Northwest Missouri State University - Tower Yearbook (Maryville, MO)

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THE NUMBER OF the sexual assault line is 582-4321. It is open to victims and people needing information. Nicholas Carlson DEBBIE HERRING WORKS on plans to inform the public about rape. Herring served as co-leader of the rape crisis center. SUE GALHOFFER ANSWERS questions concerning rape to a caller. RAPE CRISIS CENTER 27

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r Sue Ellen was still upset about Dusty, |c :i Pam and Bobby were heading out of town, p , Vauchn Leiand was on the wrong end of the shady dealings, Ipr v and Miss Ellie knew more than jock thought she did. ' The viewers stayed tuned through the actor ' s strike, ® Lbut when they finally discovered Kristen was the culprit, they asked: What ' s So Incredible? Who shot J. R. ? That was the question on the lips, T-shirts, bumper stickers and buttons of millions of Americans last summer as they awaited the revelation of who tried to kill the dastardly J.R. Ewing on the night-time soap Dallas. In the final episode of last season, an unidentified assailant entered the offices of Ewing Oil and fired a shot at the despicable character played by Larry Hag- man. The shooting had less to do with the storyline than it did with a contract dispute between Hagman and Lorimar Produc- tions. In fact, if Hagmem did not return to the series, Lorimar planned to construct the story that J.R. ' s ambulance would crash emd bum on the way to the hospital and, following extensive plastic surgery, J.R. would emerge as a different actor. But Hagmem did settle his contract (for a reported $100,000 per episode) and planned to return to the set when shooting began in the summer. Enter stage left the actors strike. Members of the Screen Actors Guild and the American Federation of Television and Radio Artists formed picket lines in July in an effort to win new contracts guaranteeing improved residuals from reruns and a share in profits from home-video reve- nues. The strike delayed production of nearly all prime-time program- ming, including production on the much awaited Who shot J.R.? segments of Dallas. Included in the shows that were not affected by the strike were the so-called reality programs such as Real People, That ' s Incredi- ble £md Those Amazing Ani- mals. These shows featured such bizarre attractions as men hitting each other with overweight stomachs, a guy who painted pictures with toilet paper and an idiot who jumped his motorcyle over two parked helicopters as their blades whirled at 350 r.p.m. In the meantime, promoters had a field day building the Who shot J.R.? business into a superhype unequalled in tele- vision history. Time and Newsweek did cover stories, and People sponsored a poll for readers ' predictions on the outcome. Promotional paraphen- alia made millions of dollars in sales and J.R. for President bumper stickers were affixed to many pick-up trucks across the country. Lorimar kept the identity of J.R. ' s assailant a closely-guarded secret, not even telling the cast who done it. Everyone was suspect, even J.R. ' s own mother, and each cast member was filmed firing the gun. Even Larry Hagman stepped in front of the camera to pull the trigger. When the identity of the killer was finally revealed in an episode aired in November, the news was anti-climactic. Odds-makers had already pegged J.R. ' s secretary and lover, Kristin Shepard, as the guilty party. Her contract for the season included only five epi- sodes. Nevertheless, 160 million fans in 57 countries anxiously awaited the actual scene in which the truth was revealed. Ratings for the show were the highest ever for em episode of a prime-time series. Advertisers for the show psdd rates as high as those for advertising during the Super Bowl. By the sixth and seventh episodes, mean J.R. was back in action again plotting to retake power from his brother Bobby and arranging to overthrow a foreign government. I TV FEATURE 29