DALLAS

In its first run, Dallas was regarded a phenomenon throughout the Western world.

Of its popularity, actor Jim Davis believed, "You can go to any city and find a family like that. Not everybody, but there's always one family."

"The Ewing family," one teacher observed, "is a kind of mirror of that retreat into privacy. The Ewings have all the problems of society – alcohol, infertility, etc. And they handle all their problems within the family."

Some 250 million viewers in about 57 countries reportedly watched Dallas in 1980. Between 1980 and 1984, Dallas was the No. 1 prime time show on American television.

Actor Steve Kanaly remarked, "I've been analysing it...9:00 p.m. Friday nights...people are used to Dallas being there."

When J.R got shot in the North American spring of 1980, 32 million viewers were counted watching Dallas. Approximately 83 million viewers were counted watching who shot J.R when the series returned in the fall of that year.

Because of the time difference, viewers in the East Coast found out 3 hours before viewers in the West Coast. In all 76% of all viewers watching between 10:00 and 11 o'clock were watching Dallas. The answer was revealed at 10.54 p.m. (Eastern Standard Time) on the night of Friday, November 21.

Of Dallas, Steve Kanaly explained in 1986, "The show had never been from a woman's point of view before. Maybe it was too real, everybody was stretching for realism....Leonard (Katzman) created the image that made the show number 1. His forte was the excess, the extravagance, the fun stuff of scandal and raciness."

Of his character, Jim Davis expressed, "I think Jock had his day....I think J.R may be doing some of the things Jock did when he was younger. He's a diamond-in-the-rough....In his view a woman runs the home and that's it."

"The Dallas series," one official disclosed in 1991, "is one of the main draws for tourism in the city....The series also helped the city's image as far as international business is concerned. Japanese and European car companies know what Dallas looks like because of the beginning of the TV show and they want those same glass buildings in the background of their commercials."

MARTINA NAVRATILOVA

October 1956: Around The World In 80 Days, based on Jules Verne's 1872 book, premiered on the big screen. In music, Don't Be Cruel by Elvis Presley was the most popular song. On TV, I Love Lucy returned for its 6th season on the air. And Martina Navratilova was born.

Growing up, Martina recalled in 1994, "I had a normal childhood. I did play a lot of tennis, but I would look for frogs in the stream and go mushroom-hunting with my father and ski up and down my backyard."

Martina's tennis career began in 1973. "While tennis these days," Martina observed in 1994, "is 99% of those kids' lives, for me it was...30 or 40%."

She won her first Grand Slam title in 1978. Martina's 167th and last singles title was won in 1994.

"The years all start running together. I can't remember the decade, I can’t remember the year. That just means that I've been playing a long time," Martina made the remark in 1994. "It's all a blink when you think about it, the last 20 years."

September 7, 1975: Martina made the headlines when she sought political asylum in America on the last day of the U.S Open Championship.

Of her decision to defect from the former Czechoslovakia, Martina maintained, "Politics had nothing to do with my decision. It was strictly a tennis matter....My Federation wanted to have the control over which tournaments I played in..."

Of tennis, Martina made the comment in 1989, "I don’t think it makes any difference what happened last year, 2 years ago or 10 years ago....But it's what you do tomorrow or the next day. You are only as good as your last match."

In 1979, Martina made the prediction, "You won't see many players in their 30s anymore. The young wave of tennis players today is a much younger wave than there used to be."

Two days before Martina turned 30 in 1986, she won her 1,000th singles tennis match. "I haven’t really been counting my victories," Martina told the 2,800 spectators in Filderstadt, Germany. "It is very satisfying to have won for the 1,000th time."

There was no doubt in anyone's mind Steffi Graf marked the turning point in women's tennis. "There is something there that is special," Pam Shriver acknowledged in 1987.

Martina conceded in 1989, "This is how it should happen. I lost to a better player on the final day. This is the end of a chapter, passing the torch if you want to call it that."

DALLAS

At the 40th Annual Golden Globe Awards held in 1983, Dallas and Magnum, P.I. were nominated for Best Drama and Victoria Principal and Tom Selleck were nominated for Best Acting.

Victoria described her character on Dallas as "a little Statue of Liberty. When you have utter evil on one side, you can't have mediocre good on the other."

At the height of Dallas, Victoria wrote 3 best selling fitness books as well as starred in Jhirmack hair-care commercials.

On Dallas Victoria pointed out, "It actually was negotiated into my contract how many times a year I would be seen in a bathing suit or in a teddy. And I'd use to call it '3 teddies year'. I would not be seen in more than 3 bathing suits or 3 teddies. Not 6 - but 3! They had to divide it up..."

"In 1973," Victoria shared, "I found myself allergic to most skincare and the makeup I had to use on camera." As a result of her collaboration with a chemist, the Principal Secret cleansers and moisturizers were created and launched in 1991.

Of Dallas, producer Leonard Katzman made known, "...When you have all the storylines to plot out, it is very depressing....At some point all the storylines have to come together."

Lee Rich was said "careful to call the show a 'semi-serial' and to ensure that each episode features one self-contained story."

At the peak of Dallas' popularity, Victoria was named one of TV's most romantic stars. Tom Selleck was chosen as one of its sexiest. One casting director explained, "Women love Tom Selleck, but he's also a man's man. Men don't feel threatened by him."

On the contrary, "Hollywood didn’t know what to do with Sally (Struthers). She doesn’t have sex appeal. She's bizarre and kooky."

Of Dallas Patrick Duffy made the observation, "People are watching us between their feet, you know? They got their beer; they can go to the bathroom; they talk while we're talking; they make love; they do all that in their home. And they see us on the streets and they just didn't know how to make the transition."

Linda Gray concluded, "People related. They thought the actor was the character."

MELROSE PLACE

"Unlike other shows," actress Heather Locklear observed, "Melrose Place has no Bible mandating what will happen. If a couple of scenes seem to work in dailies, they'll run with it. If the audience picks up on it, they'll run with it. And they'll drop all other storylines to focus on the good one."

1961: Heather Locklear was born. Also in 1961, John Fitzgerald Kennedy became America's 35th President.

"The world is very different now," Mr Kennedy remarked in his Inaugural Address. "Together," he urged, "let us explore the stars, conquer the deserts, eradicate disease, tap the ocean depths, and encourage the arts and commerce."

"Back in high school," Heather recalled, "I could never get up in front of the class. My heart pounded so badly, you could see my blouse move. Now I realize it's being yourself that's hard. Being someone else is so much easier."

Amongst Generation X, Melrose Place was the place to be in the mid-1990s. Of her character, Heather reasoned, "Amanda is misunderstood. Amanda never deliberately sets out to hurt anyone. If she has to save her ass, she'll do it. Just like we all do."

Of Melrose Place, actor Grant Show acknowledged, "For a job like that, you can't say no."

Guest star Priscilla Presley pointed out, "We've come a long way since Dallas!"

FAMILY SECRETS

"Every woman goes through the complex, sensitive, intricate spectrum of emotion – love, fear, anxiety, hate and a lot more," Stefanie Powers explained. "All simultaneously and on any given occasion. It's totally irrational but it's there."

Mother's Day, 1984: Stefanie Powers along with Maureen Stapleton and Melissa Gilbert starred in the TV movie, Family Secrets.

Stefanie wrote the story "based on families I've observed over the years who have had impasses that seemed unsolvable. These stem from problems they have resolved if they had communicated with each other. Many people lead unhappy lives because they never get to the seat of misunderstandings."

Jack Hofsiss of The Elephant Man fame directed. He insisted, "There are certain people who can comprehend the woman’s perspective better than others and in this particular instance I think it was important to have a male influence present as director to acting as a levelling effect since the film was essentially written by women and produced by women to be acted by women."

On Family Secrets, Stefanie revealed, "We do dramatize the peculiarly sensitive predicament of 3 generations of the same sex."

Jack acknowledged, "I approached the project from the perspective of parent/child relationships rather than mother/daughter. Certain elements of the story specifically reminded me of the relationship my mother had with my sister and I drew upon those memories a great deal in setting up some of the situations."

Stefanie emphasized, "It's not an easy thing for women to describe or explain to men. But there is always a sort of competition between mother and daughter, starting with the affection of the husband/father. The daughter subconsciously or unconsciously always seeks her mother's approval without seeming to do so. The relationship between them involves love, challenges, choices, taste and the authority that influences how a female perceives herself all her life."

Of the making of Family Secrets, Stefanie confessed, "This isn't the first thing I've ever written, but it is definitely the first to go into production. To get something this far you have to have credibility. I've been in this business for 25 years, and I never had the leverage before until Hart To Hart gave it to me."

MELROSE PLACE

Melrose Place, Thomas Calabro believed, "is a perfect escapism."

One network chief added, "In this day and age, it's only a very special show that gets as far as Melrose did."

On Melrose Place, Courtney Thorne-Smith remembered, "I was surrounded by people who were a natural size 2....I felt pressure to look a certain way."

By her own admission, Heather Locklear conceded, "I think, 'I definitely shouldn't have that Krispy Kreme', then I have 3!"

Courtney recalled, "Heather can eat junk food all day long. One day she was eating this big frosted donut, and I was eating an apple. I was totally full of resentment."

Heather confessed, "....I love chocolate icing out of a can. And Taco Bell sauce. I love fast food - Monster Tacos from Jack In The Box and curly fries. I like plain hamburgers from McDonald's with french fries in the middle."

Courtney conceded, "The amount of time I spent thinking about food and being upset about my body was insane....You're never eating what you want. If you're eating plain chicken, a plain potato and a salad with no dressing, there's no satisfaction in any one bite, so you're going to eat a hundred bites."

Of Melrose Place, Heather observed, "When it first started, it was a very bubble-gum, pop kind of show. If you ever see the first few episodes, they are all real nice and neat and tidy and their biggest problems are that somebody broke a nail or got a flat tire."

Then, producer Charles Pratt Jr. explained, "It definitely became 'how much crazier can we get?'"

On Melrose Place, Linda Gray played the owner of a modeling agency. Linda had worked as a model from about 1961 to around 1974. She based her character on Eileen Ford. Of modeling, Linda made the comment, "It’s a whole different world now. My experience wasn’t even close to comparable to whatever being a 'supermodel' is now."

Grant Show acted on a daytime soap opera before starring on Melrose Place. He made the observation, "The worst thing about the daytime show was that the writing was so poorly thought out and so repetitive. They assumed that the audience only watched 2 or 3 episodes a week. So you had to do the same scenes at least 3 times, sometimes more."

1996

September 1996.

In sport, Steffi Graf won her 5th U.S Open championship. On TV, Melrose Place returned for its 5th season on the air. In music, Macarena (pronounced mah-kah-ray-nah) was listeners' most popular song. And on the big screen, The First Wives Club premiered.

When Steffi Graf won her 21st grand slam title, she not only had to overcome Hurricane Fran but a new generation as well. "It's good to know that the future is going to show up," Steffi said. However of the best woman tennis player at the time, runner up Monica Seles acknowledged, "Steffi clearly is number 1. Anyone can see that."

Macarena was the Spanish dance song recorded in 1993. When the song's Latin tune was remixed with American beat, it climbed - albeit slowly - to eventually become the first Spanish number 1 song on the American pop chart. An industry observer remarked at the time, "I thought we had a hit, but had no idea we had a phenomenon."

And in 1996, Melrose Place launched its official website at the Hard Rock Café. The show was regarded a "pop culture icon of the '90s."

Heather Locklear had been credited for making the Generation X era soap popular. She made the comment in 1993, "In my 20s, I played characters in their 20s. And the way I look, people still want to cast me younger than I am. I don't desire to do that. I'm sure in 10 years I will, but for now, I'd like to play my age and play my maturity a little bit."

Of her character, Josie Bissett expressed, "Personally, I preferred it when Jane was more grounded and sweet. Melrose can be so dramatic and the characters can get so crazy, which is fun, but I like to be the sane one of the group. Once Jane started losing it and turning crazy and bitchy, I didn't like her as much."

MELROSE PLACE

Wednesday September 4, 1996: Melrose Place official website went online.

Since its debut on Wednesday July 8 1992, 4616 Melrose Place had been the most talked-about place on TV for many college-age fans. Between December 1996 and January 1997, Donna Mills made 4 special cameo appearances on the show. On Monday February 3 1997, Melrose Place celebrated its 150th episode.

Melrose Place made no pretense to be anything but "the fun, wild adult soap that it is," producer Darren Star pointed out. "I think people, as much as they love to watch the show and make fun of it, really empathise with these characters."

But by the spring of 1996, Melrose Place had become "a little ridiculous," Heather Locklear lamented. "Every character has become almost insane. You can't distinguish one from another. Now everybody's nasty – and that makes it not so much fun."

1993 to 1994 was Melrose Place best season of all time with an average 14 million viewers counted watching the show. Linda Gray guest starred.

Darren believed Heather as Amanda "was the right person and the right character at the right time."

In 1995 Domino's Pizza declared the time slot Melrose Place occupied to be the time slot that had generated the most pizza orders on television.

Of Amanda, Heather expressed, "Because I know myself, I'm always shocked that people believe that I'm like Amanda. I just think, 'Come on, I know you're smart people and a smart audience. I know you know there's a difference.'"

Melrose Place wrapped before the 2YK pandemonium made the headlines.

Of the seasons 1997 to 1999, producer Charles Pratt confessed, "The challenge in the past few years was trying to make all the new characters fit in."

Aaron Spelling acknowledged, "We have this crazy rule for the young ladies. Do not change your hair the first year. Let the audience get used to you. Talk to us if you want to cut your hair or do something to it, but not the first year of a show. It gives the audience a chance to connect to the characters."

Courtney Thorne-Smith recounted, "My clearest memory of Melrose Place was the daily 'Hi, I'm Courtney.' 'Hi, I'm Joe.' 'We'll be kissing over there.' It was really strange."

Melrose Place spun-off Models Inc in 1994. Darren made known, "It is defintely flattering this show became popular enough to spawn something else, but as far as I am concerned, you can only spread yourself so thin."

DALLAS

Sue Ellen met an old friend from college in an episode of Dallas shown in 1981. They reminisced.

She: I haven’t been to this part of town in years....It certainly has changed, but I guess everything has.

Approaching the place they went on their first date, he enthused, "Well this is where it all happens."

She: No it didn't We went to the Starlight with the grand view.

He: This was it. It's now Dallas' latest 5-story garage.

She (sighed): Those were wonderful days but they seemed like a million years ago.

'Who Shot J.R?' was the episode which became a pop cultural phenomenon and made Dallas TV's most popular show between Ronald Reagan's first term and the start of his second term in office.

By the time the J.R Ewing's judgement day episode went on air in 1991, actress Linda Gray acknowledged, "It was lovely to be part of the end. It was a closure for me."

J.R Ewing was shot during the 1980 North American rites of spring. The economy was topsy-turvy at the time and Dallas was providing a much needed diversion.

The buzz over 'Who Shot J.R?' worked because by the time the 'Who shot J.R?' episode was resolved, in the fall of 1980, 83 million American viewers were watching to find out. One historian believed, "The far-reaching media impact Dallas had in the summer of 1980, we may never see again."

Actor Jared Martin made the observation, "Hollywood loves an unhappy story as much as it does a happy one, I've discovered. There was a similar occurrence with Bob Wagner and Stefanie Powers. After Natalie Wood's sad demise, it was reported that Stefanie was ready to move into Bob's house and take care of the children. Why? Because they were a happily married couple on Hart to Hart. Yet we know life doesn't imitate art."

PRIME-TIME SOAPS, THEN AND NOW

Producer Carroll Newman noted in 1984, "The real drama of life involves reality....Dallas and Dynasty are fluff and fantasy....The Waltons and Family did very well. The trouble is that realistic family shows don't generate the publicity that makes for hit shows."

Nevertheless Carroll believed, "Families remain the central social structure for caring people."

"...Soaps are the only form that show you what happens after the curtain comes down," producer David Jacobs remarked. "It's really the logical form for network television."

"Dallas," he pointed out, "was about the acquisition of power and money and Dynasty was about all the things that money can buy."

On Dynasty, Gordon Thomson played the evil Adam Carrington. Gordon observed, "People are fascinated with evil individuals....Some men and women are born amoral rotten. I've known 2 or 3 myself. There's something missing in their makeup. We take evil more seriously in a man than in a woman, who is usually depicted as more sexual, manipulative and seductive than the male."

Of the Dallas' spin-off, Knots Landing, David maintained, "Our characters....they were always given a sense of 'what if' - what if you and I were in that situation? The other soaps were always more voyeuristic."

On Knots Landing, Donna Mills played Abby Ewing. "Abby was introduced to stir up trouble," Donna disclosed.

Of Abby's antics, Donna made the point, "Like anybody who behaves as she does, she doesn’t believe she's doing anything wrong....Abby is maneuvring and manipulative....She wants to be in the Ewing family. This year she's going to have some money....Next fall Gary and I will move in together and he inherits $1 million from Jock Ewing."

W. Somerset Maugham's novel, Then And Now, was published in May 1946. Set at the turn of the 16th century, Somerset's story centered around Niccoló di Bernardo Machiavelli.

Reviewer Barnett Savery made the comment in 1953, "Society is evolving. It has been evolving; the values of yesterday become the ills of today. Someday the absolute standard of morality may be discovered, if there is one."

Of Then And Now, Somerset insisted, "I think it is an abuse to use the novel as a pulpit or a platform....Fiction is an art, and the purpose of art is not to instruct, but to please."

1983

It was the end of February and the beginning of March in 1983.

In sport, Martina Navratilova met Chris Evert for the 50th time in the final of the Carta Blanca-FCT Women's Invitational championship. Chris later conceded, "We've played 50 times too many. I have to find a chink in her armor."

At the bookstores Mistral's Daughter by Judith Krantz was the best-selling novel. In music, Michael Jackson's Billie Jean topped the Billboard chart. On the big screen, Francis Ford Coppola's The Outsiders based on S.E. Hinton's 1967 book premiered.

And the final episode of M*A*S*H went on air. Based on rough estimates, the "Goodbye, Farewell And Amen" episode drew the largest crowd at the time. About 8 out of every 10 TV sets switched on were watching the final episode of M*A*S*H. In all 125 million viewers or 50 million homes with TV were counted watching M*A*S*H.

Producer John Rappaport remarked, "We had exhausted a lot of material. It was taking longer and longer to come up with a joke and Burt Metcalfe would say we'd had that joke. How many times can you come up with a joke about bringing in a patient or about the bad food?"

"Putting it in perspective," John reasoned, "it’s still just a television show....To know that we have touched people's lives is a very rewarding experience. Nevertheless, our number one aim always was to provide entertainment."

For the week the last new episode of M*A*S*H was shown, the 5 most popular programs on prime time TV were:

1. M*A*S*H (watched in 50 million homes on Monday night)
2. Alice (watched in 26 million homes on Monday night)
3. 60 Minutes (watched in 22 million homes on Sunday night)
4. Dallas (watched in 21 million homes on Friday night)
5. Dynasty (watched in 19 million homes on Wednesday night)
5. Falcon Crest (watched in 19 million homes on Friday night)

Patrick Duffy played Bobby Ewing, "still very much the good guy of Dallas." On reflection, he acknowledged, "There are times when I wish he was more flawed, more human."

Both Larry Hagman and Patrick Duffy had directed episodes of Dallas. Guest star Alexis Smith said, "they're both sensitive directors."

LORETTA SWIT

In 1982 Loretta Swit starred in Games Mother Never Taught You. The movie was based on Betty Lehan Harragan's 1977 book. One year earlier Loretta appeared in Cagney & Lacey.

From September 1972 to February 1983, Loretta could be seen on M*A*S*H (Mobile Army Surgical Hospital). She played Major Margaret Houlihan.

Of Margaret, Loretta remarked, "Margaret is the least likable woman on television....I have some anxieties about playing the part when M*A*S*H began because she isn't written sympathetically....From the audience response, I think I've managed to make her somewhat sympathetic....The public doesn't hate Margaret. It laughs at her. And thank goodness, viewers are able to separate me from her."

Her performances on M*A*S*H earned Loretta nominations at the Emmys between 1974 and 1983 for Best Supporting. She won the awards in 1980 and 1982.

Of her role on Cagney & Lacey, Loretta observed, "...She's also something of a female chauvinist, you might say. She uses men the way men use women....I like what she says about women in today's world."

Of Games Mother Never Taught You, Loretta made known, "It's the game of company politics. Women go in innocently. They're not aware of the team play that men learned while they were playing with dolls. Now she goes into this alien world where men speak a different language and she has to learn the rules. And there are rules."

Cagney & Lacey was the 4th most popular program on television when the pilot went on air. Ms. magazine with Gloria Steinem at the helm gave Cagney & Lacey front-page coverage. In distinguishing Major Houlihan from Officer Cagney, Loretta pointed out, "Margaret is a bit of a hypocrite about sex. She criticizes other people's behavior while she's running around with Frank. She thinks that nobody knows about it. Chris Cagney makes no secret of the fact that she likes men."

6.05 p.m. (Los Angeles time) Friday, January 14, 1983: The last scene of M*A*S*H - script number 251 - was filmed on stage 9 at the 20th Century-Fox studios.

From 1972 until 1977, Margaret - an unmarried nurse - was shown horsing around with the married doctor Major Frank Burns on M*A*S*H.

Loretta recounted, "After going through all this hanky-panky with nothing but promises from Frank and broken cookies in packages from his wife," the writers "decided that Margaret should take the plunge" to a Lieutenant Colonel she had just met.

"I’m convinced it's because the affair was never painted as a picture of serenity, never as the way to go," Loretta conceded. "It was always painted as foolish. In a way, it became a very moral thing. It showed there was nothing to gain with this relationship."

Of Margaret, Loretta acknowledged, "She’s a bit insecure....She hides behind her work and the Iron Major image. If she shouts enough, nobody will try to get close, no one will know she’s vulnerable."

The Korean War broke out in June 1950. But it was over in July 1953. Producer Burt Metcalfe maintained in 1982, "We're very scrupulous in our history. We've had to pass up some wonderful stories....

"In the past, some successful shows dusted off old scripts and revised them. We never wanted to do that, and if we did, we could never get away with it because the show is so accessible to the public in reruns."

Of the cast, Alan Alda added, "Everybody was concerned that the scene be good, that the scene contribute to the show, and that the show be good."