DALLAS

By 1983, 'Dallas' could be seen in 90 countries around the world including the UK, Saudi Arabia, France, Germany, South Africa, Israel, Thailand, Iceland, Bangladesh, Brunei, Algeria, Zimbabwe and Romania. For the 200 million plus TV viewers on earth, those American exports such as 'Dallas' and 'Little House on the Prairie' represented the only view they would ever have of inside the United States. 

Bert Cohen of Worldvision Enterprises told the press, "We've had very popular series before but nothing has drawn the attention or the excitement of 'Dallas', it’s a unique situation. I think American programs in general do very well overseas. 'Dallas' is very much in demand and it's loved by just about everybody who watches it. They like it whether the government does or not. When Francois Mitterand became President of France they dropped a lot of American programming, but 'Dallas' stayed.

"It was just too popular. In (then) West Germany the government has been critical of 'Dallas', but it's still the first or second most popular show." When 'Dallas' went on air in Turkey, a Parliament meeting one time reportedly was cut short so legislators could rush home to watch 'Dallas'. Below Turkey, some 81% of the population of Israel watched 'Dallas'. And in Italy, it was reported the restaurant business attracted few diners every Tuesday and Wednesday nights because 'Dallas' was on. 

Only in Egypt and Japan, 'Dallas' was not a big hit with one reason being its "glorification of the unscrupulous pursuit of wealth." Bert Cohen reminded, "We sell pure entertainment not a socioeconomic history class … Do people think all Americans go into phone booths and come out flying just because they've seen 'Superman'?" Arnie Frank of 'John Pearson International' added, "In most countries they dub the dialog or use subtitles but in some countries they don't do either so you've got to have shows that overcome the language barrier. 

"We were selling 'Here's Lucy' and set up a screening for some African countries. Even though they couldn't understand the language, they laughed whenever Lucy said anything. We found out later they were laughing at her mugging and physical comedy sells well. Verbal comedy doesn't because it doesn't translate well. I think people know from television that American women have come more into their own and are not subservient to men. In some countries, particularly in the Middle East, they won't permit these shows on the air." 

Robert D. Morin of 20th Century-Fox Television remarked, "Historically, the less talk the easier a show is to sell. The more the dialog the more you have to dub and the more you dub, the more confusing it becomes. American comedies don't do well overseas. In fact, all American comedies died in Australia. The exception is 'M*A*S*H'. It's a hit everywhere they speak the English language. Mexico won't buy any shows with narcotics in them."

George Faber of Viacom International maintained, "The hardest thing to sell is a comedy, except one with action like 'I Love Lucy'. But something like 'The Bob Newhart Show', which depends more on words, is very difficult. I'd say our most popular shows are 'Cannon' and 'Hawaii Five-O'. Westerns are very popular. 'Rawhide' is very popular in Japan, where it's run late at night. 'Gunsmoke' is on at midnight in Tokyo. 'The Beverly Hillbillies' is very popular in Japan because it has a lot of activity."

Haim Saban of Sound Connection said "experience has shown us that television sells a lot of records." When Sound Connection rewrote the 'Dallas' theme with opening and closing lyrics in France and Belgium, it became a hit. Haim Saban did the same with 'The Fall Guy' by re-recorded the theme song using a French singer. 'The Unknown Stuntman' went gold in France.  

By June 1986, Britain exported costume dramas, historical pieces, mysteries and literary classics such as Charles Dickens' 'Bleak House' and F. Scott Fitzgerald's 'Tender Is The Night' to the U.S. while Britain imported American pop-culture hits. Jonathan Powell of the BBC told Associated Press, "There's clearly room for different dramas that aspire to different things. 

"What we find most satisfying are 'Dallas', 'Miami Vice' and 'Hill Street Blues'. I think 'Miami Vice' is terrific. We just don't make cop shows like that in England. Maybe we do want to watch things that conform with our pre-conceptions of each other's cultures. We make 'Upstairs Downstairs', you make 'Dallas' which is really a cultural fairy tale. In the States, you get a crazy, nostalgic view of England, but the TV product doesn't convey a picture of England as she really is."