The Stars of 'Dallas' Reunite 45 Years After the Show's Debut

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https://www.yahoo.com/entertainment/...010432182.html

Dallas heads to Palm Springs!

Dallas stars Patrick 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 that Dallas was like daytime soaps that were very popular and Dallas came 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."

"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."

Duffy, 74, echoes his costar's sentiments, comparing Dallas to the likes of Succession and Yellowstone.

"Sometimes I watch and think we did that. If you think about basically every family drama except for Breaking Bad, we latched onto the premise that was not started with Dallas, but with Peyton Place, but then that was forgotten and Dallas took over."

"The way Dallas was 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 with Succession."

Says Tilton, 64: "I think it was, to the best of my knowledge, the first show that gave you characters that were truly flawed, but they were loved by the audience. And every one of us had a major flaw, but still they were human and the audience still loved them."

Dallas ran 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 PEOPLE she found the first five years of Dallas to be “some of the best television I’ve ever seen.”

“When I went in for the part on Dallas, 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.”

Dallas continued for four more seasons and inspired a revival on TNT in 2012 that ran for three seasons. Fan-favorite characters return, including Duffy's Bobby, and Gray's Sue Ellen and even J.R. Ewing himself: Larry Hagman.

Sadly, after season 1 of the Dallas revival aired, Hagman died at 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.”

Much of the cast — including Hagman, Principal, Duffy, Gray, Kanaly and Tilton — reunited back in 2004 for a TV special titled Dallas Reunion: The Return to Southfork, referring to the fictional Texas land where the primetime soap opera took place.

“When I was on Dallas, it was such a whirlwind,” Tilton, 64, recalled to PEOPLE earlier 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 her Dallas days.

“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 also about to go on tour together.

[Steve_uk]

It's a shame they're not reuniting in Dallas. Sheree Wilson and Cathy Podewell's characters added very little to the show. Has Victoria Principal had enough?