40 Behind-The-Scenes Facts About Dallas Juicier Than A J.R. Scheme
Decades have passed, but Dallas hasn’t lost its glittering allure. And plenty of us still love everything about the iconic show – yep, even that time it turned out an entire season was just a dream! But as you can probably imagine, there was a boatload of drama going on when the cameras stopped rolling. So, let’s explore 40 of the craziest secrets behind the trailblazing series – including everything from on-set bust-ups to overly obsessive fans.
40. The show’s creator had never written for TV before
Yup, David Jacobs was a total TV writing novice before he came up with the scripts for Dallas. According to a 2018 retrospective by Texas Monthly – appropriate! – Jacobs had mainly moved to Los Angeles to be closer to his daughter. Then, after proving his talent with rewrites, he was suddenly asked if he wanted to pitch anything to production company Lorimar. It was really that easy.
39. Larry Hagman wasn’t the first choice for J.R.
It’s impossible to think of anyone but Hagman playing the iconic role of J.R. But he wasn’t even the first actor approached! Jacobs told Texas Monthly that the part was originally offered to Robert Foxworth. And when Foxworth turned it down – apparently because he didn’t want to play someone so unsympathetic – casting director Barbara Miller suggested Hagman instead.
38. The directors would set up funny background events
Director Michael Preece told Texas Monthly that every time the crew were bored, they’d “set up things in the background that nobody would see unless they were a real student of background action.” He added, “At a party scene, we would have a young 17- or 18-year-old guy – usually some friend or relative of one of the cast or crew – making out with a 75-year-old woman.” Yikes!
37. Many of the ages didn’t add up
If you knew how old the actors in Dallas were, some of the characters’ relationships seemed pretty weird... For starters, Hagman was a whole 18 years older than his on-screen younger brother Patrick Duffy. Linda Gray also had two decades on Mary Crosby. And worst of all, Barbara Bel Geddes was only nine years the senior of Hagman – who, let’s not forget, was playing her son!
