Dallas premiered on April 2, 1978, and the groundbreaking nighttime drama was destined to change the face of television.
What Is Dallas?
Dallas was initially a five-part miniseries on CBS.
Based loosely on Romeo and Juliet, the first episode begins with Bobby Ewing (Patrick Duffy) and Pamela Barnes (Victoria Principal) eloping without telling either one of their families.
The Ewing and Barnes families have been feuding bitterly over a massive fortune in oil for more than a generation, and the couple’s star-crossed romance — along with their families’ reactions to it — provided much of the initial dramatic tension for the show.
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They faced resistance and outright hostility from Pam’s brother, Cliff Barnes (Ken Kercheval); Bobby’s brother, J.R. Ewing (Larry Hagman); J.R.’s alcoholic, unfaithful wife, Sue Ellen (Linda Gray); Pam’s former flame, Ray (Steve Kanaly) and more.
Dallas became a cultural juggernaut, running for 14 seasons until it wrapped up in 1991.
As time went on, the fiendishly amoral J.R. Ewing became the breakout character on the show, fueled by former I Dream of Jeannie Hagman’s deliciously over-the-top performance.
In 1980, the show made television history with a season-ending cliffhanger that showed an unknown assailant shooting J.R.
“Who Shot J.R.?” became a cultural catchphrase, and the episode that revealed the shooter remains the second-highest-rated episode of television in U.S. history.
When Did Dallas End?
Dallas came to a close on May 3, 1991, with an episode titled Conundrum.
The show’s finale aired in two parts, and it featured J.R. getting his comeuppance after 14 seasons of his villainous ways finally come back to him.
Have There Been Any Dallas Reunions?
Hagman, Duffy, Gray and more reprised their most famous roles several times, including a 2012 reboot of Dallas for TNT.
Hagman died on Nov. 23, 2012, at the age of 81 after battling throat cancer. He was still playing J.R. Ewing at the time of his death.
PICTURES: See the Stars of ‘Dallas’ Then + Now
Dallas was more than just a television show; it was a cultural phenomenon. Scroll through the pictures below to see what the stars of Dallas look like today.
Gallery Credit: Sterling Whitaker
