Television During the '80s

The 1980s were the Reagan years. Greed was good and rich was in. Television reflected this new paradigm with shows that celebrated excess. Lifestyles of the Rich and Famous and Dynasty ushered in a new era of wealth and glamor to television. One show which kicked off this new direction was CBS's primetime soap Dallas. Premiering in 1978, Dallas was about a wealthy Texas oil family and their loves and rivals. Though not the first primetime soap to hit the air (that would be 1960s Peyton Place), it was the first to make broadcast history when, in 1980, the producers struck ratings gold with the shooting cliffhanger of the show's erstwhile villain J.R. Ewing (Larry Hagman). Millions of Americans tuned in when J.R. was plugged several times on the show's season finale, then waited over a long hiatus to find out who did the deed. The subsequent wait paid off as "Who Shot J.R.?" hit a cultural zeitgeist. The show's cast appeared on talk shows and on the cover of Newsweek, making Dallas one of the most talked-about TV shows in primetime history. The show's popularity spawned a successful spinoff, Knots Landing, and countless imitators such as the Aaron Spelling-produced Dynasty and Falcon Crest, among others. The influence of Dallas extended beyond primetime serials as TV shows as diverse as Hill Street Blues and Wiseguy adopted the serial's continual storytelling with arcs extending beyond each weekly episode. Dallas also created the cliffhanger. Now every TV show ends each season with a hook to keep audiences interested over the long summer hiatus.