Once upon a time, long ago in the 1980’s, there was a family of American oil wealth, greed, power and dysfunction that polarized the TV-watching nation when the wealthiest and greediest of them was shot in a season cliff-hanger. 30-years later, the hold Dallas and the Ewing family had on nighttime soap fanatics is strong enough to pull money out of them in these very un-Dallas times.

On Nov. 8, J.R., Bobby, Sue Ellen and other Ewing kin will mark the anniversary with a reunion and barbecue at Southfork Ranch. Viewed panoramically in the show’s introduction, the ranch is in the Dallas suburb of Parker, about 25 miles north of the flashy downtown skyscrapers also featured in the opening scenes.

Fans from Japan, Australia, Europe and across the United States have plunked down anywhere from $100 to $1,000 for the tickets. The more one pays, the greater one gains access to cast members including Hagman, Linda Gray and Patrick Duffy.

“This thing is going to be a lot of fun,” said the 77-year-old Hagman, seated in the formal living room of the Southfork mansion, a trademark cowboy hat on his head. “It’s the first one we’ve ever done with fans. They’re coming from everywhere.”

Along with the barbecue, there will be country music, dancing, fireworks and a laser light show.

“This is a chance to live like and be a Ewing for a day,” said Jason Hardison, the event’s executive producer. “We’re going to celebrate the excess and success of the 1980s, at least the oil boom, and the money that surrounded Dallas.”

[From Associated Press via Google News]

My dad didn’t allow me to watch Dallas. To be fair, it wasn’t all Dallas‘ fault, he didn’t let us watch more than a half hour of TV a day, but even I remember the summer of “Who shot J.R.?” When the answer came out the next season I had no idea who the shooter character was, but I knew it was the talk of the airwaves.

It’s sort of an ironic time to be celebrating the “excess and success of the 1980s, at least the oil boom, and the money that surrounded Dallas”. There are some people who just take their TV very seriously, though, and want to feel like a part of something so fabuloulsy decadent. In the price of the tickets, the more you spend, the closer you’re allowed to get to actually feeling like a part of Dallas and the Ewings.

My dad would not approve.

Dallas actors Steve Kanaly, Charlene Tilton, Larry Hagman, Linda Gray, and Patrick Duffy are shown on 7/9/07 at an auction for the show in Paris. Credit: ANG/Fame Pictures