2 April: Dallas

American soap opera Dallas was first broadcast on this date in 1978. Here are 10 things you might not know about the show:

1. It wasn’t originally going to be set in Dallas at all, but in Houston, which is more associated with the oil industry. However, producers decided that “Dallas” sounded better as a title than “Houston”.
2. The only character to appear in every single episode is JR. However, he wasn’t intended to be the main character – that was supposed to be Pam, who was the link between the two rival families, Barnes and Ewing, when she, a Barnes, eloped with Bobby Ewing in the first episode. Larry Hagman’s performance as JR was so good, however, that he soon stole the show.
3. The house used as the "Southfork Ranch" house was a real Texas residence called "Duncan Acres", owned by Joe R. Duncan. When the house started attracting huge numbers of tourists. the Duncan family sold it, and it is now a museum devoted to the show.
4. The first couple of seasons were only a modest success. It wasn’t until the “Who shot JR” plotline beginning as a cliffhanger at the end of season 2, that it because a worldwide phenomenon. JR had so many enemies, even the producers had a hard time choosing who did it, and filmed several of the actors firing the shot before deciding it would be (spoiler alert) Kirstin. The episode in which this was revealed was the highest rating for a single episode of a television series in American history until M*A*S*H: Goodbye, Farewell, and Amen in 1983. The actual gun is now on display in the above mentioned museum.
5. The whole of season nine was essentially a Dream sequence. At the end of season eight, Bobby Ewing is killed off in a car accident, because Patrick Duffy, who played him, had had enough and wanted to play other roles. However, it didn’t work out for him and producers started looking at ways to bring him back. Duffy’s wife came up with the shower idea. When Duffy mentioned to her the possibility of Bobby making a comeback, she said, ‘You can only do that if the whole last season was a dream.’
6. JR’s wife, Sue Ellen, wasn’t even named in the pilot episode as she didn’t have much screen time. However, the Sue Ellen is an alcoholic storyline brought her more to the forefront. At one point, Linda Gray, who played her, was fired because she had the temerity to ask for a pay rise and the chance to direct an episode like the male actors. Larry Hagman threatened to walk, too, claiming that there could be no J.R without Sue-Ellen, and the producers had to relent. Gray finally left in 1989 because she grew sick of playing an alcoholic.
7. Dallas was broadcast in over 90 countries and dubbed into 67 languages. For a time, it was banned in Romania, until Nicolae Ceaușescu was tricked into believing it was anti-capitalist, and therefore safe for Romanians to watch. Some people believe that Dallas was what caused the downfall of the Soviet Union.
8. Larry Hagman (JR) was only nine years younger than Barbara Bel Geddes, who played his mother.
9. There’s a computer game based on the series. It’s called The Dallas Quest and was released for the Commodore 64 computer in 1984. The premise of the game is that Sue Ellen summons the player to Southfork to find a map of an oil field and return it to her. If the player is able to thwart J.R. and return the map, they’ll receive $2 million. Players spent most of the game fighting off angry cattle, monkeys, and angry Ewings.
10. The show ended in 1991 after 14 seasons. At the end, JR, who had lost everything and been drinking so much he was hallucinating, and had a vision of how the world would have been without him. He picks up a gun, intent on shooting himself. In the final scene, Bobby is seen going into the room and a shot is fired. However, in the Dallas reunion movie JR Returns it is revealed that JR shot his reflection in the mirror, and thus lived to win his company back and make Bobby and Sue Ellen partners.

Character Birthday

Asad, probability alterer with Combat Team Delta. Asad was working for a secret organisation in Iraq researching weapons production. He was working specifically on the probability altering device. For reasons unknown, he defected, taking the device with him. He is wanted in Iraq for treason and is sought after by bounty hunters. The name "Asad" derives from a snide remark made by team-mate Ego Master and is an abbreviation of "All Singing, All Dancing”.