1: The Dallas shuffle

Some of the biggest Dallas parts were originally offered to different actors - a few of whom ended up in the show anyway.

Take JR. Unthinkable as it may sound, it was originally offered not to Hagman but TV actor Robert Foxworth - who turned down the offer. He later regretted the decision and took a JR-like role in another 80s soap, Falcon Crest. Similarly, the part of Pam almost went to Linda Evans, who turned it down only to star as Krystle in rival soap Dynasty.

Meanwhile, Ken Kercheval was originally slated to play Ray Krebbs before execs realised he'd make a better Cliff, while Steve Kanaly - who did play Ray - was initially pencilled in as Bobby before Patrick Duffy displaced him.

2: The real JR

The house which served as Southfork Ranch in the series was an actual residence owned by someone named JR.

That's Joe R Duncan, who built the property in 1970 and called it Duncan Acres. It rapidly became a tourist attraction (even though all the interior Southfork scenes were actually filmed in a Californian studio) and the Duncan family eventually sold up. Southfork is now a popular conference centre and Texas tourist mecca.