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<blockquote data-quote="Lastkidpicked" data-source="post: 362558" data-attributes="member: 237">DALLAS AND TEXAS HISTORY PART TWOThe miniseries was a success and the show was picked up for a regular season.&nbsp; Let&#039;s look at how things begin to change.In the miniseries, Pam and Bobby were front and center.&nbsp; J.R. was a supporting character and a two dimensional bad guy.&nbsp; Things changed, and Larry Hagman began to develop J.R. into the man we love to hate.&nbsp;&nbsp; Did timing play a part in this?&nbsp; Let&#039;s take a look.In the late 1970&#039;s American television showed a lot of &quot;reality&quot; tv.&nbsp; &nbsp; The wacky antics of &quot;I Love Lucy&quot; had given way to the humorous, but more serious tone of &quot;Alice&quot; and &quot;One Day at a Time.&quot;&nbsp; Ozzie and Harriett gave way to 8 is Enough, which showed realistic families with realistic problems.&nbsp; Comedies evolving to show the more serious side of life.Then Pam and Bobby showed up to bring us some relief.&nbsp; A little escapism from the real world, watching a modern day Romeo and Juliette.&nbsp; But were we watching for Pam and Bobby, or were we secretly watching for J.R.?&nbsp;&nbsp; It was awkward at first, as J.R. was planning his dirty schemes on Sunday nights, which was considered family time for television.&nbsp; It was one thing for your kids to root for the chosen couple, but could they root for the bad guy?Dallas moved to Friday nights at the same time something else was happening.&nbsp;&nbsp; World events were different as well.&nbsp; We were mired in bureaucracy.&nbsp;&nbsp; Tied up in red tape.&nbsp; The politicians and business leaders were helpless as the economies around the world stagnated.&nbsp; At work it seemed as if all we heard was,&nbsp; &quot;We can&#039;t do that.&quot;&nbsp; &quot;It&#039;s too expensive.&quot;&nbsp; &quot;It&#039;s too risky&quot;.&nbsp; We were just beat down by it all and needed a person of action to root for.&nbsp; Suddenly, it was okay to watch Dallas and cheer for the antihero.&nbsp; Love him or hate him, at least J.R. Ewing got things done.And what&#039;s this?&nbsp; J.R. isn&#039;t your usual bad guy, full of self hatred.&nbsp; Watch closely, and as we see him scheme through an episode we notice the sly grin on his face.&nbsp; He&#039;s enjoying the fight.If you are old enough to remember, there was only one person in the world&nbsp; looking at us with a little grin as if to say,&nbsp; &quot;This is fun, isn&#039;t it?&quot;</blockquote>

[QUOTE="Lastkidpicked, post: 362558, member: 237"] DALLAS AND TEXAS HISTORY PART TWO The miniseries was a success and the show was picked up for a regular season. Let's look at how things begin to change. In the miniseries, Pam and Bobby were front and center. J.R. was a supporting character and a two dimensional bad guy. Things changed, and Larry Hagman began to develop J.R. into the man we love to hate. Did timing play a part in this? Let's take a look. In the late 1970's American television showed a lot of "reality" tv. The wacky antics of "I Love Lucy" had given way to the humorous, but more serious tone of "Alice" and "One Day at a Time." Ozzie and Harriett gave way to 8 is Enough, which showed realistic families with realistic problems. Comedies evolving to show the more serious side of life. Then Pam and Bobby showed up to bring us some relief. A little escapism from the real world, watching a modern day Romeo and Juliette. But were we watching for Pam and Bobby, or were we secretly watching for J.R.? It was awkward at first, as J.R. was planning his dirty schemes on Sunday nights, which was considered family time for television. It was one thing for your kids to root for the chosen couple, but could they root for the bad guy? [I]Dallas[/I] moved to Friday nights at the same time something else was happening. World events were different as well. We were mired in bureaucracy. Tied up in red tape. The politicians and business leaders were helpless as the economies around the world stagnated. At work it seemed as if all we heard was, "We can't do that." "It's too expensive." "It's too risky". We were just beat down by it all and needed a person of action to root for. Suddenly, it was okay to watch Dallas and cheer for the antihero. Love him or hate him, at least J.R. Ewing [I]got things done[/I]. And what's this? J.R. isn't your usual bad guy, full of self hatred. Watch closely, and as we see him scheme through an episode we notice the sly grin on his face. He's [I]enjoying[/I] the fight. If you are old enough to remember, there was only one person in the world looking at us with a little grin as if to say, "This is fun, isn't it?" [/QUOTE]

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