text: As the series concluded, Carter McKay stayed put at WestStar, as powerful as ever; Michelle Stevens was left heartbroken and humiliated, alone in the ranch she had bought from McKay hoping to live there with James; Cliff Barnes was once and for all the sole owner of Ewing Oil, and Bobby Ewing, now owner of Southfork, was finally able to find closure after April's death. J.R., however, having lost both Ewing Oil and Southfork, as well as being abandoned by his sons, was at the end of his rope; the series ended with the unanswered question whether or not he killed himself.
  Production
  Seasons 1–8
  Series creator David Jacobs's partner Michael Filerman suggested Dallas as the name for the show. Jacobs knew nothing about the city other than the Kennedy assassination and the Dallas Cowboys; only after visiting the state to prepare for filming did he realize that the show should be called Houston as the petroleum industry is much more important there, while Dallas has banking and insurance. He wrote the first and the final episode of the original five-part miniseries (season 1), with the other three episodes being written by Arthur Bernard Lewis, Camille Marchetta and Virginia Aldrige. While Aldrige did not return to the series again and Marchetta left during season 4, Lewis grew to be one of Dallas's most influential writers.