Dallasheads to Palm Springs!
DallasstarsPatrick Duffy,Linda Gray,Charlene Tilton, Audrey Landers, Steve Kanaly, Joan Van Ark, Sheree Wilson and Cathy Podewell, as well as director Michael Preece, reunited at Oscar’s in Palm Springs, California, on Tuesday ahead of the show’s 45th anniversary — and PEOPLE has the exclusive photos.
Speaking about the show’s legacy, Gray, 82, tells PEOPLE: “I think thatDallaswas like daytime soaps that were very popular andDallascame into play and it was gigantic and it filled that same need that people love to have a recurring story, suspense and something to look forward to.”
Emma McIntyre
“Because the show ran for so many years, the audience got to know the characters so genuinely and they really cared for [them] and the characters all went through so much,” Gray continues. “And I think the fans really loved to relate to the stories that were bigger than life. I think that they were definitely bigger than life so they could live vicariously through those characters. Dallas was so influential.”
Charlene Tilton, Linda Gray, and Joan Van Ark.Emma McIntyre
Duffy, 74, echoes his costar’s sentiments, comparingDallasto the likes ofSuccessionandYellowstone.
Linda Gray and Patrick Duffy.Emma McIntyre
“Sometimes I watch and think we did that. If you think about basically every family drama except forBreaking Bad,we latched onto the premise that was not started withDallas, but withPeyton Place, but then that was forgotten andDallastook over.”
Linda Gray and Steve Kanaly.Emma McIntyre
“The wayDallaswas written, it’s standard writing template for shows that run any period of time from a few episodes onto years. But yeah, it all started with us,” Duffy adds. “I really thought about it withSuccession.”
Patrick Duffy, Linda Gray and Charlene Tilton.Emma McIntyre
Dallasran for 14 seasons from 1978 to 1991, earning four Emmys along the way. The show followed the wealthy Ewing family and the drama that surrounded their booming oil business and their entangled personal lives.
When the show celebrated its 40th anniversary in 2018,Victoria Principal(who played Pamela Barnes from 1978 until 1987)told PEOPLEshe found the first five years ofDallasto be “some of the best television I’ve ever seen.”
Audrey Landers.Emma McIntyre
“When I went in for the part onDallas,I had already fallen in love with the show and with the part,” said Principal, 73. “So, my feeling from the moment I read it was that it was incredibly special and that I really, really wanted to be a part of it. I could not imagine not being Pam.”
In season 10, Principal’s run as Pam came to an end when her character, who had been pregnant, died in a car accident. “I wanted an ending that was definitive,” the actress said. “And I certainly felt that being blown up was definitive.”
Brenda Strong, Jordana Brewster, Jesse Metcalfe and Patrick Duffy in “Dallas.".TNT/Skip Bolen
Sadly, after season 1 of theDallasrevival aired, Hagmandiedat age 81 that November.
“Larry Hagman was my best friend for 35 years. He was the Pied Piper of life and brought joy to everyone he knew,” Gray, 82, said in a statement released to PEOPLE at the time. “He was creative, generous, funny, loving and talented and I will miss him enormously. He was an original and lived life to the fullest. The world was a brighter place because of Larry.”
Ian Gavan/Getty
“When I was onDallas, it was such a whirlwind,” Tilton, 64,recalled to PEOPLEearlier this year. “At my age now, I’m more present. I don’t feel the need to take every job, but I do make myself say yes to most things because I believe in saying yes, and trying new things and having opportunities.”
Tilton also said she “couldn’t wait to get older” during herDallasdays.
“I always saw myself as a character actress,” she said. “I really did. I just always said, “Someday I’m going to be a great character actress and I was chomping at the bit to do that.”
While in Palm Springs, the cast will be appearing in a panel at Oscar’s on Tuesday night. Duffy and Gray are alsoabout to go on tour together.
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All 13 original seasons ofDallascan be streamed on Amazon Freevee.
source: people.com
