Dallas stars hail show that invented modern TV drama as they reunite

15 June 2023 , 16:04

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The cast of Dallas have reunited 45 years after the show began - and insisted they helped pave the way for new hit TV shows like Succession and Yellowstone.

The cast posed for photos ahead of appearing on a panel for fans.

Patrick Duffy, who played much-loved character Bobby Ewing, said: “Sometimes I watch and think we did that. If you think about basically every family drama except for Breaking Bad, we latched onto the premise that was not started with Dallas, but with Peyton Place, but then that was forgotten and Dallas took over.

“The way Dallas was written, it’s standard writing template for shows that run any period of time from a few episodes onto years. But yeah, it all started with us,” Duffy adds. “I really thought about it with Succession.”

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Larry Hagman as backstabbing tycoon JR Ewing (Getty Images)

Patrick Duffy played Bobby Ewing, the businessman with a conscience (Supplied By Alpha)

Speaking about the show’s legacy, Linda Gray, 82, who played Sue Ellen Ewing, told People magazine: “I think that Dallas was like daytime soaps that were very popular and Dallas came into play and it was gigantic and it filled that same need that people love to have a recurring story, suspense and something to look forward to.

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“Because the show ran for so many years, the audience got to know the characters so genuinely and they really cared for [them] and the characters all went through so much,” Gray continues.

Victoria Principal as Bobby's wife Pam Ewing. Principal was the only surviving main cast member not to join the show's 2012 reunion (Getty Images)

“And I think the fans really loved to relate to the stories that were bigger than life. I think that they were definitely bigger than life so they could live vicariously through those characters. Dallas was so influential.”

Duffy and Grey were joined by Charlene Tilton, Audrey Landers, Steve Kanaly, Joan Van Ark, Sheree Wilson and Cathy Podewell, as well as director Michael Preece, at Oscar’s in Palm Springs, California, as they reunited around the show’s 45th anniversary.

Linda Gray played JR's long-suffering wife Sue-Ellen (Alamy Stock Photo)

Joan Van Ark as Gary Ewing's wife Valene (CBS via Getty Images)

Dallas ran for 14 seasons from 1978 to 1991, earning four Emmys along the way and became one of the most watched shows on TV in the US and UK.

The series followed an affluent and feuding Texas family, the Ewings, who own the independent oil company Ewing Oil and the cattle-ranching land of Southfork.

Jim Davis and Barbara Bel Geddes were the show's heads of the Ewing family, Jock and Miss Ellie (Getty Images)

It centred around a long and bitter rivalry between brothers JR Ewing, played by Larry Hagman, and Bobby Ewing, played by Patrick Duffy. The family also frequently clashed with the rival Barnes clan, headed by JR's arch-enemy Cliff Barnes.

A new revamped version then launched in 2012 which lasted for three series and featured new lead characters alongside original cast members Hagman, Duffy and Gray who returned to Southfork ranch as JR, Bobby and Sue Ellen.