40 Years Ago: Who Shot J.R.?

Today in 1980, CBS aired the episode of Dallas that finally answered the burning question of the era: Who shot that dickish oil tycoon in the 10-gallon hat?

Do you actually remember who shot J.R.?

I have no idea. The name is probably stored somewhere deep in my memory banks, back there with the capital of Armenia and the name of the actress who played Anya on Buffy, but I have zero ability to retrieve it. J.R. had a brother, right? Was it Bobby? Did Bobby shoot his brother?

If people recall anything about Dallas, it’s likely the insane popularity of the primetime soap opera. The “Who Shot Jr?” episode scored the second-highest TV rating of all time. Seen by over 53% of households with television, it was huge by any historical yardstick. That number smashes Seinfeld; it crushes Game of Thrones; it beats every single Super Bowl. The only show to ever score a higher household rating was the finale of M*A*S*H, a few years later.

By gross numbers, 83 million Americans tuned in 40 years ago today to learn who shot the dickish oil tycoon in the 10-gallon hat. That was more people than voted for Jimmy Carter and Ronald Reagan, combined, just a few weeks prior in the 1980 presidential election.

It makes you wonder: What insanely popular thing from today will be difficult to remember in a few decades? Will we all forget Tiger King? Harry Styles? The entire Marvel Cinematic Universe? Leave your best guess in the comments:

If you don’t mind spoilers, here is the scene containing the big reveal:

Did you know? Eight months elapsed from the attack on J.R. to revealing the shooter. That gave Vegas plenty of time to create a betting market for the murder mystery. Placing money on major characters from the series paid out odds between 3:2 and 4:1. J.R. himself was longshot at 20:1. As something of a joke, oddsmakers offered 1000:1 probability on Dallas Cowboys quarterback Roger Staubach being the shooter. The coach, Tom Landry, was a steal at 500:1.

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