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Into History.

com. It's the summer of 1980 at MGM Studios in Culver City, California.

63-year-old director Leonard Katzmann checks a monitor and asks a

cameraman to move his equipment a tiny bit to the side. Leonard is

determined to get this scene right because it's going to reveal the

solution to one of the greatest television mysteries of all time.

A few months ago, the season finale of Dallas aired on CBS.

The third season ended on a cliffhanger after Oil Baron J.R. Ewing was shot by an unknown gunman.

Who shot J.R. has become the talk of America, and the show's producers want to keep the identity of the shooter a mystery until they're ready to reveal it.

Today, Leonard has a clever idea on how to keep the secret until the very last moment.

Leonard signals that he's ready to start filming the flashback sequence that will reveal the shooter and a hush falls across the set. He checks the camera angle one last time as an actor takes her

place. It's Linda Gray who plays J.R.'s Wif. Landard calls action and Linda pulls the trigger on the prop gun.

Then Leonard yells cut.

Linda steps aside but the camera stays put.

Another actor then moves into the shot and picks up the same gun. It's Dennis Patrick

who plays a banker cheated by JR. Leonard calls action and Dennis pulls the trigger. Then after Dennis shoots the scene, yet another actor does the same.

This time it's Mary Crosby who plays JR's sister-in-law and mistress.

Over the next few minutes, every member of the cast

films an identical scene as the shooter.

...