Dallas – the TV series
Quiz about the TV series Dallas
Can you answer these 15 questions about Dallas, the grand soap opera of the 1980s? You will get questions about characters, actors, and more.
The Legendary TV Soap
There’s probably no one who watched T.V. in the 1980s who doesn’t remember Dallas—whether they followed the series or not. The series became one of the most iconic and influential dramas of the 1980s. With its mix of drama, intrigue, and glamour, the series depicted the life and conflicts within the wealthy oil family Ewing in Dallas, Texas.
Dallas was created by David Jacobs and produced by Lorimar Productions. The series spanned 14 seasons and 357 episodes, and the last episode aired on May 3, 1991.
The Plot
Dallas revolves around the Ewing family, torn apart by power struggles and personal vendettas. At the center is the charismatic but ruthless oil tycoon J.R. Ewing, played by Larry Hagman, who became the series’ most memorable character. J.R.’s ambitions to control the family oil company, Ewing Oil, and his unscrupulous methods to achieve his goals created many of the conflicts that drove the series’ plot forward.
There’s also a Romeo and Juliet-like story with the young married couple Bobby Ewing and Pamela Barnes at the center. They come from two rival families, Ewings and Barnes. The couple starts the series by coming home and surprising the family with their marriage.
The family patriarch, Jock Ewing (Jim Davis), and his wife, Miss Ellie (Barbara Bel Geddes), often tried to mediate the many disputes within the family.
“Who Shot J.R.?” – A TV Sensation
One of the series’ most famous and memorable moments came at the end of the early seasons when J.R. was shot by an unknown assailant.
The cliffhanger “Who Shot J.R.” became a cultural phenomenon and created enormous interest and speculation among viewers throughout the summer break. The episode in which the perpetrator was revealed aired on November 21, 1980, and drew one of the largest audiences in T.V. history at that time.
The Final Seasons
During the later seasons, Dallas lost some of its original luster, leading to several drastic changes in the series’ setup and cast.
Perhaps most talked about is Bobby Ewing’s death in season eight. Patrick Duffy had decided to leave the series to explore other opportunities in his career. But after being away from the series for a year, Patrick Duffy returned to filming.
After staging his death, the producers faced a considerable challenge: How could they reintroduce Bobby Ewing into the plot? Their solution became one of T.V.’s most memorable and controversial twists.
At the end of season nine, which aired in 1986, an episode ended with Pamela Ewing (Victoria Principal) waking up and going into the bathroom, only to find Bobby in the shower, alive and well. This scene revealed that the entire previous season had been a dream experienced by Pamela. This became the subject of much criticism and humorous stories.
The series ended in 1991 but returned in new recordings in 2012.
