Millions tune in to find out who shot J.R.
On this day in 1980 350 million people around the world tune in to televisions popular primetime drama Dallas to find out who shot J.R.Ewing the character fans loved to hate.J.R.
had been shot on the season-ending episode the previous March 21 which now stands as one of televisions most famous cliffhangers.The plot twist inspired widespread media coverage and left America wondering Who shot J.R.for the next eight months.
The November 21 episode solved the mystery identifying Kristin Shepard J.R.s wifes sister and his former mistress as the culprit.The CBS television network debuted the first five-episode pilot season of Dallas in 1978 it went on to run for another 12 full-length seasons.The first show of its kind Dallas was dubbed a primetime soap opera for its serial plots and dramatic tales of moral excess.The show revolved around the relations of two Texas oil families the wealthy successful Ewing family and the perpetually down-on-their-luck Barnes family.
The families patriarchs Jock Ewing and Digger Barnes were former partners locked in a years-long feud over oil fields Barnes claimed had been stolen by Ewing.Ewings youngest son Bobby (Patrick Duffy) and Barnes daughter Pam (Victoria Principal) had married linking the battling clans even more closely.The character of J.R.
Ewing Bobbys oldest brother and a greedy conniving womanizing scoundrel was played by Larry Hagman.As J.R.had many enemies audiences were hard-pressed to guess who was responsible for his attempted murder.That summer the question Who Shot J.R.
entered the national lexicon becoming a popular t-shirt slogan and heightening anticipation of the soaps third season which was to air in the fall.After a much-talked-about contract dispute with Hagman was finally settled the season was delayed because of a Screen Actors Guild strike much to the dismay of Dallas fans.When it finally aired the episode revealing J.R.s shooter became one of televisions most watched shows with an audience of 83 million people in the U.S.
alonea full 76 percent of all U.S.televisions on that night were tuned inand helped put Dallas into greater worldwide circulation.It also popularized the use of the cliffhanger by television writers.The shooting of J.R.
wasnt Dallasonly notorious plot twist.In September 1986 fans learned that the entire previous season in which main character Bobby Ewing had died was merely a dream of Pams.The shows writers had killed the Bobby character off because Duffy had decided to leave the show.
When he agreed to return they featured him stepping out of the shower on the season-ending cliffhanger and then were forced the next season to explain his sudden reappearance.The last premiere episode of Dallas aired on May 3 1991.A spin-off Knots Landing aired from December 27 1979 until May 13 1993.Dallas remains in syndication around the world.
