Dallas

Who shot J.R.?

If you grew up in the 80s, you immediately know what that question refers to. I was too young to watch (or really care about) Dallas when I was a kid, but I still have quite a few nostalgic memories of it, not just because of the stranglehold it held on pop culture at the time, but also for the pure and simple reason that my grandmother was a huge fan.

As a kid my grandmothers would often babysit me when my parents went out, and I have vivid memories of Dallas‘ opening theme starting, with those moving images sliding across the screen and those first few bars of the theme song blaring. Even though I wasn’t watching, it was in the background, and so I knew all the characters, and had no problem understanding what was being said in the entertainment press about the show. The entire season was a dream? What!?!

I bring all of this up because TNT has just brought back the show, and what’s interesting about this relaunch is that it’s not a revamp, but instead continues where the original left off, even bringing back the three main characters: Larry Hagman’s J.R., Patrick Duffy’s Bobby, and Linda Gray’s Sue Ellen.

Out of curiosity I checked out the first episode of the relaunch, and although it didn’t take long before I drifted off, I did get a kick out of the opening credit sequence, which to their credit is barely changed from what kicked off the show back in 80s.

The question remains: Will Bobby have dreamt the entire original series?