Dallas (television series)
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Dallas was a long-running primetime television soap opera about a wealthy Texas oil family. It aired on the CBS network from April 2, 1978, to May 3, 1991.
The series is probably best-known for the central character of J.R. Ewing, the vain, greedy, scheming, crass oil baron played by Larry Hagman for the show's entire run.
It is also known for three famous episodes that made TV history:
- "A House Divided" and "Who Done It?" - The 1979-1980 season ended with the show's anti-hero, J.R. Ewing, being shot (in the episode "A House Divided"). Viewers had to wait all summer (and most of the fall due to a Hollywood actor's strike) to learn whether J.R. would survive, and which of his many enemies was responsible. "Who Done It?" aired on November 7, 1980. It was one of the highest-rated episodes of a TV show ever aired. The great success of this stunt helped usher in the practice of ending a television season with a big cliffhanger. This entered into United States popular culture, with t-shirts printed with such references as "Who Shot J.R.?" and "I Shot J.R.!" being common over the summer.
- "Blast From The Past" - One of the show's stars, Patrick Duffy, left the program in the spring of 1985. His character, Bobby, was plowed down by a car and died, on camera, on May 17, 1985. When Duffy agreed to return to the show in 1986, producers ended the 1985-1986 season, on May 16, 1986 with a shot of Duffy emerging from a shower. Fans had to wait until September 26 to learn how the writers would explain Duffy's return. Most were disappointed with the solution: Bobby's ex-wife, Pam, had dreamt the entire previous season, including Bobby's death. This caused a conflict elsewhere, as references to Bobby's death were made in the spin-off TV show Knots Landing. After this, Dallas and Knots Landing effectively cut ties as they now took place in different universes!
Exterior locations were shot at the Southfork Ranch, which is now a tourist attraction and a convention center. It is located in Plano, a suburb north of Dallas. Many of the show's exteriors, including shots of each protagonist's respective skyscraper offices, were also shot in the Dallas area. The majority of the series' dramatic action was filmed in California.
A spin-off series, Knots Landing, ran from 1979 to 1993.
The television series was one of the first to be distributed globally. Dallas was eventually translated and dubbed into 90 languages.
The communist government of Romania ran episodes of Dallas in the 1980s hoping that it would convince people that capitalism was corrupt and decadent. Instead it sowed discontent with the communist system, as viewers looked past the characters to the portrayal of American lifestyles. Soon after the government fell, a Romanian businessman created a Dallas-themed attraction complete with a replica of the Southfork Ranch, to celebrate the show's role in bringing down communism.
Characters
| U.S. soap operas |
| Currently on the air: |
| All My Children |
| As the World Turns |
| The Bold and the Beautiful |
| Days of Our Lives |
| General Hospital |
| Guiding Light |
| One Life to Live |
| Passions |
| The Young and the Restless |
| Important cancelled soaps: |
| Port Charles (cancelled 2003) |
| Sunset Beach (1999) |
| Another World (1999) |
| The City (1997) |
| Loving (1995) |
| Santa Barbara (1993) |
| Dallas (1991) |
| Generations (1991) |
| Dynasty (1989) |
| Ryan's Hope (1989) |
| Capitol (1987) |
| Search for Tomorrow (1986) |
| The Edge of Night (1984) |
| The Doctors (1982) |
| Love of Life (1980) |
| The Secret Storm (1974) |
| Love is a Many Splendored Thing (1973) |
| Dark Shadows (1971) |
| Peyton Place (1969) |
- Eleanor Southworth "Miss Ellie" Ewing Farlow, played by Barbara Bel Geddes (1978-1984; 1985-1990) (and by Donna Reed in 1984-1985)
- John Ross (Jock) Ewing, Senior, played by Jim Davis (1978-1981)
- Bobby James Ewing, played by Patrick Duffy (1978-1985; 1986-1991)
- Michelle Stevens Barnes, played by Kimberly Foster (1989-1991)
- Sue Ellen Shepard Ewing Ewing Lockwood, played by Linda Gray (1978-1989)
- John Ross (J.R.) Ewing, Junior, played by Larry Hagman (1978-1991)
- Donna McCullum Culver Krebbs Dowling, played by Susan Howard (1979-1987)
- Raymond Krebbs, played by Steve Kanaly (1978-1988)
- Clayton Farlow, played by Howard Keel (1981-1991)
- Carter McKay, played by George Kennedy (1988-1991)
- Clifford Barnes, played by Ken Kercheval (1978-1991)
- James Richard Beaumont, played by Sasha Mitchell (1989-1991)
- Calpernia (Cally) Harper Ewing, played by Cathy Podewell (1988-1991)
- Jenna Wade Marchetta Marchetta Krebbs, played by Priscilla Presley (1983-1988)
- Pamela Jean Barnes Haynes Ewing Ewing, played by Victoria Principal (1978-1987)
- Jack Ewing, played by Dack Rambo (1985-1987)
- Lucy Ann Ewing Cooper Cooper, played by Charlene Tilton (1978-1985; 1988-1990)
- April Stevens Ewing Ewing, played by Sheree J. Wilson (1986-1991)
External link
de:Dallas (Serie)
fr:Dallas (feuilleton télévisé)
