Producers originally planned to bring back Jock Ewing's character, but fans were against having anyone play Jock Ewing except Jim Davis. Steve Forrest appeared on the show as Wes Parmalee, claiming to be Jock Ewing, but it was revealed that he was not.
When Victoria Principal opens the shower door in the infamous Bobby shower scene, actor John Beck was the one in the shower. The shock to Pam was supposed to be that he had been killed. The shot of Patrick Duffy was inserted later. Actually Pam would not have been shocked to see Mark (John Beck) in the shower considering that his character had been brought back during the "dream season" and she had married him earlier in the very same episode.
Victoria Principal refused to appear in the final episode because there was a good chance the show would return the next season. She said she would only appear if she were 100% sure that the show wouldn't return.
In episode 145 Peter's Principals, the character Clayton Farlow mentions he is taking Miss Ellie to see Camelot as there is an actor with quite a good voice playing the role of Arthur. Howard Keel, who played Clayton, had starred as Arthur in numerous stage productions of Camelot.
Howard Keel refused to do a script reading for Dallas producers at his first meeting with them, saying he was a "lousy reader" and that "what they saw was what they got".
Howard Keel was originally signed for two brief cameos in two episodes. His character, Clayton Farlow, was such a hit with viewers, however, it was decided to make him a regular.
Originally, Linda Gray's Sue Ellen really didn't have a part, so it was up to her and Larry Hagman to improvise their scenes in the background. Fortunately, Leonard Katzman and others saw their work in the dailies of the episodes and Sue Ellen's character was fleshed out.
Linda Gray was fired from Dallas after begging the executives to give her a chance to direct like Larry Hagman and Patrick Duffy. However, Larry Hagman threatened to leave the show because he didn't feel they could have JR without Sue Ellen.
Larry Hagman was not the first choice to play J.R. The part was offered first to Robert Foxworth who declined because he felt the character needed "softening". Foxworth later played a more sympathetic character on the hit prime-time soap Falcon Crest. Ken Kercheval was originally to play Ray Krebbs, while Steve Kanaly was to play Bobby Ewing. Linda Evans was to play Pamela, and Mary Frann was to play Sue Ellen.
The "Who Shot J.R.?" episode was the highest rated single episode of a television series until the finale of "M*A*S*H" (1972) {Goodbye, Farewell, and Amen (#11.16)} beat it in 1983.
When Patrick Duffy was asked to return to the show in 1986, his wife told him that the only way it could happen is if his character had actually died in a dream. This led the producers to decide that Bobby Ewing's death (in addition to the entire 1985-86 season) was just a figment of Pam Ewing's imagination.
When Jim Davis died in 1981, it was decided to write him off by first having his character, Jock Ewing, disappear in the Amazon and eventually having him declared legally dead.
After Jim Davis died, a portrait of him hung above the fireplace at Southfork as a memorial to the actor. When Miss Ellie remarried in 1984, the picture was moved to the Ewing Oil set.
The house used as the "Southfork Ranch" house was an actual Texas residence, owned by Joe R. Duncan, or J.R. Duncan. When the show became popular, tourists from all over the world visited the house day and night. The Duncan family was forced to sell the house and it is now a museum devoted to the show.
Larry Hagman and Ken Kercheval were the only members of the cast to stay with the series throughout its entire run. However, Ken Kercheval does not appear in every episode, unlike Larry Hagman.
Several actors including Charlene Tilton and Jim Davis were filmed firing the gun that shot J.R before it was decided who would be the shooter. The gun is on display at the real Southfork Ranch site in Dallas.
When Steve Kanaly was talking about leaving the show due to his character's lack of development, it was Larry Hagman who came up with the idea to make the Ray Krebs character the illegitimate son of Jock Ewing in order to get Kanaly to stay
In several of the early episodes of the series, Lucy and Ray were often portrayed as lovers. However, when it became revealed that Ray was Jock's illegitimate son, his affair with Lucy was never mentioned again.
Spinoff show Knots Landing was actually created first, but the producers were unable to sell it. They developed Dallas instead and when that became a success, and the network asked for a spinoff, they were able to dust off the Knots Landing idea.
Producer Leonard Katzman went to New York and hired a crew to film Patrick Duffy's scenes as a soap commercial. He then took the first part of the scene and edited it into the series.
Barbara Bel Geddes is only nine years older than Larry Hagman, though they played mother and son. Hagman is 18 years older than Patrick Duffy, who played his younger brother, though we assume them to be only a few years apart in age.
Miss Ellie and Donna Krebbs belonged to a ladies organization called the Daughters of the Alamo.
The characters of Clayton Farlow and his son, Dusty, get their surname from the show's production manager Wayne A. Farlow. Also the maiden name of Clayton's first wife, and Dusty's mother was Wayne.
A character named Louella Lee Caraway, a secretary at Ewing Oil during the first four seasons, was named after staff writer Louella Lee Caraway.
Morgan Fairchild played Jenna Wade, Bobby's childhood sweetheart, in a 1978 episode. When Jenna was seen again for two episodes in 1980, she was played by Francine Tacker as Fairchild was busy working on her own series 'Flamingo Road' (1981)_. In 1983, with Flamingo Road now canceled, the producers approached Fairchild to reprise the role but she declined feeling that she did not want to return to a small role. However, the producers decided to recast the role with Priscilla Presley and the character became a series regular for five years. Fairchild later claimed that her mother never forgave her for turning down a role in her favorite soap.
Barbara Bel Geddes left the show in 1984 due to the producers not agreeing to her demands for a pay rise, and Donna Reed took her place the following season. When Bel Geddes decided to return in 1985, Reed was fired. Reed sued the producers of the show for breach of contract, who settled with her for an undisclosed sum of money. Ironically, Reed died (of cancer) in January 1986, mere months after she left the show which meant she would not have been able to continue for the duration of her contract anyway.
Susan Howard was only supposed to appear once as Donna Culver, but she impressed the producers enough that she eventually became a regular.
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