Welcome to Southfork

'You never know with a television series,' said Larry Hagman. 'Either it catches on or it doesn't. It goes through a cycle.' And he knew what he was talking about. He's headlined three series in all: one hit, two flops.

'I never thought this show would go,' he adds. 'But now . . . well, it's gotten kinda hysterical!'

Back in 1978, DALLAS was described quite simply - and as about as quietly as it began on the box - as a series 'of dramatic feuds in the land of the big rich.'
The Dallas team insist the show has nothing to do with capitalism, big oil, rich v. poor, the abuse of power or any social issues at all., (They may be right; there's very (little sign, for instance, of the large Vietnamese population of Dallas in the show). It's just about emotions, say the production team. And as everything in Texas is always said to be larger, 'bigger, hugger, than life, so is Texas emotion.

Pretty downright miserable too when you come right down to it J.R is about the only member of the cast to be found smiling . . . and then usually because he's metaphorically stabbed yet another partner, lover, brother, or wife in the back. 'Dallas makes no demands on the system,' says its creator, David Jacobs. He's definitely right there!
David Jacobs is the fellow who dreamed up the Ewings and all that they've done to each other - and to themselves.
Abrasive folk, aren't they? Nothing's cozy and comfy about them. Jock and Miss Ellie, JR and Sue Ellen are far removed from Mr. and Mrs. Cunningham in Happy Days.
The Dallas's are rather more true to life, over dramatic certainly, but almost human and believable.

They're also just about the most despicable American family since Mario Puzo invented the Coreleones in The Godfather. They at least had no option. They were bom into the Mafia. The Ewings chose their path in life.
'Try something rich,' was the key expression.
Rich meant oil. And so, without ever going to Texas to research the place (a fact which most real~ Dallas citizens moan about, saying he's twisting the truth), Jacobs created the Ewings.
In fact, what he actuality did first was create Pamela Bames, 'this terribly good-looking, semi-trashy lady,' marrying into such a family, J.R. hardly got a smile in, at first. None of the Ewings did. Jacob's first idea was to follow young Pam's faltering steps into a rich, well-healed family nest, being greatly looked down upon and slowly, surely, winning their love and respect.
It was only when filling in the pieces - the background, the people owning and working the ranch - that things got out of hand - sensationally so. 'Then, I had to write a family,' said Jacobs. 'Before I had even got to a script, we had complicated things too much. We had created a ranch hand who brought her to the barbecue where she met Bobby. . .. . We had . decided that the family's father was once partners with her father . . and so on. There were soon just too many people in it to concentrate solely on her:'.
And so it came to pass - and there is something distinctly Biblical . . as well! as Shakespearean in this Ewing brood :Cain and Abel vs Romeo and Juliet - that Bobby . took his new young bride home on April 2, 1978 The Ewings hit the roof of Southfork . ...... and let battle commence.

Dallas was filmed both at Hollywood's MGM studios and on Texas locations in Dallas itself.
Southfork Ranch is really there right enough and owned by a Joe Rand Duncan , its now open for tourists and he sells a turf of land for $25.00.
"I don't know Texas" Admits Jacobs "i was working off the connections and Dallas sounded like pure Texas. I wrote the first draft off the top of my head. I was writing for the image and not really about the place"
What he can`t explain is why the Ewings, one of the richest families in all Dallas still live under the same roof.

Having aired in over 130 countries and people all across the world still tuning into the reruns with a whole new generation of viewers Dallas still goes on as the phenomena is was back in 1978.
Here's just a taste of the drama devices that ensued: insane asylums, car accidents, affairs, illegitimate children, gunfights, fistfights, catfights, lies, drinking problems (both real and imagined), poufy 80's hairstyles for the ladies and best of all, notorious season finale cliffhangers.
The most famous, of course, came at the end of the 1979-80 season, when a mysterious late-night intruder shot J.R. in the chest while he was toiling away at the office one night. The resulting "Who Shot J.R.?" publicity raced around the globe, because by that time, Dallas was an international hit in just about every developed country in the world.
Odds on the shooter's identity were figured, bets were placed, and theories were constructed – since there were about fifteen possible candidates, fans and pundits were kept very busy indeed. Don't read the next part of this sentence if you want to remain one of the few of-age humans who doesn't know whodunit…it was Kristin, J.R.'s scorned sister-in-law and recent romantic entanglement.

Dallas was conceived as a show that had plenty of sex and romance for the female audiences, and a lot of cowboy posturing and business intrigue for the male viewers. The formula worked, because by the early 1980's, it was one of the most popular shows in TV history. There were magazine covers galore, a spin-off named Knots Landing about Gary, the middle Ewing son who wasn't seen or heard from much during proceedings at Southfork, and prime-time serialization imitators like Dynasty and Falcon Crest.

So for the show that kicked off the nighttime drama trend that's status quo today, we tip those ten-gallon hats and breathe a secret sigh of relief that J.R. was just a fictional character who couldn't manipulate us in real life. Because let's be honest, that guy could have taken most of us down.
(We're not counting Betty here!)

That's our first "Stroll" of the New Year... Thank you all for your nice comments during the past year.

They were very much appreciated, but I sure would like to hear from more of you!!
Have a Happy New Year and I hope you'll continue to enjoy Strolling Down Memory Lane with Candy!

If you'd like to return to the Main Page, Just click below.

Thank You Pam for the TFF Animation!!

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