Dallas

Dallas is a U.S. TV soap opera, which was broadcast between 1978 and 1991. It revolved around a rich billionaire family from Dallas, Texas, with J. R. Ewing as the breakout character. In 1980 the show became famous for a cliffhanger episode in which J.R. was shot by an unknown assassin. To know "who shot J.R." viewers had to wait until the next season, of which the revelation episode broke TV ratings records. Dallas, and particular the Who Shot J.R. episode, have been referenced quite a few times on The Simpsons.

References to Dallas in The Simpsons

Picture Season Episode number Episode name Reference 3 47 "I Married Marge" Homer tells about the time he married Marge, which took place in 1980 at the height of the craze about the cliffhanger episode Who Shot J.R. in Dallas. In one scene Homer is seen wearing a Who Shot J.R. shirt. 3 59 "Brother, Can You Spare Two Dimes?" After Homer's couch is demolished he thinks about the fine TV watching memories of the past, one of them being him watching the episode where J.R.'s assassin was revealed. 6 119 "Bart vs. Australia" In a deleted scene, which can only be seen on the Sixth Season DVD extra's, the people in the Australian court don't want to hear "who shot J.R.", because that particular episode hasn't been broadcast in Australia yet. This is a reference to the fact that many TV seasons across the globe only reach other countries a few years later, though in reality at the time this episode aired the Who Shot J.R. episode had already been broadcast. 6 128 "Who Shot Mr. Burns? (Part One)" The title and the entire plot are directly inspired by the famous Who Shot J.R. episode. Just like in Dallas, the villain of the series, J. R. Ewing (in this case Charles Montgomery Burns) is shot by an unknown assassin. It was the final episode of the season for both Dallas as The Simpsons back then. The cliffhanger made many viewers debate who the assassin might have been, but the revelation would only be made clear in the first episode of the next season. 7 129 "Who Shot Mr. Burns? (Part Two)" The title and the entire plot are directly inspired by the famous Who Shot J.R. episode. Just like in Dallas this was the first episode of the next season in which the assassin of J. R. Ewing (in this case Charles Montgomery Burns) is revealed. The episode also makes another reference to Dallas when Waylon Smithers notices Mr. Burns taking a shower, which leads him to believe "it was all just a dream." This is a nod to the infamous Dallas episode in which Bobby, a character who presumably died in a previous season, suddenly turned up underneath the shower as if nothing had happened. His explanation was "that it was all a dream." In this episode "The Simpsons" spoof it by letting Smithers discover that Mr. Burns taking a shower as if nothing had happened was a dream. 23 494 "The Ten-Per-Cent Solution" In the Museum of TV and Television a cardboard display of J. R. Ewing can be seen. Homer accidentally projects a bullet through it.

Common cast and crew

Cast

Picture Name Role in Dallas Role on The Simpsons Larry Hagman Played J. R. Ewing. Voiced Wallace Brady in "The Monkey Suit". Ian McShane Played Don Lockwood for 13 episodes. Voiced Artemis in "The Last Barfighter".

External links

• Dallas at Wikipedia

Cultural references

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