Is it oil baron J.R. Ewing in the 1978-1991 from Dallas or Major Anthony Nelson in the 1965–1970 from I Dream of Jeannie.
- J.R.
- Major Nelson
0
voters
Buck from Fail-Safe
Good one! 
I originally did not watch Dallas at all because (a) I thought it was just another silly soap opera, and (b) I couldn’t imagine Tony Nelson as an asshole. I decided to give it a try when a friend told me what a great asshole he was, and she was right. I got hooked after the first few episodes and didn’t miss any until a weekend five years later when I had to go out of town and couldn’t watch TV.
My immediate first thought was Tony Nelson. He was a great bad guy as JR, but as I said, first thought…
More people may have watched Dallas when it was being first aired but I’m sure reruns have given I Dream of Jeannie more exposure to people over time.
I just answered for me rather than society at large. I Dream of Jeannie by a landslide. I’m of the age when 1930’s (Little Rascals/Our Gang) to 1960’s re-runs were shown non-stop in syndication on 1970’s TV when I was a kid. I’m sure I’ve seen every episode more than once.
Dallas by contrast never attracted my attention much. Too soapy for my tastes.
One particular summer long ago I was in England and encountered a small crowd looking at the TV sets playing in a shop window. When I asked what was going on (in my ultra-American California accent), EVERYONE turned to look at me with excitement and a one woman breathlessly said, “blimey, you’re a yank, you’ll know: who shot JR?”
I hated Dallas, hate JR, hate everything about it. Loved IDoJ.
But the question was “best known for”, not “best character” or “best show”, so I voted JR.
The reveal was one of the first episodes I watched. It was longer than usual, as I recall, and I knew who had done the deed after watching a couple of flashbacks.
I finally got to watch most of the early episodes when I was living in Czechoslovakia, 1991–92. I understood just enough of the language to figure out what was going on.
To me, he’ll always be “Parking Lot Doctor” from The Big Bus.
I agree with those sentiments. But I abstained because I refuse to vote for anything involving Dallas.
Is there anybody who was an American kid in the 1960s or 70s who didn’t vote “Major Nelson”? I suspect the JR voters are younger or from outside the US where Dallas probably found a larger audience than Jeannie.
Dallas was huge all over the Western world. Even Scandi kids like me knew who J.R. was.
I’ve never heard of I Dream of Jeannie.
I was born in 1967 and voted Dallas. That show was much bigger than Jeannie, even if I didn’t watch it.
My heart agrees w you. My head says no.
Dallas was as huge a TV sensation in the USA as was M*A*S*H. A nighttime prime time soap opera with an on-going story arc, not just freestanding episodes using the same characters in unrelated situations, was utterly ground-breaking. And utterly captivating to an audience ready for a hero they loved to hate.
Everybody watched Dallas. I personally did not, being both overseas for much of it, and very snobbily disinterested in all things TV. But boy, was I a drag at parties where everybody else was talking about this week’s Dallas.
Dallas ruled the airwaves when it was on. It ran 11 years to IDoJ’s 6. And ran about a decade later when the population was larger and the TV-owning population was much larger.
I don’t think I’ve ever watched an episode of Dallas (I was too young in the 80s) and I’ve definitely watched I Dream of Jeanie (Nick at Nite!) but my first thought on seeing the thread title was Dallas.
I agree with this completely (even to point of being born in 1967!). I Dream of Jeannie was popular enough in reruns, but it was one of those shows that you were kind of embarrassed to admit you watched, because it was kind of silly.
Dallas was a cultural phenomenon. It’s hard to over-state how huge it was when it was on the air. I watched it only occasionally (mostly to see Victoria Principal), but I can’t deny how big it was.
Me. Because the question is what is he best known for, which would mean now. And a fairly large number of the people who might have answered I Dream of Jeannie are no longer with us and anyone more than a few years younger than me (born in 1963) probably wouldn’t remember IDOJ - I don’t remember it first run, only in syndication.
IDOJ wasn’t referenced as much in pop culture - I never watched Dallas, but I know about " Who shot J.R."? and there was something about a shower and a whole season being a dream. There were other TV shows, movies and comedians that referenced some of those events, the theme song/opening has been parodied - I think there was a video game that used the theme. There were newspaper articles on the theme of “X years ago today we found out who shot JR?”. I think those pop culture references mean that people who weren’t even born when Dallas was on may have heard of it and in turn heard of Larry Hagman.
I still don’t know who shot JR. And still don’t care.
Still I picked JR as being the one he is most remembered for.
When my wife’s grandmother visited us in Dallas from Germany back in the late 80s, the main thing she wanted to do was see the Dallas ranch. As it turned out, you could get surprisingly close to Southfork, and she was delighted (I see they do tours now, I’m not sure how she would’ve felt about the interiors being different). Anyway, we parked nearby, and she took a picture.
JR by a mile.