In a family that was in constant turmoil and made an art form of being dysfunctional, how could any Ewing possibly be any worse than another? Gary Ewing, the middle son of Jock and Miss Ellie, seemed to be the one that lived up to this fate. Despised and bullied by his father and oldest brother, Gary never fit into the lifestyle of the rich and the oily. His mother and younger brother, Bobby, loved him and treated him with respect.

Gary Ewing had typical alcoholic addictions that plagued his family, causing him to suffer marital stress with his wife, Valene. They actually married 3 times in the Dallas series; their daughter Lucy was born when Gary was only 17. J.R. Ewing harassed Gary into drinking heavily and leaving his family, and then J.R. forced Valene to leave Southfork and go to Virginia. Somehow in all this mess, J.R. takes custody of Lucy and she proceeds to live at Southfork Ranch.

Gary Ewing returned to Texas to try and make things right with his daughter. For some time, he works in machinery equipment, but eventually this fails. Knowing that he needed to maintain his new-found sobriety from alcohol, Gary leaves Texas again. Before doing so, he marries Valene again and, as a wedding present, Miss Ellie buys them a house in California. This would lead to the Dallas series spin-off of Knot's Landing.

In the series finale of 1991, the dream sequence of J.R. has himself not being born and Gary inheriting the business of Ewing Oil from Jock. But he is lousy at being a businessman and Ewing Oil goes bankrupt. Jock commits suicide and Miss Ellie dies of a broken heart. Gary then becomes an attorney in California.