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<blockquote data-quote="Lastkidpicked" data-source="post: 354994" data-attributes="member: 237">You know how much I enjoy taking&nbsp; Dallas and setting against the backdrop of what was happening in real life back then.&nbsp;&nbsp; It&#039;s interesting to compare the television landscape of 1979 when Dallas made it&#039;s debut and compare it to 1987 when the BD Calhoun episodes appeared.As we approached the late 1970&#039;s, American television was moving&nbsp; away from silly and fun shows such as The Andy Griffith Show, The Beverly Hillbillies, and HeeHaw .&nbsp; The &quot;rural purge&quot; was replacing these shows with television that reflected the (not fun) times we were facing.&nbsp; Eight is Enough, Family, and Thirtysomething were the shows that reflected &quot;real life&quot; at the time.Even comedies had become serious.&nbsp; One Day at a Time, Mash, and others created a new category of &quot;dramedies&quot;--&nbsp; Comedies that showed the serious side of daily living.We needed a break, and we needed it bad.Along comes Dallas, with the fabulously wealthy Ewings.&nbsp; Where the people are beautiful, there is plenty of money, and the biggest problem is who will get the coveted table ant the Cattleman&#039;s Club.&nbsp; It was awesome!&nbsp; Dallas stayed at the top of the ratings because we enjoyed watching people with the fabulous lifestyle that we could only dream about.Then things change and tastes change.&nbsp; People looking towards the television for some escape were now looking towards action shows.&nbsp; And even action shows that had some silliness to them, such as The A-Team and Knight Rider were becoming popular.&nbsp; The business exploits of J.R. Ewing seemed tame compared to the action shows of the day.I remember during the original run when the BD Calhoun character came along we all said,&nbsp; &quot;Yup.&nbsp; Dallas is going after the fans of those action shows.&quot;I don&#039;t blame them for trying.&nbsp; Those action shows were becoming popular entertainment and they tried to tap into that.&nbsp; It didn&#039;t really work, but it was a good try.</blockquote>

[QUOTE="Lastkidpicked, post: 354994, member: 237"] You know how much I enjoy taking [I]Dallas[/I] and setting against the backdrop of what was happening in real life back then. It's interesting to compare the television landscape of 1979 when Dallas made it's debut and compare it to 1987 when the BD Calhoun episodes appeared. As we approached the late 1970's, American television was moving away from silly and fun shows such as The Andy Griffith Show, The Beverly Hillbillies, and HeeHaw . The "rural purge" was replacing these shows with television that reflected the (not fun) times we were facing. Eight is Enough, Family, and Thirtysomething were the shows that reflected "real life" at the time. Even comedies had become serious. One Day at a Time, Mash, and others created a new category of "dramedies"-- Comedies that showed the serious side of daily living. We needed a break, and we needed it bad. Along comes Dallas, with the fabulously wealthy Ewings. Where the people are beautiful, there is plenty of money, and the biggest problem is who will get the coveted table ant the Cattleman's Club. It was awesome! Dallas stayed at the top of the ratings because we enjoyed watching people with the fabulous lifestyle that we could only dream about. Then things change and tastes change. People looking towards the television for some escape were now looking towards action shows. And even action shows that had some silliness to them, such as The A-Team and Knight Rider were becoming popular. The business exploits of J.R. Ewing seemed tame compared to the action shows of the day. I remember during the original run when the BD Calhoun character came along we all said, "Yup. Dallas is going after the fans of those action shows." I don't blame them for trying. Those action shows were becoming popular entertainment and they tried to tap into that. It didn't really work, but it was a good try. [/QUOTE]

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