Article: short background of how "Dallas" came to be, despite the real Dallas

[easttxtv]

Article: short background of how "Dallas" came to be, despite the real Dallas

Dallas' creator David Jacobs wrote this article, "Dallas debuts", as one of 'The 35 Biggest Moments in Modern Dallas History,' commissioned by the editors of D Magazine as part of the publication's 35th anniversary.

http://www.dmagazine.com/Home/D_Mag...ggest_Moments_in_Modern_Dallas_History_5.aspx
(scan down to #10, about halfway down the page)

 

[bpatrick]

Re: Article: short background of how "Dallas" came to be, despite the real Dalla

I lived in Dallas during its initial tryout in spring 1978 and
its first full season (1978-79), and the consensus of viewers
there was that it more a depiction of Ft. Worth than Dallas.
The Ewings were into oil and cattle; Ft. Worth is a cattle town,
while no oil has ever been found in Dallas County. What Dallas is,
is the Southwest regional hub for many corporations (my dad was
Southwest regional manager for now-defunct Texize, makers of
products like Spray-n-Wash which are now owned by other companies).

When I lived there the top three shows were invariably:

1. Dallas Cowboys football (KDFW/4)
2. 60 Minutes (KDFW/4, then a CBS affiliate)
3. Happy Days (WFAA/8)

I didn't stay there long enough to know if "Dallas" the show ever
made it to the top of the ratings locally.

I wonder how Denver-area viewers reacted to "Dynasty"?

 

[ShawnHill1]

Re: Article: short background of how "Dallas" came to be, despite the real Dallas

I mentioned this once before in a somewhat-related post, but somewhere on YouTube, I watch part of KDFW's 50th anniversary special from 1999, and the subject of the series came up. They interviewed an executive from KDFW from time "Dallas" was airing, and he said there was a lot of mixed reaction about the times, specifically on how some viewers thought a lot of the storylines were over-the-top and sensationalistic. Personally, "Dallas" is one of my favorite shows of all-time, and hated that SoapNet took it off its schedule last year. "Dynasty" is just a total rip-off of "Dallas".

 

[easttxtv]

Re: Article: short background of how "Dallas" came to be, despite the real Dalla

(my dad was
Southwest regional manager for now-defunct Texize, makers of
products like Spray-n-Wash which are now owned by other companies).

LOL! I worked in a drug store for a time and a customer walked up to me and asked me for 'K2R'!! I didn't really have the heart to tell him that isn't been around for ages!

I didn't stay there long enough to know if "Dallas" the show ever
made it to the top of the ratings locally.

I never heard *exactly* but KDFW/4's ratings must have been pretty good for it, because it was some of the best news lead-in they'd had at the time--almost getting their newscast caught up to WFAA/8's in the ratings.