The Dallas TV program is making a comeback this summer. And it could be a good time for me to apologize to the residents of London, to whom I committed a grave injustice back in the 80's.
We were visiting my mother's family one August and the question everyone asked us Yanks was "Who Shot JR?" I had no idea why everyone was so interested in what I considered a uniquely American event, however, my reply to one and all was,
"JR was not shot. He had a stroke."
My response elicited wide eyed gasps, followed by suspicious glares. The confidence in my voice and the attribution to the blazing Texas heat convinced them I was telling the truth. And I was. At least my version of it. The problem was I didn't follow prime time soap operas. I was a kid -- I followed professional baseball. To me "JR" was JR Richard, the most dominant pitchers in the game until he suffered a stroke that spring. My JR recovered from his stroke, attempted an unsuccessful comeback, fell upon hard times and is now a Minister. Fictional JR, it turns out, was never even shot in the first place.
So to all those folks whose skeptical looks transformed into conspiratorial grins and who then spent evenings at the Pub passing along their inside information -- I apologize for the misunderstanding.
Now does anyone want to know how Seinfeld ended?
