‘Dallas’ At 40: How The Trashiest, Campiest Show On Television Revolutionized Pop Culture, Rebooted Texas’s Reputation, And (Maybe) Helped Bring Down The Ceaușescus

“It’s hard, from the vantage point of our Peak TV era, to grasp why Dallas caused such a global ruckus. In 1980, the show was arguably the hottest pop culture entity in existence; about as many Americans tuned in to find out who shot J. R. as voted for president. … After more than 35 hours of interviews, we learned that the stories behind Dallas are nearly as over-the-top as the stories on the screen.”