Editing Dallas (TV series) (section)

==Original premise==
''Dallas'' debuted on April 2, 1978, as a five-part [[miniseries]] on [[CBS]]. Although the miniseries was created as the series' [[Television pilot|pilot]], by the time it was aired, neither the producers nor the network were hopeful that it would continue beyond these five episodes and had no plans for expansion. It was shown in a late Sunday night time-slot, known for low ratings. However, the miniseries proved popular enough to be turned into a regular series and broadcast for 13 full seasons from September 23, 1978, to May 3, 1991. The five pilot episodes, originally considered a miniseries, are now referred to as [[Dallas (1978 TV series) season 1|season 1]], making fourteen seasons in total.

The show is known for its portrayal of wealth, sex, intrigue, conflict and power struggles. Throughout the series, the main premise is the longtime rivalry between [[Ewing family (Dallas)|the Ewing]] and Barnes families, which came to a head when the Barnes daughter [[Pam Ewing|Pamela]] ([[Victoria Principal]]) eloped with the youngest Ewing son [[Bobby Ewing|Bobby]] ([[Patrick Duffy]]), in the first episode. The series is largely set in [[Dallas County, Texas|Dallas, Texas]], and fictional Braddock County, where the Southfork Ranch is located.

[[File:SouthForkFront.jpg|left|thumb|The [[Southfork Ranch]], home of the Ewing family]]
The backstory was that, in the 1930s, [[wildcatter]] [[Jock Ewing|John Ross "Jock" Ewing]] ([[Jim Davis (actor)|Jim Davis]]) had allegedly cheated his one-time partner, [[Willard "Digger" Barnes]] ([[David Wayne]]/[[Keenan Wynn]]), out of his share of their company [[Ewing family (television)#Ewing Oil|Ewing Oil]], and married Digger's only love, [[Miss Ellie Ewing|Eleanor "Miss Ellie" Southworth]] ([[Barbara Bel Geddes]]/[[Donna Reed]]). In contrast to Jock, Miss Ellie came from a long line of ranchers with great love for the land and the cattle. Following their marriage, the Southworth family ranch, [[Southfork Ranch|Southfork]], became the Ewings' home, where Jock and Miss Ellie raised three sons: [[J. R. Ewing|J.R.]] ([[Larry Hagman]]), [[Gary Ewing|Gary]]  ([[David Ackroyd]]/[[Ted Shackelford]]) and Bobby ([[Patrick Duffy]]).

J.R., unscrupulous and unhappily married to former [[Miss Texas]] beauty queen [[Sue Ellen Ewing|Sue Ellen Shepard]] ([[Linda Gray]]), was frequently at odds with Bobby, who had the morals and integrity that J.R. lacked. Middle son Gary was Miss Ellie's favorite as he displayed Southworth traits; however, Gary had conflicted with both Jock and J.R. since childhood and was dismissed as a weak link. At 17, Gary secretly met and married 15-year-old waitress [[Valene Ewing|Valene Clements]] ([[Joan Van Ark]]), producing the first Ewing grandchild - petite and saucy [[Lucy Ewing|Lucy]] ([[Charlene Tilton]]) - before returning to Southfork to settle down. Although Jock warmed to Valene and supported Gary's fledgling family, J.R. pressured Gary into [[alcoholism]] by landing him with bad business deals that caused him to flee Southfork. With Gary gone, J.R. persecuted Valene until she left the ranch and the state, leaving Lucy to be raised by her grandparents.

During the first episodes of the series, teenage Lucy is seen sleeping with [[ranch foreman]] [[Ray Krebbs]] ([[Steve Kanaly]]). Later, in [[Dallas (1978 TV series, season 4)|season 4]], Ray was revealed as Lucy's uncle, an illegitimate son of Jock's through an extramarital affair during [[World War II]]. Unhappy with his small, one-dimensional role, Kanaly had considered leaving the show; to add depth to the Ray character, Hagman suggested that the writers create a plot wherein Ray becomes half-brother to J.R., Gary, and Bobby, noting his resemblance to Davis. The episodes where Ray and his niece Lucy had a fling are, as Kanaly told [[Dinah Shore]] in an appearance on her show, "prayerfully forgotten, I hope".

Ray had previously engaged in a short fling with Pamela, but she fell deeply in love with Bobby, and the pilot episode begins with the two of them arriving at Southfork Ranch as newlyweds, shocking the entire family. J.R., who loathed the Barnes family, was not happy with Pam's living at Southfork, and constantly tried to undermine her marriage to Bobby. Meanwhile, Pam's brother [[Cliff Barnes|Cliff]] ([[Ken Kercheval]]), who had inherited Digger's hatred towards the Ewings, shared J.R.'s objections to the marriage and continued his father's quest to get revenge.

Most of the seasons ended with ratings-grabbing cliffhangers,<ref>{{cite news |last=Meisler |first=Andy |title=Television; When J.R. Was Shot The Cliffhanger Was Born |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1995/05/07/arts/television-when-j-r-was-shot-the-cliffhanger-was-born.html |work=The New York Times |date=May 7, 1995 |access-date=August 31, 2010}}</ref> the most notable being the [[Dallas (1978 TV series, season 3)|season 3]] finale "[[A House Divided (Dallas)|A House Divided]]", which launched the landmark "[[Who shot J.R.?]]" storyline and was ranked No. 69 on ''[[TV Guide]]''{{'s}} list of "TV's Top 100 Episodes of All Time".<ref name=TVGuide100Episodes>{{cite news |title= TV's Top 100 Episodes of All Time |work= [[TV Guide]] |date= June 15, 2009 |pages= 34–49}}</ref> Other season finale cliffhangers include an unidentified female corpse in the Southfork swimming pool ([[Dallas (1978 TV series) season 4|season 4]]); a blazing house fire ([[Dallas (1978 TV series) season 6|season 6]]); Bobby's death ([[Dallas (1978 TV series) season 8|season 8]]) and subsequent resurrection ([[Dallas (1978 TV series) season 9|season 9]]); and J.R.'s apparent suicide ([[Dallas (1978 TV series) season 14|season 14]]).