Who Shot JR? 33 years ago today..

WhoShotJRIn 1980, I was a) living in Australia and b) didn’t have access to commercial television, but even *I* heard about the fuss over who tried to do ol’ JR in.

The Who Shot J.R.? episode of the television evening soap Dallas was seen by more U.S. viewers than any other television program in history. This first show of the new season was watched by more than half the nation.  That beats out even the finale of M.A.S.H., which had held the record until then (it’s said that the electric and water companies could tell when the commercial breaks ran during the M.A.S.H. finale, because there was a surge in power and water usage.)

I’ve seen about half an episode of Dallas — it was the one when Pamela woke up and found the last 2.5 seasons were all a dream, and Bobby was alive and in her shower.  That kinda finished any passing interest I had in watching the show.

I mean…really?  They couldn’t come up with something better that she dreamed it all?  It was a soap — they could have had him living down in Rio after faking his death, or off doing espionage — either of those aren’t nearly as reality-fracturing as Pamela dreaming it all.

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