Nice Shot, J.R.

How Dallas Won the Cold War

Let us now pause in somber tribute to the 30th anniversary of a momentous—and shockingly unremembered—turning point in the long twilight struggle between communism and capitalism. An event every bit as important as the Nixon-Khrushchev Kitchen Debate, Ronald Reagan's "Tear Down this Wall" speech and Yakov Smirnoff's defection to the West.

We write, of course, about the debut of "Dallas," the 13-year soap opera that shook the world.

Read the rest of this article in The Washington Post.

Comments

[D.A. Ridgely]

Hmmm... somehow this thread has a vaguely deja vu quality about it almost as though "Hit & Run" has already hyped the piece just a few threads below this one.

Oh well, in any case, I offer a few ancillary notes about the fabled Ewing 'mansion' Southfork here.

[vanya]

Since Welch and Gillespie apparently don't have enough common sense to vociferously deny that they ever wrote such a silly article, I'll just repost my comment from the other thread. That "Dallas" article was truly one of the dumbest things you guys have ever produced. And I mean that in all sincerity, just mind-boggling hit-your-head-in-the-face-with-a-frying-pan stupidity from smart people like Welch and Gillespie, whom I normally credit with a fair amount of perceptiveness. No one in Russia ever heard of that show. Maybe it was popular in Romania - so what? Romania was one of the last countries in the East Bloc to overthrow its Communist rulers. And more importantly, the fall of Communism had nothing to do with popular discontent - it had everything to do with the Communist nomenklatura in the USSR and the Eastern Bloc realizing that even they had shitty lives compared to ordinary middle class Western Europeans and Americans. Communism was dismantled from the top down, and the elites didn't need "Dallas" to tell them they were falling woefully behind the West in every way.

[ChrisO]

So, what's the lesson here? Should we start beaming old Falconcrest episodes into northern Pakistan?

[Aresen]

Thanks, Vanya. I needed a drink.

[The Winter Soldier]

Good Lord, did you two lose a bet, or something? That article was not fit to wipe my ass with.

[Jordan 6 Rings]

very good

[Nike Dunk SB High]

is good