It was the show that taught us that oil is good, big hats are better and there's no social event that can't be improved without hurling something (a drink, a big hat, Cliff Barnes) into a swimming pool. Now the American cable channel TNT is set to bring us a new series of Dallas, 21 years after the original ended with a down-on-his-luck JR Ewing seemingly considering suicide.
Since that cliffhanger (a not entirely successful attempt to conjure up the soap's infamous "Who Shot JR?" heyday), there have been two (rather dull) mini-series (JR Returns and The War of the Ewings) and much talk of a film version, the cast of which has been rumoured to include everyone from John Travolta, Luke Wilson and J-Lo to Meg Ryan and Matthew McConaughey. That project collapsed ignominiously with the makers seemingly unable to decide whether it should be a drama, a comedy or some sort of uncomfortable hybrid of the two.