Dallas is located in the state of Texas and is renowned for oil. Oil brings in money and power which then leads to greed and corruption. Oil is how america made its money, however it is owned by very few people.

US soaps are escapist meaning they are used for the audience watch it to escape there life, and watch people who are having a much worse time. This is different to UK soaps which normally have stories that people can relate to. American soaps are all centered on wealth and beauty, making it so heightened and inrealistic. 

Dallas is about one family called the Ewings. It originally ran from 1978 to 1991 as a day time drama and It had eight series in total and It ended with the main character being shot.

In comparison to UK soaps US soaps are more like novels rather than soaps with a start, beginning and end. The theme tune is far more upbeat which gives it more of a film feel, rather than a soap.  It is also quite like cowboy music which fits in perfectly with the theme of the soap.  Also unlike UK soaps, it introduces the characters with names at the start of the soap. 

As seen from the ariel establishing shot of Dallas, we can tell that there is an obscene amount of wealth. This is both shown by the large sky scrappers which are clearly owned/lived in by the people in the soap and the helicopter view which gives us the impression that it is the families own helicopter. We later find out from a shot of the helicopter that it is theres and they are flying home to their ranch. All these help us knit together the type of place these people are from. 

Non diegetic sound is used throughout to dictate the audiences emotion. These are not used in English soaps as they are more realistic.

Dallas is now its own brand, and as they had a large audience they use quick mid shots throughout, of the characters, to play on the audience knowledge of the soap. 

In the new series, JR is still calling the shots and is still powerful even though he is much older.