Great Television Concepts #2: Dallas
True Confessions - A secret about my vast knowledge base….
Well, those that know me well know that one of my areas of expertise is the oil business and the energy industry as a whole. Indeed, now and then I will get calls from friends and acquaintances near and far, all across the fruited plain and even abroad. I have always been flattered by their reaching out to me when they have a question about the oil business or energy policy!
Well, now the truth can be told: everything I know about the oil business I learned watching the classic tv series Dallas in its first run! My education starts way back at the tender age of 10, when Dallas first debuted in the Spring of 1978!
For 14 long seasons I stuck with the folks at Dallas, through thick and thin! It’s really something that the series finally wrapped things up in 1991, when I was in my first year of law school!
The formula was simple - adapt the basic daytime soap opera approach to a weekly nighttime series, load up the cast, deliver pathos and PG rated sexual situations, and watch the ratings soar! And soar they did!
Vinnie Vegas Fun Fact # 1:
I have never missed a first-run episode of Dallas in its entire 14 season run. It is the the only television series with that status!
Believe it or not!
Vinnie Vegas Fun Fact # 2:
I have been referred to as ‘The Walking Encyclopedia of Dallas,’ a status I have keep secret from casual acquaintances and even some good friends, until today!
Believe it or not!
Vinnie Vegas Fun Fact # 3:
One of my most prized possessions is a photo of me and Larry Hagman in suits and cowboy hats, taken in 1989. It is in my private collection and no one besides me and the photo lab technician who developed it has ever seen the photo.
Believe it or not!
This explains a lot!
Yes, it does!
Vinnie Vegas Fun Fact # 4:
My Confirmation name is Richard, technically giving me the middle initials J.R.!
Believe it or not!
Dallas Fun Fact #1:
It is truly astonishing that the chubby Charlene Tilton was a popular sex symbol for several years!
Vinnie Vegas always preferred Victoria Principal, however. It wasn’t even close.
Believe it or not!
Anybody knows “Knotts Landing” was the better show. Keep your Victoria Principal — Donna Mills Forever!
Donna Mills was quite the fox, I grant you, but I still like Victoria Principal better! To each their own!
And we may be able to agree that Dynasty was a bore.
Your magnanimous response has shamed my impertinence, Sir. I agree, and salute you!