clark: slowly but surely, the 1970s are disappearing. the 1980s will be upon us. what a decade it is coming up. happy new year! [ cheers and applause ] auletta: as you begin the '80s in the television world, the landscape was, on any given evening, 9 out of 10 people were watching only one of three networks. more than 30 million people are addicted to it. social critics are mystified by its success. what is it? it's television's prime-time, prairie pot boiler, "dallas." bobby: a move like that will destroy all of ewing oil, and it'll ruin our family name. i assure you, a thought like that never crossed my mind. brother or no brother, whatever it takes, i'll stop you from destroying ewing oil. "dallas" really did establish new ground in terms of the weekly, one hour show that literally captivated america for 13 years.