It all began when the producers of the two-year-old Dallas devised a cliff-hanger ending to their popular super soap.
“Who shot J R Ewing?” was a question kept hot for six months by newspapers and bookies who gave odds on the guilt of the six or more possible suspects.
At the time, the audience for the ‘Who Shot JR?’ episode on 21 November 1980 – in which the shooter was revealed – was the largest in television history.
Around 76% of everybody watching TV saw it!
The producers filmed several alternative solutions, so not even the cast knew the real answer to the question – It was Sue-Ellen’s sister, Kristin (played by Bing Crosby’s daughter, Mary) for the record.
The culprit was even named as a main item on the BBC’s Nine O’clock News.
