Bobby Ewing, Patrick Duffy.
©DC
Sue Ellen Ewing, Linda Gray.
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JR, Larry Hagman.
©DC
Pamela Barnes Ewing, Victoria Principal.
©DC
“Dallas, your ruthless universe!” Who does not remember the credits of this global American soap opera which, in fourteen seasons and 357 episodes, monopolized and shook the small screens between 1978 and 1991? Dallas is one of the first soap-operas to impose itself on TV in the evening. A series that stuns millions of viewers, obsessed with the texture of the characters to the rhythm of well-packaged suspense. The public is passionate about the turpitudes of the Ewing clan, a family of rich and powerful Texan oilmen and its rivalry with the Barnes, the ruthless JR (Larry Hagman), Sue Ellen (Linda Gray), his flouted and alcoholic wife, from the nice Bobby (Patrick Duffy) and his wife, Pamela Barnes Ewing (Victoria Principal), modern Romeo and Juliet, or even from Jock Ewing (Jim Davis), the patriarch, archetype of the self-made-man turned oil magnate.
Created in 1978 in the United States by David Jacobs and launched cautiously with five test episodes, the Ewing epic reached stratospheric audience records. Its evening programming is then a first because, until then, the landscape of the American series was confined to daily soap operas and weekly series where each episode existed independently of the others.
A bastard who has the good role
Launched in 1981 in France, the soap opera will keep millions of viewers spellbound, including President François Mitterrand who asked Christian Prouteau, of the GIGN, to record the episodes he missed when he went on the move. In this world where money, sex and power are elevated to the rank of supreme values, hero rhymes with bastard, and JR with his disdainful grin, torn between his thirst for power and his insatiable sexual appetite, becomes the evil figure that viewers love to hate. . Obnoxious, liar, unfaithful, manipulative, bullying his wife at will, JR will seduce the public with a lot of twisted blows and murderous replies.
Unlikely plots
But after holding out for six seasons, Dallas runs out of steam. The fault with extravagant scenarios. In 1985, at the end of the 8th cycle, the public witnesses the death of the nice Bobby. A year later, at the end of season 9, he nevertheless finds the same Bobby in a shower scene that has become legendary. Behind the scenes, the actor agreed to return for a nice bundle of dollars. The thirty episodes in which he did not participate would in fact be nothing more than a – very long – Pamela’s nightmare… And the scenario to pick up where it left off before!
The public begins to desert the series. Then, in season 10, it’s Victoria Principal’s turn to say goodbye to her role (Pamela crashes into a truck). Dallas will survive until 1991, but the 80s die and with them, brushings and oil magnates. Thirty-three million American aficionados will gather in front of the last episode to witness the (presumed) suicide of a JR worked by his conscience.
The series of all records!
Broadcast on April 2, 1978 on CBS, the 357 episodes of Dallas have been distributed in 90 countries and dubbed into 67 languages. The series is programmed on TF1, from Saturday January 24, 1981, in the second part of the evening with a Franco-French credits on lyrics by Michel Salva and a melody by Jean Renard. Before switching to prime time in 1983, instead of Right of reply by Michel Polac. TF1 will broadcast the series for six years. But in 1987, she will be the victim of an Italian robbery fomented by Silvio Berlusconi who will buy the rights to the tenth season in order to boost the audiences of La Cinq.
The “cliffhanger”, the lethal weapon of Dallas
The screenwriters of Dallas are the masters of cliffhanger, this suspense system made to keep fans in suspense. The most famous remains the immemorial Who killed JR? where a mysterious individual kills JR This summer, all of America, in the middle of the Carter-Reagan presidential campaign, is asking the question. T-shirts with the mention Who Shot J.R. ?Then I shot J.R. are printed. The Republicans even broadcast a pin displaying A Democrat Killed J.R. (A Democrat killed JR).
This episode brought together 450 million viewers worldwide, a record in the history of television.
JANUARY 20 Accession to the supreme magistracy in the United States of a cowboy actor, Ronald Reagan.
MAY 10 François Mitterrand is elected President of the French Republic.
MAY 11 Death of reggae musician and singer Bob Marley.
JULY 29 Prince Charles of Wales, son of Queen Elizabeth II of England, marries Lady Diana Spencer.
SEPTEMBER 18 The National Assembly votes to abolish the death penalty in France.
OCTOBER 6 Egyptian President Anouar el-Sadat is assassinated by an organization of the Islamic jihad.
OCTOBER 29 Death of singer Georges Brassens.
Dominique PARRAVANO
