Dallas (TV series, 1978)

from Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Television series
German title Dallas
Original title Dallas
Dallas.svg
Country of production United States
original language English
Year (s) 1978-1991
Production
company		 Lorimar Television
length 47-50 minutes
Episodes 357 in 14 seasons ( List )
genre Drama , soap opera
idea David Jacobs
production Philip Capice
Lee Rich
Leonard Katzman
Larry Hagman
Ken Horton
music Jerrold Immel
First broadcast April 2, 1978 (USA) on CBS
German-language
first broadcast		 June 30, 1981 on German television
occupation
synchronization

Dallas is an American television series produced from 1978 to 1991 , which is set in the Texas city ​​of the same name, Dallas and depicts the entanglements of the fictional Ewing family. It belongs to the genre of soap operas . A total of 357 episodes and three films were shot, which were broadcast by the US broadcaster CBS . The theme song wrote Jerrold Immel. In terms of viewership, Dallas is one of the most successful television series in the world.

History of the series

All seasons of the Dallas TV series on DVD

The US-American feature film Giants , which premiered in 1956 and whose character Jett Rink (played by James Dean ) even provided the initials for the central character of the series, is considered to be the inspiring “forerunner” of the series .

In April 1978, CBS aired the five episodes of the original miniseries ; The first season began broadcasting in the fall. The original working title was "Linda Evans Project" because Linda Evans was to play the role of Pamela. Dallas, produced by the family entertainment television production company Lorimar ( The Waltons ), became the world's most successful television series of the 1980s. In Germany, Das Erste aired the first episode on June 30, 1981.

At times Dallas was a street sweeper . For example, episode 58 is one of the most-watched TV shows in the USA: The third season went into the summer break in March 1980 with a famous cliffhanger ; in the last scene of the 54th episode A House Divided ( dt. Billing ) broke JR Ewing, protagonist and villain of the series, hit by shots together - no was that apparent which of the many that he is in the course of this season to the enemy who was the culprit. The question “ Who shot JR? “Became proverbial in the months that followed. There were T-shirts with the inscription “ I shot JR ” or - in connection with the US presidential election campaign between Ronald Reagan and incumbent Jimmy Carter - optionally “ A Republican / Democrat shot JR! “When the show resumed broadcasting in November, the 58th episode, Who Done It? (Eng. Who shot at JR? ) with an audience rate of 53.3% of households and a market share of 76% - only the last episode of the series M * A * S * H , broadcast on February 28, 1983, could surpass these values.

In 1986, past events of the older generation with other actors were shown in a television movie in Dallas: The Early Years . In 1991, the series was discontinued due to falling audiences and increasingly questionable scripts. Two longer television films followed in 1996 ( Dallas: JR Returns ) and 1998 ( Dallas: War of the Ewings ). From 2004 to 2011, all seasons and the three feature films were successively released on DVD .

A total of seven episodes were not broadcast on German television. The first had it not synchronized when it was first broadcast. In addition, each episode was shortened by about three minutes in order to adapt it to the ARD programming scheme at the time, which was 43 minutes long. Only with the Dallas DVD collections released in May 2005 are all 357 episodes available in their original version in full.

In addition to the series, there are also novels: "Dallas" by Lee Raintree; "The Women of Dallas", "The Men of Dallas" and "Scandal in Dallas" by Burt Hirschfeld; as well as "JR - If you have him as a friend, you no longer need an enemy" by Cus Hallow. The books describe incidents that also appear in the series.

In 1979 the spin-off Unter der Sonne Kaliforniens (Originally Knots Landing ) was created, which was introduced in the Dallas episode Return Engagements (in Germany it was only broadcast in 2011 with subtitles on Passion ). Miss Ellie buys her son Gary and his wife Valene a house in Knots Landing, California, where they will live. The series ran until 1993 and had some guest appearances (which ZDF mostly did not broadcast) by Bobby Ewing, JR Ewing, Lucy Ewing and Kristin Shepard. Since the return of the character Bobby Ewing in the tenth Dallas season, the two series were no longer properly linked, as Bobby did not return in Under the California Sun.

Brief description of the content

Southfork Ranch in Parker , Texas, a fictional property of the Ewing family

The series is about the family entanglements and intrigues of the Ewing family over money, power and oil. Most of the family live on the Southfork Ranch , a large estate near Dallas. This includes Jock and Miss Ellie , the parents of sons JR, Gary and Bobby. JR is the eldest son and CEO of Ewing Oil , which his father founded a long time ago. JR Ewing is married to the alcoholic Sue Ellen, to whom he is not loyal (he has a relationship with her sister Kristin, among others).

Bobby, the youngest son of the family, marries Pamela Barnes, sister of Cliff Barnes, the greatest competitor and archenemy of JR. Lucy, Gary's daughter, who often worries her family with her antics, grows up with her grandparents on the ranch. The foreman Ray Krebbs initially had a secret affair with Lucy. As the series progresses, it turns out that he is an illegitimate son of Jock. The company Ewing Oil is one of the major independent companies in the oil industry and is adjacent to the Southfork Ranch the venue for the show action.

Main characters and their actors

Some roles were taken on by different actors.

JR is the central character of the series. He is the eldest son of Miss Ellie and Jock Ewing. Because of this, JR runs Ewing Oil , alone or in collaboration with his brother Bobby. To achieve his goals, whether private or business, JR uses every trick, no matter how dirty. He just shies away from murder. Although family cohesion is a high ideational value for him, he is often disdainful and inconsiderate towards his wife Sue Ellen. Its name is inspired by a character from William Gaddis .

  • Robert "Bobby" James Ewing : Patrick Duffy (1978–1985, 1986–1991)

Bobby is the youngest son of Miss Ellie and Jock. His marriage to Pamela Barnes is characterized by deep mutual affection, but exposed to hostility from the start, primarily from JR and Cliff. After working as a sales representative for Ewing Oil , he switched to the management of the company. He runs it independently or together with his brother. Bobby is considered a businessman of integrity, but can also be tough if it is necessary to achieve his goals.

  • Sue Ellen Shepard Ewing Lockwood : Linda Gray (1978-1989, 1991)

Sue Ellen was once the beauty queen of Texas. Her marriage to JR Ewing has been marked by ups and downs. She has a son with him, John Ross Ewing III. Sue Ellen repeatedly suffers from egoism and the lack of respect for her husband. She seeks consolation in alcohol; the fight against addiction demands all her strength. She relapses more often, but manages to get her life under control every time.

Pamela is Bobby's wife, before that she was with Ray Krebbs. Since the marriage remained childless, she and her husband adopt a baby: Christopher Mark is the child of JR Ewing's sister-in-law Kristin Shepard, Sue Ellen's sister, who was born in 1981. Pamela is a petite, soulful, but self-confident woman with high moral values. That's why she often clashes with JR, but also with her husband. She supports Miss Ellie in keeping the family together. After a tragic accident that left her whole body badly burned, she leaves Dallas and divorces Bobby. She is the adopted daughter of Digger Barnes and (half) sister of Cliff Barnes and Katherine Wentworth. Her birth father is Hutch McKinney.

  • John Ross "Jock" Ewing, Sr .: Jim Davis (1978-1981)

Jock Ewing co-founded Ewing Oil with his brother Jason and Digger Barnes . After buying up Jason and Digger's shares during the Great Depression, Jock became the sole owner of the company. He built Ewing Oil into a profitable business.
Jock was married twice. The first marriage was childless. The second with Ellie Southworth gave birth to sons JR, Gary and Bobby. He also had a fourth (illegitimate) son, Ray Krebbs. Jock died in a helicopter crash in South America.

Miss Ellie is the mother of JR, Gary and Bobby. She was married to Jock Ewing for the first time. After his death she married Clayton Farlow. Her aim is to keep the family together. She also makes unpleasant decisions.

Lucy is the daughter of Gary and therefore the granddaughter of Jock and Miss Ellie. She worked u. a. as a photo model. It was difficult for her to find meaning in her life. She was married to Mitch Cooper but divorced. After she was raped, she had her child aborted. After several disappointments, she returns to Mitch, who is a doctor in Atlanta at the time. But the marriage fails again and a divorce occurs again.

Ray is the foreman at Southfork Ranch. It later turns out that he is also a son of Jock Ewing. Ray is a proud man who wants to solve problems himself and who insists on independence. He doesn't live in the main ranch house, but has built his own house on a piece of land that Jock gave him. Ray gets along very well with Bobby, while there is often tension between him and JR.

Cliff Barnes is the son of Digger Barnes and a great opponent of JR. With interruptions, he tries to fight the Ewings in the course of the series to avenge the supposed injustice that Jock Ewing did to his father. In the choice of his means, Cliff is in no way inferior to JR. At the end of the series he has reached his goal and is sitting in the head office of Ewing Oil . In the movie Dallas: JR Returns, Cliff Ewing sells Oil to Bobby Ewing to live with his former girlfriend, Afton Cooper.

Digger was a former partner of Jock and in love with Miss Ellie. He always claimed that Jock cheated on him of his stake in Ewing Oil and his mistress, Ellie. He is the father of Cliff and the adoptive father of Pamela. Digger was an alcoholic for most of his life and also died of alcohol poisoning.

Kristin is Sue Ellen's sister. She comes to Dallas to lead a lifestyle similar to Sue Ellen. To this end, she also flirts with JR, who hires her as a secretary at Ewing Oil . When he rejects her, she shoots JR, but wants to blame her sister for the crime. One day Kristin falls into the swimming pool from the balcony of the Southfork Ranch while on drugs and is dead. At first, JR and Cliff are mistaken for the perpetrators - until it turns out that it was an accident.

  • Donna McCullum Culver Krebbs Dowling : Susan Howard (1979–1987)

Donna fell in love with Ray while she was still in her first marriage to Governor Sam Culver. After his death, they finally get married. It is independent and does not shy away from conflicts. Both JR and Ray feel this. She finds her real job as a politician.

Rebecca once married Digger Barnes, with whom she had three children, of whom only Cliff survived. After Hutch McKinney, who she became pregnant with Pamela, was killed by Digger, the family fled to Corpus Christi . Rebecca faked her death to escape Digger. She later married the industrialist Herbert Wentworth, with whom she has another daughter named Katherine. After Cliff and Pam found her, she supported her son with the help of the empire of her late husband, who had died at the time, in the fight against the Ewings, even though Pam was married to Bobby. Rebecca died after a plane crash.

Clayton, like Jock, comes from the oil business. After Jock's death, he and Miss Ellie find a relationship and get married. Clayton has an adopted son Steven, named Dusty, from his first marriage.

She is the (half) sister of Cliff and Pamela. She falls in love with Bobby Ewing, but cannot win him over despite ugly intrigues against Pamela and Jenna. At the end of the seventh season, out of jealousy, she carried out the first murder attempt on Bobby, at the end of the eighth season the second, with which she was finally successful. In the process, she dies herself. Since the second attempted murder and her death fall into Pamela's dream, Katherine reappears completely unscathed in season 11.

Jenna is Bobby's childhood sweetheart. Shortly before the wedding, she left him and went to Italy. There she married Naldo Marchetta and soon divorced. Their daughter Charlie emerged from this connection.
When she returns to Dallas, she plans to marry Bobby. Due to an intrigue, she is sentenced to seven years in state prison for manslaughtering Naldo. After being proven innocent and released, she lives in Dallas again. She later moves to Switzerland with Ray Krebbs.

Jamie is the cousin of JR, Bobby and Ray. She first stuck to her family, whom she had been looking for for a long time. However, she later married Cliff Barnes, which severely dampened the relationship with her family. Jamie died on a climbing trip in California when she was buried in a debris avalanche.

Jack Ewing is the son of Jason Ewing and a cousin of JR and Bobby. Jamie is his sister. For his help in a legal dispute between Ewing Oil on the one hand and Cliff Barnes on the other, he received 10% of the Ewing Oil company .

April is Jack's divorced wife. Due to his trustworthiness and a trick she managed to get the judge to award her half of Jack's earnings for five years at the divorce. April came to Dallas to try to get as much money as possible from this judgment. She sold her stake in Ewing Oil to JR for $ 100 million. After Pamela left Bobby, the two become a couple and get married. On her honeymoon, April is kidnapped and finally shot.

Carter McKay was the man behind the scenes at WestStar for many years . After a brief battle with the Ewings, he outsmarted his predecessor Jeremy Wendell and became CEO of WestStar , making Ewing Oil's biggest competitor . In the course of the series, McKay takes action against Cliff in addition to the Ewing brothers. In the film JR Returns, McKay loses his position of power at WestStar and JR takes over his position. To achieve his goals, McKay is as scheming as JR and Cliff.

  • Calpurnia "Cally" Elizabeth Harper Ewing : Cathy Podewell (1988–1991)

Cally is a young woman from a small town in Louisiana. JR marries her to avoid repression from her brothers because she claims to have a child with him. Shortly before their divorce, Cally is actually expecting a child with him. However, she claims that her stepson James is the son's father, so JR rejects her and allows her to start a new life.

Michelle, also known as Shelly, is April's younger sister. Michelle is just as greedy as her sister was when she came to Dallas, and uses the people around her for her own ends.

James is JR's son from a previous affair with Vanessa Beaumont. At first he has a good relationship with his father, but after JR interfered in his affairs and life several times, James despises his father and his morals. Just before James leaves Dallas with his wife and son, they settle their differences.

Stephanie helps Cliff advance his political career.

Liz is the owner of a large oil company. She has a relationship with Cliff and is briefly engaged to him.

The most important supporting roles and their actors

Cast and dubbing

The series was set to music at Interopa Film . Klaus von Wahl wrote the dialogue books and directed the dialogue.

actor role Main role
(season) 		Supporting role
(season) 		German voice actor
Barbara Bel Geddes Miss Ellie Ewing Farlow 1-7, 9-13 Inge Landgut (1.01–9.12)
Edith Schneider (9.13–13.25)
Donna Reed 8th
Jim Davis Jock Ewing 1-4 Joachim Cadenbach
Patrick Duffy Bobby Ewing 1-8, 10-14 9 Hans-Jürgen Dittberner
Larry Hagman JR Ewing 1-14 Wolfgang Pampel
Victoria Principal Pamela Barnes Ewing 1-10 Beate Menner
Charlene Tilton Lucy Ewing Cooper 1-7, 12-13 11 Madeleine proud
Linda Gray Sue Ellen Ewing 2-12 1, 14 Rita Engelmann
Steve Kanaly Ray Krebbs 2-12 1, 14 Jürgen Kluckert
Ken Kercheval Cliff Barnes 3-14 1-2 Claus Jurichs
Susan Howard Donna Culver Krebbs 5-10 2-4 Marianne Lutz
Howard Keel Clayton Farlow 8-14 4-7 Heinz Giese
Priscilla Beaulieu Presley Jenna Wade Krebbs 8-11 7th Uta Hallant
Dack Rambo Jack Ewing 10 8-9 Wolfgang Condrus
Sheree J. Wilson April Stevens Ewing 12-14 10-11 Alexandra Lange
George Kennedy Carter McKay 13-14 12 Joachim Nottke
Cathy Podewell Cally Harper Ewing 13-14 12 Dorette Hugo
Kimberly Foster Michelle Stevens 13-14 Carolin van Bergen (13.01-13.18)
Anke Reitzenstein (13.19-14.21)
Sasha Mitchell James Beaumont 13-14 Matthias Hinze
Lesley-Anne Down Stephanie Rogers 13 Monica Bielenstein
Barbara Stock Liz Adams 14th 13 Heidrun Bartholomäus

continuation

In 2010 the cable broadcaster TNT announced that it was working on a continuation of the series. The pilot episode was filmed in 2011. In July 2011 a series order with ten episodes followed. The broadcast began on June 13, 2012. In early October 2014, TNT announced the discontinuation of the series after three seasons and 40 episodes.

background

  • In the first five episodes of the first season (the originally planned miniseries), the exterior scenes of the Southfork Ranch were filmed at The Cloyce Box Ranch ; it later fell victim to a fire and is no longer there today. The interior scenes were filmed at The Calder House, 4800 Park Lane in Dallas County. In the credits it is explicitly mentioned that the series was shot entirely in Texas.
  • Then the exterior scenes of the Southfork Ranch were filmed on a farm in Texas owned by Joe R. Duncan (JR). After the series became known around the world, the flow of visitors to the farm became so overwhelming that he was forced to sell the farm. Today it is set up as a museum for the television series. Among other things, the pistol with which "JR Ewing" was shot is shown there. Originally the ranch was called Duncan Acres . The interior scenes from the second season onwards were then recorded at the MGM studio in Culver City, California, often months later. In many scenes, when changing from the outside to the inside and vice versa, there are clear differences in the hairstyle of the actors or in the arrangement of clothes.
  • From the thirteenth season onwards, virtually all of the footage was recorded in the MGM studio in California.
  • Larry Hagman and Ken Kercheval are the only two actors who have starred continuously throughout the series.
  • Larry Hagman, Patrick Duffy , Steve Kanaly , Linda Gray and Ken Kercheval also directed several episodes of the series . In addition, Susan Howard wrote two scripts for the series - in season 9 the episode Im Visier ( Sitting Ducks ), and in season 10 the episode The 10% Disaster ( The Ten Percent Solution ).
  • The fact that the actors in the opening credits were always presented in alphabetical order instead of according to the importance of their roles is still considered very unusual today.
  • Barbara Bel Geddes ("Miss Ellie") was only nine years older than her "son" Larry Hagman ("JR Ewing"). Hagman is 18 years older than Patrick Duffy ("Bobby Ewing"), but their series characters are only ten years apart.
  • Seven episodes of the series (from the first 54) were not broadcast in Germany. The audience sometimes noticed the cuts. In one episode, Jock sits in a wheelchair and JR walks on a stick - both for no apparent reason. The previous episode, The Dove Hunt , in which both are gunned down, had been deleted. In 2011 the broadcaster Passion showed the missing episodes in the German premiere broadcast ( OmU ).
  • With the exception of season one, it never seems to be winter in Dallas. Particularly bizarre in the sixth season (episode: Threatened Wedding ) is that JR and Sue Ellen get married on December 3, 1982 and almost all appear the day before with short-sleeved shirts, polo or T-shirts. December is one of the coldest months in Texas.
  • On April 29, 1986 "Bobby Ewing" dies on German television. In the topics of the day immediately after this episode was broadcast, it was reported for the first time that a reactor accident had occurred three days earlier in the Chernobyl nuclear power plant . This coincidence is processed in the film On the Day when Bobby Ewing died .
  • In the 1980s, a text adventure entitled "The Dallas Quest" was created for the Commodore 64 and Atari home computers .
  • A theatrical filming has been planned since 2003, but this has not yet been realized.
  • For the 30th anniversary, the stars of the series attended a Dallas reunion party on November 8, 2008 at the Southfork Ranch. The series' fans were also able to attend the celebration, with ticket prices ranging from $ 100 to $ 1,000.
  • Allusions to Dallas can be found in both The Simpsons and Family Guy : The Simpsons - Double Episode Who Shot Mr. Burns? parodies the third season finale. The Family Guy episode The Last Bang , in which the Griffin family has to grapple with the apocalyptic consequences of the year 2000 problem , is parodied with Pamela's awakening from the dream season (see below).

Dream season

A characteristic of the series is that a person who has clearly died in the plot suddenly reappears: Bobby's actor, Patrick Duffy, wanted to devote himself to other things as part of his acting career. In 1985 he left the series, the scriptwriters let Bobby die properly and buried. After a long time, falling audience ratings and an unsatisfactory career for Duffy, Larry Hagman intervened successfully and was able to win his colleague back for the series.

Most likely for the first time in a television series, the reintegration, that of Bobby, was explained dramatically by the fact that his death and all events since then were only a bad dream of his beloved Pamela, who meets the man who was believed to be dead in the shower in the morning. Thus the events of the entire ninth season (episode 193-222) were unceremoniously declared to be dream events. The action was therefore continued at the appropriate point differently and with Bobby. At this point, Dallas also separates from its spin-off, since in Under the California Sun Bobby is still considered dead and thus the other events of the dream season are also real.

This highly controversial trick is always a cause for discussion, but has probably saved the series for a few more years and has since been used on other television series as necessary. The shower scene was filmed secretly and shortly before the broadcast of episode 222 and exchanged for another final scene. The scene was also the end of the ninth season (1985–1986) and aroused wild speculation and response from the audience. Also considered as an explanation was that Bobby had not died and was almost buried alive. At the last second, a doctor noticed that the seriously injured man was still alive. He frees him from the coffin, but hides this from everyone else at Bobby's request. Without the knowledge of his family, Bobby undergoes months of treatment, after which he is the first to be hugged by his brother JR. This scene was even shot. Photos of it appeared in a British newspaper years ago.

Exchange of a leading role

The uncommented exchange of Barbara Bel Geddes in the eighth season caused great controversy in the fan base of the series. Donna Reed , who replaced Bel Geddes, was not well received by the audience or the other actors. It was therefore replaced by its predecessor after just one season. Again, the viewer was not given an explanation for the exchange. Reed publicly complained several times that she was a victim of bullying. She sued Lorimar-Productions for breach of contract, but then accepted in an out-of-court settlement a compensation amount of over one million US dollars. In fact, when Barbara Bel Geddes was a quadruple bypass been laid and even they did not want to play the role only. However, when ratings continued to plummet, she was persuaded to resume her role. For Donna Reed it was the last appearance in front of the camera. She died a little later.

Suicide by JR

In stark contrast to the series are the last two episodes of the series ( Conundrum , usually the episodes are broadcast as one episode). JR is about to commit suicide when a figure appears, Adam (played by Joel Gray ), and shows him (similar to the film Isn't life beautiful? From 1946) in the form of fictional storylines of the other series characters in whom he did not live , all the good that has brought about its existence. However, JR fires a shot. Bobby, who has just returned home, rushes into the room, comments: "Oh, my God!" And the picture freezes with his horrified face. The audience had to wait five years for the sequel.

Others

  • At Jenna Wade's trial, a pistol (9 mm Beretta) is presented as a weapon. It was the weapon that belonged to Renaldo Marchetta. However, in season 8, episode 14, you can clearly see that Renaldo is wearing a revolver in his waistband (probably ´38 special).

Television films

In addition to the cliffhanger episodes and frequent double episodes at the end and beginning of a season, three television films were also made.

1986 - Dallas - How It All Began ( Dallas: The Early Years , 134 min.)

It tells of the beginnings of Dallas. How Jock Ewing starts his business, how he meets Miss Ellie, and how he and Digger Barnes become enemies. Except for a mini-appearance by Larry Hagman, none of the actors from the regular series play in this special episode.

1996 - Dallas - JR Returns ( Dallas: JR Returns , 90 min.)

The film picks up where the series left off. After living in Europe for five years, JR returns to Dallas to take revenge on his archenemies Cliff Barnes and Carter McKay with his tricks and to reunite the Ewings.

1998 - Dallas - Fight to the Knife ( Dallas: War of the Ewings , 82 min.)

After JR became head of WestStar , he plans to take over Ewing Oil , which is now run by his brother Bobby and his ex-wife Sue Ellen.

literature

Secondary literature

  • Guntbert Markefka: Dallas - literary-archetypal patterns of a television series , Shaker 1997 - ISBN 3-8265-2985-5
  • Laura van Wormer: Dallas. The complete and illustrated history of the Ewing clan from 1860 to the present , Wunderlich 1986 - ISBN 3-8052-0409-4
  • Enzo Briketti, Johnny B. Koks: In Search of JR Only where it says Dallas is Dallas in it , Rowohlt 1986 - ISBN 3-499-15359-9
  • Tamar Liebes, Elihu Katz: The Export of Meaning: Cross-cultural Readings of "Dallas" (paperback), Polity Press 1993 - ISBN 978-0-7456-1295-9

Web links

Wikiquote: Dallas  Quotes

Individual evidence

  1. ^ Sheridan Morley: Elizabeth Taylor. A Celebration , Pavilion Books, 1988, ISBN 1-85145-437-3 , p. 76
  2. ^ Nielsen Media Research
  3. ↑ https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0584432/
  4. ↑ German synchronous index: German synchronous index | Series | Dallas. Retrieved April 11, 2018 .
  5. ↑ Ewing Oil is alive: "Dallas" comeback is becoming more concrete
  6. ↑ Confirmed: "Dallas" return in summer 2012
  7. ^ Nellie Andreeva: 'Dallas' Canceled By TNT After Three Seasons . Deadline.com. October 3, 2014. Retrieved October 4, 2014.
  8. ↑ The opening credits of all seasons
  9. ↑ Matthias Stolz: It doesn't get any greener. In: Zeit Online . June 2, 2005, accessed November 8, 2018 .
  10. ↑ The Dream Season Consequences
  11. ↑ Tough but Tender Donna Reed (Eng.)
  12. ↑ Dallas: Episode Guide of the TV Series