Who shot J.R.?

[1] It referred to the fictional mystery surrounding a murder attempt against arch-villain J.R. Ewing (Larry Hagman) in the show's third-season finale "A House Divided".

[2] In the final scene of season 3, J.R. Ewing (Larry Hagman) hears a noise outside his office, walks out to the corridor to look, and is shot twice by an unseen assailant.

[4][5] J.R. Ewing was a villain on the series who regularly double-crossed business associates, who plotted against his own family, and who called his wife Sue Ellen (Linda Gray) a "slut" and had her committed to a sanatorium so he could take custody of their infant son John Ross.

Viewers had to wait an additional two months to find out the answer to the famous question, however, as a strike by the Writers Guild of America began in July that delayed the production of most new network shows by eight weeks.

[9] The Barron Knights used the melody and background music of the Gary Numan song "Cars" in "We Know Who Done It", their 1980 parody and spoof of 'Who shot J.R.?'.

During the 1980 United States presidential election, the Republicans distributed campaign buttons that claimed "A Democrat shot J.R.",[10] while Democratic incumbent Jimmy Carter joked that he would have no problem financing his campaign if he knew who shot J.R. Former president Gerald Ford unsuccessfully asked producer Leonard Katzman who the shooter was.

[7] International bookmakers created a set of odds for the possible culprits:[14][15][16][17][18] The only characters never considered suspects were Lucy's parents, middle Ewing brother Gary (Ted Shackelford) and his wife Valene (Joan Van Ark), who were featuring prominently in California-based spin-off series Knots Landing at the time of J.R.'s shooting, making it impossible for either to be responsible.

It had a Nielsen rating of 53.3 and a 76% share, and it was estimated that 83 million people watched the episode,[20] more than the number of voters in that year's presidential election.

now sits second on the list, beaten in 1983 by the final episode of M*A*S*H. In 2011, Ken Tucker of Entertainment Weekly named "A House Divided" number one of the seven most "Unforgettable Cliff-Hangers" of prime time dramatic television.

[21] The episode was an international event, with more than 350 million people tuning in to find out who shot J.R. A session of the Turkish parliament was suspended to allow legislators a chance to get home in time to view the conclusion of the cliffhanger.

[22] The great success of this 1980 stunt helped popularize in the United States the practice of ending a television season with a cliffhanger.

storyline was spoofed in the February 21, 1981 episode of Saturday Night Live, which was guest-hosted by Dallas star Charlene Tilton.

[citation needed] In 1990, the first season of Twin Peaks ended with numerous cliffhangers, the main one being Kyle MacLachlan's character, Agent Dale Cooper, being shot by an unknown assailant in a clear tribute to the earlier soap.

In the 2013 season 2 finale, it was revealed that J.R. asked Steve "Bum" Jones to shoot him so his "masterpiece" could play out, framing Cliff Barnes for his murder.

[27] The main reason he had himself killed was because doctors told J.R. that he had only days to live; he was dying from cancer (as was actor Larry Hagman in real life).

[28] The character of Tom from the Irish television comedy series Father Ted is often pictured wearing an "I shot J.R." T-shirt.