everyone to know that it is a very common and treatable form of cancer. I will be receiving treatment while working on the new Dallas series. I could not think of a better place to be than working on a show I love, with people I love. Besides, as we all know, you can’t keep J.R. down!”

The 80-year-old actor will be reporting for work on Monday, October 17, when production begins on the revived primetime soap. Hagman will be appearing in at least the first four episodes.

Also set to return to help out the next generation of Ewings and Barnes are Patrick Duffy, who played J.R.’s long-suffering brother, Bobby; Ken Kercheval, as the Ewings arch-enemy, Cliff Barnes; Linda Gray, as Sue Ellen Ewing, J.R.’s ex-wife, mother of John Ross Ewing, Jr., and Cliff’s ex-lover; Steve Kanaly as Ray Krebbs, who turned out to be a Ewing half-brother; and Charlene Tilton, as niece Lucy.

There’s even supposed to be a new love triangle between the Ewings and the Barnes: J.R.’s son John Ross (portrayed by Josh Henderson) and Bobby’s son Christopher (Jesse Metcalfe) fall in the love with the same gal Elena Ramos (Jordana Brewster). You have plenty of time to decide who you’ll be rooting for — the series is not scheduled to air until 2012.

Back in July, the Dallas Observer reported that the City Council was thrilled that the show will be filming there again:

The series is expected to have a significant financial impact on the city; create many jobs for crew, actors, extras and vendors; and increase tourism.

“The City of Dallas is very excited to once again have an iconic television series named after our City and pleased that we could assist in making Dallas not only the obvious location choice, but a good choice for the bottom line too,” Dallas Mayor Pro Tem Pauline Medrano said.