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

it was the cliffhanger that

captivated the nation and 40 years ago

today on cbs

we learned who done it

in the spring of 1980 the third season

of the hit drama dallas

ended with j.r ewing shot by an unknown

assailant

and because jr played by larry hagman

was a character

fans of the show loved to hate just

about

every other cast member had a reason to

see him gone

don't even dream of double-crossing me

captain don't threaten me honey you're

way out of your league

for him to be shot just made him even

more mythic that whole season he'd

gotten worse and worse meaner and meaner

to so many people

anybody could have shot him but the

show's producers had no

idea the cliffhanger would become a

worldwide

phenomenon that summer hagman as j.r

appeared on magazine covers t-shirts

even beer cans

vegas started taking bets even british

royals were intrigued

we were presented to the queen mother

and she says i don't suppose you could

tell me who saw jail

i said no ma'am not even you with such

intense interests producers worried the

killer's identity would leak

so they spent a day filming each cast

member pulling the trigger

adding to the tension an actor strike

that delayed the fall tv season

when the episode titled whodunit finally

aired

83 million americans a then record 76

percent of the tv audience

tuned in for the big reveal i have

finally figured everything out that's

all

you're crazy the shooter was kristin

shepherd jr's conniving sister-in-law

and former mistress

played by actress mary crosby

it's hard to imagine a show drawing that

kind of audience 83 million people to

the tv for one night for one episode

we just don't watch tv the same way we

just don't all come together that way

and i wish we did

now wouldn't that be a scandal and that

was a friday night by the way

friday night in the election that year

85 million people

two million more people voted but that's

it i miss

those kinds oh i know dynasty and knots

landing too

we've never had another one like it just

haven't and i

came to expect them and you just don't

get that same feeling

what happened to her after she shot j.r

she got booted off the series i think

that

and that was sort of the kiss of death

yeah and he he was the man

you don't get the original the original

way was he

uh major i dreamed oh

yeah sorry guys