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"Who shot J.R.?" 40 years ago we found out

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    [music]
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    Who's there?
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    [music]
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    [gunshot]
    [stuggle sounds]
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    [gunshot]
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    [thud]
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    [music]
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    It was the cliffhanger that
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    captivated the nation.
    And 40 years ago
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    today on CBS,
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    we learned who done it.
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    [scream]
    [sirens]
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    [Dallas theme song]
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    In the spring of 1980, the third season
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    of the hit drama Dallas
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    ended with J.R. Ewing shot by an unknown
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    assailant.
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    And because J.R., played by Larry Hagman,
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    was a character
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    fans of the show loved to hate,
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    just about every other
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    cast member had a reason to
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    see him gone.
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    Don't even dream of double-crossing me.
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    Uh, Captain, don't threaten
    me. Honey,
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    you're way out of your league.
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    For him to be shot,
    just made him even
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    more mythic. That whole season he'd
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    gotten worse and worse,
    meaner and meaner
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    to so many people,
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    anybody could have shot him.
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    But the show's producers had no
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    idea the cliffhanger would become a
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    worldwide phenomenon.
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    That summer, Hagman, as J.R.,
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    appeared on magazine
    covers, T-shirts,
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    even beer cans.
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    Vegas started taking bets. Even British
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    royals were intrigued.
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    We were presented to the Queen Mother
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    and she says, "I don't suppose you could
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    tell me who shot J.R.?"
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    I said, "No ma'am, not
    even you." [laughs]
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    With such intense interest,
    producers worried the
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    killer's identity would leak.
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    So they spent a day filming each cast
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    member pulling the trigger.
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    [gunshot 3 times]
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    Adding to the tension, an actors' strike
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    that delayed the fall TV season.
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    When the episode titled,
    "Whodunit?" finally
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    aired,
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    83-million Americans,
    a then-record 76
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    percent of the TV audience,
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    tuned in for the big reveal.
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    I have finally
    figured everything
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    out, that's all.
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    You're crazy.
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    The shooter was Kristin
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    Shepherd, J.R.'s conniving sister-in-law
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    and former mistress,
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    played by actress Mary Crosby.
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    [gunshot]
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    [sound of struggle]
    [gunshot, then thud]
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    It's hard to imagine
    a show drawing that
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    kind of audience,
    83 million people, to
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    the TV for one night,
    for one episode.
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    We just don't watch TV
    the same way. We
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    just don't all come
    together that way
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    and i wish we did.
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    Now wouldn't that be a scandal?
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    And that was a
    Friday night, by the way.
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    A Friday night?
    A Friday night.
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    In the election that year?
    85-million people.
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    Two-million more people
    voted, but that's it.
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    I miss those kinds of dramas.
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    Oh I know. Dynasty and Knots
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    Landing, too.
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    We've never had another one like it.
    No.
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    Just haven't and I
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    came to expect them and you just don't
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    get that same feeling.
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    What happened to her
    after she shot J.R.?
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    She got booted off the series.
    She did?
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    I think that isn't that
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    sort of the kiss of death?
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    Yeah, and he, he was the man.
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    You don't get a J.R.
    The original, the original
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    way. Was he,
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    uh, major, I Dream of Jeanie?
    Oh, I Dream of Jeanie. That's right.
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    Yeah.
    Sorry guys. Ha ha ha.
Title:
"Who shot J.R.?" 40 years ago we found out
Description:

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Video Language:
English
Duration:
02:53

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