J.R. Ewing Was Shot 41 Years Ago Today on Dallas

On March 21, 1980, Season 3 of the CBS drama Dallas came to an end with what would become the most famous cliffhanger of all time, leaving American TV viewers to spend the next eight months asking "Who shot J.R.?"

Dallas went from being a trashy night-time soap opera to a worldwide phenomenon when oil tycoon J.R. Ewing (Larry Hagman) pulled his usual money-grubbing shenanigans and managed to infuriate several former business partners, and he had proven himself an absolute cad by cheating on his wife Sue Ellen (Linda Gray) and driving her back towards alcoholism. This compilation clip shows us each of the viable suspects, the shooting itself, and the immediate aftermath of accusations and hard feelings.

During that 1980 summer hiatus that was extended by a writer's strike and Hagman's contract negotiations, the mystery captured worldwide attention, with "Who Shot J.R.?" t-shirts, novelty songs, gambling pools, and even interest from presidents and the Queen Mother of England. Every possible suspect, including Hagman himself, was filmed shooting him in order to keep the real gunslinger's identity a secret. 

Season 4 premiered on November 1, with the question lingering through four episodes until it was finally answered on November 21 in an episode appropriately titled "Who Done It." 83 million people watched the episode, making it the highest-rated episode in TV history until the series finale of M*A*S*H knocked it to second place in 1983. It was such a global event that an estimated 350 million people worldwide tuned in. Needless to say, with results like these, the season-ending cliffhanger was here to stay. 

Dallas ran for a remarkable 14 seasons, from 1978 until 1991, and was revived in a sequel series in 2012 that lasted three seasons.

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Andy Hunsaker has a head full of sitcom gags and nerd-genre lore, and can be followed @AndyHunsaker if you're into that sort of thing.