Dallas
A Death in the Family
TV Flash files “A Death in the Family” as hour 243 of 356 in the TV Flash guide — Dallas (1978–1991) on CBS, season 10, episode 21, aired 1987-02-20, 60 min.
From the desk
How this hour is filed
This leaf is S10E21: listed hour 243 of 356 in the Dallas guide, hour 21 of 29 in season 10. It aired 1987-02-20 (60 min). The listed hour before it is “Olio” (S10E20). Next is “Revenge of the Nerd” (S10E22).
Catalog log
Broadcast listing — not a TV Flash recap.
Pam breaks the news of Jamie's death to Cliff. J.R. pressures April about the 10 percent of Ewing Oil. J.R. plots to frame Cliff for Jamie's death. Bobby doesn't share J.R.'s concern over Cliff's claim to the 10 percent. Donna tells Senator Dowling to leave her alone. Bobby refuses to give in to an extortionist who claims he has information on Jack's whereabouts. Ray asks Jenna to move in with him. Marilee sees through Cliff's devious plan and rebuffs him. Cliff tries to raise $6 million to pay Wendell back. Donna and Dowling make up. Mrs. Scottfield learns of a chance to get back at the Ewings for her husband's suicide.
Viewer FAQ
Where does A Death in the Family sit in the Dallas guide?
S10E21 is listed hour 243 of 356 — hour 21 of 29 in season 10, season 10 episode 21.
When did Dallas S10E21 air?
A Death in the Family aired 1987-02-20 and is listed at 60 minutes.
Where should I start — the miniseries or the shooting?
Start with Digger’s Daughter so the table has names, then the first barbecue, then the 1980 cliffhanger and its answer. You can sample the dream-season aftershock without fourteen seasons of leases.
In the series
Why this series still plays
Watch it to see spoiler culture get invented in public: a Texas oil table, a villain America loved, and a summer-long question that made appointment TV feel like a crime scene. The dream season is the delete that still starts fights.
The shot was not the story. The summer was the story. March 1980, CBS, J.R. Ewing on the floor of an office, and then months of a country asking a question like it was a relationship status. Who shot J.R.? was not a plot point. It was a premiere-night soft launch of event television: every magazine cover a red carpet, every barstool a group chat, every publicist pretending the secret could hold. Larry Hagman made villainy photograph as charm. If you only watched the official stills — the hat, the oil, the ranch —…
Filed against
- Larry Hagman as J.R. Ewing
Larry Hagman’s J.R. Ewing made “Who shot J.R.?” a global summer sport on Dallas — oil-opera villainy with a smile that sold cliffhangers. Southfork seating charts, spoiler culture as national weather. On TV Flash he is primetime soap’s…
- Patrick Duffy as Bobby Ewing
Patrick Duffy’s Bobby Ewing was Dallas’s good-son lighting — Southfork virtue against Larry Hagman’s grin, and the dream-season delete that still starts fights. CBS taught television how to own a summer. TV Flash still asks who shot the…
- Linda Gray as Sue Ellen Ewing
Linda Gray’s Sue Ellen Ewing is Dallas as a marriage crime scene — Southfork seating charts, Larry Hagman’s grin as a weapon, a summer-long question that made appointment TV feel like a manhunt. Oil-opera spouse as more than a hemline. On…
- Victoria Principal as Pamela Barnes Ewing
Victoria Principal’s Pamela Barnes Ewing made Dallas a Southfork seating chart with a pulse — Texas oil, Larry Hagman’s grin as a weapon, and a cliffhanger that turned spoiler culture into national weather. On TV Flash she is the…
- Barbara Bel Geddes as Miss Ellie Ewing
Barbara Bel Geddes steadied Dallas as Miss Ellie Ewing — Southfork matriarch with moral gravity amid oil-opera excess and “Who shot J.R.?” mania. She made primetime soap feel like family business. TV Flash files her as the Ewing…
- Jim Davis as Jock Ewing
Jim Davis’s Jock Ewing is Dallas as the table the oil opera had to sit at — Southfork land, a seating chart with a ranch attached, the father the cliffhanger generation had to come home to. Who shot J.R. taught TV how to own a summer;…