J. R. Ewing subterfuges to plunder his foes' wealth. The original series concept was a blend of "Bonanza" with a rich, western patriarch and his three dissimilar sons, "Cat on a Hot Tin Roof" with its rival brothers, and their scheming wives, and "Romeo and Juliet" with two star-crossed lovers whose families are sworn enemies. The focus of the series was initially the feuding families, with J.R. just a supporting character, but his popularity grew and the producers acknowledged he became the breakout character. Two highly rated 1980 episodes became part of a cultural phenomenon that year known as "Who shot J.R.?". In
Their Eyes Were Watching God negroes." The hurricane that symbolizes the climax of Hurston's story also has an historical inspiration; in 1928, "a hurricane ravaged both coastal and inland areas of Florida, bringing torrential rains that broke the dikes of Lake Okeechobee". Scholars of the African diaspora note the cultural practices common to the Caribbean, Africa, and the United States in "Their Eyes Were Watching God". Hurston wrote "Their Eyes Were Watching God" while on a Guggenheim Fellowship in Haiti to research Obeah practices in the West Indies. Hurston's political views in "Their Eyes Were Watching God" were met with resistance from several leading Harlem