That’s what a lifetime of living in New England will do; my Yankee brain assumes all southerners are interchangeable. I imagine the reverse is also true.
I’m referring to the original prime time drama that aired on CBS from 1978 to 1991, not the 2010 reboot that you also don’t know about. To recreate my experience, click below and play on a loop for about forty-five minutes.
Dallas was a mega-hit in part because there were only a handful of television channels back then, so there were limited viewing options. My grandma, Emma, was a fan who never missed an episode. By the 1980’s, she was already at an age where Friday nights were for sitting comfortably at home to watch TV or think about her favorite grandson.
The show centered around the powerful Ewing family, owners of the Ewing Oil Company who lived in Nashville. Just kidding—they lived in Dallas. The breakout character was the unscrupulous and loathsome J.R. Ewing who was always double-crossing or generally ruining the lives of the other characters. Viewers loved him.
Dallas is remembered for a season-ending cliff hanger where J.R. is shot while overworking late one night at his office. Only a gun is seen in the shadows and the show kept fans in suspense for much of 1980 with a long list of suspects. The episode spawned a media frenzy with everyone asking, “Who shot J.R.?” I’ll just tell you that the person who shot J.R. was his former mistress, Kristin something-or-other. There, I just saved you a Google.
However, this post is not supposed to be about Dallas the show but about Nashville! So let me redirect your attention to the brilliant The Simpsons episodes that paid homage to Dallas with their own Who shot Mr. Burns storyline. The episodes aired in 1995 as the S6 finale and S7 premiere respectively. I was fifteen at the time and had all the patience of a fifteen year-old so I remember being overly invested in the resolution which was amusingly straightforward.
I will NOT tell you who shot Mr. Burns because this blog only concerns itself, in part, with spoiling 80’s television dramas. No, I won’t tell you because it’s worth your time to watch the episodes and find out for yourself!
Also, Nashville was great!