I bet you thought you knew just about everything about me at this point, but there’s one more obsession I’ve kept to myself until now: the long-running prime-time soap opera “Dallas.”
I was too young to really watch much in its heyday (late ’70s, early ’80s), although I clearly remember gathering around the TV set with the rest of the world to find out Who Shot J.R.
Last summer I found the DVDs at my local library and got totally sucked into the soap. I couldn’t. Stop. Watching.
Family members began to grow concerned about me because I was staying up too late at night to watch “just one more episode.” I may have begun to mention the Ewings in a few too many conversations and e-mails.
November 8, 2008, marks the 30th anniversary of the show’s premiere, so the cast is gathering at the Southfork Ranch for a reunion. (The actual ranch was built just a few years before “Dallas” began. Interior scenes were shot on a soundstage.)
The reunion is open to obsessed fans the public, and tickets will cost between $100 and $1,000. Those willing to cough up $1,000 are invited to a cocktail hour with J.R., Pamela, Bobby, and Sue Ellen inside the Ewing mansion! Can you imagine?
For $100, you get to take a tour of Southfork and sit in on a Q&A session with the cast. (Click here for more ticket information.)
Here’s a view of the Southfork pool where so many scenes were filmed.
The family often had breakfast out on the covered patio (below, taken by tourist Jeff Bailey), and when I was little I remember thinking I wanted one just like it when I grew up and had my own ranch. I would decorate it in yellow and white just like they did! I love that it hasn’t changed much in 30 years:
I love Larry Hagman. I’d go to the reunion just to see him! (“Hello, Darlin’!”)
Here’s a People cover from 1979, when the show was still in its first season:
Check out these Ewing Action Figures from the early ’80s, apparently created for the true “Dallas” fanatic (found at Mego Museum):
Other Dallas toys proved popular in The Day, but according to a 1981 interview with Mego VP of marketing, Allan Chernoff, these were a “bomb” for Mego.
And no wonder. Can anyone figure out who each of these figures is supposed to represent? Because I’m kind of stumped. I guess the blonde must be Lucy. After that, I’m not so sure.
I’m having trouble finding interior photos of Southfork from the early ’80s when the show was in its prime. So here’s what I’ve decided to do.
Drumroll…
To celebrate the 30th anniversary of “Dallas,” I’m going to recap the famous episode in which J.R. is shot, called “A House Divided.” That’s right. Pinch yourself!
Surely there are other “Dallas” fans out there. Can I see a show of hands? We can re-live the drama, the heavily wallpapered rooms, and the brown plaid fashions together!
I’m so excited. I can hardly wait!
So come back tomorrow and we’ll take a little trip back in time to 1980. Even if you never watched a single episode of “Dallas” before, you won’t want to miss all the wheeling, dealing, and backstabbing. I bet it’ll make you want to throw on a cowboy hat and call somebody “Darlin’.”
{ 27 comments }
I am so excited!! I can hardly remember any of the real plots (i was way too young) Didn’t they kill of Bobby only to have it be a dream?
I do remeber the clothes though. OMG! What fashion! I cannot wait to see what you have come up with tomorrow.
Hello Darlin Julia, as JR would say, what a great idea this is , I remember watching Dallas all the time. I remember the big shoulder pads in the ladies dresses, and they would all get together and have a drink at the bar before supper. Times sure have changed, where did those 30 years go.
Oh my gosh, what fun! I don’t remember much, but I do remember J.R. and also Sue Ellen’s accent like it was yesterday! I recently got into Lost like you’re getting into Dallas.
Yes i loved Dallas and Dynasty then . I really loved Knots Landing.
I remember the big WHO SHOT JR. I was young myself. lol. But i do remember….. what hapeened to those great cheesy shows. now it is all Reality. I would rather see fake reality sometimes….. mishelle
I used to watch Dallas. It was fun and unfortunately I am old enough to remember it. I was pretty young at the time, though.
i wanted to watch dallas SO BAD but my mom wouldn’t let me – because of the “adult situations.” i caught snippets here and there – i would sneak and stand behind everyone and watch as much as i dared.
years later, they were showing it in syndication and i watched pretty much all of them. i was riveted!
can’t wait for your recap. you crack me up!
I took a tour of Southfork about 5-6 years ago as part of company function, complete with actors dressed up as the Ewings. It was pretty surreal. Little known fact: the swimming pool in real life is smaller than it appeared on screen. They used to put a clear belt on Lucy Ewing for the scenes where she did laps in the pool so it would look like the pool was longer than it was.
Looking forward to the recap!
I remember my mom and dad waiting for whatever night it came on all week. It was a big deal in our house. Like a pp, I was not allowed to watch it because it was considered “risque.” That seems so funny to me now. I did sneak peeks though! I was in awe of the show and wanted to be Lucy so badly. I have no idea why. Girl had issues.
I didn’t watch first runs of the show, but I did get into it when it was rerun on CMT years ago. I think I rebelled initially, because their accents were SO bad, and Larry Hagman’s really a Texan!
You know, I’ve never even seen a episode. But I’m too wary to try… there are just some shows I know would suck me in and I’d cease to function until I’d watched every season.
Oooo – I can’t wait! Maybe I should see if my library has this show!
I was way too young to watch it, but I remember my mom watching it every Friday night at 9pm on CBS. I got to fall asleep on her lap on Friday night’s while she was watching it (a LATE night for alittle girl).
When we lived in Sherman, TX in the 80′s we went ski shopping around the Dallas home. It is surrounded by other homes. There was a ski shop down the road.
Hey J-let’s pool our money and buy some tickets for the cocktail hour. How fabulous it would be to feel like a “real Ewing”! I’m in! Maybe you and I could break up a fight between J.R. and Bobby, or tell Sue Ellen she’s had quite enough to drink!
This is so much fun! I not only was addicted to “Dallas,” but got caught up in the sequel “Knot’s Landing.” Now I just have to find a way to convince my husband that I really must travel to Texas and spend $1000 to attend a cocktail party. Is it just me, or did that house seem *way* bigger to other fifth-grade viewers? In my head, it’s similar to Manderly or Buckingham Palace. It seems pretty contained here.
Thanks for checking out my site! I wasn’t sure whether to respond to you this way or to email but the font you liked is Migraine Serif. Let me know if you have any more questions!
So…………..my question is:
Are you spending:
a) $100
b) $1000
LOL!!!
Jan
Okay, just so you know….I am old enough to have watched it with my husband. We watched it for years and also Knots Landing and FalconCrest. Yeah, I know, I am “mature”, but not matronly. Anyway, if you want a laugh, go to Charlene Tilton’s website, Charlene Tilton.com. I saw her on the Paula Deen show one night and all I will say is just go to the site. I don’t want to be catty!
Janet
This post is *totally* cracking me up.
I also was too young to watch. But that didn’t stop my parents from letting me. Nor Falcon Crest, which followed on Friday nights. No wonder I’m so screwed up!
I have not watched these shows in SO long…and on the rare occasion when I catch a clip from one I am in hysterics over how badddd they are. So bad, they’re good. At the time they aired, everyone thought they were just plain old good.
Cannot WAIT for your recap. What a bunch of cyberfreaks we all are, LOL.
p.s. Is the Sue Ellen action figure wearing orthopedic shoes?
I remember by parents watching it but I was too young to watch most of it. I live in the Dallas area so I’ve been out there to Southfork several times. We even had a sorority function there. My sister once went as Sue Ellen Ewing for Halloween, with a baby doll on one hip and a wine glass on the other.
Oh, this is fantastic – my whole family was Ewing-obsessed! I wanted Charlene Tilton’s hair, Victoria Principal’s eyes, and Miss Ellie’s good sense. My only problem was that I had a thing for “I Dream of Jeannie,” and never quite got over the fact that nice Maj. Anthony Nelson was the SAME guy as bad J.R.
Too funny – can’t wait to see the big event!
BIG HAIR… what is it they say in Texas… “the bigger the hair, the closer to God!” LOL… I never watched Dallas faithfully… was more of a Carrington fan! Great Dallas post!
My family were Falcon Crest people, so I never really watched Dallas, but I LOVE the old People magazine covers! Sly Stallone! Rula Lenska! Anne Murray! Note how everyone is over 21 and keeps their underwear on….
I was too young to watch Dallas during its prime, but have heard endless recounts… I may have to go find the episodes. Especially since I have married one JR Ewing, who was born just before the show. Being a child during the 80′s only cemented his family to calling him by initials vs. his name.
I will have to study for the 30th bday!
I’m a little bit of a Dallas freak myself. I vaguely remember it when I was young, but I became obsessed with it when it ran in syndication when I was a teenager. I went to Dallas a few years ago and I made sure that we stopped by Southfork. Last year I got the whole series on DVD and my boyfriend started to get worried because that was all that I wanted to watch and would even stay up late to watch another episode. I’m just glad to know that I’m not the only person out there who loves this show still. Maybe I will start a support group for Dallas lovers!
the action figures are hilarious!
Dallas was one of my favorite shows. I have been to the ranch on a trip to Dallas. The show represents a time when things in my life were less sad. My brother died in 84 from a long illness and i used to escape from reality on Friday nights after work. I Multiple Myeloma bone cancer now and have had a successful second bone marrow transplant a year ago. I have a small home business picture framing now and i will often have old tapes of the show playing in the background when i work. I have almost every episode on tape. Rod
I got hooked into the DVD sets. Got through half of DVD 1 of season 3 when one of my kids got his hands on it and disappeared it. I’ve stopped watching until I find that disc. Regarding the outside scenes you mention, it’s funny to notice how all the outdoor shots of season 1 were shot outdoors as you say, then starting with season 2 they used a lot of sound stage “outdoor” scenes. Jock’s hair just about blew off in a couple scenes in season 1. My favorite J.R. phrase is “Now, Sue Ellen….”
I remember back in the day Weds. night was WKRP then The Fall Guy. Thurs. was Magnum PI then Friday night – my favorite night of TV ever – was Incredible Hulk, Dukes of Hazzard, Dallas, Falcon Crest. 1981 or 82?
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