Remember When

Home , Bobby Ewing, Cliff Barnes, Ewing (surname), Ewing family (Dallas), Jock Ewing, Kristin Shepard

Remember When . . .

The prime-time soap opera “Dallas” debuted on April 2nd, 1978. Soon, millions of Americans were obsessed with the show, following its twists and turns every Friday night. “

“Dallas” was set in the big-money world of the Texas oil industry. It focused on the families headed by two former best friends and business partners, Jock Ewing and Digger Barnes. The two had a falling out over a woman named Ellie Southworth, whom Jock married. This fight led to a long-running feud between the Ewing family and the Barnes family. This feud got worse when Bobby Ewing and Pamela Barnes fell in love and eloped.

Originally, Bobby and Pamela — played by Patrick Duffy and Victoria Principal — were supposed to be the main characters of “Dallas.” But viewers responded strongly to Bobby’s older brother J.R., portrayed by Larry Hagman. J.R. Ewing was a scheming, nasty, self-centered, and ambitious man. He was so good at backstabbing that he ended up feuding with just about everyone on the show, including his alcoholic wife Sue Ellen, played by Linda Gray. His three rules for business and life were: 1) Don’t forgive and never forget; 2) Do unto others before they do unto you; 3) Keep your eye on your friends, because your enemies will take care of themselves.

The Ewing family all lived at Southfork Ranch along with Jock, Ellie Southworth Ewing, always known as “Miss Ellie,” and their Copyright 2020 Knowledge Unlimited granddaughter Lucy Ewing. Miss Ellie wss played by Barbara Bel Geddes, except when she got sick and was replaced by Donna Reed for an entire season. “Dallas” got off to a good start in its first mini-season in 1978. But when the show returned in the fall, its popularity jumped sharply. The show’s producers started focusing the plot on the character of J.R. even more. By its third season, “Dallas” was one of the most popular TV shows in the U.S. — and, increasingly, the rest of the world.

But a twist at the end of that season brought the show to a whole new level. All year long, J.R. Ewing had been antagonizing characters like never before. He shut down his oilfields just to spite his longtime rival, Cliff Barnes. He started an affair with his sister-in-law Kristin and tried to put his wife in a sanitarium. He even drove his brother Bobby to move out of Southfork. So viewers shouldn’t have been surprised when someone shot J.R. in the stomach in the final scene of that season’s last episode — but they were.

The summer of 1980 was filled with speculation about “Who shot J.R.?” There were certainly a lot of suspects, and many people tried to solve the mystery using clues from the show. Even Queen Elizabeth II was eager to know who did it! The mystery wasn’t solved right away. J.R. was revealed to be alive in the first episode, but producers kept the world waiting for four episodes into the season before identifying the shooter on November 22nd. It turned out that J.R.’s sister-in-law, Kristin Shepard, played by Mary Crosby, was the person who shot him.

“Dallas” was one of the top two shows in the country for the next five years. There continued to be many twists and turns, to say the least. For example, the character of Bobby Ewing died after being hit by a car during season nine, but he returned for season ten. They explained that season nine was just a long dream by Bobby’s wife Pamela. Eventually, however, the show’s ratings dropped, and it was cancelled in 1989. There was a later reboot of the show, but that did not last very long.